White House and Justice Dept. Officials Discussed Mueller Report Before Release Attorney General William P. Barr plans a news conference on Thursday to discuss the release of the Mueller report. Credit Erin Schaff/The New York Times Image

WASHINGTON — Not all of Robert S. Mueller III’s findings will be news to President Trump when they are released Thursday.

Justice Department officials have had numerous conversations with White House lawyers about the conclusions made by Mr. Mueller, the special counsel, in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The talks have aided the president’s legal team as it prepares a rebuttal to the report and strategizes for the coming public war over its findings.

A sense of paranoia was taking hold among some of Mr. Trump’s aides, some of whom fear his backlash more than the findings themselves, the people said. The report might make clear which of Mr. Trump’s current and former advisers spoke to the special counsel, how much they said and how much damage they did to the president — providing a kind of road map for retaliation.

View the complete April 17 article by Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Fandos and Katie Benner on The New York Times website here.

Did you say ‘spying?’ Barr walks back testimony after making a stir

Barr clears up his Senate testimony after cable news and social media buzz over one of his word choices

Attorney General William Barr sought to “please add one point of clarification” at the end of his testimony Wednesday before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee — and the veteran law enforcement official needed it.

Cable news and social media were abuzz with one of Barr’s earlier word choices, when he told senators that he would look into the work of U.S. intelligence agencies directed at the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election because “spying did occur.”

Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz, had pointedly given Barr an opportunity to rephrase that, “because when the attorney general of the United States uses the word ‘spying,’ it’s rather provocative and in my view unnecessarily inflammatory.”

View the complete April 10 article by Todd Ruger on The Roll Call website here.