Special counsel Robert Mueller said during prepared remarks Wednesday that he believes Attorney General Bill Barr acted in “good faith” by waiting to release the full report from the Russia investigation.
Mueller previously wrote a letter to Barr in March that alleged he “did not fully capture the context, nature and substance” of the investigation in his initial letter summarizing the principal conclusions from the report. Barr opted to release the principal conclusions while the full report underwent redactions to make it suitable for public release. (RELATED: Mueller Express Frustrations In Letter To Barr)
However, during a statement Wednesday at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Mueller seemed to absolve Barr of any wrongdoing in his handling of the report.
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“We conducted an independent criminal investigation and reported the results to the Attorney General—as required by Department regulations,” Mueller said. “The Attorney General then concluded that it was appropriate to provide our report to Congress and the American people.”
“At one point in time I requested that certain portions of the report be released,” he continued. “The Attorney General preferred to make the entire report public all at once. We appreciate that the Attorney General made the report largely public. I do not question the Attorney General’s good faith in that decision.”
Barr offered Mueller the opportunity to review the letter containing his principal conclusions before its release, but Mueller declined to do so.