ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL Barr is expected to announce as early as next week that special counsel Robert Mueller has completed his investigation into collusion during the 2016 presidential election.
Sources familiar with the situation told CNN that Barr plans to submit a summary of the investigation to Congress next week. While there has been speculation for weeks that Mueller’s investigation into collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign in the 2016 election is wrapping up, news of Barr’s plans are the strongest signs yet.
Although the sources say the investigation is coming to a close, plans could still change. Additionally, it is not clear how long Justice officials will take to prepare a final report or what information the report will include. It is also unclear what Barr will send to Congress. However, he has said that he wants to be a transparent as possible.
According to CNN, under special counsel regulations, Mueller must submit a confidential report to Barr once his investigation has been completed. However, the rules do not require that the report be made available to Congress or the public, raising the question of what Barr will release.
Additional rules require Mueller to outline decisions to prosecute or not and Barr will need to tell Congress if the Department of Justice prevented Mueller and his team from conducting a thorough investigation.
Trump, who is scheduled for a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam next week, told reporters Wednesday that it is “totally up to the new attorney general” whether to release the findings while he is overseas, CNN reported.
Several Trump associates have been indicted or charged with criminal offenses so far. Mueller has referred certain cases to other attorneys to pursue and there continues to be court cases handled by other federal prosecutors.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-02-20/cnn-robert-muellers-russia-investigation-could-end-next-week