US Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.

The comprehensive report, still confidential, marks the end of Mueller's probe but sets the stage for big public fights to come.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says the next steps are up to Attorney General William Barr, to Congress and, in all likelihood, federal courts.

Barr is "going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

With no details released at this point, it's not known whether Mueller's report answers the core questions of his investigation: Did Trump's campaign collude with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of the celebrity businessman? Also, did Trump take steps later, including by firing his FBI director, to obstruct the probe?

But Tucker says the delivery of the report does mean the investigation has concluded without any public charges of a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, or of obstruction by the president.

Mueller is not recommending any further indictments in the Russia probe, a Justice Department official confirmed Friday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

1. Wide shot of the White House as the sun sets

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - June 2013

2. STILL photo of Robert Mueller at FBI headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Mueller today concluded his nearly two year long investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He delivered a confidential report to the Justice Department this afternoon and Attorney General William Barr says he will report back to Congress as soon as this weekend about a summary of the findings of that report."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

McLean, Virginia - 19 March 2019

4. Attorney General William Barr leaving his house for work

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The attorney general is going to review this report and we know from Justice Department officials it's a comprehensive report. He's going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 19 March 2019

6. Exterior shots of the Justice Department

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Attorney General Barr has committed to releasing information as well to the public so the information he delivers to congressional officials we expect to also be released to the public."

8. Letter from Attorney General William Barr to members of Congress

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The other thing that we know that's really important that I want to point out is that the special counsel is not recommending any additional indictments. There have been lots of speculation about other people who might be in trouble or scrutinized, members of the president's family, all sorts of different speculation, and apparently the special counsel says none of that is happening. He's not recommending any additional charges from his office."

POOL

Palm Beach, Florida - 22 March 2019

10. Donald Trump walks off Air Force One after landing in Palm Beach

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We're not clear what's in the report so it's hard to say how this bodes for the central mandate of the Special Counsel in terms of whether he's found allegations of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But again, it's important to note this investigation is concluding without any criminal charges along those lines. So there are no criminal charges against the president or anybody else from his campaign alleging a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government."

POOL

Fletcher, North Carolina, US - 21 October 2016

12. Donald Trump walks into rally during 2016 presidential campaign

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We'll have to see what the actual findings are. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been reluctant to sort of talk about impeachment proceedings. She said the president's not worth it. So it strikes me that it would require something that's really damning and incriminating for the president that's in the report for Democrats to take any sort of organized impeachment action."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

14. US President Donald Trump walks on White House South Lawn to talk to press before departing to Florida

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.

The comprehensive report, still confidential, marks the end of Mueller's probe but sets the stage for big public fights to come.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says the next steps are up to Attorney General William Barr, to Congress and, in all likelihood, federal courts.

Barr is "going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

With no details released at this point, it's not known whether Mueller's report answers the core questions of his investigation: Did Trump's campaign collude with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of the celebrity businessman? Also, did Trump take steps later, including by firing his FBI director, to obstruct the probe?

But Tucker says the delivery of the report does mean the investigation has concluded without any public charges of a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, or of obstruction by the president.

Mueller is not recommending any further indictments in the Russia probe, a Justice Department official confirmed Friday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

1. Wide shot of the White House as the sun sets

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - June 2013

2. STILL photo of Robert Mueller at FBI headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Mueller today concluded his nearly two year long investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He delivered a confidential report to the Justice Department this afternoon and Attorney General William Barr says he will report back to Congress as soon as this weekend about a summary of the findings of that report."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

McLean, Virginia - 19 March 2019

4. Attorney General William Barr leaving his house for work

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The attorney general is going to review this report and we know from Justice Department officials it's a comprehensive report. He's going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 19 March 2019

6. Exterior shots of the Justice Department

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Attorney General Barr has committed to releasing information as well to the public so the information he delivers to congressional officials we expect to also be released to the public."

8. Letter from Attorney General William Barr to members of Congress

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The other thing that we know that's really important that I want to point out is that the special counsel is not recommending any additional indictments. There have been lots of speculation about other people who might be in trouble or scrutinized, members of the president's family, all sorts of different speculation, and apparently the special counsel says none of that is happening. He's not recommending any additional charges from his office."

POOL

Palm Beach, Florida - 22 March 2019

10. Donald Trump walks off Air Force One after landing in Palm Beach

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We're not clear what's in the report so it's hard to say how this bodes for the central mandate of the Special Counsel in terms of whether he's found allegations of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But again, it's important to note this investigation is concluding without any criminal charges along those lines. So there are no criminal charges against the president or anybody else from his campaign alleging a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government."

POOL

Fletcher, North Carolina, US - 21 October 2016

12. Donald Trump walks into rally during 2016 presidential campaign

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We'll have to see what the actual findings are. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been reluctant to sort of talk about impeachment proceedings. She said the president's not worth it. So it strikes me that it would require something that's really damning and incriminating for the president that's in the report for Democrats to take any sort of organized impeachment action."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

14. President Donald Trump walks on White House South Lawn to talk to press before departing to Florida

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.

The comprehensive report, still confidential, marks the end of Mueller's probe but sets the stage for big public fights to come.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says the next steps are up to Attorney General William Barr, to Congress and, in all likelihood, federal courts.

Barr is "going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

With no details released at this point, it's not known whether Mueller's report answers the core questions of his investigation: Did Trump's campaign collude with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of the celebrity businessman? Also, did Trump take steps later, including by firing his FBI director, to obstruct the probe?

But Tucker says the delivery of the report does mean the investigation has concluded without any public charges of a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, or of obstruction by the president.

Mueller is not recommending any further indictments in the Russia probe, a Justice Department official confirmed Friday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

1. Wide shot of the White House as the sun sets

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - June 2013

2. STILL photo of Robert Mueller at FBI headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Special Counsel Robert Mueller today concluded his nearly two year long investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He delivered a confidential report to the Justice Department this afternoon and Attorney General William Barr says he will report back to Congress as soon as this weekend about a summary of the findings of that report."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

McLean, Virginia - 19 March 2019

4. Attorney General William Barr leaving his house for work

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The attorney general is going to review this report and we know from Justice Department officials it's a comprehensive report. He's going to review this report and will decide how much of it to make public. He says he will release something as soon as this weekend that functions as a summary of the central findings of the special counsel."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 19 March 2019

6. Exterior shots of the Justice Department

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Attorney General Barr has committed to releasing information as well to the public so the information he delivers to congressional officials we expect to also be released to the public."

8. Letter from Attorney General William Barr to members of Congress

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"The other thing that we know that's really important that I want to point out is that the special counsel is not recommending any additional indictments. There have been lots of speculation about other people who might be in trouble or scrutinized, members of the president's family, all sorts of different speculation, and apparently the special counsel says none of that is happening. He's not recommending any additional charges from his office."

POOL

Palm Beach, Florida - 22 March 2019

10. Donald Trump walks off Air Force One after landing in Palm Beach

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We're not clear what's in the report so it's hard to say how this bodes for the central mandate of the Special Counsel in terms of whether he's found allegations of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But again, it's important to note this investigation is concluding without any criminal charges along those lines. So there are no criminal charges against the president or anybody else from his campaign alleging a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government."

POOL

Fletcher, North Carolina, US - 21 October 2016

12. Donald Trump walks into rally during 2016 presidential campaign

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"We'll have to see what the actual findings are. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been reluctant to sort of talk about impeachment proceedings. She said the president's not worth it. So it strikes me that it would require something that's really damning and incriminating for the president that's in the report for Democrats to take any sort of organized impeachment action."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 22 March 2019

14. President Donald Trump walks on White House South Lawn to talk to press before departing to Florida

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said.

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Mueller's conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four-page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start: Did his campaign work with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton? That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice Department's earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. The resolution also could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the president's agenda and re-election bid.

But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite Trump's claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

According to Barr's summary, Mueller set out "evidence on both sides of the question" and stated that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in Trump's favor.

The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts - like firing his FBI director - that he was legally empowered to take.

