Barr could brief Congress on Mueller report within days

UPDATE: In a letter to key members of Congress, Attorney General William Barr said he could update them on the “principal conclusions” of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative report as soon as this weekend. Leaders of both parties welcomed the news. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he hoped the findings of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election would “help inform and improve our efforts to protect our democracy.” Democrats demanded that Barr make public the full contents of the report. “The American people have a right to the truth,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement.

Barr said in his letter that he, Mueller, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would work together to decide how much of the report could be released “consistent with the law, the special counsel’s regulations, and the [Justice] Department’s longstanding practices and policies.” He also noted that the Justice Department did not block Mueller from taking any actions during the investigation.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the next steps are up to Barr, and “We look forward to the process taking its course.” She also said the White House had not been briefed on Mueller’s report.

Multiple news outlets, citing anonymous sources in the Justice Department, reported that Mueller was not recommending any further charges against individuals as a result of the investigation.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (5:29 p.m.): Special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, delivering his final report to Attorney General William Barr Friday afternoon. What happens next with the report, including how much of it will be released to the public, depends on the attorney general, Congress, and most likely the federal courts. Barr plans to write his own report summarizing Mueller’s findings to Congress and the American people and could do so as early as this weekend.

So far, the probe has led to felony charges against 34 people, including six aides and advisers to President Donald Trump, and three companies.