Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued a stern warning to President Donald Trump on Thursday: "If you shut down or throttle" the investigation into Russian meddling led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, "you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler continued, "Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you."

Many House Democrats called for legislation to protect the special counsel to be included in the spending bill Congress must pass by Friday to keep the government running.

Republicans didn't agree to the measure, however, and the provision was not included.

Asked if firing Mueller was a "red line" that could lead to impeachment, Rep. Nadler stopped short of predicting the consequences, saying only, "all options would be on the table."

Nadler said the firing of the special counsel would lead to a "sea change in the political landscape of the country," that would cause Republicans "to be moved to act" against the president, too.

But he said, "We're not there yet."

Washington, D.C. - 22 March 2018

1. Wide shot of Rep. Nadler and other Democrats walking into House press gallery

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Let us set aside for a moment that so much of what the president says is simply factually incorrect. These tantrums are more than merely the online musings of a passionate viewer of Fox News. These statements are threats from the president of the United States against our rule of law. They specifically target Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is charged with investigating allegations of serious crimes against the United States, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States government in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. That is why I am standing here today with my Democratic colleagues from the House Judiciary Committee to deliver a united message to President Trump: Do not meddle with the special counsel investigation. We expect and the rule of law demands that the special counsel be permitted to complete his investigation wherever it may lead free from political interference and that the facts be presented for public review so that the American people can know the full truth."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Where, however, is the Republican leadership. Why does Speaker Ryan take days to make tepid statements in general support of the Mueller investigation? Why does the majority refuse to take action to protect the special counsel from a president who clearly wants him gone? Why would they not agree to a bipartisan amendment to the omnibus budget bill to make it all but impossible to remove a special counsel without cause? My colleagues here have the courage to do it. Republican leadership will not. Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you. If you shut down or throttle the Mueller investigation by firing either (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions or (Deputy Attorney General Rod) Rosenstein or Mueller, you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Should a red line be crossed and firing the special counsel or throttling his investigation would be an absolute red line. Then there would be a total sea change in the political landscape of the country. And at that point, all options would be on the table. All options would be on the table. I believe that as the president puts us in a constitutional crisis, that there are enough Republicans who care about the rule of law and are concerned by the president's action they would be moved to act too. But if this happens, if the president puts us in a constitutional crisis by crossing a red line by firing the special prosecutor or really constraining the investigation, all options would be on the table. But we're not going to say now what we would do then because all kinds of things change not just change but .. we're not there yet."

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued a stern warning to President Donald Trump on Thursday: "If you shut down or throttle" the investigation into Russian meddling led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, "you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler continued, "Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you."

Many House Democrats called for legislation to protect the special counsel to be included in the spending bill Congress must pass by Friday to keep the government running.

Republicans didn't agree to the measure, however, and the provision was not included.

Asked if firing Mueller was a "red line" that could lead to impeachment, Rep. Nadler stopped short of predicting the consequences, saying only, "all options would be on the table."

Nadler said the firing of the special counsel would lead to a "sea change in the political landscape of the country," that would cause Republicans "to be moved to act" against the president, too.

But he said, "We're not there yet."

Washington, D.C. - 22 March 2018

1. Wide shot of Rep. Nadler and other Democrats walking into House press gallery

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Let us set aside for a moment that so much of what the president says is simply factually incorrect. These tantrums are more than merely the online musings of a passionate viewer of Fox News. These statements are threats from the president of the United States against our rule of law. They specifically target Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is charged with investigating allegations of serious crimes against the United States, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States government in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. That is why I am standing here today with my Democratic colleagues from the House Judiciary Committee to deliver a united message to President Trump: Do not meddle with the special counsel investigation. We expect and the rule of law demands that the special counsel be permitted to complete his investigation wherever it may lead free from political interference and that the facts be presented for public review so that the American people can know the full truth."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Where, however, is the Republican leadership. Why does Speaker Ryan take days to make tepid statements in general support of the Mueller investigation? Why does the majority refuse to take action to protect the special counsel from a president who clearly wants him gone? Why would they not agree to a bipartisan amendment to the omnibus budget bill to make it all but impossible to remove a special counsel without cause? My colleagues here have the courage to do it. Republican leadership will not. Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you. If you shut down or throttle the Mueller investigation by firing either (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions or (Deputy Attorney General Rod) Rosenstein or Mueller, you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Should a red line be crossed and firing the special counsel or throttling his investigation would be an absolute red line. Then there would be a total sea change in the political landscape of the country. And at that point, all options would be on the table. All options would be on the table. I believe that as the president puts us in a constitutional crisis, that there are enough Republicans who care about the rule of law and are concerned by the president's action they would be moved to act too. But if this happens, if the president puts us in a constitutional crisis by crossing a red line by firing the special prosecutor or really constraining the investigation, all options would be on the table. But we're not going to say now what we would do then because all kinds of things change not just change but .. we're not there yet."

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued a stern warning to President Donald Trump on Thursday: "If you shut down or throttle" the investigation into Russian meddling led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, "you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler continued, "Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you."

Many House Democrats called for legislation to protect the special counsel to be included in the spending bill Congress must pass by Friday to keep the government running.

Republicans didn't agree to the measure, however, and the provision was not included.

Asked if firing Mueller was a "red line" that could lead to impeachment, Rep. Nadler stopped short of predicting the consequences, saying only, "all options would be on the table."

Nadler said the firing of the special counsel would lead to a "sea change in the political landscape of the country," that would cause Republicans "to be moved to act" against the president, too.

But he said, "We're not there yet."

Washington, D.C. - 22 March 2018

1. Wide shot of Rep. Nadler and other Democrats walking into House press gallery

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Let us set aside for a moment that so much of what the president says is simply factually incorrect. These tantrums are more than merely the online musings of a passionate viewer of Fox News. These statements are threats from the president of the United States against our rule of law. They specifically target Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is charged with investigating allegations of serious crimes against the United States, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States government in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. That is why I am standing here today with my Democratic colleagues from the House Judiciary Committee to deliver a united message to President Trump: Do not meddle with the special counsel investigation. We expect and the rule of law demands that the special counsel be permitted to complete his investigation wherever it may lead free from political interference and that the facts be presented for public review so that the American people can know the full truth."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Where, however, is the Republican leadership. Why does Speaker Ryan take days to make tepid statements in general support of the Mueller investigation? Why does the majority refuse to take action to protect the special counsel from a president who clearly wants him gone? Why would they not agree to a bipartisan amendment to the omnibus budget bill to make it all but impossible to remove a special counsel without cause? My colleagues here have the courage to do it. Republican leadership will not. Mr. President, we are watching you. The American people are watching you. If you shut down or throttle the Mueller investigation by firing either (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions or (Deputy Attorney General Rod) Rosenstein or Mueller, you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis."

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D) New York:

"Should a red line be crossed and firing the special counsel or throttling his investigation would be an absolute red line. Then there would be a total sea change in the political landscape of the country. And at that point, all options would be on the table. All options would be on the table. I believe that as the president puts us in a constitutional crisis, that there are enough Republicans who care about the rule of law and are concerned by the president's action they would be moved to act too. But if this happens, if the president puts us in a constitutional crisis by crossing a red line by firing the special prosecutor or really constraining the investigation, all options would be on the table. But we're not going to say now what we would do then because all kinds of things change not just change but .. we're not there yet."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus120758

Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress will depend not so much on what he says, but that he's even saying it at all.

For Democrats, the special counsel's appearance Wednesday creates a moment many have been waiting for: Mueller finally speaking out, piercing the public consciousness about President Donald Trump's response to the Russia investigation and whether anything should be done about it.

