WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said he would hold off enforcing a subpoena against Attorney General William Barr after the Justice Department agreed to turn over materials relating to an investigation into Russian election interference.

The decision ended a standoff between the committee and the Justice Department for access to counterintelligence reports generated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller during his probe of President Donald Trump and his associates.

"The Department of Justice has accepted our offer of a first step towards compliance with our subpoena, and this week will begin turning over to the Committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production," committee chairman, Adam Schiff, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Schiff said he was postponing a business meeting where the panel was to discuss enforcing the subpoena, but said it will remain in effect "and will be enforced should the Department fail to comply with the full document request."

Mueller's team had produced counterintelligence reports based on evidence about Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and passed them to the FBI and the Justice Department.

Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official and a Trump appointee, on May 2 snubbed the House intelligence committee, which voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not handing over a full, unredacted Mueller report.

Last week, Schiff told Barr in a letter the Justice Department had failed to comply with a subpoena his committee issued for documents and materials related to Mueller's investigation.

He said the committee could consider enforcement action against the department at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday if the requested materials are not produced.

In a letter to Schiff on Tuesday, Justice Department official Stephen Boyd said the department was willing to discuss a possible plan for giving Intelligence Committee members and staff closed-doors access to additional material if Schiff does not move forward with his threats to hold the department in contempt. </s> WASHINGTON — The Latest on congressional investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election (all times local):

The Justice Department has agreed to allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to interview two FBI officials close to fired director James Comey — under certain conditions.

The department sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Sept. 22 after Grassley said he was preparing subpoenas for the two to appear. But the department said Jim Rybicki and Carl Ghattas could only speak to the committee if they avoided questions “directly relating to, or interfering with” the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Both Mueller and the Judiciary Committee are probing President Donald Trump’s firing of Comey in May and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In a letter Wednesday, Grassley asked the department for clarification, saying he would still subpoena the witnesses if they wouldn’t talk about certain topics.

Twitter officials are scheduled to brief staff on the House intelligence committee, in addition to briefing Senate intelligence committee staff, on Russian efforts to meddle in the elections.

That’s according to Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House committee, who spoke to The Associated Press.

Both briefings are to take place Thursday.

Schiff said Twitter, Facebook and Google are also expected to appear before the House intelligence committee in a public hearing next month, although a date has not yet been set.

Facebook revealed earlier this month that Russians spent $100,000 in advertising on its platform. Schiff said Russia combined that with other efforts to spread fake news on Twitter and Google in a way that may have had a “decisive” impact on the election.

One of the congressional committees investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election has invited the tech giants Facebook, Twitter and the parent company of Google to appear for a public hearing on Nov. 1.

That’s according to a person familiar with the Senate intelligence committee’s interactions with the companies. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private discussions between the committee and the companies.

Top members of the Senate panel have been scrutinizing the ways that the social media platforms and online ads were used by Russians to influence the election. Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, had called for a public hearing with the tech companies earlier this month. Twitter is scheduled to meet behind closed doors with the committee’s staff on Thursday. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and President Donald Trump (all times local):

The Justice Department says it will provide Congress with a second version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report that has fewer redactions in the coming two weeks.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said in a letter to lawmakers Thursday that the Justice Department will make the report available to House and Senate leaders, as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on the judiciary and intelligence committees. Each lawmaker can also have a staff member present.

Boyd says the report will be provided in a secure reading room at the Justice Department next week and in a secure room in the Capitol the week of April 29.

The unredacted material will include classified information and material involving private citizens who were not charged. It won't include secret grand jury information.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report has finally been released to the public, and it spells out how President Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and choke off the investigation of possible obstruction of justice.

Trump is claiming vindication, but Mueller said the president was thwarted only by the refusal of some of those around him to follow his orders.

Mueller laid out multiple episodes in which Trump directed others to influence or curtail the Russia investigation after the special counsel's appointment in May 2017.

The report says those efforts "were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests."

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he'll be issuing a subpoena for the full special counsel report and the underlying materials.

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler says the report "outlines disturbing evidence" that President Donald Trump engaged in misconduct.

A redacted version of Robert Mueller's report was released on Thursday.

Nadler says the attorney general's decision to withhold the full report from lawmakers is "regrettable, but no longer surprising."

He says it's now up to Congress to hold the president accountable for his actions in the Russian probe.

The chairman has asked Mueller to testify before the panel by May 23.

