After nearly two years of clandestine investigation, multiple convictions and guilty pleas, and hours of hyped cable news speculation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller may finally be preparing to submit his full report on Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election, CNN reported on Wednesday.
Citing “people familiar with the plans,” the network claimed that Attorney General Bill Barr could announce the completion of the Special Counsel’s investigation as early as next week, after which he will submit a summary of Mueller’s findings to Congress.
While it is entirely unclear what the report will contain—and whether its full contents will be made public—CNN’s report offers the most concrete assertion to date that Mueller’s investigation is in the process of winding down, almost two years after it was opened in May, 2017.
The Special Counsel’s Office declined Splinter’s request for comment on CNN’s reports. We have also contacted the DOJ.
During his confirmation hearings in January, Barr insisted it was “vitally important” that Mueller’s report be completed without the interference of “partisan politics.” Barr assumed control of the DOJ after President Donald Trump ousted former attorney general Jeff Sessions, in no small part of his decision to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation.
Currently, Mueller’s office is prosecuting longtime Trump associate and confidante Roger Stone over allegations that Stone helped coordinate Wikileaks’ release of stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election.
Regardless of whether or not Mueller’s office finds evidence of further wrongdoing by Trump or other members of his inner circle, House Democrats have vowed to continue investigating the president’s finances and various ties to Russian interests.