The political stakes are high for Trump, but also for Democrats, who have spent the past two years pushing toward this day. As public attention has drifted and views have hardened, Democrats are counting on Americans hearing what most have not likely read - the stunning findings of Mueller's 448-page report .

Yet there's a real possibility that Mueller may not bring clarity.

It took months to negotiate his appearance before Congress and he has been reluctant to speak beyond what he and his team wrote. Few bombshells are expected. As the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee gavel in, the buttoned-down prosecutor, once envisioned as a trusted last word, may deliver just-the-facts responses that leave more questions than answers.

Rather than galvanizing public opinion and the questions of impeachment, Mueller's reluctant appearance may become just another chapter in the Trump era that won't be closed until the 2020 election.

Trump tried to project a lack of interest, claiming he will not tune in to Wednesday's hourslong hearings.

POOL

Washington - 29 May 2019

1. Robert Mueller walks into Justice Department briefing room

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 22 July 2019

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Reporter:

"Democrats have been trying to get Robert Mueller in ever since he issued his report, the Mueller Report in April, and they really think that they just need to get him in front of the American people to explain what he found because they think that Americans haven't read the Mueller Report."

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Reporter:

"I think one major point of questioning on both sides is going to be the fact that Mueller has essentially said that the President cannot be indicted. And so Democrats are going to try to get him to say you know what how important that decision was and when he made it. Republicans are really interested in the timeline of that, when did he decide that the president couldn't be indicted because some of them will try to make an argument that the investigation should have just been fully shut down if they decided that the president couldn't indict, couldn't be indicted. So I think that will be a major point of questioning on on both sides."

POOL

Washington - 10 June 2019

4. Various of House Judiciary Commitee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler

POOL

Washington - 29 May 2019

5. Various of Mueller speaking

POOL

Washington - 10 June 2019

6. Various of Nadler

7. Various of Judiciary Commitee Ranking Member Rep. Doug Collins

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Washington - 22 July 2019

8. Various of President Donald Trump discussing upcoming Mueller hearings UPSOUND: (English) US President Donald Trump: "No, I'm not going to be watching, probably, maybe I'll see a little bit of it. I'm not going to be watching Mueller because you can't take all those bites out of the apple. We had no collusion, no obstruction."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 22 July 2019

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Reporter:

"More than 80 Democrats have called to open an impeachment inquiry just to hold hearings on impeachment for Donald Trump. Democrats who support that effort are hoping to see more of those calls after this hearing. Nancy Pelosi so far has said that she is not interested for now in impeachment. So it's unclear if this hearing will change that dynamic. Some Democrats are really hoping that it will."

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Reporter:

"What Democrats hope is that they're bringing the report into the American consciousness and that they get people to to see what they see, which is egregious behavior on behalf of the president. Republicans are hoping that this all just goes away, that this is the final chapter in the Mueller Report. I think it remains to be seen. As I said I think that when they go back for August recess, we'll see how the American people respond. Are they going to pressure their lawmakers to move for impeachment or to do more than they're currently doing? I think all of that remains to be seen and I think Nancy Pelosi who really controls a lot of this will be watching all of that."

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Washington - June 21 2019

11. Various of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

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Washington - 12 June 2019

12. House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff speaking with Rep. Jim Himes

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Washington - 11 June 2019

13. Still photo of Nadler and Schiff

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Washington - 2 April 2019

14. Still photo of Republican Reps Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - Recent

15. Pelosi walking out of White House

Republican members of Congress are challenging the deputy attorney general about the political leanings of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team.

The questioning of Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday comes one day after Congress received from the Justice Department derogatory text messages about President Donald Trump from two FBI officials.

The text messages ended in late 2016, and the two officials were later assigned to Mueller's team. That group is investigating potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Rosenstein defended Mueller's investigation, saying he's seen no good cause to fire Mueller.

Rosenstein also says there's a difference between political affiliation and political bias. He says Justice Department officials are entitled to political views but cannot allow them to influence their actions.

POOL

Washington, D.C. - 13 December 2017

1. Wide of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein entering hearing room

2. Various, Rosenstein being sworn in

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Jerry Nadler, (D) Ranking Member of House Judiciary Committee and Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General: ++VARIOUS CAMERA ANGLES DURING EXCHANGE++

(Nadler) "In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, you said that you would only fire Special Counsel Mueller for good cause, and that you had not seen any yet. Several months have passed since then. Have you seen good cause to fire Special Counsel Mueller?" (Rod Rosenstein) "No." (Nadler) "Thank you. If you were ordered today to fire Mr. Mueller, what would you do?" (Rosenstein) As I have explained previously, I would fire the regulation, if there were good cause, I would act. If there were no good cause, I would not." (Nadler) "And you have seen no good cause so far." (Rosenstein) "Correct." (Nadler) "Thank you."

4. Wide of committee members

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Bob Goodlatte, (R) Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

"Reports on the political predisposition and potential bias of certain career agents and department lawyers on Special Counsel Mueller's team are deeply troubling to all citizens who expect a system of blind and equal justice. The Department of Justice investigations must not be tainted by individuals imposing their own political prejudices. We are now beginning to understand the magnitude of this insider bias on Mr. Mueller's team."

6. Mid of committee members

7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Bob Goodlatte, (R) Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

"According to the documents produced last night to this committee, Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page referred to the president as "an utter idiot," "a loathsome human," and "awful," while continually praising Hillary Clinton and the Obamas. These text messages prove what we all suspected, high ranking FBI officials involved in the Clinton investigation were personally invested in the outcome of the election, and clearly let their strong political opinions cloud their professional judgment."

8. Mid of committee members

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Jerry Nadler, (D) Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee ++CONTAINS CUTAWAYS FROM SOURCE++

"According to the Department, the Office of the Inspector General informed Special Counsel Mueller of the existence of these text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page on July 27, 2017, the text you sent us last night. Mr. Mueller immediately concluded that Mr. Strzok could no longer participate in the investigation, and he was removed from the team the same day. Did Mr. Mueller take appropriate action in this case." (Rosenstein) "Yes, he did." (Nadler) "Thank you."

10. Wide of committee members

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General

"When wrongdoing occurs, we are more likely to discover it, and we remedy it. That is critical to building and maintaining public confidence. Over the past eight months, I have spoken with thousand of Department employees around the country. I remind them that justice is not only our name, but justice is our mission. Justice requires a fair and impartial process. That's why we have a special responsibility to follow ethical and professional standards."

12. Wide of committee members

President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general strove at his confirmation Tuesday to assert his independence from the White House, saying he believed Russia had interfered with the 2016 presidential election, that a special counsel investigation shadowing Trump needs to move forward and that his predecessor made the correct call by recusing from the probe.

Those comments departed from Trump's own views and underscored Barr's efforts to reassure Democrats that he will not be a loyalist to a president who has appeared to demand it from law enforcement.

Trump has repeatedly castigated special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, calling it a "witch hunt," and lambasted and ultimately pushed out his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for his recusal because of his work with the campaign.

"I will not be bullied into doing anything that I think is wrong, whether it be by editorial boards, Congress or the president," Barr said.

Barr repeatedly praised Mueller, who has been investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to sway the election, and sought to provide assurance he would not undermine his work. He called him a friend of 30 years and saying he couldn't imagine that Mueller would do anything that would justify his firing.

Barr would oversee the final stages of the investigation, and said that though he would consult with ethics officials on whether he would need to recuse because of a critical unsolicited memo to the Justice Department last year, the decision would be ultimately his.

