Mueller Report Presser at 9:30 a.m. EST

“NO COLLUSION BY ANY AMERICANS”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Apr. 18, 2019) — Attorney General William P. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are scheduled to speak about the imminent release of the report prepared by Special Counsel Robert Mueller detailing the investigation into allegations of Trump-Russia “collusion” and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Fox News has reported that the presser is expected to last approximately 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, President Trump will be speaking at an event for wounded warriors.

The report will be released with color-coded redactions which will be explained in a legend, Barr told two congressional panels last week.

The report is some 400 pages, Fox’s Bill Hemmer reported Thursday morning, and reveals no evidence of collaboration between the Trump campaign and any Russians as explored by the FBI beginning in 2016.  After the firing of James Comey in May 2017, the FBI’s investigation was turned over to Mueller, who Rosenstein hired.

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At 9:34 a.m., Barr, Rosenstein and another initially-unidentified man walked to the podium, after which Barr began speaking immediately.

Barr said at approximately 11:00 a.m., he will transmit the report electronically for public release.  He thanked Rosenstein for his assistance in preparing the report and then Mueller for his investigation.

He said that the report states that despite overtures from Russians to the Trump campaign, there was no “collusion” or conspiracy with “any Americans” to affect the election.

Barr said that Mueller found that the GRU, or Russian military/intelligence apparatus, “some of” the emails and documents stolen from the DNC and Clinton campaign were “transferred” to WikiLeaks.  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has denied that any “state party” provided the emails, released between July 2016 and November 2016 and reflecting poorly on the Clinton organization.

He and Rosenstein disagreed with some of Mueller’s contentions regarding the “obstruction of justice” allegation against Trump, Barr said, but concluded, as Mueller reached no finding on the issue, that nothing in Trump’s actions before or after he took office rose to the level of obstruction.

At 9:49, Barr said that the Trump White House did not claim executive privilege over any of the material in the report.

At 9:51 a.m., Barr ended his commentary and took reporters’ questions.

After taking five questions, Barr abruptly ended the Q&A and exited without further comment with Rosenstein and the other presumed DOJ official.