House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., issued a subpoena Friday to obtain the "complete and unredacted" version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, as well as the underlying materials -- the next step in what is almost certain to be a lengthy political and legal battle between Democrats and Republicans over the report.

"This includes, but is not limited to, all summaries, exhibits, indices, tables of contents or other tables or figures, appendices, supplements, addenda or any other attachments whether written or attached in a separate electronic format," the subpoena says.

Nadler's push comes a day after a redacted version of the report was made public. The White House has hailed the report, which found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government in 2016, as a victory.

But Democrats have pointed to Mueller's review of 10 instances where Trump may be considered to have obstructed justice -- although the special counsel did not conclude that Trump committed a crime -- as well as other details in the report as justification for Congress to see the full report, and for Mueller to testify to Congress.

Nadler and other Democrats have been particularly opposed to Attorney General William Barr's decision to release a redacted version of the report to Congress. Barr said that he, along with special counsel, identified four areas of the report that needed redactions, including grand jury material, information the intelligence community believes would reveal intelligence sources and methods, any material that could interfere with ongoing prosecutions, and information that could implicate the privacy or reputational interests of “peripheral players.”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN GOES ON POST-MUELLER ATTACK AGAINST 'OBAMA-ERA DOJ AND FBI,' WARNS 'JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED'

But Nadler has claimed that the committee needs to see the full report, as well as the underlying evidence, in order to determine any further action they may choose to take against the president or his associates.

"My Committee needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice," he said in a statement. "The redactions appear to be significant. We have so far seen none of the actual evidence that the Special Counsel developed to make this case. Even the redacted version of the report outlines serious instances of wrongdoing by President Trump and some of his closest associates. It now falls to Congress to determine the full scope of the alleged misconduct and to decide what steps we must take going forward."

Nadler is requesting the information on May 1, a day before Barr is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. If the Justice Department doesn't respond, Democrats could hold officials in contempt of Congress or fight it out in court. Nadler's committee also holds the power to launch impeachment proceedings, something that a number of House Democrats and 2020 presidential hopefuls have indicated they may support.

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Republicans immediately pushed back on Nadler's demand. Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga., accused him of "rushing to subpoena material" and of disregarding "good faith transparency without even taking the department up on its offer to review material under the redactions."

"As a result, today's subpoena is wildly overbroad," he said. "It commands the department to provide Congress with millions of records that would be plainly against the law to share because the vast majority of these documents came as a result of nearly 2,800 subpoenas from a grand jury that is still ongoing."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and President Donald Trump (all times local):

The Justice Department says it will provide Congress with a second version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report that has fewer redactions in the coming two weeks.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said in a letter to lawmakers Thursday that the Justice Department will make the report available to House and Senate leaders, as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on the judiciary and intelligence committees. Each lawmaker can also have a staff member present.

Boyd says the report will be provided in a secure reading room at the Justice Department next week and in a secure room in the Capitol the week of April 29.

The unredacted material will include classified information and material involving private citizens who were not charged. It won't include secret grand jury information.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report has finally been released to the public, and it spells out how President Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and choke off the investigation of possible obstruction of justice.

Trump is claiming vindication, but Mueller said the president was thwarted only by the refusal of some of those around him to follow his orders.

Mueller laid out multiple episodes in which Trump directed others to influence or curtail the Russia investigation after the special counsel's appointment in May 2017.

The report says those efforts "were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests."

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he'll be issuing a subpoena for the full special counsel report and the underlying materials.

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler says the report "outlines disturbing evidence" that President Donald Trump engaged in misconduct.

A redacted version of Robert Mueller's report was released on Thursday.

Nadler says the attorney general's decision to withhold the full report from lawmakers is "regrettable, but no longer surprising."

He says it's now up to Congress to hold the president accountable for his actions in the Russian probe.

The chairman has asked Mueller to testify before the panel by May 23.

