Barr Will Not Immediately Give Congress Access to Mueller Findings
After at first hinting at a Saturday release of key findings from the report of special counsel Robert Mueller, Attorney General William Barr has decided to wait a little longer, according to Fox News.
According to The Washington Post, Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein were reviewing Mueller’s report Saturday morning at the Justice Department. The two officials were drafting a summary of conclusions that could be shared with Congress and the public.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been serving as one of President Donald Trump’s attorneys, said it is time for patience.
“My message is: We’ve all waited this long, let’s just await the reading of what’s disclosed and then we can have proper final reactions. There’s too much assuming going on, on the other side, and we shouldn’t fall into that trap,” Giuliani said.
“The best news is that the release means the case is over. But you can’t say more, or know more, until you read it. I’m confident, as I’ve been from the start, that the president did nothing wrong and that will sustain him. For everything he’s done, there’s a clear explanation he can make to the public,” he said.
A New York Times report said that as of Saturday, Mueller’s report had not been shared with the White House.
The Mueller investigation began in May 2017 to address allegations that there had been collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. The president has insisted from the start of the probe that there was never any collusion.
Over the course of the investigation, charges were brought against Paul Manafort related to activities long before he managed the Trump campaign and against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, as well as several other individuals.
On Friday, Mueller signaled that the investigation was over and that no further indictments would be sought.
Supporters of the president have hailed this as a victory for Trump. Democrats have said they will continue to investigate possible links to Russia and may have Mueller testify in public.
House Democrats holding 3 p.m. “emergency caucus conference call” to discuss the Mueller report. Speaker Pelosi says in a statement that a summary by Barr would be “insufficient.” https://t.co/Fa0mkM2rmQ
— Robert Costa (@costareports) March 23, 2019
Releasing the Mueller report to the public is about protecting our democracy and the people’s confidence in our elections and government. The White House must not interfere in any way — give the information to the American people.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 23, 2019
In an Op-Ed on Fox News, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz also suggested that Americans should read the report before reacting to it.
Dershowitz suggested a course that would enrage congressional Democrats who are fighting for the president to be kept out of the loop on the report.
“The fairest would be to immediately turn the report over to President Trump’s legal team and give them a week to write a response. Barr could then issue both reports simultaneously so that the American public could judge the comparative merits of both sides of this adversarial process,” he wrote.
Dershowitz stated that Barr faces pressure to release information but also noted that the report is likely to be one-sided.
“This is because prosecutorial reports – and Special Counsel Mueller is a prosecutor – are, by their very nature, one-sided. Prosecutors only listen to inculpatory evidence rather than including exculpatory evidence. They interview witnesses against the subject, but not witnesses in favor of the subject. That is why the Trump legal defense team needs to provide its assessment of the Mueller investigation,” he wrote.
“So hold your breath and stay tuned, America. And please, don’t rush to judgment until you have not only read this report but any response the Trump legal team may offer,” he wrote.
Barr said Friday that the report will be reviewed to determine if it contains classified information, and initially said that its principal conclusions would be shared over the weekend. Activist groups have already urged the report be released immediately.
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