A redacted version of the complete report on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia should be in the hands of Congress “within a week,” says Attorney General William Barr.
The revelation came during Barr’s appearance before members of the House Appropriations Committee, which would normally be a routine hearing on the Justice Department budget.
Barr did not mention the Mueller report in his opening statement and sought to keep the proceedings focused on his $29.2 billion dollar budget proposal.
But Democrats weren’t having it.
“We could not hold this hearing without mentioning the elephant in the room,” said Rep. José Serranno (D-NY), chairman of the subcommittee holding the hearing. He added that it would be a “serious blow to our system and, yes, to our democracy” if the report is not released in full.
Rep. Nina M. Lowey (D-NY), chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee, “pressed Mr. Barr to say whether the White House has seen or been briefed on the contents of the Mueller report beyond what was in [Barr’s] letters about it to Congress. But Mr. Barr refused to answer,” reports the New York Times.
Barr’s silence on that question, says the Times, “raised the possibility that … the White House knows more than the public or Congress about what Mr. Mueller said.”
Barr said he will color-code and explain the information that is redacted “so the public knows why various material is being veiled,” reports the Washington Post.
Lowey said that Barr’s quick release of his 4-page summary of Mueller’s conclusions last month was “more suspicious than impressive,” the Post says, and she called on him to make minimal redactions to the report itself.
“I understand that portions of it must be redacted as a matter of law, but my hope is that you will stop there and bring transparency to this process as soon as possible,” Lowey said. “The American people deserve the facts.”
Democrats objected strongly last week when the Times “revealed … that some of Mr. Mueller’s investigators have complained that Mr. Barr failed to fully represent their findings and that they were more damaging for the president than the attorney general indicated.”