Congress' two top Democrats say the special counsel's report "appears to undercut" Attorney General William Barr's assertion that it lacked sufficient evidence to conclude that President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer say there's a big difference between Barr's description of Robert Mueller's report and what the 448-page document actually reveals. Their joint statement suggests that Democrats are prepared to press the obstruction issue even as the presidential election season approaches.

Barr described the report to journalists before the Justice Department released it. His remarks were largely positive toward Trump, saying Mueller found no cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Pelosi and Schumer say the "differences are stark" between Barr's account of the report's findings and the report itself.

Attorney General William Barr says a version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report with fewer redactions will be made available to a small group of lawmakers.

In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Barr says the second version of the report would be given to the "Gang of Eight," the top-ranking House and Senate lawmakers from both parties who can view sensitive classified information. The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees will also receive it.

Barr said all redactions would be removed from that version of the report except those relating to grand-jury information.

The attorney general said, "I do not believe that I have discretion to disclose grand-jury information to Congress. Nevertheless, this accommodation will allow you to review the bulk of the redacted material for yourselves."

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer is suggesting the president was ensnared in some kind of "counterintelligence frame-up."

Rudy Giuliani is responding to the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Giuliani is suggesting, without evidence, that the idea of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia began earlier than was outlined in Mueller's report.

He's says it, "Sounds like a counterintelligence trap to me."

Giuliani also says that, throughout the investigation, Trump was trying to avoid the "perjury trap" that he claims others fell into.

Giuliani says he and other members of the president's legal team read the full report in a secure room at the Justice Department earlier this week. He insists it doesn't contain a "single surprise."

He spoke Thursday on Fox News Channel after the report's public release.

Special counsel Robert Mueller says President Donald Trump's efforts to influence the Russia investigation "were mostly unsuccessful," but that was because the people surrounding the president "declined to carry out orders to accede to his requests."

Mueller's report details instances by several officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, former White House counsel Don McGahn and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, ignoring or refusing Trump's requests to interfere in the investigation.

The Justice Department released a redacted version of Mueller's report on Thursday.

President Donald Trump's lawyer is defending him after the special counsel's report said Trump tried to seize control of the Russia investigation.

Rudy Giuliani, speaking to Fox News, said Trump "did not have a guilty motive."

A redacted version of Robert Mueller's report was released Thursday. The incidents scrutinized by Mueller's team include Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president's directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.

Giuliani did not dispute the facts of those incidents, but said Trump was an innocent man reacting normally in the face of what he said was a heavily biased investigation. The former New York City mayor said the efforts were "an attempt not to get framed."

Three House Republican leaders say the special counsel's report on President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian interference in that election have vindicated the president.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says the report by Robert Mueller shows it's time to move on from Democrats' effort to "vilify a political opponent." The California lawmaker says the report lacks "imaginary evidence" incriminating Trump that Democrats have sought.

No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise says Trump didn't cooperate with Russians or obstruct investigators. The Louisianan says Democrats should apologize for "this smear campaign."

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, and he says Democrats' claims that Trump obstructed the probe were unfounded.

Top Senate Republicans were more cautious, praising the investigation but saying they looked forward to learning the report's details.

The spokesman for Vladimir Putin says it's not yet clear if the Russian president will be informed in detail of the special counsel's report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Dmitry Peskov spoke to state news agency Tass shortly after the report was released in Washington on Thursday.

He said, "First we will have to leaf through it and understand if there is something deserving analysis."

The Mueller report appears to be most heavily redacted in its first section, which covers Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and examines contacts between Russian representatives and the Trump campaign. The report concludes there was no criminal culpability by Trump aides.

Several pages in that first section are almost entirely blacked out. The report's second section, examining possible obstruction by President Donald Trump, appears more lightly redacted.

The Justice Department's careful excisions begin as early as the fourth page of the report.

Barr said he was withholding grand jury and classified information as well as portions relating to ongoing investigation and the privacy or reputation of uncharged "peripheral" people.

In referencing an oligarch who headed up a team of Russian tech experts who used U.S. social media to exploit American political controversies, Justice officials blacked out details about the man's ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Special counsel Robert Mueller found that contacts between Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trump campaign officials in April 2016 and at the 2016 GOP convention were "brief, public, and non-substantive."

