WASHINGTON_Attorney General William Barr plans to hold a news conference at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday as the Justice Department prepares to release a redacted version of the report on the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, according to a spokeswoman.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and supervised his work, is also scheduled to participate.
It was not immediately clear exactly when on Thursday the report will be released. The report has gone through a redaction process to remove sensitive information, such as grand jury evidence and classified intelligence, since it was filed on March 22.
Mueller's report is nearly 400 pages long, Justice Department officials have said. It is the product of an investigation that began in mid-2016, when Moscow was in the midst of a covert operation to try to sway the U.S. presidential election by hacking emails and spreading disinformation on social media.
When President Donald Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director in May 2017, Rosenstein chose Mueller as special counsel to lead the probe. The investigation also expanded to examine whether Trump had obstructed justice.
Barr released a four-page letter on March 24 summarizing what he called the "principal conclusions" from Mueller's work. He said the investigation did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and the Russian government.
Barr also wrote that Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr and Rosenstein decided that in their view, the evidence did not show Trump committed a crime.
House Democrats have pledged to fight for the full, uncensored version of Mueller's report. They've approved a subpoena that could be sent to the Justice Department, a step that would likely spark a lengthy court fight.
