Redacted Mueller Report
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 12:13 am
I know. I know. The Mueller Report is so last decade. But I’ve looked at something new that has changed my thinking.
Yesterday, there was a 1400 page document dump in response to a FOIA request. It consists of original and typed up notes of witness interviews in the Mueller investigation. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... ocument/p3
I’ve read most of it. Two things jumped out at me. First, about 90% of the contents are redacted. Second, the unredacted text tracks pretty closely with my recollection of the Mueller Report. In other words, it looks to me like the Mueller Report is based on a small sliver of what was said in the witness interviews.
Which leads me to wonder: was Mueller precluded from disclosing, or even relying on, the redacted material when he prepared the report? Was his unwillingness to depart from the text of his report due to the fact that he knew a helluva lot more information than appears in the report but was not permitted to divulge based on assertions of privilege or national security and didn’t want to inadvertently disclose the restricted information? Was the stress of knowing more than he could disclose responsible for his tired and somewhat haggard appearance when he testified, as well as his expressed desire to be done with the whole issue?
Congress has been trying to get an undated version of the report, but the much more significant reactions may have been hidden to this point — in the evidence itself. Congress did not have these redacted transcript when Mueller testified. In fact, unless I’m missing something, Congress has never been supplied with the exhibits to the report.
Congress should subpoena Mueller, and perhaps his team, to find out whether he was precluded from using portions of the witness interviews in his report. If so, are the redacted transcripts representative of the material he was precluded from using. And, finally, did the inability to use the entire contents of the interviews have a material effect on the conclusions expressed in the report.
Right now, I’m just asking questions. But I have to say that this doesn’t smell good.
Yesterday, there was a 1400 page document dump in response to a FOIA request. It consists of original and typed up notes of witness interviews in the Mueller investigation. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... ocument/p3
I’ve read most of it. Two things jumped out at me. First, about 90% of the contents are redacted. Second, the unredacted text tracks pretty closely with my recollection of the Mueller Report. In other words, it looks to me like the Mueller Report is based on a small sliver of what was said in the witness interviews.
Which leads me to wonder: was Mueller precluded from disclosing, or even relying on, the redacted material when he prepared the report? Was his unwillingness to depart from the text of his report due to the fact that he knew a helluva lot more information than appears in the report but was not permitted to divulge based on assertions of privilege or national security and didn’t want to inadvertently disclose the restricted information? Was the stress of knowing more than he could disclose responsible for his tired and somewhat haggard appearance when he testified, as well as his expressed desire to be done with the whole issue?
Congress has been trying to get an undated version of the report, but the much more significant reactions may have been hidden to this point — in the evidence itself. Congress did not have these redacted transcript when Mueller testified. In fact, unless I’m missing something, Congress has never been supplied with the exhibits to the report.
Congress should subpoena Mueller, and perhaps his team, to find out whether he was precluded from using portions of the witness interviews in his report. If so, are the redacted transcripts representative of the material he was precluded from using. And, finally, did the inability to use the entire contents of the interviews have a material effect on the conclusions expressed in the report.
Right now, I’m just asking questions. But I have to say that this doesn’t smell good.