Judge Has 'Grave Concerns' About Mueller Report

A federal judge says he has "grave concerns" about how Attorney General William Barr handled the release of Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation last year—and he's not convinced all the redactions were made for legitimate reasons. US District Court Judge Reggie Walton has demanded a full copy of the Mueller report from the Justice Department so he can review the redactions and potentially release more information to the public, reports BuzzFeed. He said the attorney general's summary of the report before it was released was at odds with some of the contents, making him wonder if "Barr’s intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report—a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version."

Walton—who was appointed by George W. Bush in 2001—released his opinion in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from BuzzFeed and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He said the inconsistencies between Barr's statements and the report suggest "Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary." Mueller registered his objections with Barr at the time. It is unusual for a federal judge to publicly question the honesty of the attorney general, though Walton's report comes amid rising tensions between the federal judiciary and other branches of government, the Washington Post notes. (More William Barr stories.)