17 things BuzzFeed News tries to tell about Mueller's investigation with FOIA's requests

The publication tomorrow of the report of the special advocate, Robert Mueller, is a cornerstone of the two-year investigation into President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government's interference in the government. election of 2016.

But the report will not tell the whole story. Among other things, Attorney General William Barr is expected to make extensive deletions to hide counterintelligence information, testimony before a grand jury and ongoing investigations by other federal prosecutors. Barr also stated that he would retain parts of the report to protect the privacy of individuals. Historically, federal government agencies have also used redactions to hide politically embarrassing information.

In the meantime, the report should not reveal the internal workings of the team of Mueller FBI agents and lawyers – what witnesses did they interview, what evidence did they gather, how are they they arrived at certain decisions, what influence, if any, of the Ministry of Justice and White House brandished.

To answer these questions, BuzzFeed News turned to a reliable tool: the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Since January, BuzzFeed News reporters have filed more than two dozen requests for documents related to the Mueller Inquiry and hope to take another step in the fight for their release in court.

Tuesday, US District Court Judge Reggie Walton, in response to the lawsuit seeking a full report from Mueller, gave the Justice Department until May 2 to explain if Barr's deletions are going to beyond the usual FOIA law. Walton also said that the Attorney General had "created an environment that has brought a significant portion of the American public to worry about the possibility of full transparency."

In this spirit, here are the 17 main requests of the FOIA and what the journalists hope to learn:

REQUEST 1: Mueller's Final Report to the Department of Justice

"A copy of the FINAL REPORT prepared by the Office of the Special Advocate Robert Mueller regarding his investigation into: any link and / or coordination between the Russian government and persons associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: This is a direct request for the final report in its entirety – ideally with only limited editorials – processed according to the nine exceptions of the FOIA, with an explanation as to why some details have been redacted. By taking additional action to sue for the report, BuzzFeed News may challenge redactions in court.

REQUEST 2: The evidence gathered by the Mueller team

"Copies of all records, including but not limited to FBI numbers 302, e-mails, memos, letters, diagrams, used by the office of Special Advisor Robert Mueller at the time of writing. drafting and preparation of its FINAL REPORT on the investigation conducted by the Bureau. : any link and / or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: Journalists look for one of the pieces of evidence gathered during Mueller's two years of investigation to understand how the bureau made its decisions. These records would be much larger than what is contained in the report.

REQUEST 3: Thousands of summonses and search warrants

"Copies of the 2800 subpoenas issued / executed by Special Advocate Robert Mueller during his investigation into any link and / or coordination between the Russian Government and individuals associated with President Donald Trump's campaign; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a). 2. Copies of the 500 search warrants issued / executed by Special Advocate Robert Mueller during his investigation into links and / or coordination between the Russian Government and persons associated with President Donald Trump's campaign ; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: BuzzFeed News wants to know what documents the Mueller team looked for, who they asked for, and what computers, devices, homes, and other locations were searched for.

REQUEST 4: FBI interviews with witnesses

"All FBI 302 members held / stocked / in possession of the FBI and referring to all those interviewed and interviewed by FBI agents working for the Special Advocate's Office Robert Mueller during his investigation into: any link and / or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with President Donald Trump's campaign; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: A FD-302 form is what agents use to summarize their interviews with witnesses. These documents could shed light on what people told the FBI and how this information was used by Mueller's team.

REQUEST 5: White House Correspondence on BuzzFeed News

"All records, including, but not limited to, e-mails, memos, letters from President Donald Trump's legal team, any White House attorneys or representatives of the President of the United States. United, mention or refer to the following report published by BuzzFeed: President Trump has asked his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie in front of the Congress on the project of the Moscow Tower; all recordings mentioning or referring to the authors of the report, Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier.

"Know that Donald Trump's private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told The New York Times, CNN and other cable news channels that lawyers representing the president had sent a letter to the office of special advocate Robert Mueller to inquire into the history of BuzzFeed News. "

WHAT THIS MEANSIn January, BuzzFeed News published an article stating that Cohen, Trump's longtime lawyer and advisor, told prosecutors that Trump had ordered him to give false testimony. In response, the Special Council's office stated that the "specific statements" as well as the "documents and evidence" were inaccurate. FOIA's request asks the White House to receive a letter regarding this article and the discussions that led to the response.

REQUEST 6: How the special advocate contacted the White House

"All records, of the same type as above, sent or received by the special attorney's office and anyone using the eop.gov domain."

WHAT THIS MEANS: The request concerns any communication between Mueller's team and the president's executive office about Cohen's story.

