It’s day two of questions for Attorney General William Barr who is being pressed on the impending release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Barr, who appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday, told lawmakers Wednesday he hopes to release a redacted version of the report “next week.”
Barr testified Wednesday that he thinks “there was spying” on the Trump campaign, a line likely to please President Trump. Beyond the Russia probe, Barr and Assistant Attorney General Lee Loftus are expected to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Justice Department’s budget for 2019.
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Here’s what the public learned from Barr during his House testimony Tuesday
Here’s what the public learned from Barr during his House testimony Tuesday:
- Barr says he met with Mueller on March 5, so the “thinking” of the special counsel wasn’t a mystery to him when he received the report to summarize it
- The report will include redactions that are color-coded, to indicate the reason the information was redacted
- Barr declined to say whether he has briefed the White House on the report or allowed the White House to see any of the report
- Barr isn’t committing to releasing an unredacted version of the report to Congress
- Barr says Mueller declined to review Barr’s summary of the report before releasing the summary to the public
Barr says report will be released “hopefully next week”
Barr told senators he thinks a redacted version of the Mueller report will be released “hopefully next week.”
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Barr had told a different congressional committee Tuesday the report will be released “within a week.”
Barr says he hasn’t discussed any redactions with the White House
Barr told Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee’s vice chairman, that he hasn’t discussed any particular redactions he will make to the Mueller report with the White House.
Barr testified Tuesday that the redaction process is going along well, and redactions will be color-coded based on the reason behind the redaction. Barr claimed he wants to provide as much justification for the redactions as possible.
Barr: “I think there was spying” on Trump campaign
Barr explained why he believed it was necessary to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. He said that federal agencies’ interest in the 2016 Trump campaign raised important questions. President Trump has repeatedly complained that the origins of the investigation were illegitimate.
“Spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Barr said.
“I think spying did occur,” Barr said. “Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated, and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated. But I’d need to explore that.”
Barr also said that he did not think there was an issue with the FBI as a whole.
“I think there was probably a failure among the group of leaders,” Barr said, adding that he thinks the FBI “is an outstanding organization.” He continued, however: “I feel I have an obligation to make sure government power is not abused.”
Barr discusses redactions to Mueller report
Barr reiterated that it is his intention to provide a redacted version of the Mueller report to the public, instead of his own extended summary of the report. The redactions would apply to grand jury material, sensitive intelligence information, material which would affect ongoing investigations and information that implicates the privacy or reputational interests of peripheral third parties.
Barr, who has explained the redaction process before, also said that the redactions will be made by the Justice Department in concert with Mueller’s team of investigators. He said that he would meet with congressional committees to discuss some of the classified information that is redacted for the public.
Trump urges Barr to look into how “illegal” Russia investigation began
President Trump reiterated his belief that Barr should investigate how the “illegal” and “phony” investigation into Russian collusion began. He told reporters Wednesday morning that “there is a hunger” for a probe into the origins of the investigation.
He also repeated that he has not seen the Mueller report, but that he believed he was “totally exonerated.”
“I’m not worried about something that should have never ever taken place,” Mr. Trump said.
Barr has team investigating origins of Russia probe
During Tuesday’s hearing, Barr mentioned that he is reviewing all aspects of the Russia investigation.
“I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016,” he said.
U.S. officials confirm Barr has assembled a team to review how the Russia investigation began. Barr’s investigation is separate from the long-running OIG investigation into how the Justice Department handled the Russia probe.
There are concerns within DOJ that it’s too easy to open counterintelligence investigations, after agents opened one into former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017 when he did not disclose contacts with the Russian ambassador. That case was closed and no charges were ever filed.
–Reporting by Paula Reid
