President Trump's departure for a political rally in Louisiana was delayed by about 45 minutes on Thursday evening because he was having an "animated" conversation with Attorney General William Barr in the Oval Office, according to the White House press corps, which could view but not hear the conversation. Also in the Oval Office were White House Counsel Pat Cippollone and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
But the Horowitz report did come up in their conversation, two sources told CNN. Barr got a draft of the report last month, and Lawfare's Susan Hennessey wryly suggested that the nominally independent attorney general discussing the nominally independent DOJ inspector general's nominally apolitical report with Trump may not be totally above-board.
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Witnesses have been given two weeks to review the parts of the report they feature in before it is released publicly. They have to sign nondisclosure agreements and can't request revisions in writing, The Washington Post reported Thursday, raising concerns about the report's integrity. But Horowitz's office told the Post late Thursday night that witnesses can submit written feedback "consistent with rules to protect classified information."
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