Barr Scours the Mueller Report With Advisers

A fight with Congressional Democrats seems inevitable
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 23, 2019 4:30 PM CDT
Barr Scours the Mueller Report With Advisers
President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 22, 2019, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Attorney General William Barr scoured special counsel Robert Mueller's confidential report on the Russia investigation with his advisers Saturday, deciding how much Congress and the American public will get to see about the two-year probe into President Donald Trump and Moscow's efforts to elect him, the AP reports. Barr was on pace to release his first summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, people familiar with the process said. The attorney general's decision on what to finally disclose seems almost certain to set off a fight with congressional Democrats, who want access to all of Mueller's findings—and supporting evidence—on whether Trump's 2016 campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election and whether the president later sought to obstruct the investigation.

No announcement was expected Saturday as Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and oversaw much of his work, analyzed the report and labored to condense it into a summary letter of main conclusions. The Russia investigation has shadowed Trump for nearly two years and has ensnared his family and close advisers. And no matter the findings in Mueller's report, the probe already has illuminated Russia's assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton, and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts. But the report contains no further indictments beyond those already prosecuted by Mueller's team. (See what Ken Starr's take is on the Mueller report.)

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