Mueller's assessment came as part of his investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mueller's report adds that his office "did not establish" that efforts to alter the GOP platform's language on Ukraine at the convention were done at the behest of Trump or Russia.

Additionally, Mueller did not establish that a conversation between Kislyak and then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions in September 2016 included "any more than a passing mention of the presidential campaign." Sessions later served as Trump's attorney general.

Two of the Senate's top Republicans are praising Attorney General William Barr for releasing the special counsel's report on the 2016 election. But they're stopping short of joining Barr in proclaiming that the report vindicates President Donald Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says in a written statement, "I look forward to carefully reviewing the report."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham says his panel is studying the report. The South Carolina Republican says he's eager to hear Barr's May 1 testimony to his panel.

Both lawmakers issued their statements minutes after the Justice Department released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Barr told reporters earlier that Mueller found that Trump's campaign did not cooperate with Russians who interfered in the election and that there was insufficient evidence to say Trump obstructed investigators.

Donald Trump's legal team says the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation are a "total victory for the president."

The lawyers say in a statement that Mueller's report is "nothing more than an attempt to rehash old allegations." The statement came as Mueller's report was publicly released.

Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russia government to interfere in the 2016 election. He did not exonerate Trump on the question of whether he committed obstruction of justice.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team was dissatisfied with written responses from President Donald Trump, but decided against issuing a subpoena for an interview.

In Mueller's report released Thursday, prosecutors call Trump's answers "inadequate." They considered issuing a subpoena for Trump, but decided against it after weighing the likelihood of a long legal battle.

Prosecutors also said they had enough information from other sources to draw "relevant factual conclusions on intent and credibility."

Mueller's team investigated contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia and whether the president obstructed justice. The written answers did not cover obstruction of justice.

President Donald Trump says he's "having a good day" following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

And he says that no president should ever have to go through what he did again.

Speaking at an unrelated White House event, he says, "It was called no collusion, no obstruction." And add, "there never was, by the way, and there never will be."

Trump is also renewing his calls for an investigation into the origins of the inquiry, saying "We do have to get to the bottom of these things."

He says: "this should never happen to another president again, this hoax."

Trump is speaking an event honoring the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride, a multi-day bike ride for wounded veterans and service member.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation is two volumes and 448 pages long including attachments.

The report's first volume details Russian election interference and the second relates to whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report reveals how Trump repeatedly sought to seize control of the Russia probe.

The 10 episodes scrutinized by Mueller include Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president's directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.

The president's lawyers have said Trump's conduct fell within his constitutional powers, but Mueller's team deemed the episodes were deserving of scrutiny to determine whether crimes were committed.

Democrats vying for their party's 2020 presidential nomination are condemning Attorney General William Barr for acting like a defender of President Donald Trump.

Barr held a news conference on special counsel Robert Mueller's report before it was released. He said it found no cooperation between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russians interfering in that election.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that it was "a disgrace" for Barr to act like "the personal attorney and publicist" for Trump.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called Barr's news conference "a farce and an embarrassing display of propaganda" for Trump. And New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said, "The American people deserve the truth. Not spin from a Trump appointee."

California Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted that Barr's news conference was "a stunt, filled with political spin."

The Justice Department has provided Congress with a redacted version of the report. Democrats want the full report released.

Trump's responses are being released by Attorney General William Barr without redactions and comprise 12 pages.

Trump told Mueller he had no recollection of several key events in Mueller's probe, including a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between top aides and a Russian lawyer offering aid to his campaign. Trump also told Mueller he had no recollection that he was told that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to aid his campaign or hurt Hillary Clinton's 2016 effort, or that any foreign leader wanted to help his candidacy.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report says President Donald Trump reacted to his appointment by saying it was the "end of his presidency."

Mueller investigated multiple instances of Trump attempting to curtail the special counsel probe as part of determining whether the president committed obstruction of justice.

Robert Mueller's report reveals President Donald Trump's efforts to seize control of the Russia probe and force the special counsel's removal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Attorney General William Barr is involved in a "staggering public effort" by the Trump administration to put a positive face on special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

The California Democrat is referring to Barr's morning news conference, where he said the report found no cooperation between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in that election. Pelosi is also citing Barr's statement that he gave Trump's personal attorney an early look at the report, before its public release.

Pelosi says it is "more urgent than ever" that Mueller testify before Congress. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has formally invited Mueller to testify as soon as possible.

A redacted version of Mueller's report is due to be released later Thursday morning.

