Congress to Get Redacted Mueller Report by Mid-April

WASHINGTON (CN) – In a letter to Congress, Attorney General William Barr said Friday he will release a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly 400-page report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election by mid-April.

Addressed to Senator Lindsay Graham, R-Ky., and Representative Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., - the chairmen of the judiciary committees in the Senate and House, respectively – the two-page letter said Barr is “preparing the report for release” and making necessary redactions.

The special counsel’s office is assisting Barr with those redactions and the Justice Department is reviewing the report for sensitive information that “by law that cannot be made public,” according to the letter.

Information that could compromise “sensitive sources and methods” or details that could “affect other ongoing matters, including those that the special counsel has referred to other department offices” will also be redacted, Barr wrote.

Though the White House has the right to assert executive privilege over portions of the report, Barr noted that President Donald Trump has “stated publicly he intends to defer to me.”

“Accordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review,” the letter states. 

Following the submission of the Mueller report to the attorney general, Barr caused a stir with the public and press alike last weekend when he issued a brief summary clearing Trump of obstruction and collusion.  

In Friday’s letter to the chairmen, Barr said he was “aware of some media reports and other public statements mischaracterizing my March 24, 2019 supplemental notification as a ‘summary’ of the special counsel’s investigation and report.”

“My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the special counsel’s investigation or report,” Barr wrote.

Mueller’s findings, “analysis and reasons for his conclusions” will soon be made available for all to “read on their own,” according to the letter.  

The attorney general will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1.

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