Congress will be given a redacted version of Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report by mid-April and there are no plans for Donald Trump to add his own edits, the US attorney general, William Barr, said on Friday.
But Barr said he intended to censor some of the report to protect the privacy and reputations of some people mentioned, setting up a likely clash with Democrats who have demanded the full document.
Bar said in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House judiciary committees that the full report by the special counsel runs to almost 400 pages, excluding tables and appendices.
The attorney general said he would black out sections that could reveal grand jury material, sensitive intelligence, affect other investigations or “unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests” of some people.
The latter point is likely to increase concerns among Democrats that Barr intends to cover up findings of wrongdoing by people around Trump that did not lead to criminal charges.
Barr said Trump had the right to assert executive privilege over some parts of the report, but that the president had said he intended to defer to the attorney general.
“[A]ccordingly, there are no plans to submit the report to the White House for a privilege review,” Barr said.
