Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is “close to being completed.”
"I have been fully briefed on the investigation," Whitaker, who has authority over Mueller’s probe, said during a news conference Monday. "I look forward to Director Mueller delivering the final report."
Whitaker also said "I am comfortable that the decisions that were made are going to be reviewed," but it wasn’t immediately clear what he meant by that.
Democrats have said they’re concerned that Whitaker, who criticized Mueller’s investigation before he joined the Justice Department, may try to suppress some of his findings or hamper the probe. Mueller has been investigating whether President Donald Trump or any of his associates conspired with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
There has also been an ongoing question about how much of Mueller’s probe will be made public. The White House may try to assert executive privilege to prevent key findings from being turned over to Congress and the public, according to people familiar with internal deliberations.
On Friday, Mueller indicted Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone, accusing him of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional inquiry.
Whitaker decided not to recuse himself from overseeing Mueller’s investigation even though a Justice Department ethics official said a formal review would likely recommend a recusal, an agency official has said.
Democrats have demanded that Whitaker step back from Mueller’s continuing investigation because he openly criticized the probe in interviews last year before he joined the Justice Department. Trump has also derided Mueller’s work as a "witch hunt."
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