A Republican senator said Wednesday he would prefer special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report be released to the public.
“To me, this is an unusual circumstance and I think Mr. Mueller ought to write his report knowing that it’s going to be released to the American people and then everybody can make up their own mind,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on CNN.
A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kennedy questioned William Barr, President Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, on Tuesday, the first day of his confirmation hearings.
[Related: AG nominee William Barr: ‘Vitally important’ that Robert Mueller finish his investigation]
During that line of questioning, Barr suggested Mueller’s findings would be filtered through him as attorney general.
“Under the current rules, that report is supposed to be confidential and treated as the prosecution and declination documents in any other criminal case, and then the attorney general, as I understand the rules, would report to Congress about the conclusion of the investigation. And I believe there may be discretion there about what the attorney general can put in that report,” Barr said.
Asked by CNN’s John Berman if he would be OK with that, Alexander said he would prefer to have “the original” report. He said Barr provided an “unclear” answer and said he didn’t know “whether it’s a statute or a protocol or a rule.”
