The following is Attorney General Bill Barr’s letter to key congressional leaders summarizing the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report: </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Friday rejected Attorney General William Barr’s proposal to allow them access to a less-redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report.

In an April 19 letter to the attorney general, six Democratic lawmakers led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer instead reiterated their demand for Barr to release the unredacted Mueller report and underlying evidence to Congress. But they also said they were open to discussing a “reasonable accommodation” with the Justice Department.

The letter was also signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, top Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein and top Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat Mark Warner.

“Your proposed accommodation - which among other things would prohibit discussion of the full report, even with other committee members - is not acceptable,” the Democrats wrote.

The lawmakers said access to the full Mueller report and underlying evidence is necessary for Congress to fulfill its “constitutional responsibilities”.

“This includes considering whether legislation is needed in light of the findings contained in Special Counsel Mueller’s report and the attorney general’s determination that no prosecution is warranted despite those facts,” the letter said.

Also on Friday, Nadler issued a subpoena to obtain the full report. </s> Attorney General William Barr delivers a press conference at the Justice Department ahead of the expected release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A redacted version of the report is expected to be released on Thursday. </s> Attorney General William Barr headed back into the office Sunday as the Justice Department works through the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling — and possible ties between President Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin.

Mueller delivered his long-awaited report to Barr late Friday and announced that his office will not seek additional indictments in the case, which has cast a cloud over the first two years of Trump’s administration.

Barr will decide how much of the report the public and Congress will see and could make his first findings available as soon as today.

He spent more than nine hours in the office on Saturday before returning there Sunday.

Top Democrats demanded this weekend that the entire report be released — save for redactions made to protect national security — and reiterated Sunday they are ready to subpoena the report, underlying information and administration officials to ascertain its contents if it is not.

“If that is the case, and they can’t hold him accountable, the only institution that can hold a president accountable is Congress, and Congress, therefore, needs the evidence and information,” New York City Rep. Jerry Nadler said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Nadler is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has the power to issue subpoenas.

“I suspect that we’ll find those words of transparency to prove hollow, that in fact they will fight to make sure that Congress doesn’t get this underlying evidence,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California, chairman of the House intelligence committee, said on ABC’s “This Week.” </s> WASHINGTON — Lawmakers reacted to the bombshell news on Friday that former FBI Director Robert Mueller and the special counsel finished their investigative report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections by demanding that Barr release the final report to the public.

Whether or not that happens will ultimately be at the discretion of Attorney General William Barr.

Read more:The House just voted 420-0 to demand Robert Mueller's final report be made public

"Congress and the American people deserve to judge the facts for themselves. The Special Counsel's report must be provided to Congress immediately, and the Attorney General should swiftly prepare a declassified version of the report for the public," said Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. "Nothing short of that will suffice."

Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, added, that "any attempt by the Trump Administration to cover up the results of this investigation into Russia's attack on our democracy would be unacceptable."

In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said "it is imperative for Mr. Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress."

"Attorney General Barr must not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any 'sneak preview' of Special Counsel Mueller's findings or evidence, and the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public," the two Democratic leaders said.

"The Special Counsel's investigation focused on questions that go to the integrity of our democracy itself: whether foreign powers corruptly interfered in our elections, and whether unlawful means were used to hinder that investigation," they added. "The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency."

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he had been informed by Barr of the Mueller's conclusion, again demanding the findings be given to Congress as soon as possible.

"We look forward to getting the full Mueller report and related materials," he wrote on Twitter. "Transparency and the public interest demand nothing less. The need for public faith in the rule of law must be the priority."

Nadler's counterpart in House Judiciary ranking Republican Rep. Doug Collins said in a statement he expects the findings to be released to both Congress and the public as is consistent with the law.

"After nearly two years, the special counsel has concluded his investigation, and I look forward to reviewing Attorney General Barr's report carefully, when it becomes available," he said. "I fully expect the Justice Department to release the special counsel's report to this committee and to the public without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law."

