The Mueller report is out

By Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner, Amanda Wills and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 7:55 PM ET, Thu April 18, 2019
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10:12 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

House Judiciary Committee sends a letter to Robert Mueller requesting his testimony by May 23

Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has sent a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller asking him to testify soon.

"I request your testimony before the the Judiciary Committee as soon as possible — but, in any event, no later than May 23, 2019," he wrote.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have already called on Mueller to testify.

Here's Nadler's letter:

2:09 p.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Trump tweets "game over" moments after Barr's news conference

President Trump tweeted "game over" moments after Attorney General William Barr held a news conference detailing special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

He tweeted an image of himself that appropriated the font style from "Game of Thrones."

HBO later issued a statement in response to Trump's tweet.

“Though we can understand the enthusiasm for Game of Thrones now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes," HBO said

Some background: Trump has used appropriated images from the "Game of Thrones" before.

In the past, HBO has responded, saying: "We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes."

(HBO and CNN share parent company WarnerMedia.)

10:07 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Barr: "I have no objection to Bob Mueller testifying"

Asked if special counsel Robert Mueller should testify before Congress about his report, Attorney General William Barr said he has no objection.

"I have no objection to Bob Mueller testifying," he said.

Barr is scheduled to testify next month in front of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.

10:03 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Read Barr's prepared remarks about the release of the redacted Mueller report 

Attorney General William Barr just delivered remarks on the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

Click or tap here for a copy of the full remarks as prepared for delivery.

10:01 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Barr says bipartisan congressional leaders will see almost unredacted version of the report

Attorney General William Barr said a group of bipartisan leaders from several congressional committees will see a version of report with no redactions, except for grand jury information.

"Nevertheless, in an effort to accommodate congressional requests, we will make available to a bipartisan group of leaders from several congressional committees a version of the report with all redactions removed except those relating to grand-jury information," he said.
10:26 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

President's lawyers did not request or were permitted to make any redactions, Barr says

President Trump's lawyers did not request redactions in the report, Attorney General William Barr said.

"The President’s personal lawyers were not permitted to make, and did not request, any redactions," he said.

Barr made clear: "No one outside this group proposed any redactions, and no one outside the department has seen the unredacted report, with the exception of certain sections that were made available to IC, the intelligence community, for their advice on protecting intelligence sources and methods."

9:55 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Barr: Mueller examined "10 episodes" involving Trump and potential obstruction of justice

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report examined 10 episodes involving President Trump and "elements of an obstruction offense," Attorney General William Barr said.

"After finding no underlying collusion with Russia, the special counsel’s report goes on to consider whether certain actions of the President could amount to obstruction of the special counsel’s investigation. As I addressed in my March 24 letter, the special counsel did not make a traditional prosecutorial judgment regarding this allegation. Instead, the report recounts 10 episodes involving the President and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense."
11:44 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Barr: "No material has been redacted based on executive privilege"

Attorney General William Barr said the soon-to-be-released report contains only "limited redactions" — none of which were the result of executive privilege.

"As you will see, most of the redactions were compelled by the need to prevent harm to ongoing matters and to comply with court orders prohibiting the public disclosure of information bearing upon ongoing investigations and criminal cases, such as the IRA case and the Roger Stone case," Barr said.

The redactions were "applied by Department of Justice attorneys working closely together with attorneys from the Special Counsel’s Office, as well as with the intelligence community, and prosecutors who are handling ongoing cases. 

"The redactions are their work product," Barr said.

Barr said the decision "whether to assert executive privilege" on part of the report rested with President Trump. Trump decided he would not assert that privilege, Barr said.

Watch here:

9:46 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Barr: The bottom line is there's no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia

Attorney General William Barr said that, while special counsel Robert Mueller and his team "investigated a number of links or contacts between Trump Campaign officials and individuals connected with the Russian government," they found no evidence of collusion.

"After reviewing those contacts, the special counsel did not find any conspiracy to violate US law involving Russia-linked persons and any persons associated with the Trump campaign," Barr said.

He continued:

So that is the bottom line. After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the Special Counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those schemes.