Mueller report: US Congress given key findings from Attorney General Barr
24 March 2019
US congressional leaders have been given conclusions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The long-awaited report was submitted on Friday to Attorney General William Barr, who pored over the document before handing a summary to Congress. The report is the culmination of two years of investigation by Mr Mueller. A justice department official has said it does not call for new charges. In the course of their investigation, Mr Mueller and his team have already charged 34 people - including six former Trump aides and a dozen Russians - as well as three companies. None of those charges directly related to the allegations of collusion between the campaign and Moscow - allegations that President Trump has always denied. Mr Mueller reportedly also examined another question: whether Mr Trump committed obstruction of justice in an effort to curtail an FBI investigation into connections between his campaign and Russians. It is not yet known how much of the report - if any - will be made available to the public. It is not clear how much information is being shared with Congress. Mr Barr, who was appointed by Mr Trump, told congressional leaders on Friday that he was "committed to as much transparency as possible." The president has spent the weekend at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. He has been uncharacteristically silent on social media - posting no remarks on the report. The president has in the past repeatedly lashed out at the special counsel investigation, branding it a "witch hunt". Despite all the attention is has received since it was submitted on Friday, the special counsel's investigation is not the only probe that could threaten Mr Trump's presidency. About a dozen other investigations are being run independently of Mr Mueller's office. They include a federal investigation in New York that is looking into possible election-law violations by the Trump campaign and his businesses and possible misconduct by the Trump inaugural committee. Legally, the attorney general is under no obligation to release the report publicly, but during his confirmation hearings before senators Mr Barr vowed to release as much as he could. A number of senior Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Julian Castro, have called for the full release of the report. The House of Representatives, newly controlled by the Democratic party following last year's mid-term elections, will also continue to investigate the Trump administration and could ask Mr Mueller to testify or instruct Mr Barr to provide relevant materials.
Legally, the attorney general is under no obligation to release the report publicly, but during his confirmation hearings before senators Mr Barr vowed to release as much as he could. A number of senior Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Julian Castro, have called for the full release of the report. The House of Representatives, newly controlled by the Democratic party following last year's mid-term elections, will also continue to investigate the Trump administration and could ask Mr Mueller to testify or instruct Mr Barr to provide relevant materials.
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What happens next with the Mueller report?