FBI director says he hasn’t read the Mueller report

FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Thursday that he has not read special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Have you had an occasion to read the Mueller report?” Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) asked Wray during a hearing on the FBI’s budget request for fiscal 2020.

“I have not,” Wray replied.

{mosads}Mueller delivered the confidential report concluding his 22-month investigation to Attorney General William Barr two weeks ago. The report’s contents have remained closely held within the Justice Department as officials review it for public release.

The FBI is part of the Justice Department, and Mueller’s team was assisted by more than three dozen agents from the bureau. 

In a four-page letter to Congress on March 24, Barr revealed that Mueller did not charge anyone associated with President Trump’s campaign with conspiring with the Russian government to meddle in the election. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also concluded after reviewing Mueller’s report that there was not sufficient evidence to accuse Trump of an obstruction of justice offense, despite the special counsel not making a judgment one way or another.

House Democrats are pressuring Barr to release Mueller’s report in its entirety, without any redactions. Barr has indicated he plans to restrict details that could impact ongoing investigations, grand jury information, classified material and “information that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.”

Barr has said he expects to have a public version of the report prepared by mid-April, if not sooner.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to authorize its chairman to subpoena the report as well as the underlying evidence associated with it. It’s unclear whether or when Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) might issue the subpoena.