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UPDATE | Read Mueller report here
Document
UPDATE:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and President Donald Trump :
12:35 p.m.
Attorney General William Barr says a version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report with fewer redactions will be made available to a small group of lawmakers.
In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Barr says the second version of the report would be given to the “Gang of Eight,” the top-ranking House and Senate lawmakers from both parties who can view sensitive classified information. The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees will also receive it.
Barr said all redactions would be removed from that version of the report except those relating to grand-jury information.
The attorney general said, “I do not believe that I have discretion to disclose grand-jury information to Congress. Nevertheless, this accommodation will allow you to review the bulk of the redacted material for yourselves.”
Democrats want the full report released.
12:25 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer is suggesting the president was ensnared in some kind of “counterintelligence frame-up.”
Rudy Giuliani is responding to the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Giuliani is suggesting, without evidence, that the idea of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia began earlier than was outlined in Mueller’s report.
He’s says it, “Sounds like a counterintelligence trap to me.”
Giuliani also says that, throughout the investigation, Trump was trying to avoid the “perjury trap” that he claims others fell into.
Giuliani says he and other members of the president’s legal team read the full report in a secure room at the Justice Department earlier this week. He insists it doesn’t contain a “single surprise.”
He spoke Thursday on Fox News Channel after the report’s public release.
12:20 p.m.
Special counsel Robert Mueller says President Donald Trump’s efforts to influence the Russia investigation “were mostly unsuccessful,” but that was because the people surrounding the president “declined to carry out orders to accede to his requests.”
Mueller’s report details instances by several officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, former White House counsel Don McGahn and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, ignoring or refusing Trump’s requests to interfere in the investigation.
The Justice Department released a redacted version of Mueller’s report on Thursday.
12:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s lawyer is defending him after the special counsel’s report said Trump tried to seize control of the Russia investigation.
Rudy Giuliani, speaking to Fox News, said Trump “did not have a guilty motive.”
A redacted version of Robert Mueller’s report was released Thursday. The incidents scrutinized by Mueller’s team include Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president’s directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.
Giuliani did not dispute the facts of those incidents, but said Trump was an innocent man reacting normally in the face of what he said was a heavily biased investigation. The former New York City mayor said the efforts were “an attempt not to get framed.”
11:04 a.m.
Robert Mueller’s report reveals President Donald Trump’s efforts to seize control of the Russia probe and force the special counsel’s removal.
A redacted version of Mueller’s report was released Thursday morning.
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10:45 a.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Attorney General William Barr is involved in a “staggering public effort” by the Trump administration to put a positive face on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The California Democrat is referring to Barr’s morning news conference, where he said the report found no cooperation between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in that election. Pelosi is also citing Barr’s statement that he gave Trump’s personal attorney an early look at the report, before its public release.
Pelosi says it is “more urgent than ever” that Mueller testify before Congress. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has formally invited Mueller to testify as soon as possible.
A redacted version of Mueller’s report is due to be released later Thursday morning.
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10:40 a.m.
The Senate’s top Democrat is mocking Attorney General William Barr’s news conference on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report as a “campaign press conference” for President Donald Trump.
The tweet by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer also says it is time to release Mueller’s report on his investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in the election. Schumer is Senate minority leader.
Barr told reporters at a news conference that the report found no cooperation between the campaign and Russia and no effort by Trump to thwart investigators.
The Justice Department planned to release the report later Thursday morning. Barr says portions of it will be blacked out to protect national security secrets, grand jury investigations and other sensitive information. Democrats have said they want the full report released.
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10:30 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says he and deputy Rod Rosenstein disagreed with some of special counsel Robert Mueller’s “legal theories” pertaining to obstruction of justice, but that didn’t influence their decision that President Donald Trump didn’t commit a crime.
In a press conference ahead of the report’s expected release, Barr says Mueller reviewed 10 episodes as part of his investigation into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice. Barr says he and Rosenstein “felt that some of the episodes examined did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law.”
The attorney general maintains that they set their feelings on the matter aside and accepted Mueller’s “legal framework for purposes of our analysis” when they determined that the evidence gathered by Mueller was
11:15 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump responds to Mueller report, says ‘This should never happen to another president again’
10:05 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says he will allow Congress to view special counsel Robert Mueller's report with nothing redacted other than grand jury information.
Barr says three other categories of information also were redacted in the publicly released report, including information pertaining to ongoing prosecutions and sensitive intelligence sources and methods.
Barr says he hopes that giving Congress access to the less redacted report and his upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill "will satisfy any need Congress has for information regarding the special counsel's investigation."
Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters shortly before the report's release.
10 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says he has "no objection" to special counsel Robert Mueller testifying before Congress about his investigation.
Barr says: "I have no objection to Bob Mueller personally testifying."
Mueller remains a Justice Department employee, and Barr could have blocked Mueller from speaking to Congress. Democrats have discussed calling Mueller to testify but have yet to formally ask.
9:50 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says President Donald Trump did not exert executive privilege over any information included in special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
He said the White House counsel reviewed a redacted version of the report before Trump decided not to invoke executive privilege.
Barr said "no material has been redacted based on executive privilege."
Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters.
9:45 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says special counsel Robert Mueller's report recounts 10 episodes involving President Donald Trump that were investigated as potential acts of criminal obstruction of justice.
Barr says Mueller did not reach a "prosecutorial judgment" and that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded the evidence was not sufficient to establish the president committed an offense.
Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters.
9:40 a.m.
Lawyers for President Donald Trump reviewed the final redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report before its public release.
That's according to Attorney General William Barr, who said in Thursday's press conference that Trump's personal attorneys requested and were granted access to the report "earlier this week."
Barr says Trump's lawyers "were not permitted to make, and did not request, any redactions."
9:35 a.m.
Attorney General William Barr says he will give Congress a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative report at 11 a.m.
He told reporters at the Justice Department that he would transmit to Congress copies of the public version of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election and President Donald Trump's campaign.
Democrats complained that Barr's news conference was an effort to influence reaction to the report ahead of its release.
9:32 a.m.:
U.S. Attorney General William Barr will be releasing the long-anticipated report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Barr stated during the press conference:
• Trump, campaign did not work with Russian operates.
• Disinformation campaign by Russian nationals were charged with their offenses
• No Americans conspired with Russia
• Illegal hacking by Russia, associates still at large
• No evidence of collusion
• No conspiracy to violate U.S. laws
• No obstruction of justice
Special council did find:
•The Russian government sought to interfere in our election process
President Donald Trump tweeted "presidential harassment" ahead of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
The nearly 400-page report will include four types of redactions: grand jury information, classified information, material about ongoing information, and material affecting peripheral third parties.