Congress' two top Democrats say the special counsel's report "appears to undercut" Attorney General William Barr's assertion that it lacked sufficient evidence to conclude that President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer say there's a big difference between Barr's description of Robert Mueller's report and what the 448-page document actually reveals. Their joint statement suggests that Democrats are prepared to press the obstruction issue even as the presidential election season approaches.

Barr described the report to journalists before the Justice Department released it. His remarks were largely positive toward Trump, saying Mueller found no cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Pelosi and Schumer say the "differences are stark" between Barr's account of the report's findings and the report itself.

Attorney General William Barr says a version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report with fewer redactions will be made available to a small group of lawmakers.

In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Barr says the second version of the report would be given to the "Gang of Eight," the top-ranking House and Senate lawmakers from both parties who can view sensitive classified information. The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees will also receive it.

Barr said all redactions would be removed from that version of the report except those relating to grand-jury information.

The attorney general said, "I do not believe that I have discretion to disclose grand-jury information to Congress. Nevertheless, this accommodation will allow you to review the bulk of the redacted material for yourselves."

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer is suggesting the president was ensnared in some kind of "counterintelligence frame-up."

Rudy Giuliani is responding to the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Giuliani is suggesting, without evidence, that the idea of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia began earlier than was outlined in Mueller's report.

He's says it, "Sounds like a counterintelligence trap to me."

Giuliani also says that, throughout the investigation, Trump was trying to avoid the "perjury trap" that he claims others fell into.

Giuliani says he and other members of the president's legal team read the full report in a secure room at the Justice Department earlier this week. He insists it doesn't contain a "single surprise."

He spoke Thursday on Fox News Channel after the report's public release.

Special counsel Robert Mueller says President Donald Trump's efforts to influence the Russia investigation "were mostly unsuccessful," but that was because the people surrounding the president "declined to carry out orders to accede to his requests."

Mueller's report details instances by several officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, former White House counsel Don McGahn and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, ignoring or refusing Trump's requests to interfere in the investigation.

The Justice Department released a redacted version of Mueller's report on Thursday.

President Donald Trump's lawyer is defending him after the special counsel's report said Trump tried to seize control of the Russia investigation.

Rudy Giuliani, speaking to Fox News, said Trump "did not have a guilty motive."

A redacted version of Robert Mueller's report was released Thursday. The incidents scrutinized by Mueller's team include Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president's directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.

Giuliani did not dispute the facts of those incidents, but said Trump was an innocent man reacting normally in the face of what he said was a heavily biased investigation. The former New York City mayor said the efforts were "an attempt not to get framed."

Three House Republican leaders say the special counsel's report on President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian interference in that election have vindicated the president.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says the report by Robert Mueller shows it's time to move on from Democrats' effort to "vilify a political opponent." The California lawmaker says the report lacks "imaginary evidence" incriminating Trump that Democrats have sought.

No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise says Trump didn't cooperate with Russians or obstruct investigators. The Louisianan says Democrats should apologize for "this smear campaign."

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, and he says Democrats' claims that Trump obstructed the probe were unfounded.

Top Senate Republicans were more cautious, praising the investigation but saying they looked forward to learning the report's details.

The spokesman for Vladimir Putin says it's not yet clear if the Russian president will be informed in detail of the special counsel's report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Dmitry Peskov spoke to state news agency Tass shortly after the report was released in Washington on Thursday.

He said, "First we will have to leaf through it and understand if there is something deserving analysis."

The Mueller report appears to be most heavily redacted in its first section, which covers Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and examines contacts between Russian representatives and the Trump campaign. The report concludes there was no criminal culpability by Trump aides.

Several pages in that first section are almost entirely blacked out. The report's second section, examining possible obstruction by President Donald Trump, appears more lightly redacted.

The Justice Department's careful excisions begin as early as the fourth page of the report.

Barr said he was withholding grand jury and classified information as well as portions relating to ongoing investigation and the privacy or reputation of uncharged "peripheral" people.

In referencing an oligarch who headed up a team of Russian tech experts who used U.S. social media to exploit American political controversies, Justice officials blacked out details about the man's ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Special counsel Robert Mueller found that contacts between Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trump campaign officials in April 2016 and at the 2016 GOP convention were "brief, public, and non-substantive."