He also disclosed having discussed Mueller with Trump during a meeting in 2017 when Barr declined to join his legal team.

Trump wanted to know what Mueller, who worked for Barr when he led the Justice Department between 1991 and 1993, was like.

Barr said he told Trump Mueller "is a straight shooter and should be dealt with as such."

The nominee also said former FBI Director James Comey made the wrong decision by holding a news conference announcing he wasn't recommending charges in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Barr said if authorities aren't going to bring charges, then there should not be a news conference to detail derogatory information uncovered during the probe. Comey has defended his decision.

"That's not the way the Department of Justice does business," Barr said.

POOL

Washington, DC - 15 January 2019

1. Wide side shot of Barr testifying at confirmation hearing

2. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"I have a very good life. I love it, but I also want to help in this circumstance and I am not going to do anything that I think is wrong and I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong by anybody, whether it be editorial boards or Congress or the president. I'm going to do what I think is right."

3. Cutaway of committee members

4. Cutaway of Sen. Lindsey Graham

5. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"It was a very brief meeting where essentially the president wanted to know, he said, 'Oh, you know Bob Mueller. How well do you know Bob Mueller?' And I told him how well I knew Bob Mueller and how you know the Barrs and Muellers were good friends and would be good friends when this is all over and so forth. And he was interested in that, wanted to know you know what I thought about, you know, Mueller's integrity and so forth and so on. And I said Bob is a, is a straight shooter and should be dealt with as such. And he said something to the effect like, 'So are you envisioning some role here?' And I said, 'No actually, Mr. President, right now I couldn't do it. You know, I just, my personal and my professional obligations are such that I'm unable to do it.' So he asked me for my phone number, I gave it to him and I never heard from him again until..."

6. Wide shot of hearing

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont:

"So will you commit, if confirmed, to both seeking and following the advice of the department's career ethics officials on whether you must recuse from the special counsel's investigation?"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"I will seek the advice of the career ethics personnel. But under the regulations, I make the decision as the head of the agency as to my own recusal. So, I certainly would consult with them and at the end of the day, I would make a decision in good faith based on the laws and the facts that are evident at that time."

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont:

"Are there any circumstances that would cause you to terminate the investigation, a component of or significantly restricted funding?"

10. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"Under the under the regulations, Bob Mueller could only be terminated for good cause and I frankly, it's unimaginable to me that Bob would ever do anything that gave rise to good cause. But in theory, if something happened that was good cause, for me it would actually take more than that, it would have to be pretty grave and the public interest would essentially have to compel it. Because I believe right now the overarching public interest is to allow him to finish."

11. Wide shot of hearing

12. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"I think Jim Comey is, as I've said, is an extremely gifted man who's served the country with distinction in many roles. But I thought that to the extent he, he actually announced a decision, was wrong. And the other thing is if you're not going to indict someone then you don't stand up there and unload negative information about the person. That's not the way the Department of Justice does business."

13. Wide shot of hearing

Once Special Counsel Robert Mueller completes his Trump-Russia investigation, he will hand a report over to the Attorney General.

All the details may not be uncovered, at least not right away, but here's what can be expected:

Mueller has to turn in a report of some kind. It could be pretty bare-bones. Justice Department regulations require only that Mueller give the attorney general a confidential report that explains the decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hundreds of pages.

Barr indicated that he expects to use his report to share the results of Mueller's investigation with the public, which the regulations allow him to do. But he hedged on specifics and said his plans could change after speaking with Mueller and Rosenstein.

It is unclear whether Trump will ask to see the report and under what circumstances he or his attorneys might be able to view it, especially because the document is meant to be confidential for Justice Department leadership. Mueller reports to the Justice Department, not the White House.

Barr said at his confirmation hearing that he would not permit White House interference in the investigation. But he also has voiced an expansive view of executive power in which the president functions as the country's chief law enforcement officer and has wide latitude in giving directives to the FBI and Justice Department.

While delivery of the report to the Attorney General marks the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, for many who cover Washington politics, the work continues.

"There's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information," says Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker.

He adds there will also be questions about the Justice Department and "the politicization of law enforcement."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

1. Exterior of Department of Justice, zooms into fifth floor window

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"I am Eric Tucker of The Associated Press and I am standing outside the Justice Department building in Washington D.C. Up on the fifth floor of the Attorney General William Barr is responsible for receiving a confidential report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller that marks the end of his investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He then is responsible for advising individual members of Congress that he has received that report and he has pledged to make public as much as he can under the law of Mueller's findings."

POOL

Archive: Washington - 15 January 2019

3. Various of William Barr during his confirmation hearing for Attorney General

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"There are just a couple things that the attorney general has to provide to Congress. One is notification that Mueller's investigation has concluded. He also has to advise him of something else that's really specific and interesting and that is any moment in which an investigative step or action that was proposed by the special counsel was rejected or turned down by the Justice Department. So that's something he's actually required under the regulations to provide. And that's it. But what he committed to do in his confirmation hearing was to make as much of the information from Mueller's report and as much of his findings public as possible, as permitted, under the law."

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Washington - 14 March 2019

5. President Donald Trump outside US Capitol with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"It's hard to think of any directly comparable example that's entirely on point with what's happening now under this regulation with the special counsel that's controlled by the Justice Department, supervised by the Justice Department, which falls within the executive branch investigating the president of the United States himself. And so there are equities on both sides that are likely to clash."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archive: Washington DC - Date Unknown

7. Exteriors of U.S. Capitol

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"It is not clear that the underlying Mueller report, from page to page, will ever be seen by the public because what the attorney general is committed to doing is taking that report and basically editing it to sanction out or or delete from public view any sort of classified information that he thinks is not ready to be seen by the public. However, there is a scenario in which Congress could attempt to subpoena the document itself or subpoena the special counsel to say, 'We want you to come to Capitol Hill and we want to ask you exactly what you found. And we want you to tell us.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archive: Washington DC - Date Unknown

9. Exteriors of U.S. Capitol at night

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"One thing that the attorney general said in his confirmation hearing -- he was asked specifically about this idea of will you let the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, receive and edit any report that is transmitted before it's publicly released and he said unequivolcally no. But that's a distinction though an important difference because the White House, the actual White House attorneys, the White House Counsel's Office, they might very well attempt to legally invoke some sort of privilege to say that there's certain information that's contained, or is likely contained, in this document report that should not be released because it reflects executive privilege."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 12 March 2018

11. STILL: Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks through Capitol

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"The Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is ending. For many in Washington who cover it closely like myself, in many ways, the work continues, just as it did before, because there's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information. There are going to be continuing stories about the substance of the Special Counsel's nearly nearly two year long investigation -- what he found, what he didn't find and what impact that has on the Trump administration and the remainder of the Trump presidency. And for the Justice Department itself and its role in Washington and the government, I think there are going to be ongoing questions about the politicization of law enforcement."

13. Tucker walking outside DOJ

14. Various exteriors of DOJ

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Once Special Counsel Robert Mueller completes his Trump-Russia investigation, he will hand a report over to the Attorney General.

All the details may not be uncovered, at least not right away, but here's what can be expected:

Mueller has to turn in a report of some kind. It could be pretty bare-bones. Justice Department regulations require only that Mueller give the attorney general a confidential report that explains the decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hundreds of pages.

Barr indicated that he expects to use his report to share the results of Mueller's investigation with the public, which the regulations allow him to do. But he hedged on specifics and said his plans could change after speaking with Mueller and Rosenstein.

