Analysis: Trump just nixed a major argument against releasing the Mueller report
By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow March 20 at 1:48 PM President Trump said Wednesday for the first time that he would be okay with the public release of the Mueller report. In doing so, he eliminated a major justification for withholding it.
Trump went on to decry the very existence of the Mueller report , arguing it is the result of an investigation that never should have been launched. He concluded by again suggesting it should be public but also indicating it may not be. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6 says that, unless and until details are revealed by court order as part of an indictment or other proceeding, they must be kept secret. This is to guard against the government releasing derogatory things about people for political purposes.
“If the only reason that Mueller’s grand Jury can’t file an indictment is the DOJ policy that says no indicting of sitting presidents, then Trump gets the best of both worlds: no indictment and no revealing of the evidence the grand jury saw — even though it may be more than enough to indict any other citizen of the republic," former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said.
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