REDACTED MUELLER REPORT TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY
Attorney general to release redacted version to public
Washington — The Justice Department plans to release its redacted version of the final report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Thursday, providing Congress and the public with an expanded narrative of a historic investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and other crimes.
Mueller filed the nearly 400-page confidential report on March 22 after nearly two years of work, and Attorney General William Barr and his aides have been working with the special counsel’s office to strip out classified or other protected information.
House Democrats have pledged to fight for access to an unredacted version and have vowed to subpoena the Justice Department if necessary.
Washington — The Justice Department expects to make a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation public Thursday morning, a spokeswoman said Monday.
The redacted report would be sent to Congress and also made available to the public, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.
As Washington counted down until the release, President Donald Trump stepped up his attacks in an eleventh-hour effort to undermine the report’s findings.
Trump unleashed a series of tweets on Monday — including two just minutes after the Justice Department’s announcement — focusing on the favorable toplines in the previously released summary produced by Attorney General William Barr.
Mueller officially concluded his investigation late last month and submitted the confidential report to Barr. Two days later, the attorney general sent Congress a four-page letter that detailed Mueller’s “principal conclusions.” In his letter, Barr said the special counsel did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign, but Mueller did not reach a definitive conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Instead, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the obstruction question. Barr said he did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prove that Trump had obstructed justice.
“Mueller, and the A.G. based on Mueller findings (and great intelligence), have already ruled No Collusion, No Obstruction,” Trump tweeted. “These were crimes committed by Crooked Hillary, the DNC, Dirty Cops and others! INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS!”
In his letter, Barr noted that Mueller’s team did not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice.
Democrats immediately called for Mueller to testify and for his report to be released. Portions of the report being released by the Justice Department will be redacted to protect grand jury material, sensitive intelligence, matters that could affect ongoing investigations and damage to the privacy rights of third parties, the attorney general has said.