WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election wrapped up Friday afternoon, the Justice Department says.
- Special counsel's Russia interference investigation closes
- Attorney General Barr to review it, send summary to Congress
- Trump: There's been no collusion between campaign, Russia
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The long-awaited conclusion to the investigation was thought to be coming soon, as attorneys working on the case had recently left the probe.
Mueller has delivered his report to Attorney General William Barr, DOJ said, who will review it.
The confidential report likely includes Mueller’s findings, recommendations moving forward including and up to indictments and prosecution.
Barr said Friday that he may send a summary of his findings to Congress by this weekend. He has not expiclity committed to issuing Mueller's final report unchanged. That means it's possible that the entire, unedited report might not be made public.
Just last month, the Senate confirmed Barr at attorney general. He is politically conservative and once referred to the role of attorney general as "the president's lawyer."
Democrats have expressed concern that he won't be impartial in his review of the Mueller findings, though he said, "I'm not going to do anything that I think is wrong."
For almost two years, Mueller, a former FBI director, has helmed an investigation into whether there was Russian interference in the 2016 election that sent President Donald Trump to the White House and whether there was any collusion between any of Trump's associates.
Trump has maintained his innocence, saying there has been "no collusion." He's frequently attacked the probe by calling it a "witch hunt."
On Friday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted this statement:
Trump is hosting Caribbean leaders at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach this weekend.
Democrats immediately called for the entire report be made public, with underlying documents and findings turned over to Congress.
There are ways in which details of Mueller report could be made public, such as through lawsuits, subpoenas, or acts of Congress, but each route could itself face messy legal challenges.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement Friday:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell commented on the end of the investigation, but did not say whether he supported Schumer's and Pelosi's call for the report to be made public.
So far, almost three dozen people are facing felony charges, including six members of Trump's inner circle. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the U.S. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have admitted to lying to federal agents.
In February 2018, the special counsel's office charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with interfering in U.S. elections.
Most recently, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to Congress about his work on a Moscow Trump Tower deal.
Mueller is not recommending any more indictments in the Russia probe, the Associated Press reported.
Reactions from Florida lawmakers
Information from the Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.