Barr sifting report; summary to come later
Trump, lawmakers say little as work continues
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department will wait at least one more day to deliver the conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
What the Justice Department provides could supply its answer to questions that have loomed over the first two years of President Donald Trump’s administration: Did his campaign coordinate with a Russian effort to sway the 2016 election, and did he seek to obstruct the inquiries that followed?
A department official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said officials would not release those conclusions on Saturday.
Mueller submitted his confidential report to Barr on Friday.
Rather than delivering the full report directly to lawmakers, Attorney General William Barr said he would review the document to determine what could be released to Congress and the public. In his notification, Barr said neither the attorney general nor acting attorney general had blocked Mueller from pursuing any aspect of his investigation.
Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, spent Saturday reviewing Mueller’s report, as staff shuttled between their office suites. An official said that “very few” people have access to the report.
The delay all but assures another day of waiting for a report that could shape the future of Trump’s presidency. Yet, even the president known for bombastic tweets has been uncharacteristically subdued on Saturday, ensconced in his private Mar-a-lago resort.
Members of Congress seemed calm. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats and Republicans, many of whom had left Washington for the weekend, worked to determine how to respond when Mueller’s conclusions arrive, but had little to say publicly. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose chamber is conducting its own investigations of Trump, spent Friday night bowling at her granddaughter’s birthday party.
Mueller’s report signaled the end of an investigation launched in secret months before Trump was elected, when the FBI began gathering clues that made them suspicious of aides to Trump’s campaign. The investigation mushroomed to include whether the campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and whether the president himself attempted to obstruct it. And it produced a cascade of other criminal investigations targeting people around Trump, which have not yet concluded.
Mueller’s investigation revealed an extensive Russian intelligence operation that used hacking, stolen documents and phony social media campaigns to sew discord in U.S. politics.
But the investigation has not resulted in charges that anyone associated with Trump coordinated with the Russians, and a Justice Department official said Mueller’s report did not recommend that anyone else be indicted.