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So perhaps the most significant finding out of the special counsel's report today is that special counsel Mueller did not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy between anyone associated with the Trump campaign and Russia. That is there's no quote unquote "collusion" that is prosecutable in any way between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. And that is the question that has been hovering over this investigation from the start. So that's a big victory for the president. it's a really unequivocal victory. The other interesting finding of note is on the question of whether the President obstructed justice. And here it's a little bit more complicated. In this particular aspect of the investigation the special counsel did not reach a conclusion one way or the other as to whether the President obstructed justice. Instead, according to Attorney General Barr who summarized these findings, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the ledger for these different episodes involving Trump's behavior that were examined, and then did not reach a conclusion one way or the other. However, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had reached their own conclusion based on Mueller's evidence and determined that it was insufficient to establish obstruction of justice."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So the letter today from the attorney general, it's a four-page letter, it marks the conclusion, the real end conclusion of the special counsel's investigation. We expect to hear more details of what the special counsel found in coming days and weeks."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3 . SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The major investigation that concerns the president right now is taking place in New York City. That's an investigation into hush money payments that were made to two women, one a former Playboy model, the other a porn star, who both say they had sex with the president about a decade before he was elected. And both received money during the campaign effectively to not come forward with their allegations. Prosecutors in New York City, in southern district of New York, are investigating whether that's a campaign finance violation. The president's been implicated in wrongdoing by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. It's not yet clear what's going to happen with that investigation."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"I think the main takeaway actually is going to be how unsatisfied Democrats are. This is a four-page summary of what appears to be a very lengthy, very detailed report from the special counsel. And there is a suggestion in this letter that the special counsel did find evidence in at least some of the episodes he examined of potential obstruction of justice and simply did not reach a conclusion. So if you're a Democrat on Capitol Hill right now, you want access to all of the special counsel's work and you want the American public to see all of the evidence he gathered and his underlying report. And so we can expect going forward, that is going to be the next big legal front is this fight between Congress and the Justice Department over how much of Mueller's two years of work the public has to see. Especially because on the question of obstruction, it's clear that Mueller did indicate that there's a there there. He just didn't reach a conclusion one way or the other so that's given hope to Democrats that they want to see more."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The regulations actually do not stipulate that the report is made public. That's a judgment call. It's what the regulations actually mandate is that a confidential report is delivered by the special counsel to the attorney general, who oversees his work. So in this case that would be Mueller to Barr. And then it is possible that a document could be made public. But you have to imagine, and we know this for sure in this case, that this is a document that concerns grand jury information, perhaps classified information. That's a complicated process to scrub that document of any potential issues, executive privilege issues. And that's going to take some time."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is important to take stock of this moment that this is a pretty significant victory in terms of this collusion, or no collusion finding I should say, between the president and Russia and the special counsel according to Barr was pretty unequivocal about that. And so the president, we can expect him to rightfully claim victory and based on what we know from the special counsel's findings, that perhaps seems justified on that front. However there is a reference that is interesting and that is multiple offers from people connected to Russia, Russian associates, two individuals associated with the Trump campaign, offering help. We suspect that's a reference to the Trump Tower meeting that took place in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin connected lawyer. He took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton that could be used in weaponised during the campaign. We also know that a former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos had a meeting in London where he learned from a professor that Russia had dirt on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen e-mails. So we suspect that Mueller's making reference to that, the fact that there are these multiple overtures of help from people connected to Russia. But there's no evidence or no allegation even that either of those two sides worked together. And that's a significant conclusion."

Washington, D.C. - 11 November 2018

7. Still - Donald Trump Jr. (Partly covers Soundbite #6)

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"As it relates to the question of collusion, we do have a definitive answer from the special counsel and ostensibly endorsed by the attorney general that there was no collusion. We've heard that from the president for the last two years. That is the central finding and take away from this four-page summary that there was indeed no collusion, no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign on one hand and the criminal in the Kremlin on the other to get Trump elected."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is possible that House Democrats could come up with a different conclusion on the on the collusion question. It's not clear how readily embraced by the American public that would be, because the special counsel is regarded as the ultimate arbiter of, with subpoena power, evidence, ability to criminally prosecute, so he's regarded as the final voice. So it's not clear whether the American public will accept if Mueller says no collusion and House Democrats say otherwise."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.

Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said.

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

Mueller's conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four-page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start: Did his campaign work with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton? That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice Department's earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. The resolution also could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the president's agenda and re-election bid.

But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite Trump's claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

According to Barr's summary, Mueller set out "evidence on both sides of the question" and stated that "while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in Trump's favor.

The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts — like firing his FBI director — that he was legally empowered to take.

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So perhaps the most significant finding out of the special counsel's report today is that special counsel  Mueller did not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy between anyone associated with the Trump campaign and Russia. That is there's no quote unquote collusion that is prosecutable in any way between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. And that is the question that has been hovering over this investigation from the start. So that's a big victory for the president. it's a really unequivocal victory. The other interesting finding of note is on the question of whether the President obstructed justice. And here it's a little bit more complicated. In this particular aspect than the investigation the special counsel did not reach a conclusion one way or the other as to whether the President obstructed justice. Instead, according to Attorney General Barr who summarized these findings,  Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the ledger for these different episodes involving Trump's behavior that were examined, and then did not reach a conclusion one way or the other. However Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had reached their own conclusion based on Mueller's evidence and determined that it was insufficient to establish obstruction of justice."

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"So the letter today from the attorney general, it's a four page letter, it marks the conclusion, the real end conclusion of the special counsel's investigation. We  expect to hear more details of what the special counsel found in coming days and weeks."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3 . SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The major investigation that concerns the president right now is taking place in New York City. That's an investigation into hush money payments that were made to two women, one a former Playboy model, the other a porn star, who both say they had sex with the president about a decade before he was elected. And both received money during the campaign effectively to not come forward with their allegations. Prosecutors in New York City, in southern district of New York, are investigating whether that's a campaign finance violation. The president's been implicated in wrongdoing by his former lawyer Michael Cohen. It's not yet clear what's going to happen with that investigation."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"I think the main takeaway actually is going to be how unsatisfied Democrats are. This is a four page summary of what appears to be a very lengthy, very detailed report from the special counsel. And there is a suggestion in this letter that the special counsel did find evidence in at least some of the episodes he examined of potential obstruction of justice and simply did not reach a conclusion. So if you're a Democrat on Capitol Hill right now, you want access to all of the special counsel's work and you want the American public to see all of the evidence he gathered and his underlying report.  And so we can expect going forward, that is going to be the next big legal front is this fight between Congress and the Justice Department over how much of Muller's two years of work the public has to see. Especially because on the question of obstruction, it's clear that Mueller did indicate that there's a there there. He just didn't reach a conclusion one way or the other so that's given hope to Democrats that they want to see more."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"The regulations actually do not stipulate that the report is made public. That's a judgment call. It's what the regulations actually mandate is that a confidential report is delivered by the special counsel to the attorney general, who oversees his work. So in this case that would be Mueller to Barr.  And then it is possible that a document could be made public. But you have to imagine, and we know this for sure in this case, that this is a document that concerns grand jury information, perhaps classified information. That's a complicated process to scrub that document of any potential issues, executive privilege issues. And that's going to take some time."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is important to take stock of this moment that this is a pretty significant victory in terms of this collusion, or no collusion finding I should say, between the president and Russia and the special counsel according to Barr was pretty unequivocal about that. And so the president, we can expect him to rightfully claim victory and based on what we know from the special counsel's findings, that perhaps seems justified on that front. However there is a reference that is interesting and that is multiple offers from people connected to Russia,  Russian associates two individuals associated with the Trump campaign, offering help. We suspect that's a reference to the Trump Tower meeting that took place in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a Kremlin connected lawyer. He took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton that could be used in weaponized during the campaign. We also know that a former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos had a meeting in London where he learned from a professor that Russia had dirt on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen e-mails. So we suspect that Mueller's making reference to that, the fact that there are these multiple overtures of help from people connected to Russia. But there's no evidence or no allegation even that either of those two sides worked together. And that's a significant conclusion."

Washington, D.C. - 11 November 2018

7. Still - Donald Trump Jr. (Partly covers Soundbite #6)

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

Washington, D.C. - 24 March 2019

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"As it relates to the question of collusion, we do have a definitive answer from the special counsel and ostensibly endorsed by the attorney general that there was no collusion. We've heard that from the president for the last two years. That is the central finding and take away from this four page summary that there was indeed no collusion, no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign on one hand and the criminal in the Kremlin on the other to get Trump elected."

++BLACK FRAMES BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, The Associated Press:

"It is possible that House Democrats could come up with a different conclusion on the on the collusion question. It's not clear how readily embraced by the American public. That would be because the special counsel is regarded as the ultimate arbiter of, with subpoena power, evidence, ability to criminally prosecute, so he's regarded as the final voice. So it's not clear whether the American public will accept if  Mueller says no collusion and House Democrats say otherwise."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

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

Within minutes of receiving notification that special counsel Robert Mueller had turned over his report on the Russia investigation, congressional Democrats were calling for the report to be fully released, including the underlying evidence. They have threatened subpoenas if it is not.

The demands are setting up a potential tug of war between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump's administration that federal judges might eventually have to referee.

Six Democratic committee chairmen wrote in a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday that if Mueller has any reason to believe that Trump "has engaged in criminal or other serious misconduct," then the Justice Department should not conceal it.

"The president is not above the law and the need for public faith in our democratic institutions and the rule of law must be the priority," the chairmen wrote.

Reacting to the release, Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, told the Associated Press that "the American people paid for this report," adding "both American people and Congress have a right to see the full report. "

Lieu said although the special counsel report focused on Russia, the findings could also be used in a wide array of Judicary Committee investigations.

It's unclear what Mueller has found related to the president, or if any of it would be damning. In his investigation of whether President Donald Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 election, Mueller has already brought charges against 34 people, including six aides and advisers to the president, and three companies.

Lawmakers say they need the underlying evidence - including interviews, documents and material turned over to the grand jury - because the Justice Department has maintained that a president cannot be indicted, and also that derogatory information cannot be released about people who have not been charged. So if the investigation did find evidence incriminating against Trump, they may not be able to release it, under their own guidelines.

The Democrats say that it could be tantamount to a cover-up if the department did not let Congress and the public know what they found.

