President Trump said he doesn’t mind if the public sees the special counsel’s report, while calling the probe “ridiculous” and touting his 2016 election win. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
But his acquiescence to the report being public doesn’t mean it will be.
President Trump said Wednesday for the first time that he would be okay with making the Mueller report public. And in doing so, he nixed a major argument against its release.
But that doesn’t quite mean it will be available for all to see.
Ever since now-Attorney General William P. Barr testified at his confirmation hearing earlier this year that he would be constrained in releasing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings in the Russia investigation, the conventional wisdom has shifted. While many expected to see a Starr Report-style public document detailing everything Mueller found, it quickly became clear that probably would not happen — at least initially. Mueller is operating under a different statute than Kenneth Starr was during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, and Justice Department guidelines prohibit revealing information about people who are not being indicted and that is obtained via grand jury.
View the complete March 20 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.