White House lawyers have had several conversations with Department of Justice officials about the conclusions made in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, giving President Trump's legal team the opportunity to come up with a rebuttal before the report is made public on Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times.
Last week, Attorney General William Barr would not answer questions from lawmakers about whether the Justice Department gave the White House a preview of the report's findings. Barr has come under scrutiny for the way he has handled the matter, including releasing a four-page summary with his interpretation of the report and telling lawmakers that he believes officials were "spying" on the Trump campaign.
Two people close to the White House told the Times that Trump's aides are mostly concerned with how the report is written, specifically whether it was made clear which advisers spoke to Mueller's team and what they said. One person who spoke at length with Mueller is former White House counsel Don McGahn, and his attorneys didn't really share with Trump's legal team what he told investigators, the Times reports. Because of that unknown, there's growing concern in the White House over whether he revealed any damaging information to Mueller. Read more about the tension at the White House at The New York Times.
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