Mueller's assessment came as part of his investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mueller's report adds that his office "did not establish" that efforts to alter the GOP platform's language on Ukraine at the convention were done at the behest of Trump or Russia.

Additionally, Mueller did not establish that a conversation between Kislyak and then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions in September 2016 included "any more than a passing mention of the presidential campaign." Sessions later served as Trump's attorney general.

Two of the Senate's top Republicans are praising Attorney General William Barr for releasing the special counsel's report on the 2016 election. But they're stopping short of joining Barr in proclaiming that the report vindicates President Donald Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says in a written statement, "I look forward to carefully reviewing the report."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham says his panel is studying the report. The South Carolina Republican says he's eager to hear Barr's May 1 testimony to his panel.

Both lawmakers issued their statements minutes after the Justice Department released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Barr told reporters earlier that Mueller found that Trump's campaign did not cooperate with Russians who interfered in the election and that there was insufficient evidence to say Trump obstructed investigators.

Donald Trump's legal team says the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation are a "total victory for the president."

The lawyers say in a statement that Mueller's report is "nothing more than an attempt to rehash old allegations." The statement came as Mueller's report was publicly released.

Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russia government to interfere in the 2016 election. He did not exonerate Trump on the question of whether he committed obstruction of justice.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team was dissatisfied with written responses from President Donald Trump, but decided against issuing a subpoena for an interview.

In Mueller's report released Thursday, prosecutors call Trump's answers "inadequate." They considered issuing a subpoena for Trump, but decided against it after weighing the likelihood of a long legal battle.

Prosecutors also said they had enough information from other sources to draw "relevant factual conclusions on intent and credibility."

Mueller's team investigated contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia and whether the president obstructed justice. The written answers did not cover obstruction of justice.

President Donald Trump says he's "having a good day" following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

And he says that no president should ever have to go through what he did again.

Speaking at an unrelated White House event, he says, "It was called no collusion, no obstruction." And add, "there never was, by the way, and there never will be."

Trump is also renewing his calls for an investigation into the origins of the inquiry, saying "We do have to get to the bottom of these things."

He says: "this should never happen to another president again, this hoax."

Trump is speaking an event honoring the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride, a multi-day bike ride for wounded veterans and service member.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation is two volumes and 448 pages long including attachments.

The report's first volume details Russian election interference and the second relates to whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report reveals how Trump repeatedly sought to seize control of the Russia probe.

The 10 episodes scrutinized by Mueller include Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president's directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.

The president's lawyers have said Trump's conduct fell within his constitutional powers, but Mueller's team deemed the episodes were deserving of scrutiny to determine whether crimes were committed.

Democrats vying for their party's 2020 presidential nomination are condemning Attorney General William Barr for acting like a defender of President Donald Trump.

Barr held a news conference on special counsel Robert Mueller's report before it was released. He said it found no cooperation between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russians interfering in that election.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that it was "a disgrace" for Barr to act like "the personal attorney and publicist" for Trump.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called Barr's news conference "a farce and an embarrassing display of propaganda" for Trump. And New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said, "The American people deserve the truth. Not spin from a Trump appointee."

California Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted that Barr's news conference was "a stunt, filled with political spin."

The Justice Department has provided Congress with a redacted version of the report. Democrats want the full report released.

Trump's responses are being released by Attorney General William Barr without redactions and comprise 12 pages.

Trump told Mueller he had no recollection of several key events in Mueller's probe, including a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between top aides and a Russian lawyer offering aid to his campaign. Trump also told Mueller he had no recollection that he was told that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to aid his campaign or hurt Hillary Clinton's 2016 effort, or that any foreign leader wanted to help his candidacy.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report says President Donald Trump reacted to his appointment by saying it was the "end of his presidency."

Mueller investigated multiple instances of Trump attempting to curtail the special counsel probe as part of determining whether the president committed obstruction of justice.