It is unclear whether Trump will ask to see the report and under what circumstances he or his attorneys might be able to view it, especially because the document is meant to be confidential for Justice Department leadership. Mueller reports to the Justice Department, not the White House.

Barr said at his confirmation hearing that he would not permit White House interference in the investigation. But he also has voiced an expansive view of executive power in which the president functions as the country's chief law enforcement officer and has wide latitude in giving directives to the FBI and Justice Department.

While delivery of the report to the Attorney General marks the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, for many who cover Washington politics, the work continues.

"There's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information," says Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker.

He adds there will also be questions about the Justice Department and "the politicization of law enforcement."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

1. Exterior of Department of Justice, zooms into fifth floor window

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"I am Eric Tucker of The Associated Press and I am standing outside the Justice Department building in Washington D.C. Up on the fifth floor of the Attorney General William Barr is responsible for receiving a confidential report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller that marks the end of his investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He then is responsible for advising individual members of Congress that he has received that report and he has pledged to make public as much as he can under the law of Mueller's findings."

POOL

Archive: Washington - 15 January 2019

3. Various of William Barr during his confirmation hearing for Attorney General

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"There are just a couple things that the attorney general has to provide to Congress. One is notification that Mueller's investigation has concluded. He also has to advise him of something else that's really specific and interesting and that is any moment in which an investigative step or action that was proposed by the special counsel was rejected or turned down by the Justice Department. So that's something he's actually required under the regulations to provide. And that's it. But what he committed to do in his confirmation hearing was to make as much of the information from Mueller's report and as much of his findings public as possible, as permitted, under the law."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 14 March 2019

5. President Donald Trump outside US Capitol with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"It's hard to think of any directly comparable example that's entirely on point with what's happening now under this regulation with the special counsel that's controlled by the Justice Department, supervised by the Justice Department, which falls within the executive branch investigating the president of the United States himself. And so there are equities on both sides that are likely to clash."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archive: Washington DC - Date Unknown

7. Exteriors of U.S. Capitol

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"It is not clear that the underlying Mueller report, from page to page, will ever be seen by the public because what the attorney general is committed to doing is taking that report and basically editing it to sanction out or or delete from public view any sort of classified information that he thinks is not ready to be seen by the public. However, there is a scenario in which Congress could attempt to subpoena the document itself or subpoena the special counsel to say, 'We want you to come to Capitol Hill and we want to ask you exactly what you found. And we want you to tell us.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archive: Washington DC - Date Unknown

9. Exteriors of U.S. Capitol at night

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"One thing that the attorney general said in his confirmation hearing -- he was asked specifically about this idea of will you let the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, receive and edit any report that is transmitted before it's publicly released and he said unequivolcally no. But that's a distinction though an important difference because the White House, the actual White House attorneys, the White House Counsel's Office, they might very well attempt to legally invoke some sort of privilege to say that there's certain information that's contained, or is likely contained, in this document report that should not be released because it reflects executive privilege."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 12 March 2018

11. STILL: Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks through Capitol

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 19 March 2019

12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"The Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is ending. For many in Washington who cover it closely like myself, in many ways, the work continues, just as it did before, because there's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information. There are going to be continuing stories about the substance of the Special Counsel's nearly nearly two year long investigation -- what he found, what he didn't find and what impact that has on the Trump administration and the remainder of the Trump presidency. And for the Justice Department itself and its role in Washington and the government, I think there are going to be ongoing questions about the politicization of law enforcement."

13. Tucker walking outside DOJ

14. Various exteriors of DOJ

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Once Special Counsel Robert Mueller completes his Trump-Russia investigation, he will hand a report over to the Attorney General. We may not get all the details uncovered, at least not right away, but here's what we can expect:

Mueller has to turn in a report of some kind. It could be pretty bare-bones. Justice Department regulations require only that Mueller give the attorney general a confidential report that explains the decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hundreds of pages.

Barr indicated that he expects to use his report to share the results of Mueller's investigation with the public, which the regulations allow him to do. But he hedged on specifics and said his plans could change after speaking with Mueller and Rosenstein.

It is unclear whether Trump will ask to see the report and under what circumstances he or his attorneys might be able to view it, especially because the document is meant to be confidential for Justice Department leadership. Mueller reports to the Justice Department, not the White House.

Barr said at his confirmation hearing that he would not permit White House interference in the investigation. But he also has voiced an expansive view of executive power in which the president functions as the country's chief law enforcement officer and has wide latitude in giving directives to the FBI and Justice Department.

While delivery of the report to the Attorney General marks the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, for many who cover Washington politics, the work continues.

"There's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information," says Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker.

He adds there will also be questions about the Justice Department and "the politicization of law enforcement."

Washington, DC - 21 August 2013

1. FILE: Still of Robert Mueller speaking during interview at FBI headquarters

Washington - 19 March 2019

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter: +++SOT PARTIALLY COVERED BY VARIOUS STILLS+++

"The Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is ending. For many in Washington who cover it closely like myself, in many ways, the work continues, just as it did before, because there's going to be ongoing clashes on Capitol Hill as to how much information can be released and what to do with that information. There are going to be continuing stories about the substance of the Special Counsel's nearly nearly two year long investigation -- what he found, what he didn't find and what impact that has on the Trump administration and the remainder of the Trump presidency."

Washington, DC - 8 February  2019

3. GOP Rep. Doug Collins expresses exasperation during Judiciary Committee hearing

Washington, DC - 13 June 2013

4. FILE: Still of Robert Mueller testifies at House Judiciary Committee hearing

Washington, DC - 17 March 2019

5. FILE: Still of President Trump and First Lady walk to motorcade after church

Washington - 19 March 2019

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter: +++SOT PARTIALLY COVERED BY STILLS+++

"There are just a couple things that the attorney general has to provide to Congress. One is notification that Mueller's investigation has concluded. He also has to advise him of something else that's really specific and interesting and that is any moment in which an investigative step or action that was proposed by the special counsel was rejected or turned down by the Justice Department. So that's something he's actually required under the regulations to provide. And that's it. But what he committed to do in his confirmation hearing was to make as much of the information from Mueller's report and as much of his findings public as possible, as permitted, under the law."

Washington, DC - 15 January 2019

7. William Barr testifying at Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on confirmation

Washington, DC - 13 June 2013

8. FILE: Still of Robert Mueller testifies at House Judiciary Committee hearing

Washington, DC - 15 January 2019

9. Various of William Barr taking oath at Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing

Washington - 19 March 2019

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter: +++SOT PARTIALLY COVERED BY STILLS+++

"It is not clear that the underlying Mueller report, from page to page, will ever be seen by the public because what the attorney general is committed to doing is taking that report and basically editing it to sanction out or or delete from public view any sort of classified information that he thinks is not ready to be seen by the public. However, there is a scenario in which Congress could attempt to subpoena the document itself or subpoena the special counsel to say, 'We want you to come to Capitol Hill and we want to ask you exactly what you found. And we want you to tell us."

Washington, DC - January 2019

11. William Barr testifying at Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing

Washington, DC - 8 February 2019

12. FILE: Still of House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler holding hearing

Washington, DC - 6 February 2019

13. FILE: Still of House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff speaks with reporters

Washington - 19 March 2019

14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"One thing that the attorney general said in his confirmation hearing -- he was asked specifically about this idea of will you let the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, receive and edit any report that is transmitted before it's publicly released and he said unequivolcally no. But that's a distinction though an important difference because the White House, the actual White House attorneys, the White House Counsel's Office, they might very well attempt to legally invoke some sort of privilege to say that there's certain information that's contained, or is likely contained, in this documenreport that should not be released because it reflects executive privilege."