The Senate's top Democrat is mocking Attorney General William Barr's news conference on special counsel Robert Mueller's report as a "campaign press conference" for President Donald Trump.

The tweet by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer also says it is time to release Mueller's report on his investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian interference in the election. Schumer is Senate minority leader.

Barr told reporters at a news conference that the report found no cooperation between the campaign and Russia and no effort by Trump to thwart investigators.

The Justice Department planned to release the report later Thursday morning. Barr says portions of it will be blacked out to protect national security secrets, grand jury investigations and other sensitive information. Democrats have said they want the full report released.

Attorney General William Barr says he and deputy Rod Rosenstein disagreed with some of special counsel Robert Mueller's "legal theories" pertaining to obstruction of justice, but that didn't influence their decision that President Donald Trump didn't commit a crime.

In a press conference ahead of the report's expected release, Barr says Mueller reviewed 10 episodes as part of his investigation into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice. Barr says he and Rosenstein "felt that some of the episodes examined did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law."

The attorney general maintains that they set their feelings on the matter aside and accepted Mueller's "legal framework for purposes of our analysis" when they determined that the evidence gathered by Mueller was "not sufficient to establish" that Trump had violated the law.

A Republican Ohio congressman who's been one of President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders is hailing Attorney General William Barr's statements that the special counsel's report has concluded there is no evidence that Trump's campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election or that he tried thwarting investigators.

Rep. Jim Jordan is tweeting, "No collusion! No obstruction! Complete cooperation from the President. No executive privilege asserted."

Jordan issued his remarks shortly after Barr spoke to reporters. The report was expected to be released later Thursday morning.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is asking special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his panel as soon as possible about his report on the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler released a three-sentence letter to Mueller requesting his appearance, minutes after Attorney General William Barr ended a news conference in which he described the special counsel's report. The New York Democrat tweeted that Congress and the public need to hear directly from Mueller to "better understand his findings."

Nadler wrote in his letter that he wants Mueller to testify by May 23 and asked for his "prompt attention" to the request.

Barr said at his news conference that he did not object to Mueller testifying.

Attorney General William Barr says he will allow Congress to view special counsel Robert Mueller's report with nothing redacted other than grand jury information.

Barr says three other categories of information also were redacted in the publicly released report, including information pertaining to ongoing prosecutions and sensitive intelligence sources and methods.

Barr says he hopes that giving Congress access to the less redacted report and his upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill "will satisfy any need Congress has for information regarding the special counsel's investigation."

Barr spoke Thursday at a news conference with reporters shortly before the report's release.

Attorney General William Barr says he has "no objection" to special counsel Robert Mueller testifying before Congress about his investigation.

Barr says: "I have no objection to Bob Mueller personally testifying."

Mueller remains a Justice Department employee, and Barr could have blocked Mueller from speaking to Congress. Democrats have discussed calling Mueller to testify but have yet to formally ask.

Attorney General William Barr says President Donald Trump did not exert executive privilege over any information included in special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

He said the White House counsel reviewed a redacted version of the report before Trump decided not to invoke executive privilege.

Barr said "no material has been redacted based on executive privilege."

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.

For complete coverage of the Mueller report, go to https://www.apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations </s> U.S. House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to obtain the full Russia investigation report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying that a redacted version “leaves most of Congress in the dark. “

 

 "My committee needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice,” Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (Democrat-New York), said in a statement on April 19, the day after the release of the partially redacted 448-page report.

 

 Attorney General William Barr sent the Mueller report to Congress, blacking out several types of material, including classified information, material pertaining to ongoing investigations, and grand jury evidence.

 

 Mueller corroborated U.S. intelligence conclusions of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and also documented President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine his inquiry, but Mueller concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove Trump and his team committed a crime by colluding with Russia officials.

 

 The report also points to areas where Trump and his associates could still face legal problems, as well as the potential for impeachment proceedings.

 

 “The redactions appear to be significant. We have so far seen none of the actual evidence that the special counsel developed to make this case," Nadler said. He said the report points to "serious instances of wrongdoing" by Trump.

 

 But the committee's top Republican, Doug Collins, said the subpoena was "wildly overbroad" and that Trump already declined to assert executive privilege in a move of "unprecedented openness."

 

 He said that Nadler was rushing the process for political gain.

 

 The subpoena gives Barr until May 1 to produce the materials requested.

