Special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation has concluded, and he has now submitted his long-awaited report to Attorney General William Barr.
A senior Justice Department official told CBS News that Mueller is not recommending any further indictments. The Justice Department also confirmed that the “principal conclusions” of the report will eventually be made public.
Barr, who was at the Justice Department reviewing the report, will now summarize it for lawmakers. How much will be made public is left to Barr’s discretion.
In a letter to top lawmakers on the judiciary committees, Barr said he anticipated that he might be able to advise them of Mueller’s principal conclusions “as soon as this weekend.” A senior Justice Department official said that Barr will not be sending his conclusions to Congress on Saturday.
Special counsel spokesperson Peter Carr said in a statement that Mueller will be concluding his service in the coming days.
Clare Hymes contributed to this report.
House Judiciary Committee asks DOJ to preserve documents related to probe
The House Judiciary Committee has asked the Justice Department, the FBI and the special counsel’s office to preserve all documents pertaining to Mueller’s investigation. Democrats will pursue this information as they try to make as much of the report public as possible.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview with CBS News that the Judiciary Committee should have Mueller testify in order to “bring in the facts and understand his theories and why he declined to do things like file charges.”
“We know that there were interference in our election, we need to know why and how that happened. We have an election right around the corner,” Cummings said.
Barr will not submit conclusions on Mueller report to Congress Saturday
A senior Justice Department official said that Barr will not submit any of his principal conclusions to Congress on Saturday.
Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are holed up in the Justice Department along with their principal advisers reading and processing the special counsel’s final report. A DOJ official told CBS News’ Paula Reid “very few” people inside the building have access to the report, but would not provide the exact number. The official also declined to say whether either top official brought it home overnight.
Barr is still expected to deliver the report by the end of the weekend as he promised in his letter to the House and Judiciary Committees.
Will Mueller be subpoenaed by Congress?
CBS News’ Paula Reid said Mueller will likely be subpoenaed by Congress.
Barr will decide how much of Mueller’s report should be made public, based on national security interests and on the guideline that the Justice Department does not reveal details about why an individual is not being prosecuted. However, members of Congress can subpoena Mueller to testify, and therefore get more information on the Russia investigation from the special counsel himself.
“I do expect that he will likely, at some point, be subpoenaed, and sources close to Mueller confirm that he would comply with that subpoena,” Reid said Saturday on CBSN.
Mueller could be called to testify in closed hearings, or in the interest of transparency Congress could choose to hold open hearings, as they did with Michael Cohen in February.
“In terms of what he can and cannot tell Congress, a lot of that just falls along the traditional Justice Department guidelines of information that may be classified or covered by executive privilege,” Reid said.
Mueller has largely remained out of the public eye throughout the Russia investigation. The special counsel’s office has rarely commented to the media.
“If he was to testify in Congress, which I do think is quite likely, it would be a blockbuster,” Reid said.
Other investigations are ongoing
Although the special counsel probe has ended, investigations are continuing in Congress and in federal and state courts.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, has expanded the parameters of the committee’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has launched an extensive investigation into whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey. In early March, the Judiciary Committee requested documents from 81 entities and individuals, from the White House to Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York has also launched investigations into Mr. Trump and the Trump organization.
Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Mr. Trump in 2017, told “CBS This Morning” this week that unlike Mueller, the Southern District is not blocked from any wider investigations by Justice Department guidelines. “They can look at crime as they see fit, “Bharara said. “They can bring a case against anyone they think that justice needs to be served. They don’t care how powerful you are, they don’t care what party you’re from, they don’t care what your assets are. They’re tough and aggressive and independent.”
The New York state attorney general has also launched inquiries into Mr. Trump’s business dealings.
Analysis: Lack of indictments indicates that Mueller did not find “a conspiracy of collusion”
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School and a contributor to CBS News, told “CBS This Morning: Saturday” that the absence of further indictments would “indicate that [Mueller] did not find a conspiracy of collusion.”
“You cannot collude alone. So if there is collusion here, one would expect that other people will be charged,” Turley said. “The policy is you can’t charge a sitting president, but that doesn’t apply to other people.”
Justice Department guidelines dictate that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Allies of Mr. Trump in Congress have pointed to the lack of further indictments as evidence that the president committed no wrongdoing. However, several former campaign and administration officials were indicted as part of Mueller’s investigation.
“But let’s give the administration its due: if the special counsel found there is no collusion, that is a vindication for the president,” Turley said. “It doesn’t mean that he acted appropriately, it doesn’t even mean that the special counsel didn’t find evidence that could be criminal. But it clearly indicated that he doesn’t believe there is a criminal case to be made.”