Washington, DC - January 2019

15. FILE: Still of William Barr testifying at Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing

Washington - 19 March 2019

16. Still of President Donald Trump walks toward Rose Garden at the White House

Washington - 14 March 2019

17 FILE: Still of President Donald Trump seated in Oval Office

President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general continued efforts to distance himself from the president Tuesday as he testified before Senators at his confirmation hearing.

Under questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, William Barr said he would not "not carry out" any order to fire special counsel Robert Mueller without cause.

The comments were in response to a question from Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.

Mueller's team is examining potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Barr said repeatedly Tuesday he wants Mueller to finish the investigation.

Trump's nominee was also asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is a friend or a foe to the United States.

Barr said while Russia is a "potent rival" of the U.S. with foreign policy objectives "usually at direct contrary," he minimized the threat from Moscow and said China, not Russia is the "primary rival" of the United States.

Throughout his testimony, Barr acknowledged Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 election but said Russia "is half the size it was was" during the Cold War with an economy nowhere near the size of China's.

And he said he's concerned "that the fixation on Russia not obscure the danger from China."

On a separate topic, Barr told the committee he can't rule out jailing reporters for doing their jobs.

In  response to a question from Sen. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, Barr said that there are certain situations where a reporter could be held in contempt "as a last resort."

Barr said the situations he was envisioning would involve news organizations "putting out stuff that is hurting the country."

POOL

Washington, DC - 15 January 2019

1. Wide shot of William Barr sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it returns from break

2. Wide cutaway of committee

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat, Delaware:

"So most famously when directed by President Nixon to fire the special counsel the prosecutor investigating Watergate, Richardson refused and resigned instead as we all well know. If the president directed you to change those regulations and then fire Mueller or simply directly fire Mueller, would you follow Richardson's example and resign instead?"

4. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"Assuming there was no good cause?

(Coons: Assuming no good cause.)

I would not carry out that instruction."

5. Cutaway of Coons

6. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"As I said, I'm going to carry out those regulations and I want him to finish this investigation."

7. Wide shot of hearing

8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"Well I don't hold myself out as a foreign policy expert but I think that he is, I think the Russians are a potent rival of our country and his foreign policy objectives are usually at directly contrary to our goals. I think he wants to weaken the American alliances in Europe and he also wants to become a player in the Middle East, more of a player in the Middle East. A lot of his foreign policy objectives are are at odds with ours. At the same time, I think the primary rival of the United States is China. I think, you know, Russia is half the size it was when we were facing them at the peak of the Cold War. Their economy is, long term prognosis, is nowhere near China's. But I'm concerned that the fixation on Russia not obscure the danger from China."

9. Wide shot of hearing

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat, Minnesota:

"If you're confirmed, will the Justice Department jail reporters for doing their jobs?"

11. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"I think that, you know, there are guidelines in place and I can conceive of situations where you know, as a last resort and where a news organization has run through a red flag or something like that, knows that they're putting out stuff that will hurt the country, there might be, there could be a situation where someone would be held in contempt."

12. Wide shot of hearing

Private tensions between Justice Department leaders and Robert Mueller's team broke into public view in extraordinary fashion Wednesday as Attorney General William Barr pushed back at the special counsel's "snitty" complaints over his handling of the Trump-Russia investigation report.

Testifying for the first time since releasing Mueller's report, Barr said he was surprised Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether President Donald Trump had tried to obstruct justice, and that he had felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime.

Barr was also perturbed by a private letter Mueller sent him last month complaining that the attorney general had not properly portrayed the special counsel's finding.

Barr called the note "a bit snitty."

"I said 'Bob, what's with the letter? Just pick up the phone and call me if there is an issue,'" Barr said.

The airing of disagreements over the handling of the report followed Mueller's two-year investigation into Russian interference to help Trump in the 2016 campaign and the possibility that Trump's team conspired with the Russians.

During most of the investigation, the Justice Department and Mueller's team seemed to be unified in approach.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been anything but unified.

And their partisan divide was on full display during Wednesday's contentious Judiciary Committee hearing, which included three Democratic presidential candidates.

Some Republicans, in addition to defending Trump, focused on the president's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's email and campaign practices and what they argued has been a lack of investigation of them.

Democrats, for their part, moved to exploit the daylight between Barr and Mueller to attack the attorney general's credibility and accuse him of unduly spinning the special counsel's report in the president's favor.

Barr sought to minimize the rift by suggesting the special counsel's concerns were largely about process, not substance.

Barr's appearance gave him his most extensive opportunity to explain the department's actions, including his news conference held before the Mueller report's release.

Barr has also been invited to appear Thursday before the Democratic-led House Judiciary panel, but the Justice Department has said he would not testify if the committee insisted on having its lawyers question him.

Neither side broke much new ground Wednesday on the specifics of Mueller's investigation, though Barr did articulate a robust defense of Trump as he made clear his firm conviction that there was no prosecutable case against the president for obstruction of justice.

POOL

Washington DC - 1 May 2019

1. Wide, Senate Judiciary Committee

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Cory Booker, Democrat - New Jersey:

"We right now have a new normal in our country. We have a document that shows over 200 hundred attempts, connections between a presidential campaign and a foreign adversary sharing information that would be illegal if you did it with a super PAC. We know that. (Barr: What information was shared?)  The polling data was shared sir. It's in the report I can cite you the page. (Barr: With who?) And I guess my point here is is that your willingness to seem to brush over this and use words like the American people should be grateful. What's in this report? Nobody should be grateful."

3. Back view of hearing

4. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"Sen. Kamala Harris: Attorney General Barr has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?

Umm, I wouldn't I wouldn't.

Harris: Yes or no.

Could you repeat that question?"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"I will repeat it. Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? Yes or no please sir?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"The president or anybody else.

Harris: Seems you'd remember something like that and be able to tell us.

Yeah but I'm trying to grapple with the words suggest. I mean there have been discussions of of matters out there that they have not asked me to open investigation but  ...

Harris: Perhaps they've suggested?

I don't know, I wouldn't say suggest.

Harris: Hinted? Inferred?"

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"Is in reaching your conclusion did you personally review all of the underlying evidence?"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"No. We took and  ...

Harris: Did Mr. Rosenstein?

No we accepted the statements in the report as the factual record. We did not go underneath it to see whether or not they were accurate. We accepted it as accurate."

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"As the Attorney General of the United States. You run the United States Department of Justice. If in any U.S. attorney's office around the country, the head of that office when being asked to make a critical decision about in this case the person who holds the highest office in the land and whether or not that person committed a crime, would you accept them recommending a charging decision to you if they had not reviewed the evidence?

Barr: Well that's a question for Bob Mueller. He's the U.S. attorney. He's the one who presents the report.

But it was you who made the charging decision, sir? You made the decision not to charge the president."

10. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"In a pross (process) memo and then a declination memo.

Harris: You said it was your baby, what did you mean by that?

It was my baby to to let to decide whether or not to disclose it to the public

Harris: And whose decision was it? Who had the power to make the decision about whether or not the evidence was sufficient to make a determination of whether there had been an obstruction of justice?

Prosecution memos go up to the supervisor, in this case it was the the attorney general and the deputy attorney general who who decide on the final decision."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat - Minnesota:

"Mr. Attorney General, on April 27th President Trump stated 'Mueller, I assume for 35 million dollars he checked my taxes and he checked my financials.' Is that accurate? Did the special counsel review the president's taxes and the Trump Organization's financial statements?"

12. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"I don't know.

Klobuchar: Can you find out if I ask later in a written question?

I, yes or you could ask Bob Mueller when he comes here.

Klobuchar: OK I'll do that too."

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat - Connecticut:

"In fact in response to your question 'why not just pick up the phone,' this letter was an extraordinary act. A career prosecutor rebuking the attorney general of the United States, memorializing in writing. Right? I know of no other instance of that happening. Do you?"

14. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"I don't consider Bob at this stage a career prosecutor. He's had a career as a prosecutor.

Blumenthal: Well, he's a very eminent prosecutor.

He was the head of the FBI for 12 years.

Blumenthal: He's a career a law enforcement professional, right? Yeah I know of no other instance of ...

But he was also political appointee and he was a political appointee with me at the Department of Justice. I don't know the letters a bit snitty and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people."

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat - Connecticut:

"Did you make a memorandum of your conversation? Did you make a memorandum"

Barr: I didn't.

Did anyone, either you or anyone on your staff memorialize your conversation with Robert Mueller?"

16. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"Yes.

Blumenthal: Who did that?

Barr: There were notes taken of the call.

Blumenthal: May we have those notes?

Barr: No

Blumethal: Why not?"

Barr: Why should you have them."

16. Pan, Barr leaving hearing

Private tensions between Justice Department leaders and Robert Mueller's team broke into public view in extraordinary fashion Wednesday as Attorney General William Barr pushed back at the special counsel's "snitty" complaints over his handling of the Trump-Russia investigation report.

Testifying for the first time since releasing Mueller's report, Barr said he was surprised Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether President Donald Trump had tried to obstruct justice, and that he had felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime.

Barr was also perturbed by a private letter Mueller sent him last month complaining that the attorney general had not properly portrayed the special counsel's finding.

Barr called the note "a bit snitty."

"I said 'Bob, what's with the letter? Just pick up the phone and call me if there is an issue,'" Barr said.

The airing of disagreements over the handling of the report followed Mueller's two-year investigation into Russian interference to help Trump in the 2016 campaign and the possibility that Trump's team conspired with the Russians.

During most of the investigation, the Justice Department and Mueller's team seemed to be unified in approach.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been anything but unified.

And their partisan divide was on full display during Wednesday's contentious Judiciary Committee hearing, which included three Democratic presidential candidates.

Some Republicans, in addition to defending Trump, focused on the president's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's email and campaign practices and what they argued has been a lack of investigation of them.

Democrats, for their part, moved to exploit the daylight between Barr and Mueller to attack the attorney general's credibility and accuse him of unduly spinning the special counsel's report in the president's favor.

Barr sought to minimize the rift by suggesting the special counsel's concerns were largely about process, not substance.

Barr's appearance gave him his most extensive opportunity to explain the department's actions, including his news conference held before the Mueller report's release.

Barr has also been invited to appear Thursday before the Democratic-led House Judiciary panel, but the Justice Department has said he would not testify if the committee insisted on having its lawyers question him.

Neither side broke much new ground Wednesday on the specifics of Mueller's investigation, though Barr did articulate a robust defense of Trump as he made clear his firm conviction that there was no prosecutable case against the president for obstruction of justice.

POOL

Washington DC - 1 May 2019

1. Wide, Senate Judiciary Committee

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Cory Booker, Democrat - New Jersey:

"We right now have a new normal in our country. We have a document that shows over 200 hundred attempts, connections between a presidential campaign and a foreign adversary sharing information that would be illegal if you did it with a super PAC. We know that. (Barr: What information was shared?) The polling data was shared sir. It's in the report I can cite you the page. (Barr: With who?) And I guess my point here is is that your willingness to seem to brush over this and use words like the American people should be grateful. What's in this report? Nobody should be grateful."

3. Back view of hearing

4. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"Sen. Kamala Harris: Attorney General Barr has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?

Umm, I wouldn't I wouldn't.

Harris: Yes or no.

Could you repeat that question?"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"I will repeat it. Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? Yes or no please sir?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"The president or anybody else.

Harris: Seems you'd remember something like that and be able to tell us.

Yeah but I'm trying to grapple with the words suggest. I mean there have been discussions of of matters out there that they have not asked me to open investigation but ...

Harris: Perhaps they've suggested?

I don't know, I wouldn't say suggest.

Harris: Hinted? Inferred?"

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"Is in reaching your conclusion did you personally review all of the underlying evidence?"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"No. We took and ...

Harris: Did Mr. Rosenstein?

No we accepted the statements in the report as the factual record. We did not go underneath it to see whether or not they were accurate. We accepted it as accurate."

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat - California:

"As the Attorney General of the United States. You run the United States Department of Justice. If in any U.S. attorney's office around the country, the head of that office when being asked to make a critical decision about in this case the person who holds the highest office in the land and whether or not that person committed a crime, would you accept them recommending a charging decision to you if they had not reviewed the evidence?

Barr: Well that's a question for Bob Mueller. He's the U.S. attorney. He's the one who presents the report.

But it was you who made the charging decision, sir? You made the decision not to charge the president."

10. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"In a pross (process) memo and then a declination memo.

Harris: You said it was your baby, what did you mean by that?

It was my baby to to let to decide whether or not to disclose it to the public

Harris: And whose decision was it? Who had the power to make the decision about whether or not the evidence was sufficient to make a determination of whether there had been an obstruction of justice?

Prosecution memos go up to the supervisor, in this case it was the the attorney general and the deputy attorney general who who decide on the final decision."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat - Minnesota:

"Mr. Attorney General, on April 27th President Trump stated 'Mueller, I assume for 35 million dollars he checked my taxes and he checked my financials.' Is that accurate? Did the special counsel review the president's taxes and the Trump Organization's financial statements?"

12. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"I don't know.

Klobuchar: Can you find out if I ask later in a written question?

I, yes or you could ask Bob Mueller when he comes here.

Klobuchar: OK I'll do that too."

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat - Connecticut:

"In fact in response to your question 'why not just pick up the phone,' this letter was an extraordinary act. A career prosecutor rebuking the attorney general of the United States, memorializing in writing. Right? I know of no other instance of that happening. Do you?"

14. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"I don't consider Bob at this stage a career prosecutor. He's had a career as a prosecutor.

Blumenthal: Well, he's a very eminent prosecutor.

He was the head of the FBI for 12 years.

Blumenthal: He's a career a law enforcement professional, right? Yeah I know of no other instance of ...

But he was also political appointee and he was a political appointee with me at the Department of Justice. I don't know the letters a bit snitty and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people."

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat - Connecticut:

"Did you make a memorandum of your conversation? Did you make a memorandum"

Barr: I didn't.

Did anyone, either you or anyone on your staff memorialize your conversation with Robert Mueller?"

16. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General:

"Yes.

Blumenthal: Who did that?

Barr: There were notes taken of the call.

Blumenthal: May we have those notes?

Barr: No

Blumethal: Why not?"

Barr: Why should you have them."

16. Pan, Barr leaving hearing

President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general continued efforts to distance himself from the president Tuesday as he testified before Senators at his confirmation hearing.

Under questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, William Barr said he would not "not carry out" any order to fire special counsel Robert Mueller without cause.

The comments were in response to a question from Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.

Mueller's team is examining potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Barr said repeatedly Tuesday he wants Mueller to finish the investigation.

Trump's nominee was also asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is a friend or a foe to the United States.

