Getty When will the Mueller Report be released? What time?
The long-anticipated Mueller Report, albeit a somewhat redacted one, was released on Thursday, April 18, 2019. You can read it for free via the U.S. Department of Justice website:
Here’s the link to the full report.
The Mueller Report provides details about what Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation unearthed into allegations of Russian collusion as well as possible obstruction of justice. You can also read the report here.
Other such reports – the 911 Report, the Starr Report – were immediately downloaded, read, and turned into books. That’s going to be the same process with the Mueller report. It was released just after 11 a.m. on April 18, east coast time.
At 11 a.m. ET: The report, with redactions, was also expected to be sent to Congressional committees.
Shortly after that point, the report was posted on the special counsel’s website. You can access the special counsel’s website here. Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s website also includes various court documents relating to the investigation, which you can read at the above link.
You can also buy the Mueller Report on Amazon. “THE APRIL 30, 2019 PUBLICATION DATE IS A PLACEHOLDER. WE WILL PUBLISH OUR EDITION OF THE MUELLER REPORT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER IT IS RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,” the page read on the morning of April 18.
“At 11:00 this morning, I will transmit copies of a public version of the Special Counsel’s report to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,” Barr said. “The Department of Justice will also make the report available to the American public by posting it on the Department’s website after it has been delivered to Congress.”
Barr also said: “…thanks to the Special Counsel’s thorough investigation, we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign — or the knowing assistance of any other Americans for that matter. That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Attorney General Barr Held a Press Conference on the Mueller Report & Defended His Handling of Its Release
GettyAttorney General nominee William Barr testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 15, 2019 in Washington, DC.
At 9:30 a.m. ET: The attorney general, Barr, held a news conference about the Mueller Report. It’s not expected to be available at that time, unless it’s leaked. You can watch Barr’s press conference live here.
At the news conference, Barr defended his decision to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice. “We felt the department had to” make that decision, Barr said in the news conference. You can read a transcript of Barr’s remarks here. In one news-breaking item, he revealed Mueller looked at 10 possible episodes relating to obstruction of justice.
Vox Reports that the release to Congress could come a little bit after 11. “It will reportedly be provided to Congress between 11 am and noon Eastern, and released publicly shortly afterward,” Vox reports.
“As you know, one of the primary purposes of the Special Counsel’s investigation was to determine whether members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, or any individuals associated with that campaign, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election,” said Barr. “Volume I of the Special Counsel’s report describes the results of that investigation. As you will see, the Special Counsel’s report states that his ‘investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'”
The Report Will Likely Have Some Redactions
GettyCaption here.
According to CNN, the report is expected to have some redactions of information that could include grand jury testimony. But it’s expected that there will be fewer redactions in segments about obstruction of justice questions.
The topic: Whether President Donald Trump and/or his campaign colluded with the Russians to interfere with the 2016 presidential election (and whether he obstructed justice). Trump’s appointed AG Bill Barr has previously said in his own summary of the Mueller report that Mueller did not find the former and did not rule on the latter (Barr opted not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, sparking criticism on the left.)
During the course of it all, Mueller’s investigation did result in charges against former top Trump officials, such as Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, but not for alleged Russian collusion.
Trump Has Called the Report ‘Presidential Harassment’
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President Trump spent the morning before the Mueller Report’s release defining how he wants the public to see it. “The Greatest Political Hoax of all time! Crimes were committed by Crooked, Dirty Cops and DNC/The Democrats,” he wrote on Twitter.
“PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!”
Trump held a news conference on April 18 to give his own take on the report. “This should never happen to another president again, this hoax,” Trump said.
For their part, Democrats have been very critical of the attorney general’s handling of the Mueller Report. Among other things, they have criticized Barr’s decision to release his own written four-page summary. They have criticized his decision to hold a press conference before the release of the report, arguing that it all amounts to him trying to spin the public.
They have criticized reports that the White House was reportedly briefed on the Mueller Report before that press conference. And they have criticized his decision, with Rod Rosenstein, to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice. The central criticism against Barr is that, as a Trump appointee, he’s too biased, Democrats say.
You can read Barr’s previous summary of the Mueller Report here.