President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized the forthcoming report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but said that he has no qualms about the document being made public.
“Let it come out. Let people see it. That’s up to the attorney general,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
“We have a very good attorney general. He’s a very highly respected man, and we’ll see what happens,” he continued, referring to Attorney General William Barr.
Barr will have final say on how much of Mueller’s report to make public. Mueller is believed to be writing a lengthy report summarizing his investigation, which has focused on possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia as well as any obstruction of justice on the part of Trump.
Mueller will provide the report to Barr when it is finalized. Barr is required to notify Congress when he receives the report and can decide whether to release parts of the report to lawmakers or the public.
President Trump on the Mueller report: "Let it come out. Let people see it. That's up to the attorney general." pic.twitter.com/gj5AD74jO9
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2019
He has not committed to releasing the entire document, much to the chagrin of congressional Democrats.
In his rambling commentary on Wednesday, Trump suggested that he wants to see Mueller’s report before it is made public. He also took thinly veiled shots at Mueller, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
“It’s very interesting that a man just out of the blue writes a report,” Trump said, referring to Mueller, who was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017 by Rosenstein.
Rosenstein oversaw the probe after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from Russia-related matters.
“I don’t mind, I mean frankly I told the House, ‘If you want, let them see it,’” said Trump, adding: “I think it’s ridiculous, but I want to see the report.”
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