Ready To Read The Results Of The Russia Investigation? Prepare For Disappointment.

With guest host John Donvan.

It’s hard to tell if special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into improper ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia is wrapping up or ramping up. But one thing we should know already, says former prosecutor Nelson W. Cunningham, is that us regular citizens will likely never know what’s in Mueller’s final report.

Cunningham writes in an op-ed for the Washington Post:

How much of the special counsel's “confidential” report on prosecution or declination decisions, or consultations an impeachment recommendation, might come to light? The regulations provide that the attorney general may release the special counsel's report if he finds it would “be in the public interest.” But nothing requires him to do so. Moreover, any release must “comply with applicable legal restrictions,” which pose substantial barriers.

The only disclosure the attorney general is required to make, to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees, is if he concludes that “a proposed action by a Special Counsel was so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued.”

As for Mueller, the regulations forbid him from publicly discussing his findings except as “governed by the generally applicable Departmental guidelines concerning public comment with respect to any criminal investigation” — which generally forbid public comment on closed investigations.

What might the public fallout be from only classified conclusions to this investigation?

GUESTS

Nelson W. Cunningham, Former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York; former general counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee and of the White House Office of Administration; current president and co-founder of McLarty Associates.

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