Robert Mueller's report reveals President Donald Trump's efforts to seize control of the Russia probe and force the special counsel's removal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Attorney General William Barr is involved in a "staggering public effort" by the Trump administration to put a positive face on special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

The California Democrat is referring to Barr's morning news conference, where he said the report found no cooperation between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in that election. Pelosi is also citing Barr's statement that he gave Trump's personal attorney an early look at the report, before its public release.

Pelosi says it is "more urgent than ever" that Mueller testify before Congress. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has formally invited Mueller to testify as soon as possible.

A redacted version of Mueller's report is due to be released later Thursday morning.

The Senate's top Democrat is mocking Attorney General William Barr's news conference on special counsel Robert Mueller's report as a "campaign press conference" for President Donald Trump.

The tweet by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer also says it is time to release Mueller's report on his investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in the election. Schumer is Senate minority leader.

Barr told reporters at a news conference that the report found no cooperation between the campaign and Russia and no effort by Trump to thwart investigators.

The Justice Department planned to release the report later Thursday morning. Barr says portions of it will be blacked out to protect national security secrets, grand jury investigations and other sensitive information. Democrats have said they want the full report released.

Attorney General William Barr says he and deputy Rod Rosenstein disagreed with some of special counsel Robert Mueller's "legal theories" pertaining to obstruction of justice, but that didn't influence their decision that President Donald Trump didn't commit a crime.

In a press conference ahead of the report's expected release, Barr says Mueller reviewed 10 episodes as part of his investigation into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice. Barr says he and Rosenstein "felt that some of the episodes examined did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law."

The attorney general maintains that they set their feelings on the matter aside and accepted Mueller's "legal framework for purposes of our analysis" when they determined that the evidence gathered by Mueller was "not sufficient to establish" that Trump had violated the law.

A Republican Ohio congressman who's been one of President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders is hailing Attorney General William Barr's statements that the special counsel's report has concluded there is no evidence that Trump's campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election or that he tried thwarting investigators.

Rep. Jim Jordan is tweeting, "No collusion! No obstruction! Complete cooperation from the President. No executive privilege asserted."

Jordan issued his remarks shortly after Barr spoke to reporters. The report was expected to be released later Thursday morning.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is asking special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his panel as soon as possible about his report on the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler released a three-sentence letter to Mueller requesting his appearance, minutes after Attorney General William Barr ended a news conference in which he described the special counsel's report. The New York Democrat tweeted that Congress and the public need to hear directly from Mueller to "better understand his findings."

Nadler wrote in his letter that he wants Mueller to testify by May 23 and asked for his "prompt attention" to the request.

Barr said at his news conference that he did not object to Mueller testifying.

Attorney General William Barr says he will allow Congress to view special counsel Robert Mueller's report with nothing redacted other than grand jury information.

Barr says three other categories of information also were redacted in the publicly released report, including information pertaining to ongoing prosecutions and sensitive intelligence sources and methods.

Barr says he hopes that giving Congress access to the less redacted report and his upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill "will satisfy any need Congress has for information regarding the special counsel's investigation."

Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters shortly before the report's release.

Attorney General William Barr says he has "no objection" to special counsel Robert Mueller testifying before Congress about his investigation.

Barr says: "I have no objection to Bob Mueller personally testifying."

Mueller remains a Justice Department employee, and Barr could have blocked Mueller from speaking to Congress. Democrats have discussed calling Mueller to testify but have yet to formally ask.

Attorney General William Barr says President Donald Trump did not exert executive privilege over any information included in special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

He said the White House counsel reviewed a redacted version of the report before Trump decided not to invoke executive privilege.

Barr said "no material has been redacted based on executive privilege."

Attorney General William Barr says special counsel Robert Mueller's report recounts 10 episodes involving President Donald Trump that were investigated as potential acts of criminal obstruction of justice.

Barr says Mueller did not reach a "prosecutorial judgment" and that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded the evidence was not sufficient to establish the president committed an offense.

