Special counsel Robert Mueller will make a public statement on the Russia investigation on Wednesday morning, the Justice Department announced.
He will deliver the remarks at the Justice Department at 11 a.m., and will not answer questions, the DOJ advisory announcing the remarks said.
There was no official indication of what his remarks would be about, beyond “on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.”
However, he is expected to make a “substantial” and “lengthy” statement, the New York Times and Washington Post reported.
So far, Mueller has spoken about his investigation almost entirely through indictments and his culminating report. Meanwhile, the rollout by Attorney General Bill Barr of the report, and the comments Barr has made since about the investigation, have provoked controversy. According to a letter Mueller sent Barr, the special counsel was uncomfortable with how his findings were portrayed in the time between a top-line summary Barr released and the release of a redacted, public version of the report itself.
Democrats on the Hill have been calling for Mueller to testify publicly — a request his office has reportedly been resisting, in favor of him speaking to lawmakers in a private setting.
Mueller’s report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and President Trump’s campaign or its associates to influence the election. However, his findings on whether Trump obstructed the probe were less clear. He stopped short of accusing the President of a crime — pointing in part to Justice Department policy barring the indictments of a sitting President — but hinted heavily that much of Trump’s conduct was in fact criminal.
Whoa is right.
A tweet in response to this announcement:
Lol.
if Barr is allowing it then it’s most likely nambly-pambly argle-bargle BS.
please let me be wrong…
Anything done through the auspices of today’s DOJ will be… disappointing.
Not overly optimistic that this is going to be anything earth shattering.