The release of the special counsel’s redacted report is almost certainly just the beginning of a bitter bipartisan battle on Capitol Hill.
Here’s a look at what’s to come:
BARR TESTIMONY
Attorney General William Barr is expected to testify before the Senate and House judiciary committees on May 1 and May 2, where lawmakers are likely to bombard the attorney general with questions on the investigation. Barr also spoke before Senate and House subcommittees last week, reiterating a stance that minimizes the Mueller report’s findings.
THE UNREDACTED REPORT
Saying they believe Barr is protecting the president by not publicly sharing the full Mueller investigation, Democrats are likely to continue to press the attorney general to turn over the full, unredacted report.
The House Judiciary Committee has already voted to authorize a subpoena for Mueller’s full report and all evidence gathered by investigators. A court battle could ensue.
WILL MUELLER TESTIFY?
If the House Judiciary Committee gets its way, yes. The committee’s top members have called on Mueller to testify following receipt of the full report and Barr’s testimony in early May.
Mueller has not made any public statements about the report or his plans to testify. Barr said Thursday morning he had no objection to Mueller testifying.
RELATED INVESTIGATIONS
Nere’s a look at some of the other investigations surrounding Mueller’s Russia investigation
• Federal prosecutors in New York are still investigating the hush-money payments that led Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, to plead guilty last year to campaign-finance violations. There are mounting indications the probe is winding down, but a federal judge this year ordered portions of a search warrant to be kept secret until prosecutors tell him the investigation has concluded. Cohen helped orchestrate six-figure payments to a porn actress, Stormy Daniels, and a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, to keep them quiet during the campaign about alleged affairs with Trump. Cohen has implicated Trump in the case, saying he ordered the payments and later reimbursed him for his efforts.
• In all, Mueller’s team said it referred 14 cases to prosecutors in other jurisdictions, including the Cohen case, which was handled by the Southern District of New York.
A dozen of those investigations were blacked out of Mueller’s report because those inquiries remain ongoing. It’s not clear whether they will result in any charges.
• New York’s attorney general has opened a civil investigation into Cohen’s allegations that Trump exaggerated his wealth to obtain loans. Letitia James, a Democrat, issued subpoenas last month to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank seeking loan applications and other records related to Trump real estate projects and his failed 2014 bid to buy the Buffalo Bills.
James’ office is also overseeing a lawsuit alleging Trump turned his charitable foundation into a wing of his White House campaign. The Trump Foundation reached a deal in December to fold and distribute about $1.7 million in remaining funds, but the lawsuit is continuing as James seeks millions of dollars in restitution and an order banning Trump and his three eldest children from running any New York charities for 10 years.
At the same time, New York’s insurance regulator is investigating Cohen’s allegations that Trump also misled insurance companies about his financial worth and the state’s tax department has said it’s “vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation” into a New York Times story last October that reported Trump and his family cheated tax authorities for decades. New York City also said it would investigate.
• Federal prosecutors in New York are also investigating Trump’s inaugural committee, which raised an unprecedented $107 million to celebrate his election.
The inquiry has focused partly on whether donors received “benefits” after making contributions or whether foreign nationals made illegal donations, according to a subpoena sent to the committee. The same document shows prosecutors are looking at whether the committee’s vendors were paid with unreported donations.
The White House has said Trump was not involved in the operations of his inaugural committee.
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