Washington - 22 March 2019

1. Wide, exterior view of Department of Justice

Los Angeles - 3 May 2018

2. STILL Image, Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California, Member of House Judiciary Committee

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Today is a proud day for America. Despite many attempts by Donald Trump to block this investigation Robert Mueller and his team were able to complete it. The fact that Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein kept their jobs I think is a strong testament to the vitality and strength of our institutions. This was a Republican led investigation of a Republican president and it was allowed to continue. I think that says a lot about America."

Washington - 22 March 2019

4. Wide, exterior view of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Now in terms of distribution, the American people paid for this report. It is a matter of intense national interest and under both the separation of powers as well as just general fairness and transparency, both American people and Congress have a right to see the full report. "

Washington - 22 March 2019

6. Wide, exterior view of Department of Justice ++NIGHT SHOT++

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"It's hard to know without knowing what's in the actual report. It's also important to understand that because the Department of Justice has taken the position that they won't indict a sitting president then the only other institution that can hold the press accountable is Congress. And we can't do that if we don't see the full report. So, that at every level when you look at it from separation of powers or the functions of both Congress and the special counsel in this case, the different functions we have to see the entire report."

Washington - 22 March 2019

8. Wide, people standing in front of White House

9. Close-up protester

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Special Counsel Mueller's investigation was largely centered on Russia. The House Judiciary Committee and other committees were interested in knowing did Donald Trump, his family, his associates commit any crime? Second, did they engage in any ethical misconduct, whether or not it rose to the level of a federal crime? And third how do we explain this to the American people to keep it from happening again?"

Washington - 22 March 2019

11. Wide, tourists walking in front of White House

12. Wide, White House ++NIGHT SHOT++

Within minutes of receiving notification that special counsel Robert Mueller had turned over his report on the Russia investigation, US congressional Democrats were calling for the report to be fully released, including the underlying evidence. They have threatened subpoenas if it is not.

The demands are setting up a potential tug of war between congressional Democrats and US President Donald Trump's administration that federal judges might eventually have to referee.

Six Democratic committee chairmen wrote in a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday that if Mueller has any reason to believe that Trump "has engaged in criminal or other serious misconduct," then the Justice Department should not conceal it.

"The president is not above the law and the need for public faith in our democratic institutions and the rule of law must be the priority," the chairmen wrote.

Reacting to the release, Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, told the Associated Press that "the American people paid for this report," adding "both American people and Congress have a right to see the full report. "

Lieu said although the special counsel report focused on Russia, the findings could also be used in a wide array of Judicary Committee investigations.

It's unclear what Mueller has found related to the president, or if any of it would be damning. In his investigation of whether President Donald Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 election, Mueller has already brought charges against 34 people, including six aides and advisers to the president, and three companies.

Lawmakers say they need the underlying evidence - including interviews, documents and material turned over to the grand jury - because the Justice Department has maintained that a president cannot be indicted, and also that derogatory information cannot be released about people who have not been charged. So if the investigation did find evidence incriminating against Trump, they may not be able to release it, under their own guidelines.

The Democrats say that it could be tantamount to a cover-up if the department did not let Congress and the public know what they found.

Washington DC - 22 March 2019

1. Wide, exterior view of Department of Justice

Los Angeles - 3 May 2018

2. STILL Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California, Member of House Judiciary Committee

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Today is a proud day for America. Despite many attempts by Donald Trump to block this investigation Robert Mueller and his team were able to complete it. The fact that Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein kept their jobs I think is a strong testament to the vitality and strength of our institutions. This was a Republican led investigation of a Republican president and it was allowed to continue. I think that says a lot about America."

Washington DC - 22 March 2019

4. Wide, exterior view of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Now in terms of distribution, the American people paid for this report. It is a matter of intense national interest and under both the separation of powers as well as just general fairness and transparency, both American people and Congress have a right to see the full report."

Washington DC - 22 March 2019

6. Wide, exterior view of Department of Justice ++NIGHT SHOT++

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"It's hard to know without knowing what's in the actual report. It's also important to understand that because the Department of Justice has taken the position that they won't indict a sitting president then the only other institution that can hold the press accountable is Congress. And we can't do that if we don't see the full report. So, that at every level when you look at it from separation of powers or the functions of both Congress and the special counsel in this case, the different functions we have to see the entire report."

Washington DC - 22 March 2019

8. Wide, people standing in front of White House

9. Close-up protester

Torrence, California - 22 March 2019

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat - California: ++ AUDIO ONLY++

"Special Counsel Mueller's investigation was largely centered on Russia. The House Judiciary Committee and other committees were interested in knowing did Donald Trump, his family, his associates commit any crime? Second, did they engage in any ethical misconduct, whether or not it rose to the level of a federal crime? And third how do we explain this to the American people to keep it from happening again?"

Washington DC - 22 March 2019

11. Wide, tourists walking in front of White House

12. Wide, White House ++NIGHT SHOT++

Attorney General William Barr was reviewing the special counsel's confidential report on the Russia investigation Saturday to determine what should be made public after a nearly two-year probe that cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says that Barr will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend.

The Attorney General  Barr will not be providing Congress with special counsel Robert Mueller's findings on Saturday.

That's according to a senior Justice Department official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the review process.

Mueller has concluded his investigation of Russian election interference and possible coordination with Donald Trump's campaign.

Barr is reviewing Mueller's confidential report and has said he expects to provide Congress with the "principal conclusions" this weekend.

Washington - 21 June  2017

1. STILL -Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs the Capitol after a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the election and possible connection to the Trump campaign

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"Mueller's mandate was to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russia and whether there was any coordination between those two entities. Trump associates and members of the Russian government or Russians in general and then to investigate any crimes that arise out of that in the course of that investigation."

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

McLean, Virginia - 23 March 2019

3. US Attorney General William Barr comes out of his house and gets in a vehicle out front

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"So Barr has told congressional leaders that he has received the report from the special counsel that he will review it and that he will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend. He is currently at the Justice Department reviewing the report he received from Mueller."

5. Barr's motorcade arrives at DOJ

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

"At some point. House Democrats who have the leadership in that chamber will decide what to do if anything with the findings. We've heard indications from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she's not interested at the moment in discussing impeachment. And we will have to see how damaging or incriminating if at all the findings are to the president and whether that will affect that calculus."

7. Various House Judiciary Committee offices

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

"Right now the big push that we're hearing from House Democrats is that they want the entire Mueller Report. They want to see everything that Mueller gathered and collected before they decide anything. And so instead of impeachment talk what we're hearing right now is discussion of possibly subpoenaing for the report or subpoenaing Mueller to get that."

9. White House exterior

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

"There is no question that White House aides and Trump confidants are taking a degree of satisfaction at least at this moment that there are no further indictments that have been delivered or that are expected from the special counsel. And so to the extent that, that that has occurred that's a degree of relief for them. But I think everybody still waiting to see exactly what the report indicates about the Trump campaign and in the Trump administration. And so it's a little bit of a holding pattern. But the president who has spent the last basically two years attempting to undermine or sow doubt in the credibility an investigation has been noticeably quiet over the last 24 hours with no tweets about it and no public statements about it."

Washington - 21 June  2017

11. STILL - Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, arrives on Capitol Hill for a closed door meeting before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"The special counsel has indicated that he has not recommended any additional charges or indictments. And so that would mean that he is effectively closed up shop and that no one else will be indicted by Robert Mueller. However, it's important to note that there are all sorts of other investigations going on that originated as referrals from the special counsel that he began investigating and recognized fell without outside of his mandate. And so he referred those back to the Justice Department which then sent them to individual offices of the Justice Department including in New York City and in Virginia."

13. Various DOJ exteriors

Attorney General William Barr was reviewing the special counsel's confidential report on the Russia investigation Saturday to determine what should be made public after a nearly two-year probe that cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says that Barr will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend.

The Attorney General  Barr will not be providing Congress with special counsel Robert Mueller's findings on Saturday.

That's according to a senior Justice Department official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the review process.

Mueller has concluded his investigation of Russian election interference and possible coordination with Donald Trump's campaign.

Barr is reviewing Mueller's confidential report and has said he expects to provide Congress with the "principal conclusions" this weekend.

Washington - 21 June  2017

1. STILL -Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs the Capitol after a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the election and possible connection to the Trump campaign (PARTIALLY COVERS UPCOMING SOUNDBITE)

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"Mueller's mandate was to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russia and whether there was any coordination between those two entities. Trump associates and members of the Russian government or Russians in general and then to investigate any crimes that arise out of that in the course of that investigation."

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Washington - 23 March 2019

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"Barr has told congressional leaders that he has received the report from the special counsel that he will review it and that he will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend. He is currently at the Justice Department reviewing the report he received from Mueller."

McLean, Virginia - 23 March 2019

4. US Attorney General William Barr comes out of his house and gets in a vehicle out front (PARTIALLY COVERS PREVIOUS SOUNDBITE)

Washington - 23 March 2019

5. Various House Judiciary Committee offices (PARTIALLY COVERS UPCOMING SOUNDBITE)

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

"Right now the big push that we're hearing from House Democrats is that they want the entire Mueller Report. They want to see everything that Mueller gathered and collected before they decide anything. And so instead of impeachment talk what we're hearing right now is discussion of possibly subpoenaing for the report or subpoenaing Mueller to get that."

