Trump's former lawyer says 'there will be no Mueller report'
Donald Trump’s former lawyer has predicted the American public won’t see a report — or possibly anything at all — produced from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
John Dowd, who previously worked for the president’s legal team focusing on the Russia investigation before departing last year, called the probe a “terrible waste of time” in an interview with ABC News.
“I don’t think there will be a report,” the attorney said. “The rules of the department say ‘no report.’”
He added, “I won’t be shocked if anything regarding the president is made public other than, ‘we’re done.’”
The comments arrived as Democrats reportedly prepared for a showdown to occur between the US House of Representatives and Mr Trump’s Justice Department over obtaining access to the final Russia report.
Mr Dowd claimed to know “exactly” what Mr Mueller has in terms of evidence, saying on Tuesday, “I know what the conclusion of the result is.”
“There’s no basis,” he continued, referring to the investigation writ-large. “There’s no exposure. It’s been a terrible waste of time.”
Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced on Tuesday the hiring of two distinguished attorneys — Norman Eisen and Barry Berke — as “special oversight staff” to spearhead a review of the special counsel’s findings when they become available.
In a statement, Mr Nadler vowed the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee would “ask critical questions, gather all the information, judiciously assess the evidence, and make sure that the facts are not hidden from the American people.”
Mr Trump’s “conduct and crude statements threaten the basic legal, ethical and constitutional norms that maintain our democratic institutions,“ the statement continued. “Congress has a constitutional duty to be a check and balance against abuses of power when necessary.”
Additional reporting by AP