Barr said while Russia is a "potent rival" of the U.S. with foreign policy objectives "usually at direct contrary," he minimized the threat from Moscow and said China, not Russia is the "primary rival" of the United States.

Throughout his testimony, Barr acknowledged Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 election but said Russia "is half the size it was was" during the Cold War with an economy nowhere near the size of China's.

And he said he's concerned "that the fixation on Russia not obscure the danger from China."

On a separate topic, Barr told the committee he can't rule out jailing reporters for doing their jobs.

In  response to a question from Sen. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, Barr said that there are certain situations where a reporter could be held in contempt "as a last resort."

Barr said the situations he was envisioning would involve news organizations "putting out stuff that is hurting the country."

POOL

Washington, DC - 15 January 2019

1. Wide shot of William Barr sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it returns from break

2. Wide cutaway of committee

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat, Delaware:

"So most famously when directed by President Nixon to fire the special counsel the prosecutor investigating Watergate, Richardson refused and resigned instead as we all well know. If the president directed you to change those regulations and then fire Mueller or simply directly fire Mueller, would you follow Richardson's example and resign instead?"

4. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"Assuming there was no good cause?

(Coons: Assuming no good cause.)

I would not carry out that instruction."

5. Cutaway of Coons

6. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"As I said, I'm going to carry out those regulations and I want him to finish this investigation."

7. Wide shot of hearing

8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"Well I don't hold myself out as a foreign policy expert but I think that he is, I think the Russians are a potent rival of our country and his foreign policy objectives are usually at directly contrary to our goals. I think he wants to weaken the American alliances in Europe and he also wants to become a player in the Middle East, more of a player in the Middle East. A lot of his foreign policy objectives are are at odds with ours. At the same time, I think the primary rival of the United States is China. I think, you know, Russia is half the size it was when we were facing them at the peak of the Cold War. Their economy is, long term prognosis, is nowhere near China's. But I'm concerned that the fixation on Russia not obscure the danger from China."

9. Wide shot of hearing

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat, Minnesota:

"If you're confirmed, will the Justice Department jail reporters for doing their jobs?"

11. SOUNDBITE (English) William Barr, Attorney General Nominee:

"I think that, you know, there are guidelines in place and I can conceive of situations where you know, as a last resort and where a news organization has run through a red flag or something like that, knows that they're putting out stuff that will hurt the country, there might be, there could be a situation where someone would be held in contempt."

12. Wide shot of hearing

The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Attorney General nominee William Barr has confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) and will let Mueller finish his Russia investigation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says Barr has a "very, very high opinion" of Mueller.

The South Carolina Republican was among the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who met with Barr on Wednesday as Barr made the rounds on Capitol Hill before his confirmation hearing next week.

President Donald Trump pushed out Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year and nominated Barr to replace him.

Trump's critics have warned that Barr may try to curtail Mueller's investigation, given that the president has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt."

And Barr wrote an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department last year critiquing Mueller's investigation

Graham also commented on President Trump's speech Tuesday night from the Oval office.

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem," said Graham.

"I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal."

Washington DC - 9 January 2019

1. Cutaway of Attorney General nominee William Barr walking down the hall and into Sen. Lindsey Graham's office

++SILENT++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I think the main thing people want to know is what's his view of the Mueller investigation. And I can assure you based on what I've heard, that he has a high opinion of Mr. Mueller, believes that Mr. Mueller is doing a professional job, will do a professional job. Be fair to the president of the country as a whole and has no reason for Mr. Mueller to stop doing his job and is commited to allowing Mr. Mueller to finish."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"As to President I ask him, he said some pretty tough things. Mr. Barr said he's the one on the receiving end of this, he is sort of the accused and from the president's point of view, I think he believes it is a witch hunt and doesn't believe he did anything wrong and I can remember the Clinton days, when Ken Starr was part of a right-wing conspiracy. That is just sort of the way these things go."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He had absolutely no indication he was going to tell Bob Mueller what to do, or how to do it. He is confident that Mr. Mueller will pursue the facts and the law."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"The memo, that was his opinion about the slippery slope of obstruction of justice charges against a president who wants to terminate a political appointee. He has got to believe that is a dangerous precedent to set and his memo was shared

with other people, he wanted their input. And we will share with the committee all the folks that Mr. Barr talked to and shared the memo with and we will give you an explanation to the committee as why he wrote it."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He has a high opinion of Rod, they talked. Mr. Rosenstein mentioned him when they first met, I think that two years would probably be enough. He has some ideas of a deputy. I told him to pick somebody you are comfortable with and the president can approve and I trust his judgment to find a worthy successor to Mr. Rosenstein."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem on both sides, those who are coming here, the abuse that women go through, the children to get to the country, what happens when the criminal illegal immigrants are allowed to come back time and time again. And I thought it was a pretty persuasive case that we need to secure our border and we need to realize illegal immigration is a human tragedy at multiple levels."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"To my Democratic colleagues I don't believe you're going to get much traction that the president is manufacturing a crisis because all of you, including me have voted for billions of dollars to secure the border very much like the president is proposing."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"Toward the end of the week, there'll be some ideas emerging from the Senate that would have some bipartisan buy-in. But here's what the Democrats are going to ask, this is a good question - will the president sign it? And I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal on the wall."

10). Cutaway of Graham and Barr in his office ++SILENT++

After nearly two years of waiting, America is about to get some answers straight from Robert Mueller- but not before President Donald Trump's attorney general has his say.

Attorney General William Barr says he will give Congress a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative report at 11 a.m. EST

He told reporters at the Justice Department that he would transmit to Congress copies of the public version of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Democrats complained that Barr's news conference was an effort to influence reaction to the report ahead of its release.

The Justice Department on Thursday is expected to release a redacted version of the special counsel's report on Russian election interference and the Trump campaign, opening up months, if not years, of fights over what the document means in a deeply divided country.

Even the planned release of the nearly 400-page report quickly spiraled into a political battle Wednesday over whether Attorney General William Barr is attempting to shield the president who appointed him and spin the report's findings before the American people can read it and come to their own judgments.

Trump himself was in a high state of alert ahead of the report's release.

He repeated what has become a near daily refrain of criticism of the Russia investigation using his favored Twitter account. "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" he wrote.

POOL

Washington - 18 April 2019

1. Side view Attorney General William Barr walks into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"As you know one of the primary purposes of the special, special counsel's investigation was to determine whether President Trump's campaign or any individual associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Volume 1 of the special counsel's report describes the results of that investigation. As you will see the special counsel's report states that his quote investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. I am sure that all Americans share my concern about the efforts of the Russian government to interfere in our presidential election. As the Special Counsel report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election process. But thanks to the special counsel's thorough investigation we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign or the knowing assistance of any other American for that matter. That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed."

3. Cutaway Barr speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"The special counsel report outlines two main efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election first the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters through disinformation and social media operations following a thorough investigation of this disinformation campaign, the special counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian nationals and entities for their respective roles in this scheme. Those charges remain pending and the individual defendants remain at large but the special counsel found no evidence that any American, including anyone associated with the Trump campaign, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in this illegal scheme. "

After nearly two years of waiting, America is about to get some answers straight from Robert Mueller- but not before President Donald Trump's attorney general has his say.

Attorney General William Barr says he will give Congress a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative report at 11 a.m. EST

He told reporters at the Justice Department that he would transmit to Congress copies of the public version of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Democrats complained that Barr's news conference was an effort to influence reaction to the report ahead of its release.

The Justice Department on Thursday is expected to release a redacted version of the special counsel's report on Russian election interference and the Trump campaign, opening up months, if not years, of fights over what the document means in a deeply divided country.