++WHITE FLASH++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press:

"There is no question that White House aides and Trump confidants are taking a degree of satisfaction at least at this moment that there are no further indictments that have been delivered or they're expected from the special counsel. And so to the extent that that that has occurred that's a degree of relief for them. But I think everybody still waiting to see exactly what the report indicates about the Trump campaign and in the Trump administration. And so it's a little bit of a holding pattern. But the president who has spent the last basically two years attempting to undermine or sow doubt in the credibility an investigation has been noticeably quiet over the last 24 hours with no tweets about it and no public statements about it."

8. White House Exterior

Washington - 21 June  2017

9. STILL - Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, arrives on Capitol Hill for a closed door meeting before the Senate Judiciary Committee (PARTIALLY COVERS UPCOMING SOUNDBITE)

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"The special counsel has indicated that he has not recommended any additional charges or indictments. And so that would mean that he is effectively closed up shop and that no one else will be indicted by Robert Mueller. However, it's important to note that there are all sorts of other investigations going on that originated as referrals from the special counsel that he began investigating and recognized fell without outside of his mandate. And so he referred those back to the Justice Department which then sent them to individual offices of the Justice Department including in New York City and in Virginia."

11. Various DOJ exteriors (PARTIALLY COVERS PREVIOUS SOUNDBITE)

Attorney General William Barr was reviewing the special counsel's confidential report on the Russia investigation Saturday to determine what should be made public after a nearly two-year probe that cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says that Barr will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend.

The Attorney General  Barr will not be providing Congress with special counsel Robert Mueller's findings on Saturday.

That's according to a senior Justice Department official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the review process.

Mueller has concluded his investigation of Russian election interference and possible coordination with Donald Trump's campaign.

Barr is reviewing Mueller's confidential report and has said he expects to provide Congress with the "principal conclusions" this weekend.

Washington - 21 June  2017

1. STILL -Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs the Capitol after a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the election and possible connection to the Trump campaign

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"Mueller's mandate was to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russia and whether there was any coordination between those two entities. Trump associates and members of the Russian government or Russians in general and then to investigate any crimes that arise out of that in the course of that investigation."

McLean, Virginia - 23 March 2019

3. US Attorney General William Barr comes out of his house and gets in a vehicle out front

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"So Barr has told congressional leaders that he has received the report from the special counsel that he will review it and that he will provide lawmakers and the public with a summary of principal findings as soon as this weekend. He is currently at the Justice Department reviewing the report he received from Mueller."

5. Barr's motorcade arrives at DOJ

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

"At some point. House Democrats who have the leadership in that chamber will decide what to do if anything with the findings. We've heard indications from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she's not interested at the moment in discussing impeachment. And we will have to see how damaging or incriminating if at all the findings are to the president and whether that will affect that calculus."

7. Various House Judiciary Committee offices

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

"Right now the big push that we're hearing from House Democrats is that they want the entire Mueller Report. They want to see everything that Mueller gathered and collected before they decide anything. And so instead of impeachment talk what we're hearing right now is discussion of possibly subpoenaing for the report or subpoenaing Mueller to get that."

9. White House exterior

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

"There is no question that White House aides and Trump confidants are taking a degree of satisfaction at least at this moment that there are no further indictments that have been delivered or that are expected from the special counsel. And so to the extent that, that that has occurred that's a degree of relief for them. But I think everybody still waiting to see exactly what the report indicates about the Trump campaign and in the Trump administration. And so it's a little bit of a holding pattern. But the president who has spent the last basically two years attempting to undermine or sow doubt in the credibility an investigation has been noticeably quiet over the last 24 hours with no tweets about it and no public statements about it."

Washington - 21 June  2017

11. STILL - Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, arrives on Capitol Hill for a closed door meeting before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Washington - 23 March 2019

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

"The special counsel has indicated that he has not recommended any additional charges or indictments. And so that would mean that he is effectively closed up shop and that no one else will be indicted by Robert Mueller. However, it's important to note that there are all sorts of other investigations going on that originated as referrals from the special counsel that he began investigating and recognized fell without outside of his mandate. And so he referred those back to the Justice Department which then sent them to individual offices of the Justice Department including in New York City and in Virginia."

13. Various DOJ exteriors

Attorney General William Barr says special counsel Robert Mueller's report recounts 10 episodes involving President Donald Trump that were investigated as potential acts of criminal obstruction of justice.

Barr says Mueller did not reach a "prosecutorial judgment" and that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded the evidence was not sufficient to establish the president committed an offense.

Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters.

While Mueller drew no conclusion about whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice in the investigation, Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein personally had concluded that while Trump was "frustrated and angry" about the Mueller probe, nothing the president did rose to the level of an "obstruction-of-justice offense."

POOL

Washington - 18 April 2019

1. Side shot of US Attorney General William

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

"Finally the special counsel investigated a number of links or contacts between the Trump campaign officials and individuals connected with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. After reviewing these contacts, the special counsel did not find any conspiracy to violate U.S. law involving Russian-linked persons and any persons associated with the Trump campaign. So that's the bottom line. After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the special counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those efforts. After finding no underlying collusion with Russia, the special counsel's report goes on to consider whether certain actions of the president could amount to obstruction of the special counsel's investigation. As I addressed in my March 24th letter, the special counsel did not make a traditional prosecutorial judgment regarding this allegation. Instead, the report recounts 10 episodes involving the president and discusses potential legal theories for connecting those activities to the elements of an obstruction offense. After carefully reviewing the facts and legal theories outlined in the report, and in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel and other department lawyers, the deputy attorney general and I concluded that the evidence developed by the special counsel is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense. Although the deputy attorney general and I disagreed with some of the special counsel's legal theories and felt that some of the episodes examined did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law, we did not rely solely on that in making our decision. Instead, we accepted the special counsel's legal framework for purposes of our analysis and evaluated the evidence as presented by the special counsel in reaching our conclusions. In assessing the president's actions discussed in the report it is important to bear in mind the context. President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of his associates. At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the president's personal culpability. Yet as he said from the beginning there was in fact no collusion. And as the special counsel's report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by his sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents and fueled by illegal leaks. Nonetheless the White House fully cooperated with the special counsel's investigation providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the president took no act that in fact deprived the special counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of noncorrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the president had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation."

3. Side shot of Barr

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison. The move, short of a full pardon, is sure to alarm critics who have long railed against the president's repeated interventions in the nation's justice system.

Stone had been sentenced in February to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. He was set to report to prison by Tuesday.

Stone told The Associated Press that Trump had called him earlier Friday to inform him of the commutation. Stone was celebrating in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with conservative friends and said he had to change rooms because there were "too many people opening bottles of Champagne here."

In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Stone a "victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media."

A commutation does not erase Stone's felony convictions in the same way a pardon would, but it would protect him from serving prison time as a result.

The action, which Trump had foreshadowed in recent days, reflects his lingering rage over the Russia investigation and is a testament to his conviction that he and his associates were mistreated by agents and prosecutors. His administration has been eager to rewrite the narrative of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with Trump's own Justice Department moving in May to dismiss the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Stone, for his part, had been open about his desire for a pardon or commutation, appealing for the president's help in a series of Instagram posts in which he maintained that his life could be in jeopardy if imprisoned during a pandemic. He had recently sought to postpone his surrender date by months after getting a brief extension from the judge.

Trump had repeatedly publicly inserted himself into Stone's case, including just before Stone's sentencing, when he suggested in a tweet that Stone was being subjected to a different standard than several prominent Democrats. He railed that the conviction "should be thrown out" and called the Justice Department's initial sentencing recommendation "horrible and very unfair."  

Stone, a larger-than-life political character who embraced his reputation as a dirty trickster, was the sixth Trump aide or adviser to have been convicted of charges brought as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A longtime Trump friend and informal adviser, Stone had boasted during the campaign that he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through a trusted intermediary and hinted at inside knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans to release more than 19,000 emails hacked from the servers of the Democratic National Committee.

But Stone denied any wrongdoing and consistently criticized the case against him as politically motivated. He did not take the stand during his trial, did not speak at his sentencing, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense.

Trump also targeted those involved in the case. He retweeted a comment by Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano that the jury appeared to have been biased against Trump, and called out Judge Amy Berman Jackson by name, saying "almost any judge in the country" would throw out the conviction.  

The tweets continued even after Trump earned a public rebuke from his own attorney general, William Barr, who said the president's comments were "making it impossible" for him to do his job. Barr was so incensed that he told people he was considering resigning over the matter.

Prosecutors had originally recommended Stone serve seven to nine years in federal prison. But, in a highly unusual move, Barr reversed that decision after a Trump tweet and recommended a more lenient punishment, prompting a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department, with the entire prosecution team resigning from the case.

Department officials have vehemently denied Barr was responding to Trump's criticism and have insisted there was no contact with the White House over the decision. Barr has also pointed out that the judge, in imposing a 40-month sentence, had agreed with him that the original sentencing recommendation was excessive.