 

 The subpoena is the opening shot in what could be a lengthy legal battle. If the Justice Department doesn't respond, Democrats could hold officials in contempt of Congress or eventually fight the battle in court.

 

 Mueller’s report painstakingly details evidence about Russian election meddling and confirms the previous findings of the U.S. intelligence community of a two-pronged Russian strategy to manipulate U.S. public opinion through e-mail hacking and a disinformation campaign.

 

 "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,” the Mueller report said.

 

 However, Russia’s Foreign Ministry falsely claimed on April 19 that Mueller "admitted" his investigation did not find evidence of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

 

 "There is nothing there to catch attention. In fact, it confirms the absence of any arguments proving Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. election,” said Georgy Borisenko, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North America Department. “There is not a single piece of evidence. In fact, the report’s authors have admitting having no proof,” Borisenko claimed.

 

 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on April 19 also dismissed the evidence contained in the Mueller report, saying the Kremlin does not accept the meddling accusations.

 

 “As a whole, the report as before does not present any reasonable proof at all that Russia allegedly meddled in the electoral process in the United States,” Peskov told journalists in Moscow a day after the publication of the redacted version of the document.

 

 Among the most pointed allegations leveled earlier by Mueller regarding Russian interference was the indictment of a dozen Russian military intelligence officers who, he said, were behind the hacking and theft of Democratic Party e-mails, e-mails that were released in the heat of the 2016 U.S. election.

 

 While the Mueller report concluded there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove Trump or members of his team colluded with Russia's state-sponsored meddling campaign, it said Trump and at least 17 of his campaign officials and advisers did have more than 100 contacts with Russians during the 2016 election campaign. </s> WASHINGTON -- The White House on Friday declassified a partisan and bitterly disputed memo on the Russia investigation, clearing the way for House Republicans to release allegations of what they say is FBI misconduct.

The move came over the fierce objections of the FBI and Justice Department, which have said the document prepared by Republicans on the House intelligence committee is inaccurate and missing critical context.

The memo alleges that the FBI abused U.S. government surveillance powers in its investigation into Russian election interference. Trump, who has called the investigation a "witch hunt," has supported the release of the memo in the apparent hopes that it could help undermine the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump, dogged by the unrelenting investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, lashed out anew Friday at the FBI and Justice Department as politically biased against Republicans.

"The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!" Trump tweeted.

The tweet came as U.S. news coverage was dominated by reports that the FBI and DOJ had objected strenuously to the memo's release. Earlier this week, the FBI declared it had "grave concerns" about its accuracy.

Trump's tweet sets up a clash with the man he picked to lead the FBI, Christopher Wray, after firing James Comey as agency director. It also seemed at odds with House Speaker Paul Ryan who said a day earlier "this memo is not an indictment of the FBI or the Department of Justice."

Democrats say the memo cherry-picks intelligence in an effort to smear law enforcement investigating whether Trump associates collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election.

"This is designed to impugn the credibility of the FBI, to undermine the investigation, to give the president additional fodder to attack the investigation. And it's a tremendous disservice to the American people," Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on CBS "This Morning."

The document was written by GOP lawmakers as part of an effort to reveal what Republicans say are surveillance abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department early in Russia investigation, before special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take it over.

White House officials say Trump intends to clear the way for publication of the memo. One White House official said Congress would probably be informed of Trump's decision Friday, adding that the president was "OK" with its release. A second White House official said Trump was likely to declassify the congressional memo but the precise method for making it public was still being figured out. The officials were not authorized to be quoted about private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The House intelligence panel voted along party lines Monday to put the memo out, giving Trump five days to reject the release under committee rules. But Trump also has the power to declassify the document himself and either release it or hand it to Congress to release. One of the White House officials said the memo would be in "Congress' hands" after Trump declassified it and there were unlikely to be any redactions to the document.

Senior FBI officials, including Wray, have also made direct appeals to the White House, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent.

Democrats on the intelligence panel made a last-ditch effort Wednesday evening to stop the release, saying the memo had been "secretly altered" by the Republicans who wrote it. In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Schiff wrote that committee Democrats had discovered changes that were made after the vote Monday.

"The White House has therefore been reviewing a document since Monday night that the committee never approved for public release," Schiff said in the letter.

Schiff asked Nunes for another vote on the memo, but Republicans didn't appear to waver. Nunes spokesman Jack Langer said the committee vote was "procedurally sound."

