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"Clearly, transparency is total," Walton said at a hearing Tuesday in Washington about an application by BuzzFeed News asking the Department of Justice to promptly release the report under the Freedom of Information Act. "The Attorney General has created an environment that has worried a large part of the American public" about the redactions.
The BuzzFeed case is the second legal effort up to now for a federal judge to review the Mueller report. The other came from the Electronic Privacy Information Center in the first lawsuit to get the full report after Mueller announced he had ended the investigation.
Walton said Tuesday in court that he could ask to review the highly anticipated document in full and confidentially, after the Justice Department released a redacted version to the public and Congress on Thursday, before handing it then to the organizations that requested it under FOIA. This type of review would be beneficial for those who request the document because it would involve a judge to verify the executive's decision-making process on deletion.
"It's something we'll have to work on and think about," Walton said.
A separate judge did this in CNN's lawsuit, seeking memos from former FBI director James Comey about his meetings with President Donald Trump.
So far, Walton is dealing with both lawsuits over the Mueller report and wants to hear the Justice Department again on May 2nd.
He told the parties in court that he was interested in an expedited procedure, he said Tuesday. However, Walton rejected initial requests from BuzzFeed and the Electronic Privacy Information Center to expedite the release of the document by the Department of Justice.
"We do not know exactly what the government will produce on Thursday, and I hope the government will be as transparent as possible," Walton said.
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