This report has been the focus of nearly two years of efforts by the Department of Justice employing 40 FBI agents and 19 lawyers who used over warrants and interviewed nearly witnesses.
The controversy erupting from the many sides of the investigation has occupied two years of major news media coverage. The four-page summary letter to Congress by Attorney General Barr is provided to orient the reader to this large text. When the Starr Report, the final findings of an investigation into Bill Clinton, were published in , they swiftly became one of the most popular documents of all time.
Some 12 per cent of all Americans — 20 million people — headed to the internet to look at the document, according to polling reported by CNN at the time. That time around, the file was made available over seven different US government websites, in an attempt to spread the load. Though those websites and the news organisations that covered the release were swamped by the traffic, the internet nonetheless continued to work, reports at the time said.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? And long-running Justice Department policy means that it's unlikely a sitting president would be indicted. In fact, Mueller specifically cited the department's policy as the reason his office couldn't even consider charging Trump with a crime.
Said Mueller, "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. In response, Trump criticized Mueller this week as a "never Trumper. In the past two months, lawmakers have weighed in , with Democrats saying Barr showed bias toward Trump and Republicans saying the public release of the redacted report was a positive thing. Critics note details in the report paint Trump in a negative light. Although Mueller's investigation didn't establish conspiracy on the part of the president, it made no definitive determination on obstruction of justice.
Barr's March 24 letter quotes the Mueller report as saying that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him" on the matter of obstruction. Barr has opted not pursue an investigation into the questions surrounding obstruction. The law doesn't require the D OJ to release a report on a special counsel investigation. But the president indicated on March 20 he wanted the report released and said, " Let people see it.
At his April 18 press conference about the release of the Mueller report, Barr said there are "limited redactions" in the version of the report released to Congress and the public and that they are "clearly labeled. He also said that no redactions or recommendations for redactions were made by people outside the Justice Department and no redactions were made based on the president's executive privilege. Top Democrats in Congress have called for the release of the Mueller report in its entirety.
In a joint statement on March 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said Barr isn't a neutral observer and that his letter "raises as many questions as it answers. On May 1, Barr appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the Mueller report, and he defended his March 24 summary and his overall assessment of the investigation. The redacted report should then be in the hands of Congress before noon and subsequently published on the special counsel's website.
Members of the public can download Mueller's report from the Justice Department website. Department of Justice, Barr redactions and all, and it is essential reading for all Americans on both sides of the aisle," the store stated. A live stream of Barr's press conference will be available to watch online.
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