Even the planned release of the nearly 400-page report quickly spiraled into a political battle Wednesday over whether Attorney General William Barr is attempting to shield the president who appointed him and spin the report's findings before the American people can read it and come to their own judgments.

Trump himself was in a high state of alert ahead of the report's release.

He repeated what has become a near daily refrain of criticism of the Russia investigation using his favored Twitter account. "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" he wrote.

POOL

Washington - 18 April 2019

1. Side view Attorney General William Barr walks into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

SOUNDBITE (English)

"As you know on March 22nd, Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into matters related to Russian attempts to interfere in our 2016 presidential election. And he submitted his confidential report to me pursuant to department regulations. As I said during my Senate confirmation hearing, and since, I'm committed to ensuring the greatest degree possible of transparency concerning the special counsel's investigation, consistent with the law. At 11:00 this morning I'm going to transmit copies of the public version of the special counsel's report to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House judiciary committees. The Department of Justice will also make the report available to the American people by posting it on the department's website after it has been delivered to Congress."

3. Cutaway Barr speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"As you know one of the primary purposes of the special, special counsel's investigation was to determine whether President Trump's campaign or any individual associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Volume 1 of the special counsel's report describes the results of that investigation. As you will see the special counsel's report states that his quote investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. I am sure that all Americans share my concern about the efforts of the Russian government to interfere in our presidential election. As the Special Counsel report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election process. But thanks to the special counsel's thorough investigation we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign or the knowing assistance of any other American for that matter. That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed."

5. Cutaway Barr speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"The special counsel report outlines two main efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. First the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters through disinformation and social media operations. Following a thorough investigation of this disinformation campaign, the special counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian nationals and entities for their respective roles in this scheme. Those charges remain pending and the individual defendants remain at large. But the special counsel found no evidence that any American, including anyone associated with the Trump campaign, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in this illegal scheme. "

7. Side, Barr speaking

After nearly two years of waiting, America is about to get some answers straight from Robert Mueller- but not before President Donald Trump's attorney general has his say.

Attorney General William Barr says he will give Congress a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative report at 11 a.m. EST

He told reporters at the Justice Department that he would transmit to Congress copies of the public version of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Democrats complained that Barr's news conference was an effort to influence reaction to the report ahead of its release.

The Justice Department on Thursday is expected to release a redacted version of the special counsel's report on Russian election interference and the Trump campaign, opening up months, if not years, of fights over what the document means in a deeply divided country.

Even the planned release of the nearly 400-page report quickly spiraled into a political battle Wednesday over whether Attorney General William Barr is attempting to shield the president who appointed him and spin the report's findings before the American people can read it and come to their own judgments.

Trump himself was in a high state of alert ahead of the report's release.

He repeated what has become a near daily refrain of criticism of the Russia investigation using his favored Twitter account. "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" he wrote.

POOL

Washington - 18 April 2019

1. Side view Attorney General William Barr walks into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

SOUNDBITE (English)

"As you know on March 22nd, Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into matters related to Russian attempts to interfere in our 2016 presidential election. And he submitted his confidential report to me pursuant to department regulations. As I said during my Senate confirmation hearing, and since, I'm committed to ensuring the greatest degree possible of transparency concerning the special counsel's investigation, consistent with the law.  At 11:00 this morning I'm going to transmit copies of the public version of the special counsel's report to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House judiciary committees. The Department of Justice will also make the report available to the American people by posting it on the department's website after it has been delivered to Congress."

3. Cutaway Barr speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"As you know one of the primary purposes of the special, special counsel's investigation was to determine whether President Trump's campaign or any individual associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Volume 1 of the special counsel's report describes the results of that investigation.  As you will see the special counsel's report states that his quote investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. I am sure that all Americans share my concern about the efforts of the Russian government to interfere in our presidential election.  As the Special Counsel report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election process. But thanks to the special counsel's thorough investigation we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign or the knowing assistance of any other American for that matter. That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed."

5. Cutaway Barr speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) William Barr, Attorney General:

"The special counsel report outlines two main efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. First the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters through disinformation and social media operations. Following a thorough investigation of this disinformation campaign, the special counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian nationals and entities for their respective roles in this scheme. Those charges remain pending and the individual defendants remain at large. But the special counsel found no evidence that any American, including anyone associated with the Trump campaign, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in this illegal scheme. "

7. Side, Barr speaking

The incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Attorney General nominee William Barr has confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) and will let Mueller finish his Russia investigation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham says Barr has a "very, very high opinion" of Mueller.

The South Carolina Republican was among the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who met with Barr on Wednesday as Barr made the rounds on Capitol Hill before his confirmation hearing next week.

President Donald Trump pushed out Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year and nominated Barr to replace him.

Trump's critics have warned that Barr may try to curtail Mueller's investigation, given that the president has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt."

And Barr wrote an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department last year critiquing Mueller's investigation

Graham also commented on President Trump's speech Tuesday night from the Oval office.

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem," said Graham.

"I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal."

Washington DC - 9 January 2019

1. Cutaway of Attorney General nominee William Barr walking down the hall and into Sen. Lindsey Graham's office

++SILENT++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I think the main thing people want to know is what's his view of the Mueller investigation. And I can assure you based on what I've heard, that he has a high opinion of Mr. Mueller, believes that Mr. Mueller is doing a professional job, will do a professional job. Be fair to the president of the country as a whole and has no reason for Mr. Mueller to stop doing his job and is commited to allowing Mr. Mueller to finish."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"As to President I ask him, he said some pretty tough things. Mr. Barr said he's the one on the receiving end of this, he is sort of the accused and from the president's point of view, I think he believes it is a witch hunt and doesn't believe he did anything wrong and I can remember the Clinton days, when Ken Starr was part of a right-wing conspiracy. That is just sort of the way these things go."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He had absolutely no indication he was going to tell Bob Mueller what to do, or how to do it. He is confident that Mr. Mueller will pursue the facts and the law."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"The memo, that was his opinion about the slippery slope of obstruction of justice charges against a president who wants to terminate a political appointee. He has got to believe that is a dangerous precedent to set and his memo was shared

with other people, he wanted their input. And we will share with the committee all the folks that Mr. Barr talked to and shared the memo with and we will give you an explanation to the committee as why he wrote it."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"He has a high opinion of Rod, they talked. Mr. Rosenstein mentioned him when they first met, I think that two years would probably be enough. He has some ideas of a deputy. I told him to pick somebody you are comfortable with and the president can approve and I trust his judgment to find a worthy successor to Mr. Rosenstein."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"I thought the president did a good job of explaining the humanitarian problem on both sides, those who are coming here, the abuse that women go through, the children to get to the country, what happens when the criminal illegal immigrants are allowed to come back time and time again. And I thought it was a pretty persuasive case that we need to secure our border and we need to realize illegal immigration is a human tragedy at multiple levels."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"To my Democratic colleagues I don't believe you're going to get much traction that the president is manufacturing a crisis because all of you, including me have voted for billions of dollars to secure the border very much like the president is proposing."

++SEPARATED BY BLACK++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina, Incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

"Toward the end of the week, there'll be some ideas emerging from the Senate that would have some bipartisan buy-in. But here's what the Democrats are going to ask, this is a good question - will the president sign it? And I think the president is open minded to a deal, he's firm on the idea he needs border security money, including money for barriers, but I believe and hope he's open to a deal on the wall."

10). Cutaway of Graham and Barr in his office ++SILENT++