Barr, who was attorney general during Stone's trial last fall, has said the prosecution was justified, and the Justice Department did not support Stone's more recent effort to put off his surrender date. Though the Justice Department raised concerns about the handling of Flynn's case, including what it said were irregularities about his FBI interview, prosecutors did not point to any similar issues or problems with the Stone prosecution.

Washington, DC - 20 February 2020

1. Roger Stone arrives at US District Court for sentencing hearing

Washington - 15 November 2019

2. Various of Roger Stone leaving court

Washington, DC - 30 April 2019

3. Roger Stone walks toward the district courthouse with attorneys, and eventually inside

Washington, DC - 6 December 2018

4. Mid of Roger Stone walking to podium

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant:

"Some of you may have seen that I appeared on ABC with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. And I said in that interview something that I have said previously for the last two years many times on the public record. And that is no matter what happens I will not bear false witness against this president. I will not make up stories and lies in the effort to remove him."

+++SOUNDBITE SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAME+++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant:

"I think most Americans now understand that the Russian collusion delusion is meant to be a distraction from the far more serious abuse of power in which the Obama administration used the authority and the capability of the state through the use of illegal and illicit FISA warrants to spy on Donald Trump's campaign for president, and use the FBI to infiltrate the Trump campaign for the purposes of planting faux Russian collusion."

8. Mid of Stone exiting stage

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison.

The move, short of a full pardon, is sure to alarm critics who have long railed against the president's repeated interventions in the nation's justice system.

Stone had been sentenced in February to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

He was set to report to prison by Tuesday.

Stone told The Associated Press that Trump had called him earlier Friday to inform him of the commutation.

Stone was celebrating in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with conservative friends and said he had to change rooms because there were "too many people opening bottles of champagne here."

In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Stone a "victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media."

A commutation does not erase Stone's felony convictions in the same way a pardon would, but it would protect him from serving prison time as a result.

The action, which Trump had foreshadowed in recent days, reflects his lingering rage over the Russia investigation and is a testament to his conviction that he and his associates were mistreated by agents and prosecutors.

His administration has been eager to rewrite the narrative of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with Trump's own Justice Department moving in May to dismiss the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Stone, for his part, had been open about his desire for a pardon or commutation, appealing for the president's help in a series of Instagram posts in which he maintained that his life could be in jeopardy if imprisoned during a pandemic.

He had recently sought to postpone his surrender date by months after getting a brief extension from the judge.

Trump had repeatedly publicly inserted himself into Stone's case, including just before Stone's sentencing, when he suggested in a tweet that Stone was being subjected to a different standard than several prominent Democrats.

He railed that the conviction "should be thrown out" and called the Justice Department's initial sentencing recommendation "horrible and very unfair."  

Stone, a larger-than-life political character who embraced his reputation as a dirty trickster, was the sixth Trump aide or adviser to have been convicted of charges brought as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A longtime Trump friend and informal adviser, Stone had boasted during the campaign that he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through a trusted intermediary and hinted at inside knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans to release more than 19,000 emails hacked from the servers of the Democratic National Committee.

But Stone denied any wrongdoing and consistently criticized the case against him as politically motivated.

He did not take the stand during his trial, did not speak at his sentencing, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense.

Trump also targeted those involved in the case.

He retweeted a comment by Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano that the jury appeared to have been biased against Trump, and called out Judge Amy Berman Jackson by name, saying "almost any judge in the country" would throw out the conviction.  

The tweets continued even after Trump earned a public rebuke from his own attorney general, William Barr, who said the president's comments were "making it impossible" for him to do his job.

Barr was so incensed that he told people he was considering resigning over the matter.

Prosecutors had originally recommended Stone serve seven to nine years in federal prison.

But, in a highly unusual move, Barr reversed that decision after a Trump tweet and recommended a more lenient punishment, prompting a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department, with the entire prosecution team resigning from the case.

Department officials have vehemently denied Barr was responding to Trump's criticism and have insisted there was no contact with the White House over the decision.

Barr has also pointed out that the judge, in imposing a 40-month sentence, had agreed with him that the original sentencing recommendation was excessive.

Barr, who was attorney general during Stone's trial last fall, has said the prosecution was justified, and the Justice Department did not support Stone's more recent effort to put off his surrender date.

Though the Justice Department raised concerns about the handling of Flynn's case, including what it said were irregularities about his FBI interview, prosecutors did not point to any similar issues or problems with the Stone prosecution.

ARCHIVE - Washington DC - 20 February 2020

1. Roger Stone arrives at US District Court for sentencing hearing

ARCHIVE - Washington DC - 15 November 2019

2. Various of Roger Stone leaving court

ARCHIVE - Washington DC - 30 April 2019

3. Roger Stone walks toward the district courthouse with attorneys, and eventually inside

ARCHIVE - Washington DC - 6 December 2018

4. Mid of Roger Stone walking to podium

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant:

"Some of you may have seen that I appeared on ABC with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. And I said in that interview something that I have said previously for the last two years many times on the public record. And that is no matter what happens I will not bear false witness against this president. I will not make up stories and lies in the effort to remove him."

+++SOUNDBITE SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAME+++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant:

"I think most Americans now understand that the Russian collusion delusion is meant to be a distraction from the far more serious abuse of power in which the Obama administration used the authority and the capability of the state through the use of illegal and illicit FISA warrants to spy on Donald Trump's campaign for president, and use the FBI to infiltrate the Trump campaign for the purposes of planting faux Russian collusion."

8. Mid of Stone exiting stage

STORYLINE:

Former US President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden on April 14th, giving the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee a boost from the party's biggest fundraiser and one of its most popular figures.

"This is a big deal for Biden because it helps him create some momentum, " says Julie Pace, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief.

The endorsement marked Obama's return to presidential politics more than three years after leaving the White House.

He didn't mention his successor, President Donald Trump, by name and instead sought to bridge the ideological divide among Democrats.

"He's eager to get out there. He is eager to start drawing the contrast with Donald Trump, Pace said. "This is basically what he's been waiting for."

Biden now has the support of all of his former Democratic primary rivals except for Elizabeth Warren.

The Massachusetts senator is expected to formally endorse Biden soon, according to a person familiar with her plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss her thinking.

Two other prominent Democrats who have yet to publicly back Biden are former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the party's 2016 nominee.

Hillary Clinton has been in regular touch with Biden, including several times since Sanders dropped out of the race, according to an aide.

Obama avoided intervening in the Democratic primary, but followed the race closely from the sidelines and is eager to take a more active public role.

He's expected to headline fundraisers for Biden and public events in key swing states, if such gatherings can still be held given social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.

After his endorsement was released, Obama sent a fundraising appeal to Biden supporters, asking for donations ranging from $5 to $100.

The endorsement will test whether Obama can transfer his personal popularity to Biden.

While the former president is seen favorably by a wide swath of Democratic voters, he was also a deeply polarizing figure during his two terms in office.

During his presidency, Democrats lost about 1,000 legislative seats around the country, starting with disastrous 2010 midterms that also cost the party control of the House and many statehouses.

***

ASIAN AMERICANS ACTORS ON CALLING COVID-19 'THE 'CHINESE VIRUS': MAKING THIS BLANKET STATEMENT IS BAD

President Trump has stopped calling COVID-19 the "Chinese Virus" but some believe the damage is already done.

"I felt like it was a very uneducated statement," said TV personality Jeannie Mai, who was born in the United States to a Vietnamese mother and a Chinese father. "I think you have to be very responsible when you choose terminology to give people an idea of what to picture, what to visualize."

"The Good Doctor" actor Will Yun Lee, who was born in the U.S. to Korean parents, said blaming a group of people is dangerous because it only encourages xenophobia and racism.

"Making this blanket statement is bad. People take it the way they're going to take it. And unfortunately a lot of people have taken it to associate it to anybody who looks like me or is Asian-American or whatever Asian ethnicity you are. It becomes like the word 'chink,' right? It's a very harsh word."

Trump isn't the only person who has referred to COVID-19 in this way.

Earlier in April, TV host Bill Maher defended the notion of calling coronavirus the "Chinese Virus" on his HBO show, "Real Time with Bill Maher," saying it's logical because that's where it originated.

"Tigertail" and "The Farewell" actor Tzi Ma, who was born in Hong Kong and moved to the U.S. as a child, responded to Maher's statement saying, "For the moment it could be funny. For the moment it could give you some gratification or satisfaction by saying it. However you have to remember that there are ramifications."

Nico Santos of the NBC comedy "Superstore" was born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. as a teen. He said this blame mentality rears its head whenever there is fear a community.

"We saw the same sort of thing happen when when the AIDS crisis was happening. People directed that sort of like fear and hate towards the LGBTQ community. When 9/11 happened, there was a lot of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment. Even people who actually weren't Muslim or who weren't of Middle Eastern descent, who said, if you just look like you work, if you're basically you looked like you were brown or maybe came from that part of the world, you all of sudden, you know, bore the brunt of that of that hate."

***

The Justice Department on May 7th said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for Trump and his supporters in attacking the FBI's Russia investigation.

