House Democrats are going to spend 12 hours reading the Mueller report out loud today


Prepare for one of the most exhausting sentences in recent House history.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are going to spend an estimated 12 hours reading the 448-page report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller out loud on Thursday. It's apparently in fulfillment of the committee's "constitutional duty to share that truth with the American people," as Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) put it in a statement to Reuters. But given that the redacted report on Russian election interference has been publicly available for weeks, that explanation doesn't quite add up.
An attempt to explain Thursday's marathon might leave one thinking the committee is trying to make an accessible, audio-only version of the report. But no, Audible already took care of that. Instead, Scanlon thinks of it as an answer to "How do we get that story out there while we are waiting for the witnesses to come in?," she told The Washington Post. After all, as she explained in a release, the report can't be "summarized in a tweet."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scanlon didn't acknowledge whether the reading was just an excuse to drop a few f-bombs.
Satisfy your inner masochist and watch the reading, which starts at noon EST, live on C-SPAN.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
July 19 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a Medicaid time bomb, and Donald Trump's fixation with the Fed's Jerome Powell
-
5 hilariously cutting cartoons about the Department of Education
Cartoons Artists take on being rotten to the core, budget cuts, and more
-
Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) recipe
The Week Recommends German dish is fresh, creamy and an ideal summer meal
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department