The fight to unveil the latest mysteries of Mueller

More than 448 pages of Robert Mueller's final report, nearly 1,000 words, sentences and complete paragraphs are blackened.

Now the race is open to remove these black bars.

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Like torn pages of a novel, the written sections of the conclusions of the special council present the ultimate cliffhangers. Mueller's obsessed people believe that these passages could shed light on persistent mysteries, such as those to whom Donald Trump asked to review WikiLeaks' plans to dismiss Democratic e-mails, or what happened after the eldest son Trump, Donald Trump Jr. rejected a voluntary interview with Mueller. Then there is the enigma of 12 redacted cases that Mueller has entrusted to other offices for further investigation.

Determined to reveal the whole story behind these troubling episodes, efforts are underway in the courtrooms, the Congress and, of course, in Twittersphere, to find out what Justice Department lawyers and Mueller's office have accepted the conclusions of the special advocate. Democrats, advocates of transparency and media organizations believe that it is imperative that the public sees everything – nothing less than the security of the upcoming elections is at stake, they say.

The redactions are "a bit shocking," said Marc Rotenberg, president and executive director of the nonprofit electronic privacy information center, which is suing to see the report in full, as well as the underlying evidence of the investigation on Russia.

"We thought a lot of important documents had been hidden," he added. Congress and the public must avoid foreign interference in the 2020 elections.

In the coming months, Rotenberg and others will press for this information to be published.

Democrats in the House have summoned the entire report and are heading for a court clash with the Trump justice department. And EPIC, along with BuzzFeed, sued for the full report under the Freedom of Information Act.

Curiously, Roger Stone might have the best chance to see more of the story. Trump's long-time partner launched a legal offer to see the unredacted document as he headed for a trial this fall on accusations that he lied to Congress and obstructed their investigation of Russia.

Republicans – and some legal experts – argue that the full report will not change the public's perception of the Mueller inquiry. Even the Mueller prosecutors, who were disturbs with the way Attorney General William Barr initially presented their findings in a four-page summary letter in March, be comfortable with redactions, according to a source close to the lawyers of the special council.

"Ninety percent is in there, especially with regard to obstruction," the source said.

"Let's be honest, the reality is that a fair reading of this report is really detrimental to the president – a little more damage does not really change the math," said Paul Rosenzweig, senior fellow of the R Street Institute and former senior adviser to the Kenneth Starr, independent lawyer for the Clinton era.

"I have been very critical of Mr Barr on a lot of things, but I do not think he has done too much in this case," added Rosenzweig. "I do not think there is much left to do."

But that does not stop the fighting.

The most important is at Capitol Hill, where Democratic leaders rejected Barr's proposal offer privately review a "less redacted" version of the Mueller report at DOJ headquarters in Washington. They responded with a subpoena, escalating a battle that seems to be heading to the federal court.

"My committee needs the full report and underlying evidence consistent with past practice, and has the right to do so," said Jerrold Nadler, chair of the judiciary, whose committee is seeking complete document.

"Even the redacted version of the report describes serious cases of wrongdoing by President Trump and some of his closest aides," added the New York Democrat. "It is now up to Congress to determine the full extent of this alleged misconduct and to decide what steps to take to move forward."

Barr's offer, which allowed a number of senior lawmakers and their assistants to read the document and take notes as long as they did not remove them from the Department of Justice, said Representative Doug Collins , Republican ranked in the Judiciary panel. The Georgian congressman congratulated Mr Barr on the "extraordinary arrangements" which allowed him to see a version of the Mueller report containing about half of the redactions that were obscured by the public version.

"Both volumes reinforce key findings from last month," said Collins, pointing out that this version only contained four deletions in the obstruction section and that a GOP committee assistant had added covered less than six lines of text.

The now consolidated BuzzFeed and EPIC cases, which are lying in court, are the most direct way for the public to see the Mueller report. Reggie Walton, US District Court Judge critical The Department of Justice at a hearing earlier this month for not being sufficiently transparent with the public about the findings of the investigation into Russia. Walton, appointed by President George W. Bush, will hold a status conference on both trials next Thursday.