The move is a stunning reversal for one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. It comes even though prosecutors for the last three years had maintained that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in a January 2017 interview. Flynn himself admitted as much, and became a key cooperator for Mueller as he investigated ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

In court documents being filed May 7th, the Justice Department said it is dropping the case "after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information." The documents were obtained by The Associated Press.

The Justice Department said it had concluded that Flynn's interview by the FBI was "untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn" and that the interview on January 24, 2017 was "conducted without any legitimate investigative basis."

The U.S. attorney reviewing the Flynn case, Jeff Jensen, recommended the move to Attorney General William Barr last week and formalized the recommendation in a document this week.

The decision was quickly embraced by Trump, who has relentlessly tweeted about the case and last week pronounced Flynn "exonerated," and energized supporters who have taken up the retired Army lieutenant general as something of a cause celebre. But it may also add to Democratic concerns that Attorney General William Barr is excessively loyal to the president, and could be a distraction for a Justice Department that for months has sought to focus on crimes arising from the coronavirus.

The Justice Department's action comes amid an internal review into the handling of the case and an aggressive effort by Flynn's lawyers to challenge the basis for the prosecution. The lawyers cited newly disclosed FBI emails and notes last week to allege that Flynn was entrapped into lying when agents interviewed him at the White House days after Trump's inauguration.

***

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's onetime presidential campaign chairman who was convicted as part of the special counsel's Russia investigation, has been released from federal prison to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Manafort, 71, was released May 13th from FCI Loretto, a low-security prison in Pennsylvania, according to his attorney Todd Blanche. Manafort had been serving more than seven years in prison following his conviction.

His lawyers had asked the Bureau of Prisons to release him to home confinement, arguing that he was at high risk for coronavirus because of his age and preexisting medical conditions.

Manafort was hospitalized in December after suffering from a heart-related condition, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press at the time. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Manafort was among the first people to be charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, which examined possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election campaign.

He was prosecuted in two federal courts, convicted by a jury in federal court in Virginia in 2018 and later pleaded guilty in Washington.

He was sentenced last March and was immediately hit with state charges in New York that could put him outside the president's power to pardon. New York prosecutors have accused him of giving false information on a mortgage loan application.

***

US President Donald Trump's long-time personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was released from federal prison on May 21st to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Cohen had been serving a federal prison sentence at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress.

The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Cohen was released on furlough as part of an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus in federal prisons. Cohen, 53, began serving his sentence last May and originally was scheduled to be released from prison in November 2021.

Prison advocates and congressional leaders have been pressing the Justice Department for weeks to release at-risk inmates, arguing that the public health guidance to stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from other people is nearly impossible behind bars.

Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons in March and April to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates, beginning at three prisons identified as coronavirus hot spots. Otisville is not one of those facilities.

The Bureau of Prisons placed Cohen on furlough as it continues to process a move to home confinement, another person familiar with the matter said.

The agency has the authority to release inmates on furlough for up to 30 days and has been doing so to make sure suitable inmates, who are expected to transition to home confinement, can be moved out of correctional facilities sooner, that person said.

***

Joe Biden blistered President Donald Trump on June 2nd for directing authorities to drive back peaceful protesters outside the White House "in order to stage a photo op."

The former vice president said the commander in chief was "more interested in power than in principle."

Biden was delivering a speech in Philadelphia, addressing the civil unrest across America in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Biden is also working to elevate his voice in the national debate after more than two months of the campaign for the White House being frozen amid the outbreak of the coronarvius.

He's also looking to provide a stark contrast to Trump who has struck a forceful tone against protests.

***

It's official. After an almost year-long, often tumultuous battle, former Vice President Joe Biden has crossed the finish line, formally clinching the Democratic nomination.

The milestone sets him up for a bruising battle against President Donald Trump that will play out amid the backdrop of a pandemic, economic collapse and civil unrest, a daunting trifecta of challenges Biden hopes to use to his advantage.

"They're some of the sternest challenges our nation has ever faced," Biden said June 5th at an event in Delaware. "They need a president who cares about them, who cares about helping them heal now."

Biden became the presumptive nominee almost two months ago when his last opponent in the primary, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, dropped out of the race.

But he only pulled together the nearly 2-thousand delegates needed to seal the nomination after the latest round of contests this week.

The former vice president's path to the prize wasn't always so clear. While he consistently led the largest primary field in history in the national polls, his campaign looked to be in trouble after a string of losses in the early contests.

He rebounded with a resounding win in South Carolina. From there, he dominated Super Tuesday, launching what turned out to be an insurmountable comeback.

While Biden no longer has to battle Democratic rivals, he has a host of other issues to tackle, from winning over skeptics in his party's left wing to running a campaign essentially out of his Delaware home.

Though Biden has started to venture out more this week, the coronavirus pandemic has largely confined him to his Wilmington, Delaware, home for much of the past three months.

University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato says while that approach may irk his rival, Donald Trump, and challenge political norms, it could be just the right move during this unprecedented campaign year.

"The best strategy for Joe Biden may be a low-key strategy, which fits in pretty well. Do the events that you want to do, organize them from the basement and let Donald Trump deal with the problems. It's actually tougher this year to be the incumbent than it is to be the challenger," Sabato says.

"Most people know that Joe Biden was a two term vice president under Barack Obama and that he opposes, as Obama does, almost everything that Donald Trump has been doing or trying to do. That is enough of a contrast for most voters," Sabato adds.

With his place in the 2020 presidential race now set, all eyes are turning to what could be the most important decision of Biden's five-decade political career: choosing a running mate, something he says he hopes to do by August 1st.

***

The Trump administration is suing former national security adviser John Bolton to block the publication of a book that the White House says contains classified information.

The suit follows warnings from President Donald Trump that Bolton could face a "criminal problem" if he doesn't halt plans to publish the book.

The administration has also said the former adviser did not complete a pre-publication review to ensure that the manuscript did not contain classified material.

Bolton's attorney, Chuck Cooper, has said Bolton worked for months with classification specialists to avoid releasing classified material. He has accused the White House of using national security information as a pretext to censor Bolton.

He has accused the White House of using national security information as a pretext to censor Bolton.

Trump said June 16th Bolton could face a “criminal problem” if he doesn’t halt plans to publish the book.

He said Attorney General William Barr will decide if Bolton will be charged.

***

President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects, according to a scathing book by former adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.

The White House was working furiously to block release of the book, whose China revelations carry echoes of Trump’s efforts to solicit political help from Ukraine that led to his impeachment.

Bolton, Trump's national security adviser for a 17-month period, called Trump's attempt to shift the June 2019 conversation to the US election a stunning move, and wrote that it was among innumerable conversations that “formed a pattern of fundamentally unacceptable behavior that eroded the very legitimacy of the presidency”.

Deeply critical of the president and much of his senior team, Bolton wrote that because staff had served him so poorly, Trump “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.” He added that while he was at the White House, Trump typically had only two intelligence briefings a week “and in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers, often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at hand.”

The 577-page book paints an unvarnished portrait of Trump and his administration, lending the most vivid, first-person account yet of how Trump conducts himself in office. Several other former officials have written books, but they have been almost entirely flattering of the president. Other former officials have indicated they were saving their accounts of their time working for Trump until after he left office in order to speak more candidly. The Associated Press obtained a copy of Bolton's book in advance of its release next week.

As for the meeting with the Chinese president in Osaka, Japan, Bolton wrote that Trump told Xi that Democrats were hostile to China.

“He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win,” Bolton said. “He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.”

The book, titled “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” which is set to be released Tuesday by Simon & Schuster, has been the subject of a lengthy battle between Bolton and the White House.

Trump signed legislation June 17th that seeks to punish China for a crackdown on ethnic minorities, even as the Bolton book said the American leader expressed support for the brutal campaign in a private conversation with his Chinese counterpart.

The Uighur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Trump signed it with no ceremony, issuing a statement in which he said a sanctions provision intruded on executive authority and he would regard it as non-binding.

***

A top White House aide who handles President Donald Trump's trade policy toward China described John Bolton's controversial new book as "revenge porn," and said Bolton took no interest in China policy, despite his position as Trump's national security adviser.

"It's 'Big Lie' Bolton. It's 'Book Deal' Bolton." He's doing it for the money," said Peter Navarro, Trump's director of trade and manufacturing policy.

In his book, Bolton claims that President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects,

He also accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.

The White House has been working furiously to block the book, asking a federal court for an emergency temporary restraining order June 17th against its release.

Navarro said Trump has used tariffs to stand up to China in retaliatation to such Chinese actions as intellectual property theft, militarizing the South China Sea and cracking down on Hong Kong.

"I think there's a consensus now in this government that China is the single greatest strategic and existential threat to this country."

"It's not Russia. It's certainly not Venezuela. It's not Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan issues," Navarro said. "It's China."

"He took no interest in that whatsoever," he said.

***

Supporters of President Donald Trump faced off with anti-racism protesters on June 20th in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the President held a campaign rally.

Black Lives Matter activists flooded the city's downtown streets, and some got into arguments with Trump supporters who were shouting “all lives matter”.

Later in the evening, a group of armed men began following the protesters.

There were no reports of trouble.

