Trump's personal lawyer confirms he saw the Mueller Report 2 days before Congress

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Adam Bettcher / Getty Images)

White House lawyers were allowed to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller's private report days before a redacted version of it was to be released to Congress and the public, The New York Times reports. Department of Justice officials apparently had "numerous conversations with White House lawyers about the conclusions made by Mr. Mueller," with Axios' Jonathan Swan confirming that Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, "just told me he first saw the Mueller report on Tuesday afternoon."

While Barr emphasized in his press conference that Trump's team did not exercise any power over what portions of the report were redacted, the decision to let the White House get a sneak peek could still be consequential, the Times reports, writing "the information that Justice Department officials have provided to the White House could potentially be valuable for Mr. Trump's legal team as it finalizes a rebuttal to the Mueller report" and that "the president's aides have devised a strategy for numerous lawyers and political aides to quickly read different parts of the document to develop a rebuttal strategy." Read more about the White House legal team's early access to the report at The New York Times.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.