Trump makes no mention of Mueller report in remarks at GOP dinner in Florida
Hours after special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report, President Trump spoke briefly at a Republican party dinner in Florida, but made no mention of the report. Mr. Trump and Melania Trump introduced Sen. Lindsey Graham, the keynote speaker at the Palm Beach County Republican Dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Trump walked onstage smiling and was greeted by cheers. He introduced Graham as “my real friend,” according to video posted on social media. The event was closed to the press.
In video posted to social media by Florida GOP Vice Chairman Christian Ziegler, Mr. Trump and Graham appeared to be talking at the table.
Earlier this week, Graham honored his late friend, Sen. John McCain, who Mr. Trump had spent much of the week criticizing. Graham called McCain “an American hero and nothing will ever diminish that” and said Mr. Trump’s comments “hurt him more than they hurt the legacy of Sen. McCain.”
About 700 people were in attendance at the event, CBS West Palm affiliate WPEC reported. It was the first year since 2013 it was closed to the press.
2020 Democrats weigh in
Democratic presidential candidates are saying Mueller’s report must be made public. The packed field of presidential contenders sounded off after the news broke that Barr received the report.
“Release the Mueller report to the American people,” former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke tweeted.
“Special counsel Mueller’s report should be made public without any delay. The American people have a right to know its findings,” tweeted New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
That sentiment was echoed by California Sen. Kamala Harris, who campaigned in Dallas Friday night. She also called for the underlying evidence supporting the report to be released.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the development as a fundraising opportunity, directing supporters to add their name to a petition demanding the public release of the report. Upon signing, supporters are then directed to a donation page for the Warren campaign.
Why the Mueller report could be good news for Trump
President Trump’s attorneys have an “expectation” that Mueller’s final report will be good for the president, CBS News’ Major Garrett reports.
“They feel in the end this will not have new indictments. The report is done. The special counsel’s office is essentially shuttered and they believe not only legally, but importantly politically, the president will be found to be largely, if not completely in the clear,” Garrett said.
One reason the final report could be good news for Mr. Trump is because the special counsel didn’t press for a face-to-face interview. Instead, Mr. Trump submitted a series of written answers to the special counsel. In addition, White House lawyers provided more than 20,000 documents and several advisers were interviewed.
“The question now becomes can Congress get any farther — if there is somewhere to go that Mueller was not able — [and would]…have more powers than Robert Mueller had? Probably not,” Garrett said.
Attorney General William Barr sends letter to Congress
Barr sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees informing Friday them of the conclusion of Mueller’s investigation.
“The special counsel has submitted to me today a ‘confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions’ he has reached,” Barr said in the letter. “I am reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel’s principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.”
Barr also wrote that he would consult with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, and with Mueller himself, to determine what information from the report could be revealed to Congress and the public.
Handing over the report
The report was delivered by a security officer from the special counsel’s office to the deputy attorney general’s office earlier this afternoon, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec. Within minutes it was turned over to Barr.
Letters were delivered to staff directors on Capitol Hill at 5 p.m. The White House was notified at around 4:45 p.m.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to call Mueller and thank him for his work on this for the last couple of years. As soon as this weekend, Barr will deliver a summary of the principal conclusions of the report to Congress.
Justice Department officials would not comment on the contents of the report but called it “comprehensive.”
House and Senate Judiciary Committees react
Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees were quick to react to Barr’s letter.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham noted in a statement that the handover from Mueller to the attorney general had been smooth, and he observed that according to Barr’s notification letter, “there were no areas of disagreement between the Attorney General or the Acting Attorney General and Special Counsel Mueller regarding courses of action.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler does not plan to return to Washington from New York this weekend, according to his spokesperson.
Nadler pressed for transparency in a tweet: “A.G. Barr has confirmed the completion of the Special Counsel investigation. We look forward to getting the full Mueller report and related materials. Transparency and the public interest demand nothing less.”
The chair and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee also received copies of Barr’s letter.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly released a joint statement calling for Barr “to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress.” They also demanded that Barr not give Mr. Trump, his lawyers or staff a “sneak preview” of the findings or evidence and said “the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public.”
Some members of Congress have called on Mueller to testify before Congress, including 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris.
White House reacts to the submission of the Mueller report
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement asserting the White House has not been briefed on the report.
“The next steps are up to Attorney General Barr, and we look forward to the process taking its course. The White House has not received or been briefed on the Special Counsel’s report,” Sanders tweeted.
Mr. Trump’s personal attorneys Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani also released a statement.
“We’re pleased that the Office of Special Counsel has delivered its report to the Attorney General pursuant to the regulations. Attorney General Barr will determine the appropriate next steps,” they wrote.
Mueller’s team has been shrinking in advance of report dropping
Multiple prosecutors on Mueller’s team of attorneys in the special counsel’s office have been announcing their departures in recent weeks, signaling that the investigation was winding down.
