Attorney General William Barr wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., on Friday responding to their letters and responding to concerns about his earlier letter the previous Sunday outlining the principal findings of the Mueller Report which he received two days prior.
In his letter, we learn several pieces of information that dispute Democrats inferring the Department of Justice, in general, and Barr, in particular, will be less than fully transparent.
Federal law and DOJ policy prohibits the release of some material.
Barr said the following items in the report will be redacted:
- Material subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) that by law can’t be made public.
Material the intelligence community identifies as potentially compromising sensitive sources and methods.- Material that could affect other ongoing investigations.
- Information that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.
The report will be released no later than Mid-April.
Numerous Democrats expressed impatience that the report was not released right away just a few days after Mueller provided his report to Barr. The progress of the review of the report for material that requires redaction is such Barr states he anticipates they will release the report by mid-April, if not sooner.
President Trump waives executive privilege.
Some Democrats questioned Barr because he was a Trump appointee or insinuated that President Trump would attempt to hide aspects of the report that may be unflattering.
“Although the President would have the right to assert privilege over certain parts of the report, he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me and, accordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review,” Barr wrote.
His previous letter was not intended to be a summary of the entire report.
Barr said his previous letter to Graham and Nadler was not a summary of the entire report.
“My March 24 letter was not, and did not purport to be, an exhaustive recounting of the Special Counsel’s investigation or report. As my letter made clear, my notification to Congress and the public provided, pending release of the report, a summary of its ‘principal conclusions’ – that is its bottom line,” he wrote.
“I do not believe it would be in the public’s best interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion,” Barr added.
Barr agrees to testify before Congress.
Barr said he discussed with both Graham and Nadler that it would be appropriate for him to testify after the report is made public. He said he is available to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1, 2019, and before the House Judiciary Committee on May 2, 2019.
Read the letter below: