U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs on travel to Ohio at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
March 20, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he does not mind if the public is allowed to see the report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing about his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and any possible links to the Trump campaign.
Mueller is preparing to submit a report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on his findings, including Russia’s role in the election and whether Trump unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. Russia has denied interfering in the election.
Barr already is coming under pressure from lawmakers to make the entire document public quickly, though he has wide latitude in what to release.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 420-0 last week on a nonbinding resolution calling for Mueller’s report to be released both to Congress and to the public, but it is not clear how the measure will fare in the Senate.
Answering questions from journalists at the White House, Trump said he had no idea when the report would be released, adding, “no collusion, no collusion” and “we’ll see if it’s fair.”
Asked if the public should be allowed to see the report, Trump said: “I don’t mind.”
“Let it come out, let people see it, that’s up to the attorney general … and we’ll see what happens,” he added.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by David Alexander; editing by Tim Ahmann and Jonathan Oatis)
