Mueller report sets up legal clash over executive privilege and congressional oversight

WASHINGTON - The Constitution does not directly say Congress has the power to conduct investigations or oversight of the executive branch. Nor does it say the president may invoke executive privilege to shield information from members of Congress.

But both powers - congressional oversight and executive privilege - have long been asserted and upheld by courts, with limits.

Each convinced the Constitution is on their side, House Democrats and President Donald Trump are now testing the legal limits of those powers in a fight over the redacted parts of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's 448-page report as well as documents and investigative material created during the two-year investigation.

The House Judiciary Committee voted this week to