The Latest: Barr defends report handling in his testimony

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Attorney General William Barr's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (all times local):

11:05 a.m.

Attorney General William Barr says special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) told him that Barr didn't "misrepresent" Mueller's Russia report in a letter summarizing the probe's principal conclusions.

The attorney general testified Wednesday before Congress and responded to the release of a March 27 letter from Mueller complaining that Barr's four-page letter about the report "did not fully capture the context, nature and substance" of the special counsel's "work and conclusions."

Barr says he called Mueller after receiving his complaints and Mueller told him "he was not suggesting that we had misrepresented his report."

Barr says Mueller told him press reports were reading too much into Barr's letter and Mueller wanted the public to see more of his reasoning for not answering the question of whether President Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice.

Mueller's letter says that Barr's summary of his Russia report created "public confusion about critical aspects of the results."

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10:55 a.m.

Attorney General William Barr says he was surprised that special counsel Robert Mueller and his team did not reach a conclusion on whether or not President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

Barr said in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that Mueller told him of his team's plans at a March 5 meeting.

A Justice Department legal opinion says sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Barr says Mueller told him he wouldn't have recommended indicting the president even without that opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel.

Barr says Mueller told him that there may come a time when the Justice Department should consider revisiting that opinion but that this is not that case.

Mueller has written a letter saying that Barr's summary of his Russia report created "public confusion about critical aspects of the results."

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10:45 a.m.

Attorney General William Barr is criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) for not identifying grand jury material in his Russia report when he submitted it.

Barr says the Mueller team's failure to do that slowed down the release of the public version of the report.

Barr testified Wednesday about his handling of the Mueller report before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The testimony comes after the release of a letter from Mueller. That letter reveals the special counsel had prepared the summaries of his two-volume report for immediate public release but Barr chose not to release them.

Barr instead wrote his own letter summarizing Mueller's findings. Mueller's letter says that Barr's summary created "public confusion about critical aspects of the results" of the Russia probe.

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10:40 a.m.

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting that the panel hold a hearing with special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur).

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (FYN'-styn) said Wednesday in her opening statement at the committee's hearing on Mueller's Russia report that she had asked Chairman Lindsey Graham to invite the special counsel.

Graham has said he doesn't think Mueller needs to testify. The South Carolina senator says he's satisfied with hearing from Attorney General William Barr, who is appearing before the panel on Wednesday.

Graham said in his opening statement he's ready to move on from the report. He says that for him "it's over."

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10:05 a.m.

Special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL'-ur) told Attorney General William Barr that Barr's summary of the Russia probe's findings caused "public confusion about critical aspects" of the investigation.

A copy of Mueller's letter to Barr was released Wednesday. In his letter, Mueller raised concerns about a letter that Barr sent to Congress detailing what he said were Mueller's principal conclusions.

Mueller said Barr's letter "did not fully capture the context, nature and substance" of the special counsel's work and conclusions.

Barr's letter was released just two days after the Justice Department received the special counsel's report. It said Mueller hadn't reached a conclusion on whether the president had obstructed justice despite presenting evidence on both sides of the question.

Mueller's letter is likely to be a central focus at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Barr.

Barr's prepared testimony shows he plans to defend his handling of Mueller's report.

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9:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is claiming "NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION" as Attorney General William Barr prepares to appear before Congress for the first time since releasing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.

Barr's testimony Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee comes amid new revelations that Mueller expressed frustration to Barr about how the report's finding were being portrayed.

Trump tweeted: "NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Besides, how can you have Obstruction when not only was there No Collusion (by Trump), but the bad actions were done by the 'other' side? The greatest con-job in the history of American Politics!"

Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. Barr says he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (ROH'-zen-styn) cleared Trump of obstruction of justice after investigators reached no conclusion on that question.

Barr's prepared testimony shows he plans to defend his handling of Mueller's report.

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9:25 a.m.

Attorney General William Barr is defending his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report.

Barr is to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His appearance comes hours after it was revealed that Mueller had sent the Justice Department a letter objecting to the way his findings were portrayed.

In prepared testimony released by the Justice Department, Barr says that Mueller finished his investigation without interference and that neither he nor any other Justice Department official overruled any proposed action.

Barr also will defend his decision to release the bottom-line conclusions of Mueller's report. Barr will say he "did not believe that it was in the public interest to release additional portions of the report in piecemeal fashion."

Barr initially issued a four-page statement that summarized what he said were the main conclusions of the Mueller report. He later released a redacted version of the report.

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1:15 a.m.

Lawmakers have a new line of inquiry to pursue when Attorney General William Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Barr has been expected in Wednesday's hearing to defend his actions surrounding the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.

But it emerged Tuesday night that Mueller has expressed frustration to Barr in a letter with how the conclusions of his investigation have been being portrayed.

The letter lays bare a simmering rift between the Justice Department and the special counsel about whether Barr's summary of the report adequately conveyed the gravity of Mueller's findings, particularly on the key question of obstruction.

The revelation is likely to sharpen attacks by Democrats who accuse Barr of unduly protecting the president and of spinning Mueller's conclusions in Trump's favor.