Mueller Report More Than 300 Pages Long – When Should It Be Released?

What’s the story?

• Special counsel Robert Mueller's report to Attorney General William Barr about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is over 300 pages long, according to the New York Times.
• The size of the report is raising new questions about Barr’s 4-page summary, and how much of the report the public will be able to read—and when they’ll be able to read it.
• Mueller’s report found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but reached no conclusion on whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice. However, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined there was insufficient evidence that Trump obstructed justice.

What’s next?

• Barr wrote Sunday that his “goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.”
• House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told reporters on Wednesday that Barr agreed to testify before Congress about the report “reasonably soon.”
• However, Nadler shared concerns that the Justice Department would not provide Congress the full report by April 2, the deadline Democrats had given the AG.

"The special counsel, Mueller, spent 22 months investigating this and these are some of the central questions before the United States Congress and the American people and it is unacceptable if we don't - the Congress, certainly, and the American people - don't see the full report and he wouldn't commit to that. We are not happy about that, to put it mildly."

• The DOJ and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said there were no plans to provide a copy of the report to the White House before it’s made public.
• In a CNN interview Wednesday, Graham said Barr will first go through the report and remove certain information about Mueller’s grand jury (which can’t be made public). Barr will then run that version by the intelligence community and prosecutors to solicit further redactions.
• "When he does that, which will take some weeks not months, he'll turn it over to the Senate and the House and he'll come before the Senate Judiciary Committee and he'll tell us about it," said Graham.

"I have no idea how much grand jury material is there," Graham said. "Here's what I do know: You'll get everything that doesn't compromise national security or violate the law."

What do you think?

Do you want to see the full Mueller report? When? Should the White House be able to redact information before its released? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

 (Photo: Screen Capture)