"To suggest otherwise is a bizarre distraction from the abuses detailed in the memo, which the public will hopefully soon be able to read for themselves," Langer said.

This all comes as special counsel Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign improperly coordinated with Russia and whether Trump sought to obstruct the inquiry by, among other actions, firing Comey. Republicans have intensified their pressure on the Justice Department as Mueller's probe has moved closer to Trump's inner circle.

Trump has been telling confidants in recent days that he believes the document will validate his concerns that the FBI and Justice Department conspired against him, according to one outside adviser familiar with those conversations but not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

The president also has told allies that he believes the memo bolsters his claim that accusations of collusion between his campaign and Russian officials are false and part of a conspiracy to discredit his election.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer are pressing House Speaker Paul Ryan to stop the release.

Comey weighed in on Twitter as well: "All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy."

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey, Matthew Daly, Eric Tucker and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report. </s> Over the summer, President Donald Trump contacted Senate Republicans multiple times, urging them to end the Senate’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, according to The New York Times.

A half-dozen lawmakers and aides told the Times that the president had asked several senators to quickly end the investigation ― including Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who is leading the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Intelligence Committee member Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

Burr recalled his conversation with Trump in an interview with the Times: “It was something along the lines of, ‘I hope you can conclude this as quickly as possible.’”

Burr said he replied, “when we have exhausted everybody we need to talk to, we will finish.”

Burr told the Times that he did not feel pressured by the president’s request, dismissing the behavior as coming from someone who has “never been in government.” He also acknowledged that other members of the Intelligence Committee had similar interactions with Trump.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), however, deemed these conversations “inappropriate” and a breach of the separation of powers, according to the Times.

“It is pressure that should never be brought to bear by an official when the legislative branch is in the process of an investigation,” Feinstein told the Times.

Trump’s reported requests to lawmakers came around the same time special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia was beginning to heat up.

The Justice Department appointed Mueller as special counsel in May, after Trump decided to fire FBI Director James Comey as the bureau conducted its own Russia investigation.

Testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Community in June, Comey said that Trump had asked him to drop any investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn, who was ousted from his post in February, was under investigation by the FBI over his potential ties to Russia.

Comey also told the Senate that Trump had asked him for his loyalty as FBI director and complained that the Russia investigation “cloud” was impairing his ability to perform as president.

There are currently several investigations into potential ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government, including one led by the special counsel, one led by Burr and the Senate Intelligence Committee, and one led by the House Intelligence Committee.

Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, denied that the president had used his influence to convince committee members to end the Russia investigation. Shah told the Times that Trump believes “there is no evidence of collusion and these investigations must come to a fair and appropriate completion.’’ </s> This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Senior Republicans led a chorus of public warnings that the special counsel Robert Mueller must be allowed to continue his Russia investigation after Donald Trump finally fired his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

Jeff Sessions' biggest crime? Putting loyalty to his office above Trump | Lawrence Douglas Read more

As Trump replaced Sessions with a senior aide, Matthew Whitaker, a critic of Mueller’s inquiry, Senator Susan Collins was among the first Republicans to warn: “It is imperative that the administration not impede the Mueller investigation … Special Counsel Mueller must be allowed to complete his work without interference.”

Mitt Romney, who won the race on Tuesday to become a senator for Utah, aimed his first broadside at Trump, tweeting: “It is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds to its conclusion unimpeded.”

Sign up for the new US morning briefing

As progressives activated a plan for mass protests across the United States, starting at 5pm on Thursday in all time zones, the former CIA chief John Brennan predicted that it was likely Mueller had already completed his report for the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who was yesterday relieved of his duty overseeing the investigation into Russian election interference and any collusion with the Trump campaign.

Brennan told MSNBC: “If there are some major indictments coming down the pike, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re going to see it very soon. Generally the report that the special counsel will draft and deliver to Rod Rosenstein, I wouldn’t be surprised if that is ready to go.”

Sessions looked close to tears as he was applauded by justice department staff on his way out of the building on Wednesday night.

His departure came hours after he received a White House call ordering him to resign.

He was replaced by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who has previously called for Mueller’s investigation to be defunded and reined in.

Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon that Whitaker had been appointed acting attorney general and that a permanent replacement would be nominated later.

