A compilation of all the work product, summaries and reviews done by the Mueller team investigating Russian interference into the 2016 election, referred to as the “Alternative Mueller Report,” has been located by the Department of Justice and is being prepared for review and release, Politico reports.
“At least for posterity, I had all the [team] members … write up an internal report memorializing everything we found, our conclusions, and the limitations on the investigation, and provided it to the other team leaders as well as had it maintained in our files,” wrote Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s deputy Andrew Weissmann in “Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation,” in the first public reference to the report. That mention prompted the New York Times to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the government to release the documents.
The report is expected to provide insight into the process, evidence and conclusions of the investigators tasked with tracking information in the probe, which focused on Russian interference in the 2016 election and the rumored influence the Russians had with the Trump campaign. The investigation expanded to include probes into National Security Advisor Mike Flynn lies to the FBI and Trump’s personal efforts to impede the investigation.
“Since Plaintiff filed its complaint, Defendant has located and begun processing this record and intends to release all non-exempt portions to Plaintiff once processing is complete,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Jude wrote. “Defendant estimates that primary processing of the record will be complete by the end of January 2022 at which time Defendant expects to send the record to several other DOJ components for consultation.”
Jude did not have a timetable for the release of the report, but said she would update the court in February if it’s not release prior.