02:29:18

00:00:00

Barak Obama gives Biden a boost with endorsement

4264683

ASSOCIATED PRESS, POOL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARCHIVE - Washington - 23 March 2010

1. Biden introducing Obama at healthcare law signing

++CONTAINS AUDIO OF EXPLETIVE++ Biden heard saying to Obama: "This is a big f------ deal"

ARCHIVE: Washington - 7 January 2015

2. President Obama speaks in the Oval Office with Vice President Joe Biden

POOL

4:3 FROM SOURCE

ARCHIVE: Chicago - 4 November 2008

3. Various, then President-elect Obama on stage after victory speech with then-Vice President elect Joe Biden

00:13:03

Asian American actors on calling COVID-19 the 'Chinese Virus': 'Having this blanket statement is bad'

4266741

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archive: Washington, DC, 18 March 2020

4. UPSOUND (English) Reporter question:

"Why do you keep calling it the Chinese virus? There are reports of dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in this country - why do you keep using this?"

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"Because it comes from China. It's not racist at all, no.

Los Angeles, 6 April 2020

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeannie Mai, TV Personality - on Trump calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus":

"It was a very uneducated statement. I think you have to be responsible when you choose terminology to give people an idea of what to picture, what to visualize."

00:38:19

Justice Dept. drops Michael Flynn's criminal case

4268281

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 18 December 2018

7. Michael Flynn leaves courthouse as competing demonstrators chant "lock him up" and "U.S.A."

00:45:16

Manafort released from prison due to virus concerns

4269082

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARCHIVE: Washington, DC - 23 May 2017

8. Former campaign chairman for US President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort leaves courthouse

ARCHIVE: New York - June 27, 2019

9. Paul Manafort in handcuffs walks in hallway of a Manhattan courthouse escorted by court officers

00:54:18

Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to be released from prison

4270202

POOL

ARCHIVE: Washington - 28 February 2019

10. Various of Cohen testifying in Congress

01:05:10

Trump attorney Michael Cohen out of prison

4270326

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 21 May 2020

11. Michael Cohen exits vehicle and walks into residence

01:11:19

Biden: Trump more set on 'power than principle'

4272089

POOL

Philadelphia - 2 June 2020

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden (D) Presidential candidate::

"We can be forgiven for believing the president is more interested in power than in principle, or just in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care. For that's what the presidency is, the duty to care, to care for all of us, not just those who vote for us, but all of us."

01:37:22

Biden clinches Democratic presidential nomination

4272736

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Los Angeles, 3 March 2020

13. Joe Biden walks into rally after winning a number of Super Tuesday contests

Los Angeles, 3 March 2020

14. Biden on stage at California rally after winning a number of Super Tuesday contests

01:46:15

US Justice Dept. sues Bolton to block book release

4274290

ASSOCIATED PRESS, POOL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARCHIVE: Washington, DC - 30 September 2019

15. Mid shot of John Bolton walking up to podium

ARCHIVE: Seoul, South Korea - 24 July 2019

16. John Bolton arriving to meet South Korean officials

POOL

Washington, DC - 4 June 2020

17. Mid shot of William Barr at Justice Department news conference

01:59:20

Bolton book: Trump asked China for reelection help

4274489

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 17 June 2020

18. Bolton's book, "The Room Where it Happened"

02:04:03

White House aide calls Bolton book 'revenge porn'

4274691

POOL

Washington, DC - 18 June 2020

19. Peter Navarro walking to microphone

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Navarro, Assistant to the President, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy :

"Look, I knew John Bolton pretty well after he got in here and my take on him. It's big lie Bolton. It's book deal Bolton. He's doing it for the money. That's pretty clear. And my view is it's the Washington swamp's equivalent of revenge porn.

02:19:23

Pro and anti-Trump protests near Tulsa rally

4275004

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tulsa, Oklahoma - 20 June 2020

21. Trump supporters holding banners reading (English) ''Make America Great Again!''

22. Armed men following the protest

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

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 felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime.

The airing of disagreements over the handling of the report was notable given the highly secretive nature of the special counsel's investigation and the public appearance for at least most of the probe that the Justice Department and Mueller's team were unified in approach.

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

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

It was also a forum for him to repair a reputation bruised by allegations that he's the Republican president's protector and by the emergence of a private letter from Mueller that criticized his handling of the report.

Democrats seized on the daylight between the two men to attack Barr's credibility and accuse him of unduly spinning Mueller's report in the president's favor.

They also pressed him on whether he had misled Congress last month when he professed ignorance about complaints from the special counsel's team. Barr suggested he had not lied because he was in touch with Mueller himself and not his team.

"Mr. Barr, I feel your answer was purposely misleading, and I believe others do too," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

While Democratic senators bluntly questioned Barr's actions, Republicans, in addition to defending Trump, focused on the president's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's email and campaign practices and what they feel is a lack of investigation of them.

Neither side broke much 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.

Barr entered the hearing on the defensive following reports hours earlier that Mueller had complained to him in a letter and over the phone about the way his findings were being portrayed.

Two days after receiving Mueller's report, Barr released a four-page letter that summarized the main findings.

Mueller's letter, dated March 27, conveys his unhappiness that Barr released what the attorney general saw as the bottom-line conclusions of the special counsel's investigation and not the introductions and executive summaries that Mueller's team had prepared and believed conveyed more nuance and context than Barr's own letter. Mueller said he had communicated the same concern two days earlier.

Once Mueller submitted his report, his work was done and the document was "my baby," Barr insisted defiantly.

"It was my decision how and when to make it public. Not Bob Mueller's," he said.

POOL

Washington DC - 1 May 2019

1. Wide, Senate Judiciary Committee

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, Chairman Judiciary Committee:

"The conclusions in your page four page summary, you think, accurately reflect his bottom line on collusion. Is that correct? (Barr: Yes) And you can read it for yourself if you got any doubt. As to obstruction of justice, were you surprised he was gonna let you decide?"

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

"Yes, I was surprised. I ... I think the very purpose the function he was carrying out the prosecutor of investigative and prosecutor function is performed for the purpose of people. (Graham: How many people did he actually indict, do you know?) I can't remember off the top of my head. (Graham: It was a lot.) Yeah."

4. Mid, Barr listening

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

"Thing that was confusing to me is that the investigation carried on for a while as additional episodes were were looked into, episodes involving the president. And so my question is or was why were those investigated if at the end of the day aren't going to reach a decision on them? (Graham: So did you consult Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein about the obstruction matter?) Constantly. (Graham: So, was he in agreement with your decision not to proceed forward?) Yes."

6. Wide, Barr listening

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

"What really struck me, Mr. Mueller wrote that your letter threatened to undermine a central purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel to ensure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigation. Why did you testify on April 9th that you didn't know the concerns being expressed by Mueller's team, when in fact you had heard those concerns directly from Mr. Mueller two weeks before?"

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

"Mueller had never told me that that might that the expression of the findings was inaccurate. But I did then volunteer that I thought they were talking about the desire to have more information put out, but it wasn't my purpose to put out more information."

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

"Mr. Barr are you ... I feel your answer was purposely misleading and I think others do too. May I ask you another one? You said the president is fully cooperating with an investigation, but his attorney had told a defendant he'd be taken care of if he didn't cooperate with the investigation. Is there a conflict in that there are conflict in that?"

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

"I'm sorry, could you just repeat that? (Leahy: Both Mr. Manafort and Mr. Cohen we're told by Trump's personal attorney they'd be taken care of if they did not cooperate. You said that the president was fully cooperate. Is there a conflict there? Yes or no.) No."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat - Illinois:

"No I'll just say this Mr. Barr if you received a letter from Bob Mueller a few days after your March 24th letter, it was clear he had some genuine concerns about what you had said and done to that point. Can we move to another topic?"

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

"Yeah, his concerns was he wanted more added and I would analogize it to this my ... you know after, after a months long trial if if if I wanted to go out and get out to the public what the verdict was pending preparation of the full transcript and I'm out there saying here's the verdict. And the prosecutor comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says, 'well the verdict doesn't really fully capture all my work about that great cross examination I did or how about that third day of trial where I did that. This doesn't capture everything.' My answer to that is I'm not trying to capture everything. I'm just trying to state the verdict. (Durbin: No you just absolutely use the word summarize though in your letter.) Summarize the principal conclusions. (Durbin: Principle conclusions which most people would view as a summary.)"

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat - Rhode Island:

"You described the report in four pages and it's a 400 page report, I don't know why you're cavalier about whether it is a summary or not?"

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

"Because, as I state in the letter that I'm stating the principal conclusions. You know Bob Mueller is the equivalent of a U.S. attorney. He was exercising the powers of the attorney general subject to the supervision of the attorney general. He's part of the Department of Justice. His work concluded when he sent his report to the attorney general at that point it was my baby and I was making a decision as to whether or not to make it public. And I effectively overrode the regulations, use discretion, to lean as far forward as I could to make that public and was my decision how and when to make it public not Bob Mueller's."

15. Wide view of hearing

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

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 felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime.

The airing of disagreements over the handling of the report was notable given the highly secretive nature of the special counsel's investigation and the public appearance for at least most of the probe that the Justice Department and Mueller's team were unified in approach.