REQUEST 7: How the Ministry of Justice discussed BuzzFeed News with Mueller

"All records of the Attorney General's Office and the Deputy Attorney General, which include, but are not limited to, e-mails, memos, letters, mentioning or referring to the following news report issued by BuzzFeed: President Trump has asked his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie in front of the Congress on the project of the Moscow Tower; all recordings mentioning or referring to the authors of the report, Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier. "

WHAT THIS MEANS: BuzzFeed News wants to know what former Attorney General Matthew Whitaker or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had had with Mueller's team about Cohen's story.

REQUEST 8: How the Special Council Office Prepared its Unprecedented Statement

"All the documents, of the same type as above, recall the discussions of the Special Council's Bureau with a view to publishing a public statement on the BuzzFeed report."

WHAT THIS MEANS: Reporters inquire as to how the special council office developed its statement on Cohen's story, who was involved in its creation, and any discussion within the team about the specific language that it would used.

REQUEST 9: What the Ministry of Justice told the media

"Any correspondence between the Department of Justice Public Affairs Office, of the same type as above, with other members of the media quoting or reporting the BuzzFeed News report."

WHAT THIS MEANS: This application is for documents likely to explain what the Department of Justice told other news outlets about Cohen's story and how he tried to shape their coverage of the question. The Washington Post said the special council's statement was meant to be a general reprimand for BuzzFeed News – an interpretation that goes far beyond the wording of the statement itself. Cohen's lawyers then confirmed that Trump had "encouraged" him and "ordered" him to lie using "coded words".

REQUEST 10: Communications from the Department of Internal Justice

"All e-mails, memos, letters between Attorney General William Barr, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and the Office of the Legal Counsel referencing or referring to Robert Mueller, the Mueller Report, Donald Trump, Trump and l & # 39; obstruction ".

WHAT THIS MEANS: The reporters hope to know how Barr, Rosenstein and others have discussed the investigation of Mueller at any time during the two – year investigation.

REQUEST 11: Everything the Mueller team has produced

"All documents and records collected, preserved and kept by the Office of the Special Advocate Robert Mueller since May 17, 2017 during the investigation of the Bureau on: any link and / or coordination between the Government Russian and people associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: BuzzFeed News looks for each match – each flap of paper or digital file – produced by Mueller and his team. This could help to better understand how agents and prosecutors interacted, who made the decisions regarding the direction of the investigation and how officials communicated over the past two years.

REQUEST 12: Barr discussion points on the Mueller report

"I ask the Public Affairs Office, the Attorney General's Office and the Legislative Affairs Office to disclose the following documents:

"1. All discussion points prepared for Attorney General William Barr, DOJ public relations staff, referring to or referring to the report of Special Advocate Robert Mueller submitted to Mr. Barr on March 22, 2019.

"I am asking the Attorney General's Office, Deputy Attorney General and Special Council Office Robert Mueller to provide the following documents:

1. Any correspondence by e-mail or post addressed to the Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General, the Legislative Affairs Office and any congressional office, congressional committees or individual members of the House and Senate between the 22nd March 2019 and the date on which the retrieval of responsive documents was carried out relates to the final report of Special Advocate Robert Mueller regarding: any link and / or coordination between the Russian Government and persons associated with the President Donald Trump, and (ii) any matter arising out of or arising directly from the investigation, and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 CFR § 600.4 (a). "

WHAT THIS MEANS: This general request could help to understand how Barr and other members of the Justice Department decided that the president would not be accused of obstructing justice, and how those officials wrote a memo summarizing the 400-page report Mueller in a few days.

REQUEST 13: Preparing the original Barr memo

"I request disclosure to senior officials of the Ministry of Justice from the Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of Legal Policy, the Legislative Affairs Office and the Public Affairs Office. the following records:

1. All emails that mention or refer to Robert Mueller, the Mueller report, Donald Trump, President Trump, the obstruction, collusion, Russia, William Barr, Attorney General Barr, Rod Rosenstein. The deadline for this part of my application runs from March 20th to the date on which the search for relevant documents is carried out.

"2. All reports, letters, points of discussion, legal advice, mentioning or referring to the processing of the final report of the special advocate Robert Mueller on any link and / or coordination between the Russian government and persons associated with the campaign of the President Donald Trump, and to the classification of the report. The deadline for this part of my application is from March 15th to the date on which the search for relevant documents is carried out.

