What to Watch for in the Mueller Report

The Justice Department will release a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Thursday morning.

Here’s what you need to know, and what you should look for...

What are we getting Thursday?

• Attorney General William Barr will release a redacted version of Mueller's 400-page report. That page-count is "exclusive of tables and appendices," Barr told Congress.
• DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said the report - which looked at possible interference between the Trump campaign and Russia, and potential obstruction of justice by the president - will be released after the Justice Department finishes blacking out grand jury testimony, classified information, and material involved in ongoing investigations.

What do we know so far?

Barr provided Congress and the public with a four-page summary of the "principal conclusions" from Mueller's report.

Some highlights:

“The Special Counsel’s 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 US Presidential Election. As the report states: '[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'"

• “The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’"
• "The Special Counsel's investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia in its election interference activities."
• “The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the special counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public.”

What should we look for in the full (redacted) report?

What Trump knew—and when

“Barr said that Mueller didn't establish that Trump's campaign conspired with the Russians,” NPR wrote. “But did Trump himself ever get word about the offers of help that were coming in from Russians or their agents, including those to his son Donald Trump Jr.?”

Was it obstruction?

Mueller’s report found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but reached no conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice. However, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined there was insufficient evidence that Trump obstructed justice.

Will others reach a similar conclusion? Was “no obstruction” an easy call for Barr and Rosenstein to make?

What does Mueller think?

In a letter to Congress, Barr said the full report "sets forth the special counsel's findings, his analysis and the reasons for his conclusions.”

Will the report make sense?

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) asked Barr this exact question.

Schatz: "Are we going to get the gist of this, or is it going to be, you know, [reading a section] on January 2015 and then you have to flip 15 pages to find the next text?" Schatz asked.

Barr: "You will get more than the gist."

What do you think?

What are you looking for in the Mueller report? Do you support its release? Should Congress receive an unredacted version? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman