Justice Department must release redacted portions of Mueller report dealing with criminal charges before Election Day, judge rules

https://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-report-improperly-redacted-us-judge-rules-2020-9


Charles Davis
Oct 1, 2020, 2:55 AM

The US Department of Justice improperly censored portions of the Mueller report dealing with potential criminal charges and Russia's hacking of the Democratic National Committee, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

In response to a complaint brought by BuzzFeed reporter Jason Leopold, US District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that Attorney General William Barr's department must release the redacted segments — including portions related to the 2016 Trump campaign's interest in DNC emails stolen by Russia — by November 2, a day before the US election.

According to BuzzFeed, the ruling means the Justice Department "will be obliged to unveil at least 15 previously blacked-out pages from volume one of special counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report" on Russian electoral interference.

In March 2020, the same judge, appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush, chastised Attorney General Barr for having issued a "distorted" and "misleading" summary of the Mueller report.

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