:ALERTRED:
Trump is shytting bricks
Mueller’s Findings Will Remain Confidential at Least Another Day
Trump is shytting bricks
Mueller’s Findings Will Remain Confidential at Least Another Day
Mueller’s Findings Will Remain Confidential at Least Another Day
March 23, 2019
The attorney general, William P. Barr, continued to pore over the special counsel’s report on Saturday.T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
The attorney general, William P. Barr, continued to pore over the special counsel’s report on Saturday.T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr and his team on Saturday pored over the highly anticipated report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, a senior Justice Department official said, preparing to deliver the investigation’s “principal conclusions” to jittery lawmakers and President Trump as soon as Sunday.
Mr. Barr and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller and oversaw much of his work, were cloistered inside the Justice Department debating how to present the findings. Mr. Mueller was not participating in the process, the official said.
With little concrete information about the investigation circulating outside that tight circle, Washington was rife with speculation bouncing among reporters, lawmakers scattered across the country for their spring recess and lawyers for people involved in the case.
Mr. Trump himself remained uncharacteristically silent. After months attacking Mr. Mueller’s inquiry as a partisan “witch hunt,” he had yet to comment on its conclusion by Saturday afternoon. Spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump was surrounded by members of his family and a larger coterie of aides than usual. He spent much of Saturday on the golf course and had lunch with Kid Rock, according to people familiar with his plans.
Mr. Mueller delivered his report to Mr. Barr on Friday, signaling the end to a 22-month investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and any attempts by Mr. Trump’s associates to aid them. Mr. Mueller also examined whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice to try to protect himself or his allies from investigators.
As part of the winding down of his investigation, Mr. Mueller’s office was handing off one of its remaining cases, a spokesman said on Saturday. Prosecutors in the United States attorney’s office in the District of Columbia will handle the sentencing of Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign deputy who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators and agreed to cooperate with the inquiry.
Regulations governing the special counsel give Mr. Barr latitude to decide what, if anything, to share publicly. In a letter to Congress notifying lawmakers that he had the report, Mr. Barr said he planned to hand over to them, and by extension the public, a summary of Mr. Mueller’s “principal conclusions” as soon as this weekend. He wrote that he “remained committed to as much transparency as possible.”
Only a few people in the Justice Department had seen the report and a copy had not been given to the White House, said the senior law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
The Justice Department appears to be moving quickly, at least in part because it has known for some time that Mr. Mueller was in the home stretch.
When Mr. Barr was briefed on the investigation this month, he was told that there would be no more subpoenas or indictments, and that Mr. Mueller’s team was ready to wrap up in mid-March, according to people familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to discuss it. The special counsel’s office later notified Mr. Barr that it needed a few additional days to take care of administrative issues, which pushed the delivery to Friday.
Without certainty about what Mr. Barr would disclose or when, House Democrats convened a 30-minute conference call on Saturday afternoon to line up talking points. Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California have begun insisting that only the release of Mr. Mueller’s full report and underlying findings will be sufficient so that Democrat-led House committees can conduct their own scrutiny of Mr. Trump.
The top Democrats on nearly a dozen House and Senate committees sent letters on Friday to the F.B.I., the Justice Department, the White House and other federal agencies demanding that all documents, communication and evidence amassed by Mr. Mueller and his team be preserved because Congress might request access to it.
“Congress requires the full report and the underlying documents so that the committees can proceed with their independent work, including oversight and legislating to address any issues the Mueller report may raise,” Ms. Pelosi wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats before the call.
During the call, she added that she would reject any offer from the Justice Department to brief the bipartisan Gang of Eight House and Senate leaders or some other configuration of lawmakers in a classified setting on findings that are not made public, according to a person present. Ms. Pelosi said she would insist any briefing be unclassified to allow lawmakers to discuss the full investigative findings publicly.
Republican leaders convened their own brief call on Friday night, after the Justice Department notified Congress that it had received the report from Mr. Mueller’s office, but it was primarily limited to logistics, according to one person with knowledge of the call. Welcoming the news that the special counsel would seek no further indictments, members of the president’s party were cautiously optimistic.
Allies surrounding the president at Mar-a-Lago found themselves in a similar place. Mr. Trump’s lawyers and aides urged him to stay quiet, people briefed on the discussions said. Wait and see what was in the report, and trust that Mr. Barr is not trying to harm you, they cautioned. They assured him that there would be ample time to claim vindication after they knew what was in the report, the people said.
Mr. Trump appeared to be in good spirits on Friday night when he dined on the Mar-a-Lago patio with his wife and some of his children.
But he was circumspect about the end of an investigation that has been a backdrop of his presidency. He told people who greeted him that he was tired, but he still returned to the patio after giving brief remarks at a local Republican Party dinner in the club’s ballroom. He sat sipping coffee until fairly late in the evening.
One friend of Mr. Trump said that despite his outward good spirits, the president remained anxious about the contents of the report and was concerned that its release was taking longer than he expected.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has been canvassing friends and allies for their opinions of Mr. Barr, a long-serving Republican legal hand who was confirmed last month. Mr. Trump, people who have spoken with him said, does not know Mr. Barr well or what to expect from him.
“Do you know Barr?” the president has asked others of his attorney general.
Nicholas Fandos and Katie Benner reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni from New York. Adam Goldman contributed reporting from Washington.
