Barr: No material in Mueller report was redacted based on executive privilege

Attorney General William Barr on Thursday said no redactions in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation were made based on claims of executive privilege by the White House.

Barr said that although there were “significant portions” of the report that Trump would have been within his rights to redact since the White House complied with the investigation, he refrained from doing so. The Office of the White House Counsel requested to examine the report — after Barr told lawmakers they would receive a redacted version of the report by April — so they could “advise the President on the potential invocation of privilege.”

“Following that review, the President confirmed that, in the interests of transparency and full disclosure to the American people, he would not assert privilege over the Special Counsel’s report,” Barr said during a press conference Thursday morning. “Accordingly, the public report I am releasing today contains redactions only for the four categories that I previously outlined, and no material has been redacted based on executive privilege.”

As expected the Democrats continued their objections to Barr speaking before the release of the Mueller report saying he was “too sympathetic to the president”.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler has responded by requesting Special Counsel Mueller to testify “no later than May 23.”