US attorney general William Barr to face hearing on Mueller report

Attorney General William Barr will testify about special counsel Robert Mueller's report before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday following the revelation that Mueller confronted Barr about his four-page characterization of the report.

Barr’s testimony will mark the first time a member of President Donald’s Trump administration will have to testify about the contents of Robert Mueller’s report into whether Moscow conspired with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election and whether the president tried to impede the investigation.

The Justice Department said Mueller sent a letter to Barr in late March to express frustrations with the public rollout of his report. The revelation drew immediate rebukes from Democrats, with the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee demanding the letter from the Justice Department ahead of Barr's testimony in the Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is controlled by Republicans and chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of President Trump. The hearing is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. ET.

Barr said in his summary of the report released on March 24 that Mueller did not establish that members of Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 election.

He said Mueller left unresolved in his report the question of whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by impeding the Russia investigation. Barr said he and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, had determined there was insufficient evidence to establish the president committed obstruction of justice.

The 448-page, partially redacted report, released on April 18, described in extensive and sometimes unflattering detail how Trump tried to impede the probe, but it stopped short of concluding he had committed a crime.

Some Democrats say Barr acted improperly by ruling out obstruction of justice charges against the president and praising the White House in a news conference ahead of the report’s release.

Barr is also due to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Democrats who control the committee and the Justice Department are in disagreement over the format of the hearing.