The House of Representatives has already passed a resolution demanding Mueller's final report become public, but it is nonbinding and largely symbolic.

In addition, many of the 2020 presidential hopefuls running for the Democratic nomination weighed in, demanding the report's immediate release.

"Attorney General Barr—release the Mueller report to the American public," Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote on Twitter. "Now."

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker tweeted the report needs to be made public "immediately."

"Special counsel Mueller's report should be made public without any delay," New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wrote on Twitter. "The American people have a right to know its findings." Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro wrote on Twitter, "The American people deserve to know the full truth about Russia's interference in our democracy. The Special Counsel report must be publicly released in its entirety."

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont cited President Donald Trump's own words in a statement on the Mueller report Friday: "As Donald Trump said, 'Let it come out.'"

"I call on the Trump administration to make Special Counsel Mueller's full report public as soon as possible. No one, including the president, is above the law, Sanders said.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke simply declared, "Release the Mueller report to the American people."

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, the first Democrat to enter the 2020 race, made a point of noting the taxpayers funded the investigation and therefore deserve to see its findings.

"You, the American people, paid for the Mueller Report and you, the American people, deserve to see it," he wrote on Twitter. "Make your voices heard!" </s> Attorney General William Barr will face lawmakers' questions for the first time since releasing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report and amid new revelations Mueller expressed frustration to Barr about how the report's findings were being portrayed.

The Senate hearing promises to be a dramatic showdown as Barr defends his actions before Democrats who accuse him of spinning the investigation's findings in President Donald Trump's favor.

Barr's appearance Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to highlight the partisan schism around Mueller's report and the Justice Department's handling of it. It will give the attorney general his most extensive opportunity to explain the department's actions, including a press conference held before the report's release, and for him to repair a reputation bruised by allegations that he's the Republican president's protector.

A major focus of the hearing is likely to be the Tuesday night revelation that Mueller told Barr, in a letter to the Justice Department and in a phone call, that he was frustrated with how the conclusions of his investigation were being portrayed.

Barr also is invited to appear Thursday before the Democratic-led House Judiciary panel, but the Justice Department said he would not testify if the committee insisted on having its lawyers question the attorney general.

Barr's appearance Wednesday will be before a Republican-led committee chaired by a close ally of the president, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is expected to focus on concerns that the early days of the FBI's Russia investigation were tainted by law enforcement bias against Trump.

Democrats are likely to press Barr on statements and actions in the last six weeks that have unnerved them. The tense relations are notable given how Barr breezed through his confirmation process , picking up support from a few Democrats and offering reassuring words about the Justice Department's independence and the importance of protecting the special counsel's investigation.

The first hint of discontent surfaced last month when Barr issued a four-page statement that summarized what he said were the main conclusions of the Mueller report. In the letter, Barr revealed that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had cleared Trump of obstruction of justice after Mueller and his team found evidence on both sides of the question but didn't reach a conclusion.

Barr is likely to defend himself by noting how he released the report on his own even though he didn't have to under the special counsel regulations, and that doing so fulfilled a pledge he made at to be as transparent as the law allowed. Barr may say that he wanted to move quickly to give the public a summary of Mueller's main findings as the Justice Department spent weeks redacting more sensitive information from the report.

After the letter's release, Barr raised eyebrows anew when he told a congressional committee that he believed the Trump campaign had been spied on, a common talking point of the president and his supporters. A person familiar with Barr's thinking has said Barr, a former CIA employee, did not mean spying in a necessarily inappropriate way and was simply referring to intelligence collection activities.

He also equivocated on a question of whether Mueller's investigation was a witch hunt, saying someone who feels wrongly accused would reasonably view an investigation that way. That was a stark turnabout from his confirmation hearing, when he said he didn't believe Mueller would ever be on a witch hunt.

Then came Barr's April 18 press conference to announce the release of the Mueller report later that morning.