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

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

It was also a forum for him to repair a reputation bruised by allegations that he's the Republican president's protector and by the emergence of a private letter from Mueller that criticized his handling of the report.

Democrats seized on the daylight between the two men to attack Barr's credibility and accuse him of unduly spinning Mueller's report in the president's favor.

They also pressed him on whether he had misled Congress last month when he professed ignorance about complaints from the special counsel's team. Barr suggested he had not lied because he was in touch with Mueller himself and not his team.

"Mr. Barr, I feel your answer was purposely misleading, and I believe others do too," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

While Democratic senators bluntly questioned Barr's actions, Republicans, in addition to defending Trump, focused on the president's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's email and campaign practices and what they feel is a lack of investigation of them.

Neither side broke much 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.

Barr entered the hearing on the defensive following reports hours earlier that Mueller had complained to him in a letter and over the phone about the way his findings were being portrayed.

Two days after receiving Mueller's report, Barr released a four-page letter that summarized the main findings.

Mueller's letter, dated March 27, conveys his unhappiness that Barr released what the attorney general saw as the bottom-line conclusions of the special counsel's investigation and not the introductions and executive summaries that Mueller's team had prepared and believed conveyed more nuance and context than Barr's own letter. Mueller said he had communicated the same concern two days earlier.

Once Mueller submitted his report, his work was done and the document was "my baby," Barr insisted defiantly.

"It was my decision how and when to make it public. Not Bob Mueller's," he said.

POOL

Washington DC - 1 May 2019

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, Chairman Judiciary Committee:

"The conclusions in your page four page summary, you think, accurately reflect his bottom line on collusion. Is that correct? (Barr: Yes) And you can read it for yourself if you got any doubt. As to obstruction of justice, were you surprised he was gonna let you decide?"

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

"Yes, I was surprised. I ... I think the very purpose the function he was carrying out the prosecutor of investigative and prosecutor function is performed for the purpose of people. (Graham: How many people did he actually indict, do you know?) I can't remember off the top of my head. (Graham: It was a lot.) Yeah."

3. Mid, Barr listening

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

"What really struck me, Mr. Mueller wrote that your letter threatened to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the special counsel to ensure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigation. Why did you testify on April 9th that you didn't know the concerns being expressed by Mueller's team, when in fact you had heard those concerns directly from Mr. Mueller two weeks before?"

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

"Mueller had never told me that that might that the expression of the findings was inaccurate. But I did then volunteer that I thought they were talking about the desire to have more information put out, but it wasn't my purpose to put out more information."

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

"Mr. Barr are you ... I feel your answer was purposely misleading and I think others do too."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat - Illinois:

"No I'll just say this Mr. Barr if you received a letter from Bob Mueller a few days after your March 24th letter, it was clear he had some general genuine concerns about what you had said and done to that point. Can we move to another topic?"

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

"Yeah, his concerns was he wanted more added and I would analogize it to this my ... you know after, after a months long trial if if if I wanted to go out and get out to the public what the verdict was pending preparation of the full transcript and I'm out there saying here's the verdict. And the prosecutor comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says, 'well the verdict doesn't really fully capture all my work about that great cross examination I did or how about that third day of trial where I did that. This doesn't capture everything.' My answer to that is I'm not trying to capture everything. I'm just trying to state the verdict. (Durbin: No you just absolutely use the word summarize though in your letter.) Summarize the principal conclusions. (Durbin: Principle conclusions which most people would view as a summary.)"

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat - Rhode Island:

"You described the report in four pages and it's a 400 page report, I don't know why you're cavalier about whether it is a summary or not?"

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

"Because, as I state in the letter that I'm stating the principal conclusions. You know Bob Muller is the equivalent of a U.S. attorney. He was exercising the powers of the attorney general subject to the supervision of the attorney general. He's part of the Department of Justice. His work concluded when he sent his report to the attorney general at that point it was my baby and I was making a decision as to whether or not to make it public. And I effectively overrode the regulations, use discretion, to lean as far forward as I could to make that public and was my decision how and when to make it public not Bob Mueller's."

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

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 felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime.

The airing of disagreements over the handling of the report was notable given the highly secretive nature of the special counsel's investigation and the public appearance for at least most of the probe that the Justice Department and Mueller's team were unified in approach.

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

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

It was also a forum for him to repair a reputation bruised by allegations that he's the Republican president's protector and by the emergence of a private letter from Mueller that criticized his handling of the report.

Democrats seized on the daylight between the two men to attack Barr's credibility and accuse him of unduly spinning Mueller's report in the president's favor.

They also pressed him on whether he had misled Congress last month when he professed ignorance about complaints from the special counsel's team. Barr suggested he had not lied because he was in touch with Mueller himself and not his team.

"Mr. Barr, I feel your answer was purposely misleading, and I believe others do too," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

While Democratic senators bluntly questioned Barr's actions, Republicans, in addition to defending Trump, focused on the president's 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's email and campaign practices and what they feel is a lack of investigation of them.

Neither side broke much 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.

Barr entered the hearing on the defensive following reports hours earlier that Mueller had complained to him in a letter and over the phone about the way his findings were being portrayed.

Two days after receiving Mueller's report, Barr released a four-page letter that summarized the main findings.

Mueller's letter, dated March 27, conveys his unhappiness that Barr released what the attorney general saw as the bottom-line conclusions of the special counsel's investigation and not the introductions and executive summaries that Mueller's team had prepared and believed conveyed more nuance and context than Barr's own letter. Mueller said he had communicated the same concern two days earlier.

Once Mueller submitted his report, his work was done and the document was "my baby," Barr insisted defiantly.

"It was my decision how and when to make it public. Not Bob Mueller's," he said.

POOL

Washington DC - 1 May 2019

1. Wide, Senate Judiciary Committee

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, Chairman Judiciary Committee:

"The conclusions in your page four page summary, you think, accurately reflect his bottom line on collusion. Is that correct? (Barr: Yes) And you can read it for yourself if you got any doubt.  As to obstruction of justice, were you surprised he was gonna let you decide?"

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

"Yes, I was surprised. I ... I think the very purpose the function he was carrying out the prosecutor of investigative and prosecutor function is performed for the purpose of people. (Graham: How many people did he actually indict, do you know?) I can't remember off the top of my head. (Graham: It was a lot.) Yeah."

4. Mid, Barr listening

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

"Thing that was confusing to me is that the investigation carried on for a while as additional episodes were were looked into, episodes involving the president. And so my question is or was why were those investigated if at the end of the day aren't going to reach a decision on them? (Graham: So did you consult Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein about the obstruction matter?) Constantly. (Graham: So, was he in agreement with your decision not to proceed forward?) Yes."

6. Wide, Barr listening

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

"What really struck me, Mr. Mueller wrote that your letter threatened to undermine a central purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel to ensure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigation. Why did you testify on April 9th that you didn't know the concerns being expressed by Mueller's team, when in fact you had heard those concerns directly from Mr. Mueller two weeks before?"

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

"Mueller had never told me that that might that the expression of the findings was inaccurate. But I did then volunteer that I thought they were talking about the desire to have more information put out, but it wasn't my purpose to put out more information."

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

"Mr. Barr are you ... I feel your answer was purposely misleading and I think others do too. May I ask you another one? You said the president is fully cooperating with an investigation, but his attorney had told a defendant he'd be taken care of if he didn't cooperate with the investigation. Is there a conflict in that there are conflict in that?"

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

"I'm sorry, could you just repeat that? (Leahy: Both Mr. Manafort and Mr. Cohen we're told by Trump's personal attorney they'd be taken care of if they did not cooperate. You said that the president was fully cooperate. Is there a conflict there? Yes or no.) No."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat - Illinois:

"No I'll just say this Mr. Barr if you received a letter from Bob Mueller a few days after your March 24th letter, it was clear he had some genuine concerns about what you had said and done to that point. Can we move to another topic?"

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

"Yeah, his concerns was he wanted more added and I would analogize it to this my ... you know after, after a months long trial if if if I wanted to go out and get out to the public what the verdict was pending preparation of the full transcript and I'm out there saying here's the verdict. And the prosecutor comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says, 'well the verdict doesn't really fully capture all my work about that great cross examination I did or how about that third day of trial where I did that. This doesn't capture everything.' My answer to that is I'm not trying to capture everything. I'm just trying to state the verdict.  (Durbin: No you just absolutely use the word summarize though in your letter.)  Summarize the principal conclusions.  (Durbin: Principle conclusions which most people would view as a summary.)"

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat - Rhode Island:

"You described the report in four pages and it's a 400 page report, I don't know why you're cavalier about whether it is a summary or not?"

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

"Because, as I state in the letter that I'm stating the principal conclusions. You know Bob Mueller is the equivalent of a U.S. attorney. He was exercising the powers of the attorney general subject to the supervision of the attorney general. He's part of the Department of Justice. His work concluded when he sent his report to the attorney general at that point it was my baby and I was making a decision as to whether or not to make it public. And I effectively overrode the regulations, use discretion, to lean as far forward as I could to make that public and was my decision how and when to make it public not Bob Mueller's."

15. Wide view of hearing