Key Takeaways from Barr's Letter to Congress on What's Next for the Mueller Report
Attorney General William Barr sent a letter on Friday to Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in which he identified the next steps for handling Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia report.
Over the course of the letter Barr addressed some key questions, including: What will be redacted and why; whether President Donald Trump‘s executive privilege concerns will be taken into account before the report is released; whether the AG’s four-page summary was “exhaustive”; how long the report will be (not including exhibits), who will get to read the Mueller report and when it is expected to be released; whether Mueller is involved in the current process; and whether Barr will testify about his handling of the confidential report required by current special counsel regulations.
What Will Be Redacted and Why
Specifically, we are well along in the process of identifying and redacting the following: 1) material subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) that by law cannot be made public; 2) material the intelligence community identifies as potentially compromising sensitive sources and methods; 3) material that could affect other ongoing matters, including those that the Special Counsel has referred to other Department offices; and (4) information that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and repetitional interests of peripheral third parties.
In summary, that means you won’t see things related to ongoing investigations, identification of intel sources and methods, information that can’t be released by law, and information that “unduly” prejudices uncharged individuals. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has long emphasized the last point.
Barr also confirmed that the “Special Counsel is involved” in the redaction process.
Does President Donald Trump Have a Say in This?
Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani have of late ramped up their usage of the term “executive privilege” and said that they should get to review the Mueller report before it goes public to make privilege recommendations.
It does not appear, at least right now, that this is a factor at play. Interestingly, Barr reminded Trump he has this right to assert privilege over “certain parts of the report,” but that there aren’t any plans to give the report to the White House to make privilege recommendations.
“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 said.
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