Me, yesterday on the news that Trump wanted acting Attorney Matt Whitaker to end the Mueller probe:
The immediate question I have is "Does Bill Barr do what Matt Whitaker wouldn't and end the Mueller probe?" He probably won't.
Probably.
CNN, today, answering my question in less than 24 hours:
Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary of Mueller's confidential report, according to people familiar with the plans.
The preparations are the clearest indication yet that Mueller is nearly done with his almost two-year investigation.
The precise timing of the announcement is subject to change.
The scope and contours of what Barr will send to Congress remain unclear. Also unclear is how long it will take Justice officials to prepare what will be submitted to lawmakers.
But with President Donald Trump soon to travel overseas for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Justice officials are mindful of not interfering with the White House's diplomatic efforts, which could impact the timing.
The Justice Department and the special counsel's office declined to comment.
Two schools of thought on this. One:
Folks, the Mueller report is about to be buried. It will never see the light of day. House Democrats will get whatever summary William Barr wants them to have and not a word more, and then the rest vanishes into the void. They will no doubt subpoena the whole thing and it will get tied up in the courts for eternity.
If Robert Mueller has any of those contingency plans in place, he'd better have already been using them. Trump was never going to let this come out.
It may be all up to the SDNY and NY state investigations now.
Two: Mueller is wrapping this up on his terms and next week is going to be very, very uncomfortable for Trump.
An adviser to President Trump said there is palpable concern among the president’s inner circle that the report might contain information about Trump and his team that is politically damaging, but not criminal conduct.
Even before he was confirmed by the Senate, Barr had preliminary discussions about the logistics surrounding the conclusion of Mueller’s inquiry, a second person said. At that time, though, Barr had not been briefed on the substance of Mueller’s investigation, so the conversations were limited.
CNN first reported Wednesday that Mueller could send a report to Barr as early as next week.
A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment, as did a Justice Department spokeswoman.
How detailed either Mueller’s report and the attorney general’s summary of the findings will be is unclear. Lawmakers have demanded that Mueller’s report be made public, but Barr has been noncommittal on that point, saying that he intends to be as forthcoming as the regulations and department practice allow. He has pointed, however, to Justice Department practices that insist on saying little or nothing about conduct that does not lead to criminal charges.
We'll know before the end of the month, I suspect.
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