Donald Trump fires Jeff Sessions, US attorney general – live updates Read more

Whitaker, 49, will take charge of the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Sarah Isgur Flores, a justice department spokeswoman, said in an email: “The acting attorney general is in charge of all matters under the purview of the Department of Justice.”

Democrats expressed concern that the president was moving to sabotage Mueller’s investigation, which has obtained guilty pleas to federal criminal charges from Trump’s former campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, White House national security adviser and campaign foreign policy adviser.

Play Video 0:42 Trump warns of ’warlike posture’ if his opponents investigate him – video

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in a statement that Whitaker should recuse himself from the Russia issue in light of “his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation”.

Trump’s decision concluded a long-running public feud between the president and his beleaguered attorney general.

Sessions said in an undated letter to Trump released on Wednesday: “At your request, I am submitting my resignation.” He took credit for reversing a recent rise in violent crime. He was later applauded by staff as he left the department’s headquarters.

“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well,” Trump said.

A US official said on Wednesday that Sessions was told he had to resign in a telephone call from John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, rather than Trump himself.

Sessions, a former US senator for Alabama, was one of the earliest supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, but ran into trouble soon after being confirmed to the new administration.

He enraged Trump by recusing himself in March 2017 from investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, following revelations that he had two undisclosed meetings with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia’s ambassador to the US.

Sign up for the new US morning briefing

Sessions had not disclosed the discussions when asked under oath during his Senate confirmation hearing in early 2017 about contacts between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Following his recusal, the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, took over responsibility for Russia matters.

In May 2017, after Trump fired the FBI director, James Comey, Rosenstein shocked the White House by appointing the former FBI chief Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate Russia’s interference and any coordination with Trump’s campaign team.

That investigation has since continued without Sessions being involved, leaving Trump deeply frustrated. Trump has publicly lambasted Sessions for recusing himself, claiming he ought instead to have protected Trump against what the president has termed a “witch-hunt” over Russia. Sessions and Rosenstein have defended Mueller’s integrity.

Whitaker’s view on the investigation appears to be in more line with the president’s. He has publicly proposed choking off funding for Mueller’s investigation and wrote an article for CNN last year declaring that the special counsel was “going too far” and needed to be brought under control.

“The president is absolutely correct,” Whitaker said, after Trump suggested Mueller would exceed his remit by looking into the president’s finances. “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing.”

Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, the likely new chairman of the House judiciary committee, said the American public “must have answers immediately” on Trump’s reasons for firing Sessions.

“Why is the president making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation? We will be holding people accountable,” Nadler said on Twitter.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, urged senators from both parties to “speak out now and deliver a clear message” to Trump that he must not interfere with Mueller’s investigation.

Legal analysts said that Trump’s decision, announced soon after a lengthy and chaotic post-midterm election press conference at the White House, may set off a long-feared constitutional crisis over the fate of the inquiry, which followed a conclusion by US intelligence agencies that Russia intervened to help Trump win in 2016.

Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University, said Trump’s replacement of Sessions with Whitaker was arguably an impeachable offence in itself. “This rule of law crisis has been a slow-motion train wreck for a long time,” said Tribe.

In any case, the firing of Sessions will conclude a bitter public dispute between the attorney general and his president that is unprecedented in recent times.

In August, Trump sharply criticised Sessions in a television interview the day after the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of fraud – both cases having stemmed from the Mueller investigation.

Trump said: “I put in an attorney general that never took control of the justice department.”

Sessions struck back with a statement that said: “I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in … While I am attorney general the actions of the department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.” </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee was expected to vote on Wednesday to subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full, unredacted report and underlying evidence from his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

If the motion passes, it would be a marked escalation of congressional pressure on the Trump administration to hand over all that Mueller documented during his 22-month probe, including grand jury evidence.

Lawmakers were expected to vote along party lines to authorize the panel’s Democratic chairman, Jerrold Nadler, to subpoena Mueller’s material, as well as documents and testimony from five former Trump aides, including one-time political advisor Steve Bannon and former White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

The committee’s focus shifted to subpoenas when it became clear that Attorney General William Barr would ignore a Democratic demand for him to turn over the full report by April 2. Barr has pledged to share a redacted copy of the nearly 400-page report with Congress and the public by mid-April, if not sooner.

Democrats, who hold a seven-seat majority on the 41-member Judiciary Committee, fear that Barr could use redactions to suppress evidence of potential misconduct by Trump and his campaign that could be vital to their congressional oversight agenda.

