Attorney General William Barr sparred with a reporter during a brief press conference Thursday in which he laid out the release of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into the Russia probe. During his prepared statement to the press, Barr explained his and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s decision to clear President Donald Trump of any obstruction in relation to Mueller’s investigation. He said that Trump faced “an unprecedented situation.” BARR AFFIRMS MUELLER PROBE FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF RUSSIA-TRUMP COLLUSION, PREPARES TO RELEASE REPORT “As he entered 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,” Barr read of his statement, adding that there was “relentless speculation” in the media about the president’s culpability. “Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact, no collusion.” In her question to Barr, CBS News White House Correspondent Paula Reid brought up his use of the word “unprecedented” and how his comments were “quite generous to the president and his feelings and emotions.” “It just seems like there is a lot effort – to go out of your way to acknowledge how this was difficult for him,” she added. Barr appeared to bristle at the question, responding with his own: “Is there another precedent for it?” “No,” the reporter answered. “OK so unprecedented is an accurate description,” he said. The reporter tried to ask Barr about people who are concerned that he is trying to protect the president. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Barr did not acknowledge her question and moved on. The attorney general said Thursday that his department would be released the lightly redacted report to the public by 11 a.m. that morning.<doc-sep>Attorney General William Barr speaking about the Mueller report. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images Ninety minutes before a redacted version of the Mueller report was set to be delivered to Congress, Attorney General William Barr held a press conference to discuss Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and, once again, offer his own summary of the special counsel’s report. Barr said he will deliver a copy of the “public” version of the report to Congressional leaders at 11 a.m. A copy of the report will be posted to the Justice Department’s website shortly thereafter. Barr began the presser by summarizing the Mueller report. While Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, he said, they did “not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign.” "So that's the bottom line ... the Special Counsel confirmed" that Russia interfered ... "But did not find" that Trump colluded. -Barr — David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) April 18, 2019 Mueller's investigation concluded that there had been: no collusion; no cooperation; no conspiracy; no coordination; and no obstruction. AG Barr said this 7 times in his 26-minute press appearance. — Kevin Gutzman (@KevinGutzman) April 18, 2019 He then moved to obstruction of justice. The report, Barr said, included ten potential incidents of obstruction. He and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Barr said, determined that there was not enough evidence to establish obstruction. Report lays out 10 accounts of Trump actions over obstruction. Barr says that “the deputy attorney general and I” determined that there was NOT sufficient evidence to establish that Trump obstructed justice. Barr says Trump had “non-corrupt motives” — Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 18, 2019 Barr also seemed to be defending Trump’s lashing out at the investigation as a rational response to a president who felt under fire. Barr is now defending Trump's actions by saying prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct and media were speculating about his personal culpability while he was trying to perform is duties as president. — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 18, 2019 Barr: "The president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks." — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019 He added that because there was no collusion, Trump could not have obstructed justice. AG Barr essentially says the President gets a pass on obstruction because there was no collusion, so Trump can be excused for being frustrated by speculation to the contrary. Throwing sand into the gears of justice appear not to matter when there is no underlying crime. — Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) April 18, 2019 Barr discussed the process of preparing the report for the public and said no parts were being redacted based on White House invocation of executive privilege. He also revealed something new: Trump’s lawyers were given a copy of the redacted report earlier this week. Barr says the redacted report went to Trump's lawyers "earlier this week." "The President’s personal counsel requested and was given the opportunity to read a final version of the redacted report before it was publicly released." — Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) April 18, 2019 Democrats took issue with the timing of Barr’s presser. In a press conference Wednesday evening, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler accused Barr of “waging a media campaign on behalf of President Trump.” “Rather than letting the facts of the report speak for themselves, the attorney general has taken unprecedented steps to spin Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation,” Nadler said. This post has been updated throughout.<doc-sep>The release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Thursday morning will be accompanied by a Department of Justice press conference with remarks from Attorney General William Barr. Justice Department officials late afternoon Wednesday announced the press conference would take place the following day at 9:30 a.m. EDT. A live stream of the press conference can be live streamed at the department's website https://www.justice.gov/live. Here is a live stream courtesy NBC News: The department did not disclose whether the redacted report would be issued by the time of the presser, or reveal a time in the morning. However, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler tweeted Wednesday night that the report would not be released until 11 a.m. or noon Thursday. I’m deeply troubled by reports that the WH is being briefed on the Mueller report AHEAD of its release. Now, DOJ is informing us we will not receive the report until around 11/12 tomorrow afternoon — AFTER Barr’s press conference. This is wrong. #ReleaseTheReport https://t.co/bR50HhGJ0i — Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) April 17, 2019 Nadler also made his displeasure known that a Barr, who will be accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, would be holding a press conference at all. "Attorney General Barr wrote to me on April 1: "I do not believe it would be in the public's interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report." I agree. So why is the AG holding a press conference tomorrow morning to go over the Mueller report?" he wrote. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had been made aware of the press conference, telling WMAL Radio's Larry O'Connor: "Attorney General Barr is going to be giving a press conference, maybe I'll do one after that, we'll see." The redacted report, nearly 400-pages long excluding the exhibits, comes about three weeks after Barr issued a four-page summary of Mueller's findings. Barr wrote in his summary that the Mueller investigation "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election." Additionally, Barr wrote that it "did not draw a conclusion—one way or the other—as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction," and that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." Barr, however, issued his own finding that the evidence was lacking to pursue charges against the president for obstructing justice. Democrats and Trump critics are eager to see whether Barr's summary captured Mueller's main findings or whether the attorney general left out details that could be more damning for Trump. But the redactions may get in the way of that. Barr has said that sensitive information will be blacked out. That includes classified information, matters that pertain to ongoing investigations, material from the grand jury and "peripheral" individuals who were not charged in Mueller's probe. Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani is leading the White House in a "counter-report" to Mueller's report. Giuliani told Politico in a text message early Tuesday that the counter-report was down to 34 to 35 pages and, "The more concise the better. 400 pages is a novel." Trump on Monday continued to bash the Mueller report, tweeting it "was written by 18 Angry Democrats who also happen to be Trump Haters (and Clinton Supporters)." The president said it "should have focused on the people who SPIED on my 2016 Campaign, and others who fabricated the whole Russia Hoax. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated on Twitter: "No Collusion - No Obstruction!"<doc-sep>The Special Counsel’s report outlines two main efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election: First, the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters through disinformation and social media operations. Following a thorough investigation of this disinformation campaign, the Special Counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian nationals and entities for their respective roles in this scheme. Those charges remain pending, and the individual defendants remain at large. But the Special Counsel found no evidence that any Americans – including anyone associated with the Trump campaign – conspired or coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in carrying out this illegal scheme. Indeed, as the report states, “[t]he investigation did not identify evidence that any U.S. persons knowingly or intentionally coordinated with the IRA’s interference operation.” Put another way, the Special Counsel found no “collusion” by any Americans in the IRA’s illegal activity. Second, the report details efforts by Russian military officials associated with the GRU to hack into computers and steal documents and emails from individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party and the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton for the purpose of eventually publicizing those emails. Obtaining such unauthorized access into computers is a federal crime. Following a thorough investigation of these hacking operations, the Special Counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian military officers for their respective roles in these illegal hacking activities. Those charges are still pending and the defendants remain at large. But again, the Special Counsel’s report did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign or anyone associated with the campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its hacking operations. In other words, there was no evidence of Trump campaign “collusion” with the Russian government’s hacking. The Special Counsel’s investigation also examined Russian efforts to publish stolen emails and documents on the internet. The Special Counsel found that, after the GRU disseminated some of the stolen materials through its own controlled entities, DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, the GRU transferred some of the stolen materials to Wikileaks for publication. Wikileaks then made a series of document dumps. The Special Counsel also investigated whether any member or affiliate of the Trump campaign encouraged or otherwise played a role in these dissemination efforts. Under applicable law, publication of these types of materials would not be criminal unless the publisher also participated in the underlying hacking conspiracy. Here too, the Special Counsel’s report did not find that any person associated with the Trump campaign illegally participated in the dissemination of the materials. Finally, the Special Counsel investigated a number of “links” or “contacts” between Trump Campaign officials and individuals connected with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. After reviewing those contacts, the Special Counsel did not find any conspiracy to violate U.S. law involving Russia-linked persons and any persons associated with the Trump campaign. So that is the bottom line. After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the Special Counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those schemes.<doc-sep>
U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the proposed budget estimates for the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S. April 10, 2019. Attorney General William Barr will discuss special counsel Robert Mueller's report at a 9:30 a.m. ET press conference on Thursday. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will accompany him, according to NBC News. There was no indication that the report would be released before the press conference. Mueller submitted the report to the Justice Department late last month. Barr will be releasing a redacted version of the approximately 400-page document, which details Mueller's findings about the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The redacted Mueller report on Russian election meddling is expected to be released to the public after Barr's press conference Thursday. Congress is slated to get copies of the report between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET, and it is expected to eventually be posted on the special counsel's Justice Department website. The special counsel did not establish conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Barr wrote in a four page summary released two days after he got the report. On the question of obstruction, Barr quoted Mueller saying the report "does not conclude that the President committed a crime, [but] it also does not exonerate him." The final decision on obstruction was left to Barr and Rosenstein They concluded: "The evidence developed during the special counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense." Barr had been critical of the probe before Trump nominated him as attorney general. In a memo Barr sent to Justice Department officials in June last year, he explained that he thought the obstruction part of the investigation was "fatally misconceived." While Trump has celebrated Barr's summary of Mueller's findings, he has also continued to complain that the investigation was a "witch hunt." The secretive special council probe, which lasted nearly two years, included 19 lawyers and 40 investigators who interviewed hundreds of witnesses, executed nearly 500 search warrants and issued 2,800 subpoenas. All told, criminal charges were lodged against 35 people and entities, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the president's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Barr was confirmed as Trump's attorney general in February. Jeff Sessions, who was attorney general at the time Meuller was appointed special council, was routinely criticized and attacked by Trump for recusing himself from overseeing the investigation due to his contacts with Russian officials. -CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.