For complete coverage of the Mueller report, go to https://www.apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations </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> 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> U.S. House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to obtain the full Russia investigation report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying that a redacted version “leaves most of Congress in the dark. “

 

 "My committee needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice,” Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (Democrat-New York), said in a statement on April 19, the day after the release of the partially redacted 448-page report.

 

 Attorney General William Barr sent the Mueller report to Congress, blacking out several types of material, including classified information, material pertaining to ongoing investigations, and grand jury evidence.

 

 Mueller corroborated U.S. intelligence conclusions of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and also documented President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine his inquiry, but Mueller concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove Trump and his team committed a crime by colluding with Russia officials.

 

 The report also points to areas where Trump and his associates could still face legal problems, as well as the potential for impeachment proceedings.

 

 “The redactions appear to be significant. We have so far seen none of the actual evidence that the special counsel developed to make this case," Nadler said. He said the report points to "serious instances of wrongdoing" by Trump.

 

 But the committee's top Republican, Doug Collins, said the subpoena was "wildly overbroad" and that Trump already declined to assert executive privilege in a move of "unprecedented openness."

 

 He said that Nadler was rushing the process for political gain.

 

 The subpoena gives Barr until May 1 to produce the materials requested.

 

 The subpoena is the opening shot in what could be a lengthy legal battle. If the Justice Department doesn't respond, Democrats could hold officials in contempt of Congress or eventually fight the battle in court.

 

 Mueller’s report painstakingly details evidence about Russian election meddling and confirms the previous findings of the U.S. intelligence community of a two-pronged Russian strategy to manipulate U.S. public opinion through e-mail hacking and a disinformation campaign.

 

 "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,” the Mueller report said.

 

 However, Russia’s Foreign Ministry falsely claimed on April 19 that Mueller "admitted" his investigation did not find evidence of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

 

 "There is nothing there to catch attention. In fact, it confirms the absence of any arguments proving Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. election,” said Georgy Borisenko, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North America Department. “There is not a single piece of evidence. In fact, the report’s authors have admitting having no proof,” Borisenko claimed.

 

 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on April 19 also dismissed the evidence contained in the Mueller report, saying the Kremlin does not accept the meddling accusations.

 

 “As a whole, the report as before does not present any reasonable proof at all that Russia allegedly meddled in the electoral process in the United States,” Peskov told journalists in Moscow a day after the publication of the redacted version of the document.

 

 Among the most pointed allegations leveled earlier by Mueller regarding Russian interference was the indictment of a dozen Russian military intelligence officers who, he said, were behind the hacking and theft of Democratic Party e-mails, e-mails that were released in the heat of the 2016 U.S. election.

 

 While the Mueller report concluded there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove Trump or members of his team colluded with Russia's state-sponsored meddling campaign, it said Trump and at least 17 of his campaign officials and advisers did have more than 100 contacts with Russians during the 2016 election campaign. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr’s review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The directive comes as the White House spars with congressional Democrats over the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and if there were any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive.

The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review.

A redacted version of Mueller’s report was released publicly in April. The probe found no evidence that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, but outlined some incidents that Democrats have said may be obstruction.

Republican House member Mark Meadows tweeted on Thursday that “Americans are going to learn the truth about what occurred at their Justice Department.”

Adam Schiff, a Democrat member and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Trump’s directive.

“While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies,” Schiff said on Twitter.

“The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American,” he added.

In separate comments late Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show”, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Mueller had told him that he is willing to testify to lawmakers in private, but is willing to make a public statement.

Nadler, a Democrat, told Maddow that if Mueller did testify behind closed doors then the public would get a written transcript of the testimony.

But Trump railed on Twitter early Friday against the investigation, and said that the investigation was politically motivated.

He wrote: “Intelligence Agencies were used against an American President.” @DevinNunes @ShannonBream @FoxNews This should NEVER happen to a President again! Dems are furious at Robert Mueller for his findings - NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Now they should go back to work and legislate!”

