Justice Department preparing to receive Mueller report: CNN
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice may announce as early as next week that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has given the attorney general his report on the federal Russia investigation, CNN said on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
After the expected announcement, U.S. Attorney General William Barr will review Mueller’s findings and submit his own summary to Congress, CNN reported.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the CNN report. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, also declined to comment.
Mueller is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion by U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign, as well as possible obstruction of justice by the Republican president.
Trump has denied any collusion and repeatedly slammed the Russia probe as a “witch hunt.” Moscow has also denied any meddling. So far, 34 individuals and three companies have pleaded guilty, been indicted or otherwise swept up in the inquiry, including several former Trump advisers.
Under special counsel regulations, Mueller must submit a confidential report to the attorney general explaining his prosecutorial decisions at the conclusion of his work.
The attorney general, in turn, is required to inform the Judiciary Committees of Congress about Mueller’s report in the form of “brief notifications, with an outline of the actions and the reasons for them.”
How much ultimately becomes public is unclear.
Barr, who was confirmed by the Senate last week, said during his confirmation hearings that he would make public as many of Mueller’s findings as he can but stopped short of promising to release the entire report.
Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld, Nathan Layne and Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Tim Ahmann and Susan Heavey; Editing by James Dalgleish
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