A federal judge on Tuesday said that Attorney General Bill Barr has contributed to public concern about the redactions he plans to make in the report from special counsel Robert Mueller released to the public, according to reports from CNN and Politico.
“Obviously there is a real concern as to whether there is full transparency,” U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton said during a Tuesday hearing on a BuzzFeed Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding access to the Mueller report, according to CNN’s report.
He added that Barr “has created an environment that has caused a significant part of the American public to be concerned” about the redactions he makes in the report set to be released Thursday morning, per CNN.
The judge did not say what statements from Barr contributed to that “environment,” according to Politico.
At the hearing, Walton denied BuzzFeed’s request for a preliminary injunction requiring Barr to release the report, including all material required to be disclosed under FOIA, by Thursday under FOIA.
Yet Walton said in court Tuesday that he may demand a copy of the unredacted report so that he can determine whether the redactions were made properly.
“That’s something we will have to work through. I’ll have to think about it,” Walton said, per Politico.
