Former FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that Attorney General William Barr is entitled to the “benefit of the doubt” on the transparency of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“Bill Barr, our attorney general, deserves the benefit of the doubt,” Comey said in an interview with CNN.
“Give him a chance to show us what he feels like he can’t show us,” Comey said. “I have to imagine that former [FBI Director Robert] Mueller wrote the report with an eye towards it being public some day, so I can’t imagine a lot needs to be cut out of it. But let’s wait and see. The attorney general deserves that chance.”
Barr shared a four-page summary of Mueller’s findings with Congress last month, which said the investigation “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” The summary did not disclose whether President Trump or any of his associates were compromised by Russia.
The summary also quoted Mueller saying “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded there was a lack of “sufficient” evidence to conclude if Trump obstructed justice.
Democrats were unsatisfied with the summary.
Although Barr has vowed to work with Mueller and other Justice Department officials to publicly release the report by mid-April “if not sooner,” Democrats have demanded Barr testify before Congress “as soon as possible” to explain his decision to release the summary.
A vote has been set up for Wednesday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., laying the groundwork for a subpoena to obtain the Mueller report.
Comey said he is confident the public will receive significant transparency from the Justice Department on the investigation. “The American people will get substantial transparency,” Comey said. “I’m optimistic about that.”
Mueller was appointed to take over the Russia investigation days after Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017.
[Opinion: Democrats will never be satisfied so there’s no reason to release the full Robert Mueller report]