“DRAINING THE SWAMP”

Trump, a Republican, harbors suspicions that the Democratic Obama administration ordered him investigated during the 2016 campaign to try to undermine his candidacy, and he wants payback against those he believes were responsible.

“Comey, Brennan, Clapper, we’re draining the swamp, folks,” Trump told a rally on Monday in Pennsylvania, referring to former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, all of whom have been critical of Trump.

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Attroney General William Barr passes President Donald Trump as he heads to the podium to speak during the presentation of Public Safety Medals of Valor to officers in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Of specific interest to Trump are the warrants that emanated from a secretive court that authorizes surveillance on foreign powers and their agents. Trump supporters believe the warrants will identify those responsible for the Russia probe that is still roiling Washington.

Last month, Barr said at a Senate hearing that “spying” on Trump’s campaign was carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, though he later referred to his concerns as focused on “unauthorized surveillance.”

Barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to probe the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the opening of the FBI probe. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his inquiry into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election detailed a series of actions by President Donald Trump to impede the probe, raising questions about whether he committed the crime of obstruction of justice.

The release on Thursday of the 448-page report that disclosed the findings of a 22-month investigation represented a watershed moment in Trump’s tumultuous presidency.

Mueller did not make a conclusion on whether Trump, whose presidency has been overshadowed by the Russia investigation, had committed obstruction of justice but did not exonerate him either.

The report provided fresh details of how the Republican president tried to force Mueller’s ouster, directed members of his administration to publicly vouch for his innocence and dangled a pardon to a former aide to try to prevent him from cooperating with the special counsel.

It also concluded, as Barr announced last month, that Trump and his campaign had not engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia during the election.

Barr in March concluded that Trump had not broken the law, but told a news conference on Thursday that Mueller had detailed “10 episodes involving the president and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense.”

Trump appeared to be in a celebratory mood, saying at a White House event with wounded U.S. troops that he was “having a good day” following the report’s release, adding, “It’s called no collusion, no obstruction.”

The report’s disclosure, with portions blacked out by Barr to protect some sensitive information, is certain to launch a new political fight in Congress and on the 2020 presidential campaign trail, as Trump seeks re-election in a deeply divided country.

Trump has long described Mueller’s inquiry as a “witch hunt.”

The report stated that when Jeff Sessions, Barr’s predecessor as attorney general, told Trump in May 2017 that a special counsel was being appointed by the Justice Department to look into allegations that the Republican’s campaign colluded with Russia, Trump slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my god. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”

Some Democrats in the House of Representatives have spoken of launching impeachment proceedings against Trump in Congress but top Democrats have been notably cautious. Any such effort would be unlikely to be successful because Trump fellow Republicans controls the Senate, which would decide the president’s fate.

The inquiry laid bare what the special counsel and U.S. intelligence agencies have described as a Russian campaign of hacking and propaganda to sow discord in the United States, denigrate 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trump, the Kremlin’s preferred candidate. Russia has denied election interference.

In analyzing whether Trump obstructed justice, Mueller looked at a series of actions by Trump, including his attempts to remove Mueller and limit the scope of his probe and efforts to prevent the public from knowing about a June, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York between senior campaign officials and Russians.

In June 2017, Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to tell the then-acting attorney general that Mueller had conflicts of interest and must be removed, the report said.

It also said there was “substantial evidence” that Trump fired James Comey as FBI director in 2017 due to his “unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation.”

Mueller cited “some evidence” suggesting Trump knew about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s controversial calls with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office, but evidence was “inconclusive” and could not be used to establish intent to obstruct.

The report said Trump directed former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to ask former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to say the Russia investigation was “very unfair.”

Before the report’s release, Barr gave a news conference at the Justice Department as he sought to shape the narrative on the document’s findings.

One of a handful of people to have seen the report before its release, Barr emphasized, as he had said last month, that Mueller did not conclude there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow.

“President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of his associates,” Barr said.

Barr seemed to offer cover for Trump’s actions by saying the report acknowledges that “there is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks.”

