Mueller report: Congress to get redacted version 'by mid-April'
29 March 2019
Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 US election will be made public "by mid-April". Attorney General William Barr says he is now redacting the 400-page document. In a letter to the heads of the House and Senate judiciary committees, he says he expects to be able to publish by mid-April, "if not sooner". It comes a week after he published a four-page note summarising its conclusions - sparking demands for the report to be released in its entirety. On Monday, six Democratic congressional committee chairs sent a letter to Mr Barr demanding the release of the full, "complete and unredacted" report by 2 April. "Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Mr Barr wrote in his letter to congressional committee chiefs - although it will be redacted to remove legally sensitive material. It investigated whether President Donald Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia in 2016, in order to help steal the US election, but after a 22-month inquiry Special Counsel Mueller cleared the president of collusion. His long-awaited report stopped short of exonerating Mr Trump of the charge of obstruction of justice. But in his letter published on 24 March, Mr Barr said that the evidence presented in the report was not enough to charge the president with obstruction. Since former FBI director Mr Mueller was appointed to head up the investigation, his team has charged 34 people - including six former Trump aides and a dozen Russians - as well as three companies. None of those charges are directly related to the allegations of collusion. As well as promising to release a redacted version of the report, Mr Barr says that he won't be giving a copy to President Trump to review before publication, because "he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me". He adds that he will testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 1 May, and the House Judiciary Committee the following day. The attorney general also denies that his letter released last week was a "summary" of Mr Mueller's report, instead referring to it as a "supplemental notification". "My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the Special Counsel's investigation or report," he writes. "The Special Counsel's report is nearly 400 pages long (exclusive of tables and appendices) and sets forth the Special Counsel's findings, his analysis, and the reasons for his conclusions. Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Mr Barr's letter adds. Mr Trump has described the accusations against him as "treasonous". Asked about the report's conclusions a day after they were released, the president said: "There's a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say, treasonous things, against our country." He added: "It was a false narrative, it was a terrible thing, we can never let this happen to another president again, I can tell you that. I say it very strongly." In a rally on Thursday - his first since the report was submitted - the president claimed (incorrectly) that the report was a "total exoneration".. "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead, the collusion delusion is over," he told a cheering crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also called the investigation "a plan by those who lost the election to try and illegally regain power by framing innocent Americans - many of them, they suffered - with an elaborate hoax".
It investigated whether President Donald Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia in 2016, in order to help steal the US election, but after a 22-month inquiry Special Counsel Mueller cleared the president of collusion. His long-awaited report stopped short of exonerating Mr Trump of the charge of obstruction of justice. But in his letter published on 24 March, Mr Barr said that the evidence presented in the report was not enough to charge the president with obstruction. Since former FBI director Mr Mueller was appointed to head up the investigation, his team has charged 34 people - including six former Trump aides and a dozen Russians - as well as three companies. None of those charges are directly related to the allegations of collusion.
236_0
What did the Mueller report find?
As well as promising to release a redacted version of the report, Mr Barr says that he won't be giving a copy to President Trump to review before publication, because "he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me". He adds that he will testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 1 May, and the House Judiciary Committee the following day. The attorney general also denies that his letter released last week was a "summary" of Mr Mueller's report, instead referring to it as a "supplemental notification". "My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the Special Counsel's investigation or report," he writes. "The Special Counsel's report is nearly 400 pages long (exclusive of tables and appendices) and sets forth the Special Counsel's findings, his analysis, and the reasons for his conclusions. Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Mr Barr's letter adds.
236_1
What else does Mr Barr's letter say?
Mr Trump has described the accusations against him as "treasonous". Asked about the report's conclusions a day after they were released, the president said: "There's a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say, treasonous things, against our country." He added: "It was a false narrative, it was a terrible thing, we can never let this happen to another president again, I can tell you that. I say it very strongly." In a rally on Thursday - his first since the report was submitted - the president claimed (incorrectly) that the report was a "total exoneration".. "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead, the collusion delusion is over," he told a cheering crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also called the investigation "a plan by those who lost the election to try and illegally regain power by framing innocent Americans - many of them, they suffered - with an elaborate hoax".
236_2
How has the president reacted?