Attorney General William Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report makes “clear” that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election.
“I am sure that all Americans share my concerns about the efforts of the Russian government to interfere in our presidential election,” Barr said in his remarks to the press Thursday morning. “As the special counsel’s report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election.”
“But thanks to the special counsel’s thorough investigation, we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign — or the knowing assistance of any other Americans for that matter,” Barr said. “That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed.”
[WATCH: William Barr’s press conference on Mueller report release]
Barr said the report sheds light on attempts from the Internet Research Agency, a company based in St. Petersburg that was charged by Mueller for meddling during the 2016 election, to generate discord among American voters through a disinformation campaign and social media operations. But Barr said that there was “no evidence that any Americans” were connected to the Russian troll farm’s attempts to disperse disinformation.
Additionally, Barr said the report outlines efforts from Russian military intelligence services to hack into computers and obtain documents from people within the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Such documents were shared with DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, along with Wikileaks for publication.
According to Barr, Mueller’s report did not determine that anyone with ties to the Trump campaign was involved in the illegal dissemination of the materials. Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone was under scrutiny from investigators for comments that appeared to predict WikiLeaks’ publication of stolen emails.
Barr said that those who have been charged in connection for their role in the hacking activities remain at large and the charges are still pending.
A redacted version of the Mueller report will be sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill at 11 a.m. The report will be shared online with the public thereafter.
