Dems attack Barr over ‘unacceptable handling’ of Mueller report

Congress

Democrats are attacking the attorney general over what they say is ‘unacceptable handling’ of Mueller’s findings.

Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that he intends to release a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report “within a week” and that he intends to explain his rationale behind every piece of the report he blocks from public view.

Barr told lawmakers during an appearance on Capitol Hill that he is working with Mueller to identify sensitive information that should be redacted — including grand jury evidence, classified material and information relevant to ongoing investigations — before he submits the report. He said the process was “going along very well.”

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“I do think it’s important that the public have an opportunity to learn the results of the special counsel’s work,” Barr said, noting that the special counsel regulations, as written, do not require him to make the report public.

The attorney general said he gave Mueller and his prosecutors an opportunity to review his four-page summary of the report before it was released to the public last month. Barr said Mueller declined. He also said he doesn’t believe Mueller was involved in crafting a second letter to Congress that Barr sent last week, in which the attorney general outlined the types of redactions he believes are necessary.

Barr’s appearance, ostensibly to advocate for the Justice Department’s budget, featured a raft of questions about his handling of Mueller’s report, which Democrats have panned as an effort to protect Trump from damaging information contained in it. Barr wrote in his summary that Mueller “did not establish” that the Trump campaign conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election.

Though Barr noted that Mueller made no decision on whether to charge Trump with obstructing the investigation, the attorney general, in his memo, announced his own decision to absolve Trump of any allegations of obstruction, prompting howls from Democrats that the move was an effort to whitewash damaging information Mueller found.

Barr’s testimony took on added urgency in light of recent news reports that members of Mueller’s team were frustrated with the attorney general’s summary, claiming it doesn’t accurately represent their 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential Trump-Russia collusion. Democrats leaned into Barr’s decision-making process in crafting the summary.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee, used her opening statement to home in on what she called Barr’s “unacceptable handling” of the report.

“All we have is your four-page summary letter, which seems to cherry pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president,” Lowey said.