"3. All documents, including e-mails, memos, letters, directives, legal instructions concerning or referring to Robert Mueller's final report of Attorney General William Barr, dated March 24, 2019, as well as any separate document from Mueller's final report that Mr. Barr used previously. prepare his summary. "

WHAT THIS MEANS: Again, this request could show how Barr and officials from other DOJ offices communicated about the Mueller investigation, who participated in these discussions, and how his four-page memo characterized Mueller's report was written.

REQUEST 14: A search for keywords

"I am asking the Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General, the Public Affairs Office, the Information Policy Office, the Legal Counsel Office, the White House and the Special following documents:

1. All records including, but not limited to, letters, e-mails, memos, instructions, SMS, calendars, exchanged between senior officials of these offices, mentioning or referring to to the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller regarding:

"(A): Any link and / or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with President Donald Trump's campaign; and (ii) any matter arising or arising directly from the investigation; and (iii) any other matter within the jurisdiction of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4 (a).

"(B): The following keywords: Mueller report, Mueller report, report of the special adviser on the interference of Russia, Trump and Witch Hunt, 13 angry Democrats, collusion, obstruction, Donald Trump Jr., Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Flynn Michael, James Comey, Andrew McCabe.

"2. All records including, but not limited to, e-mails, memos, text messages and letters, discussions in memory between Attorney General William Barr, Department of Justice officials Robert Mueller and any congressional committee or congressman, to publish a public version. from the report of the special advocate Robert Mueller, discussions mentioning or referring to the publication of a version of the report to Congress, discussions mentioning or referring to decisions not to disclose information and certain details to the report , even in Congress.

"3. All emails, letters, memos, reports, sent or received by anyone from the Office of the Special Advisor since May 17, 2017. The time limit for Part 1, which includes A and B, is May 12, 2017 until the end of May. at the date of the search. for the recordings is performed. In part, the deadline is March 22, 2019, the date on which the search for reactive records is performed. "

WHAT THIS MEANS: This general request may show how Justice Department officials communicated about the key figures of the investigation and what they told Congress about the publication of the Mueller Report. It would also help to better understand how they reacted, if any, to Trump's many tweets over the past two years, including derogatory comments about Mueller and his team of prosecutors, such as "13 Angry Democrats."

REQUEST 15: The Mueller Team Summaries

"I request the Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General's Office and the Special Council Office to provide the following:

1. All the summaries of Mueller's final report written / written by investigators / prosecutors / lawyers working on the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on any possible links and / or coordination between the Russian government and people associated with President Donald Trump's campaign.

"2. Any report or document summarizing the final report of the special advocate Robert Mueller in terms of links and / or coordination between the Russian government and people associated with President Donald Trump's campaign. These summaries could have been written by anyone working on the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller.

"3. All records, including, but not limited to, e-mails, memos, letters, SMS, in the possession of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Special Council Office, which refer to or refer to to abstracts. "

WHAT THIS MEANS: Journalists want access to multiple summaries of the investigators' report, reported by the New York Times, that would have been far more damning than Barr's brief summary of Mueller's investigation last month. In addition, this request relates to Department of Justice documents, such as e-mails, that refer to or refer to the summaries of these investigators to determine if officials have discussed them.

REQUEST 16: Tips on how to investigate the president

"I am asking the Office of the Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice to provide the following documents:

1. All letters, e-mails, memos and reports exchanged between the Legal Counsel Office and the Robert Mueller Special Council Office, which includes Mr. Mueller and / or any member of the Crown Attorney's Team. Investigators of the special council.

"2. All letters, e-mails, memos and reports exchanged between the Legal Counsel Office, the Attorney General's Office, the Deputy Attorney General's Office and the Deputy Attorney General's Office, mentioning or referring to the investigation of the Special adviser Robert Mueller on the interference of Russia, obstruction, collusion, indictment and possibility for a president to be charged and / or charged with a crime during his tenure.

"The deadline for this application is May 17, 2017, until the date on which the search for sensitive records is conducted."

WHAT THIS MEANSBuzzFeed News hopes to find out if Mueller, his team, or a member of the Justice Department has asked for advice on how to handle the investigation. The application may clarify Barr's decision not to charge the president with obstruction of justice.

REQUEST 17: Whitaker's role in this

"I ask the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, disclosure of the following documents:

1. All emails from the account of Matthew Whitaker, former Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and, now, the Acting Attorney General, referring to or referring to the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, Russia. 39; include any correspondence from the domain EOP.gov. "

WHAT THIS MEANSAlthough Whitaker was Acting Attorney General for a short time, the reporters want to know how he communicated with Mueller and the White House and whether he has exerted any pressure on the Special Council investigation.