Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he’s fine with the entire Mueller report being released to the public, whenever that may be, The Hill is reporting. That is a stance that stands in sharp contrast to that of some of his closest Republican allies.
As Washington prepares for the final release of FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report from his months-long Russia investigation, the question remains of how much of it the general public will see. As Vox reported at the beginning of March, Attorney General William Barr has broadly suggested that he’ll only release a summary of the report to Congress and the general public, as he has the power to do.
Congressional Democrats have not been willing to accept the idea of themselves, and the public, only seeing a summary of the report. In fact, as reported at the time by The Inquisitr , last week the House voted 420-0 to approve a non-binding resolution encouraging Barr to release the full report, not just a summary, to both Congress and to the general public. The unanimous vote means that, excluding the four who voted “Present,” every House Republican who was in Washington that day voted in favor of the report.
Over in the Senate, however, no such vote took place. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, blocked the Senate from voting on such a resolution, as CNN reports.
Sen. Lindsey Graham’s embrace of President Trump puts re-election ahead of principle https://t.co/8zLjmNcCzN pic.twitter.com/kZgRlGJyE0
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 20, 2019
Speaking to reporters from the White House lawn on Wednesday, Trump said that, for his part, he has no problem with the entire report being released to Congress and the general public.
“I don’t mind. I mean, frankly, I told the House, if you want, let ’em see it. Let it come out. Let people see it. Let’s see if it’s legit.”
Trump did not, however, give any indication that he would personally try to sway Barr’s decision either way, saying that the decision is Barr’s and Barr’s alone.
As for Mueller himself, Trump suggested that Mueller is “conflicted” and that he is “best friends” with former FBI director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May 2017.
For months, there has been speculation around Washington that Mueller is wrapping up his investigation and is due to release his report any minute now. Although as of this writing, there is no report and no real indication of when it will be finished. Mueller has not given any indication as to when he’ll complete his investigation and release his final report.
