Attorney general William Barr on Sunday delivered to Congress a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings, setting off what will likely become a protracted partisan battle over how much of the total report will eventually be made public.
Barr delivered his "principal conclusions" to Congress after two days spent reviewing a report that details a nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. The central charge of collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives was never proven, according to Barr’s reading of the report.
"Special counsel did not find anyone with the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government," Barr wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Congressional Democrats have issued a unanimous call for the report to be made public in its entirety since it was delivered to Barr on Friday. They are joined by a smaller contingent of House Republicans, led by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who agree the Justice department should prioritize transparency when determining how much of the report to make public.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Barr vowed to make public as much of the report as possible while observing Justice Department guidelines, one of which prohibits the identification of individuals who were investigated but never charged.
The special counsel investigation produced evidence of a widespread Kremlin-backed effort to disrupt the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf by spreading disinformation online and hacking key institutions like the Democratic National Committee to release damaging information. But investigators did not, according to the Barr’s summary of the report, find any evidence that any American citizen assisted in those efforts.
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