He repeated about a half dozen times that Mueller's investigation had found no evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia, though the special counsel took pains to note in his report that "collusion" was not a legal term and also pointed out the multiple contacts between the campaign and Russia.

In remarks that resembled some of Trump's own claims, he praised the White House for giving Mueller's team "unfettered access" to documents and witnesses. He suggested the president had the right to be upset by the investigation, given his "sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks."

It remained unclear Tuesday whether Barr would appear before the House committee. That panel's Democratic chairman, Rep, Jerrold Nadler of New York, said witnesses could too easily filibuster when questioned by lawmakers restricted by five-minute time limits. Having lawyers do the questioning enables the committee "to dig down on an issue and pursue an issue."

"And it's not up to anybody from the executive branch to tell the legislative branch how to conduct our business," Nadler said.

The committee will vote on allowing staff to question Barr at a separate meeting Wednesday, at the same time Barr takes questions from the Senate.

The top Republican on the House Judiciary panel, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, sharply criticized the plan. Nadler "has taken a voluntary hearing and turned it into a sideshow," Collins said.

The Justice Department's stance appears consistent with the Trump administration's broader strategy of "undermining Congress as an institution," said Elliot Williams, who previously served as deputy assistant attorney general in the department's legislative affairs office in the Obama administration.

He said that if he were still advising an attorney general, he would resist the idea of staff questioning a Cabinet official. "It's a rational response to not want them questioning the attorney general," Williams said.

That said, Williams added, "It's an incredibly common practice in the House of Representatives and was a practice long before President trump or William Barr took their offices and will be a practice long after they're gone." </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Monday he wants Attorney General William Barr to appear before the panel to discuss the special counsel’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“What’s next, I hope, will be that he will come to the committee (and) release as much as possible of the Mueller report,” Senator Lindsey Graham said, referring to the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General William Barr will face pointed questions on Wednesday about his handling of the special counsel’s report on Russia’s role in the 2016 election when he testifies before Congress amid accusations he misrepresented the document’s findings.

Barr’s testimony will mark the first time a member of President Donald’s Trump administration will have to testify about the contents of Robert Mueller’s report into whether Moscow conspired with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election and whether the president tried to impede the investigation.

On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Mueller complained about a four-page summary written by the attorney general, saying in a letter it “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the investigation’s conclusions.

Barr said in his summary of the report released on March 24 that Mueller did not establish that members of Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 election.

He said Mueller left unresolved in his report the question of whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by impeding the Russia investigation. Barr said he and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, had determined there was insufficient evidence to establish the president committed obstruction of justice.

The 448-page, partially redacted report, released on April 18, described in extensive and sometimes unflattering detail how Trump tried to impede the probe, but it stopped short of concluding he had committed a crime.

Some Democrats say Barr acted improperly by ruling out obstruction of justice charges against the president and praising the White House in a news conference ahead of the report’s release.

Internally, Democrats are now debating whether the report serves as a suitable basis for impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, have questioned whether the FBI overstepped its authority by monitoring Trump aides it suspected of being Russian agents during the campaign. Barr has said he will look into the matter.

Barr is also due to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Democrats who control the committee and the Justice Department are in disagreement over the format of the hearing.

Democrats want Barr to face extended questioning from staff lawyers once the customary round of questioning by lawmakers is complete, and sit for a closed-door session to discuss redacted portions of Mueller’s report.

The Justice Department objected because witnesses traditionally do not face questions from committee staff.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has also demanded that Barr provide an unredacted version of the report and underlying evidence by 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Wednesday. The Justice Department has not said whether it will comply with that request. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, said on Sunday his panel would call Attorney General William Barr to testify shortly, citing concerns over Barr’s conclusions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe report.

“In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future,” Nadler said on Twitter.
Attorney General William Barr releases the "principal conclusions" of Mueller's investigation in a four-page public letter to the Congress's Judiciary Committee leadership.