Special counsel spokesperson Peter Carr confirmed to CBS News this week that Zainab Ahmad, a top terrorism prosecutor, concluded her detail with the special counsel’s office. Lead special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann’s departure from the team was also reported by CBS to be imminent.
Here’s a look at Mueller’s team of prosecutors
Who’s been charged so far?
Currently, Mueller’s probe has yielded seven guilty pleas and 99.5 months in prison served, and 34 individuals and three separate companies have been charged.
President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was one of the first Trump associates to serve time in prison as part of Mueller’s probe. Manafort was indicted on a total of 25 counts in two jurisdictions. The charges ranged from conspiracy to launder money to acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal.
Here’s a look at who else has been charged.
Reporting by Clare Hymes and Emily Tillett
House voted for public release of report, Senate blocked it
The House of Representatives voted to pass a non-binding resolution in mid-March calling for the public release of Mueller’s final report into the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, blocked the vote in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, of New York, called for a unanimous consent on the resolution, which had passed the House in a 420-0 vote. However, Graham objected after Schumer refused to amend the resolution to include a provision on appointing a special counsel to investigate misconduct at the Justice Department related to the FISA warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
“Was there two systems of justice in 2016? One for the Democratic candidate and one for the Republican candidate?” Graham asked on the Senate floor.
Reporting by Emily Tillett and Grace Segers
Trump says report should be made public
President Trump has said he looks forward to the release of Mueller’s findings, and opined that they should be made public upon their release.
“Let it come out, let people see it … and we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday.
The president previously said it is “totally up to” Attorney General William Barr whether — and when — the special counsel’s report is released.
A brief timeline of the investigation
Mueller’s probe has spanned multiple jurisdictions and Trump associates over the past two years.
Here are some key dates from the Mueller probe:
2013: The FBI conducts interviews of Trump associates Paul Manafort and Carter Page as it relates to conducting business with foreign actors.
2014: The Internet Research Agency (IRA) leads Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S political system, including the 2016 presidential election.
July 2015: The FBI opens investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server while she was secretary of state.
September 2015: The FBI becomes aware of Russian hack into DNC tries to inform DNC
June 9, 2016: Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. meet at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer who promised “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. The meeting was arranged by Trump Jr. and Rob Goldstone, the publicist for pop star Emin Algarov. Goldstone told Trump Jr. that the information comes from the Kremlin
October 7 2016: WikiLeaks releases messages stolen from the personal email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.
January 6, 2017: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a declassified version of a highly sensitive report accusing the Kremlin of organizing a sophisticated influence campaign “to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton.” Both President Obama and President-elect Trump are briefed on the report. They are both also briefed on a 35-page dossier compiled by former British spy, Christopher Steele, that alleges the Kremlin had compromising information on President-elect Trump.
January 20, 2017: Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th president. CBS News reports investigators are looking at business ties between Trump associates and Russia and are tracking finances of some of the hackers linked to attacks on U.S. political organizations. Manafort’s name surfaces
February 14, 2017: In a private meeting in the Oval Office, President Trump asks FBI Director Comey to end the investigation into Flynn. Comey documented the meeting in a memo. Trump said to Comey in the meeting, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.” He adds, “He is a good guy, I hope you can let this go.” Comey responds and agrees that Flynn “is a good guy.”
March 20, 2017: Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James Comey confirmed the existence of a federal investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
May 9, 2017: President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.
May 17 , 2017: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to oversee a “full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.” He also authorizes Mueller to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” and “any other matters” within the scope of the special counsel law.
October 30, 2017: Former Trump aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are indicted on various charges, including conspiracy and money laundering. On the same day, George Papadopoulos pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI and agrees to cooperate with federal investigators.
December 1, 2017 : Michael Flynn pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI and agrees to cooperate with the special counsel.
February 16, 2018: The Justice Department announces charges against 13 Russian nationals and three companies for operating a sophisticated network designed to meddle in the 2016 American election and aid the candidacy of Donald Trump.
February 23, 2018: Rick Gates pleads guilty to lying and conspiracy against the U.S.
April 4, 2018: Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, of Skadden Arps, is sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for making false statements to investigators about work he had done for Ukraine.
August 21, 2018: Federal jury finds Manafort guilty of eight criminal counts, including tax fraud. The court declares a mistrial on 10 other counts faced by Manafort
August 21, 2018: Michael Cohen pleads guilty to violating campaign finance laws and other charges. He says the president instructed him to make payments to two women during the presidential campaign to prevent them from publicly discussing affairs they claim to have had with Mr. Trump
September 7, 2018: George Papadopoulos is sentenced to serve two weeks in prison and pay nearly $10,000 for lying to federal investigators.
March 13, 2019: Manafort receives final sentence from District of Columbia federal court. He’ll serve over seven years in prison combined for convictions in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