Barr’s March 24 summary of the Mueller report said the special counsel did not establish that Trump campaign officials conspired with Russia during the presidential election but also did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. Barr also said Mueller’s team had not found enough proof to warrant bringing obstruction charges against the president.

Trump has long denied any collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. Moscow says it did not try to interfere in the election, even though U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it secretly trying to sway U.S. voters in Trump’s favor.

A subpoena would open a new legal front against the Trump administration by Democrats who won control of the House in last year’s congressional elections. But it is not clear if the Justice Department would simply hand over all the documents they now seek.

The Department could ignore the subpoena, running the risk of being held in contempt of Congress, and prepare for a lengthy battle in the courts.

Democrats have pledged to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce a subpoena and obtain the full report.

“We need that report turned over. Look at every prior case of independent counsel and special counsel, they’ve turned over the entire report within a day or two,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, a House Judiciary Democrat. “What’s taking place here is a sharp break from precedent.”

It was not clear when Nadler might start issuing subpoenas, if authorized to do so.

Trump took a dig on Tuesday at Nadler and House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, one of the president’s strongest critics in Congress about the Russia investigation.

“There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country!”

Republicans contend that Barr is being transparent under Justice Department regulations adopted after former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the 1990s, which allow the attorney general to be circumspect in what he releases. They also contend that Democrats are seeking grand jury material that federal law precludes the Justice Department from sharing.

“It’s unfortunate that a body meant to uphold the law has grown so desperate that it’s patently misrepresenting the law,”

Representative Doug Collins, the committee’s top Republican, said this week.

The committee was due to meet to consider the subpoena resolution after Nadler and five other Democratic House oversight committee chairs wrote to Barr, giving him one last chance to produce an unredacted Mueller report.

In addition to McGahn and Bannon, the committee was expected to authorize subpoenas for former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former White House deputy counsel Ann Donaldson.

The five former Trump aides were among 81 people, agencies and other entities that received document requests on March 4 as part of the committee’s obstruction and corruption investigation of Trump and his associates. </s> WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A former senior official in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Rick Gates, will plead guilty on Friday to conspiracy against the United States and lying to investigators, according to court documents, in a sign he will likely cooperate with a federal probe into Russia's role in the election.

Gates, who was a deputy campaign manager for Trump, is being investigated by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which is probing alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

A federal judge set a plea hearing for 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) for Gates, who had been facing much more serious charges including bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

A guilty plea by Gates would increase pressure on Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign manager for five months in 2016, to also seek a plea deal.

Cooperation by the two could potentially provide a rich vein of information for Mueller, who is also investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow to interfere in the election.

None of the charges to date against Gates or Manafort have made reference to any connection with Russian meddling in the 2016 election or possible collusion. Russia has denied the accusations of interference. Trump has said there was no collusion, and has also denied any attempt to obstruct Mueller's probe.

Mueller, appointed by the Department of Justice last year, has a broad brief that allows him to look into any wrongdoing uncovered in the course of his investigation.

Gates helped run the campaign's day-to-day operations, played a key role at the Republican National Convention at which Trump was chosen as the party's nominee and accompanied Trump on campaign flights.

He stayed on in the campaign even after Manafort resigned in August 2016 amid a controversy over cash payments from Ukraine. After Trump's election win in November that year, Gates was on Trump's presidential transition team and his inaugural committee.

On Thursday, Mueller filed a 32-count indictment against Gates and Manafort that includes charges of bank fraud and lying on tax returns. Prosecutors allege that Manafort, with Gates' assistance, laundered more than $30 million and duped banks into lending money. It says the pair used funds from secret offshore accounts to enjoy a life of luxury.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to meddle in the campaign to tilt the vote in favor of Trump, the Republican candidate, including by hacking the emails of leading Democrats and distributing disinformation and propaganda online.

The White House said on Friday that the latest charges against Manafort and Gates were unrelated to Trump.

"This indictment has nothing to do with the White House or the president. As you know, we have been cooperative with the special counsel and as we continue to see, there's no evidence of collusion, no evidence of wrongdoing," Mercedes Schlapp, the White House strategic communications director, told Fox News Channel. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by John Walcott, Doina Chiacu and Karen Freifeld; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Frances Kerry)
The U.S. Justice Department agrees to provide the House Intelligence Committee with intelligence files from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.