EPIC has asked the judge must conduct his or her own examination of the unedited Mueller report to determine whether the DOJ is faithful to his or her statements as to what may or may not be published. And the organization also argued that the redactions made to protect "ongoing cases" – reasoning given for at least some of the 176-page redactions – are generally not considered an excuse for rejecting FOIA claims.

"At one point," said Barbara McQuade, former US District Attorney for East Michigan, at the time of Obama, "the ongoing cases will no longer be ongoing and the information relating to these matters should be disclosed. "

But Walton's handling of the Mueller report will be far from clear in the face of DOJ resistance.

Stone, the flamboyant GOP agent, also makes a personal offer to view the document. His lawyers filed the request earlier this month as part of a wider offer to file his case. Although Mr. Stone does not have the inherent right to see the report, Mr. McQuade stated that he has the right to receive information that could be useful to his defense.

"The report of the special council may be of political interest to many. This may be of commercial interest to others. This can be of public interest for some. But for Roger Stone, the special advisor's report is about protecting his freedom, "Stone's lawyers said in a statement. 57 pages motion.

The two parties will meet to discuss Stone's case at a state of affairs hearing on Tuesday. The official response of the DOJ to the request for revocation is scheduled for next Friday. But it is unclear whether Stone's specific request to see the unredacted report will be presented.

In total, the Mueller report contains 954 redactions, nearly half of which are intended to protect "ongoing cases" or ongoing investigations, according to an analysis of the expurgated findings made by POLITICO. The second largest installment, 355, is news of the grand jury which must remain legally confidential in most cases. Other redactions were aimed at preventing the disclosure of classified investigative tactics and protecting the "peripheral third parties" from "reputation-related" damages.

Some of the most intriguing news reports suggest that Mueller police have been transferred to other DOJ offices.

In one section, the special advocate team reported finding evidence of criminal activity outside their territory in 14 cases. But the report eliminates the subject in a dozen cases, which were referred to other parts of the GM and FBI.

Other editorials simply hide potentially juicy details about stories that the public has known for a long time.

Take the story of WikiLeaks. Everyone knows that the militant organization has published stolen Democratic e-mails during the elections, but an editorial in the passage of the Mueller report on WikiLeaks retains details on how the Trump campaign "privately sought out information On WikiLeaks' plans. Trump himself apparently discussed the possibility of future email dumps with a person whose name is retained.

Then there is Donald Trump Jr., about intense speculation about a possible Mueller. Dozens of items are blackened in a section describing the discussions that took place before, during and after the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer who had promised to take stock of Trump's campaign about Hillary Clinton.

Another draft conceals the consequences of Trump Jr.'s refusal to participate in a voluntary interview with the special advocate. The audit prompted speculation as to whether the obscured section explains whether Mueller attempted to subpoena Trump Jr. or whether the president's son invoked the fifth amendment's right not to incriminate him.

Trump Jr.'s lawyer made no comment on this, although Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, concealed the fact that the editorial deals with the fifth amendment. "I can tell you that I do not know if anyone took the fifth," Giuliani told POLITICO.

In his final report, Mueller said that Trump Jr. and other Trump campaign leaders at the meeting, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, had not been charged, the special board lacking evidence to prove that they had attended the meeting with the knowledge that they could possibly be. commit a crime and that the research on the promised opposition is not necessarily described as an illegal gift.

Veterans investigating with independent lawyers have warned that document conflicts could last for years. Marcy Wheeler, a freelance journalist who has long been covering national security issues, spoke of ongoing efforts to obtain interview materials from a George W. Bush era leak investigation. of a CIA agent under cover.

And just last fall, a federal judge controlled the partial public release of a "Road map" once secret that the Watergate investigators presented to Congress and summarized the evidence they had discovered against President Richard Nixon.

"It will probably be 40 years before we get the full Mueller report," said Wheeler. "Everything will eventually come out, but it will take time."

Jordyn Hermani contributed to this report.