Mueller’s team did not issue a subpoena to force Trump to give an interview to the special counsel because it would have created a “substantial delay” at a late stage in the investigation, the report said.

It said Mueller accepted the longstanding Justice Department view that a sitting president cannot be indicted on criminal charges, while still recognizing that a president can be criminally investigated.

The report also cited Mueller’s repeated efforts to convince Sessions to resume oversight of the probe after he had recused himself because of his own prior contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

Mueller said evidence he collected indicates that Trump intended to encourage his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, not to cooperate with the investigation and that the evidence supports the idea that Trump wanted Manafort to believe that he could receive a presidential pardon.

The report said the special counsel’s team determined there was a “reasonable argument” that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., violated campaign finance laws, but did not believe they could obtain a conviction. </s> The Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee has approved subpoenas to get the full, unedited report and other evidence related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The committee voted 24-17 along party lines on April 3 to authorize Chairman Jerrold Nadler to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report.

Included in the subpoenas would be any underlying evidence or materials prepared for the investigation by the special counsel.

The action also authorized Nadler to subpoena documents and testimony from five former Trump aides, including ex-political adviser Steve Bannon and former White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

Democrats in the House had given Attorney General William Barr until April 2 to provide the full report to Congress.

The Justice Department did not meet the deadline. Barr told Nadler that an edited version of the 300-page report would be provided in mid-April, "if not sooner."

Democrats have expressed concerns that Barr, recently appointed by President Donald Trump, would use redactions to cover up any evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

"The Trump administration has an idea. They want to redact the Mueller report before they provide it to Congress," Nadler said.

Mueller officially closed his investigation when he submitted the report on March 22. Barr then sent a four-page letter to Congress, detailing Mueller's "principal conclusions."

Barr wrote that the special counsel did not find that the Trump presidential campaign coordinated or conspired with Russia to win the election and did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters </s> (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said he’ll summon Attorney General William Barr before the panel to explain “concerning discrepancies” in the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue obstruction charges against President Donald Trump.

Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York said he wants to know why Barr concluded there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute Trump while Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report said the investigation did “not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” according to Barr’s letter to Congress summarizing the findings.

“Given what Barr found on obstruction of justice, I think all of us should be very concerned about the even-handedness,” Nadler said on MSNBC. “The American public needs to know how exactly did he conclude there is no obstruction of justice.”

Nadler wrote earlier on Twitter that “we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.”

Barr on Sunday delivered a four-page summary of Mueller’s report, which came after a 22-month investigation into whether Trump or any member of his campaign conspired with a Russian government effort to interfere with the 2016 election. Mueller also examined whether Trump took actions to obstruct Justice.

“The report found evidence on both sides of the question” on obstruction and “leaves unresolved what the special counsel views as difficult issues of law,” Barr wrote in a letter to Congress. Barr quoted Mueller’s report as saying, “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Barr wrote that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence developed by Mueller’s investigation “is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

Democrats are demanding release of the full Mueller report.

Nadler’s committee is one of several in the Democratic-controlled House that are undertaking investigations into the Trump administration from his 2016 campaign through his first two years in office. Nadler has asked for documents from 81 individuals, agencies and entities, including the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, and other associates of the president.

Trump and his allies said the Mueller report exonerates the president of all the allegations that have been swirling around presidency. The top Republican on the House Judiciary, Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, said Nadler needs “to rethink his sprawling investigation, which retreads ground already covered by the special counsel and is already a matter of public record.”

“I hope he recognizes that what may be political fodder for Democrats may not be good for the county,” Collins said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lee Spears in New York at lspears3@bloomberg.net;Miles Weiss in Washington at mweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John Harney
The redacted version of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is released by U.S. Attorney General William Barr. The investigation did not find any conspiracy between President Donald Trump and the Russian government regarding the accusation that they collaborated to win the 2016 presidential election. The report did not rule out if the Trump administration committed obstruction of justice. The Department of Justice also stated some members of Congress will receive a less-redacted version of the report in the near future.