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WASHINGTON – TV crews were placed in front of the offices of the special advocate, the federal court house and, at least before leaving the office, in McLean, Virginia, home of the new Attorney General, William P. Barr.
Capitol Hill's lawmakers are so desperate that they ask their aides to call the Ministry of Justice contacts to beg for a piece.
Publishing houses are scrambling to produce instant books of results. Newspapers deploy small armies of journalists. In bars, restaurants, cocktails and street corners, people ask the same question.
When does it come out?
Washington – nervous and full of rumors, like a ship propped up in the air in the face of a storm – is waiting for the report of the special council, Robert S. Mueller III, on Russia's interference in the 2016 election and on the fact that President Trump or his aides conspired in the effort or hindered justice. It may or may not be the report of the century, it may or may not be ready soon, and it may last only a few pages. But this is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated documents in the capital since the arrival of the Starr report on President Bill Clinton by truck to Capitol Hill in September 1998.
The actual information – in fact, no information from Mueller's astonishing team – is virtually non-existent. "People who know do not speak and those who do not stop," said Antonia Ferrier, former director of communications of Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican and leader of the majority.
The result is tension between the two parties, who have plunged into space to try to frame the next chapter of Mr. Trump's presidency.
The Democrats, worried about Mr. Mueller's report being a failure, are now presenting it as a step in their upcoming inquiries into a presiding chaplain of accusations of wrongdoing. They say that the House, which they control, has the duty to monitor, regardless of the findings of the special advocate.
"I have the utmost respect for Mr. Mueller. I accept what it brings, said Maryland's representative, Elijah E. Cummings, chairman of the monitoring and reform committee. "But it can not be the end of it."
In the meantime, the Democrats of the House are minimizing impeachment discussions in favor of new congressional inquiries likely to absorb Mr. Mueller's findings and allow for a thorough examination if the president is removed. Their subjects are familiar: contacts with Russians, obstruction of justice, abuse of power and plans to buy the silence of an actress of pornographic films who allegedly claimed a relationship with Mr. Trump.
"The mission of the House of Representatives is very different from that of Special Advisor Mueller's investigation," said Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee, where any indictment proceedings would be initiated.
Mr. Lieu said the Democrats in the House would reject the assumption that Mr. Mueller's granting Mr. Trump personal co-ordination with the Russians would amount to a broader exemption.
"It's not because he got rid of one," said Mr. Lieu, "that nine others are at liberty."
The president and his allies continue to characterize the investigation as large – Mr Trump prefers to call it "WITCH HUNT" in all capitals – and have kept the bar very high for wrongdoing. Surely confident that Mueller would not find evidence of a plot between Mr. Trump and Russia, they systematically sought to reduce Mr. Mueller's investigation to one term – "collusion" – or bankruptcy.
They insist that anything that does not correspond to this, including a charge of obstructing justice, would justify dismissing the investigation.
"If Mueller found nothing with his zealous, clever and implacable investigators, the FBI, a grand jury, and an unknown discipline of congressional groups, multiple House Democratic committees would not be a search for the truth but a forum for launching. attacks on the president, "wrote Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Mr Trump's lawyers, over a weekend .In respect of acts that may be qualified as obstruction of justice, Mr. Trump rightly exercises the powers conferred upon him by the Constitution, added Mr. Giuliani.
When the president left the White House to travel to Alabama, and last weekend in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, he made his confidence known. "Continue the hoax," he told reporters before heading to Marine One. "It's only a hoax."
Congressional Republicans, although privately fearing that Mr. Mueller might still offer an unpleasant surprise, provided reinforcements. Georgia Representative Doug Collins, a Republican on the Judiciary Committee, gathered journalists on Friday to say the Democrats were embarking on a "fishing expedition" because they "do not believe they will get" what they ask for – and dying for two years.
In the meantime, conjectures have dominated social gatherings in Washington, where debates on the precedent often come from Whitewater to Watergate.
On Monday night, hundreds of people gathered in the Bier Baron tavern near Dupont Circle to sip breweries. Randall D. Eliason, a former federal attorney who currently teaches law at George Washington University, gave lectures on the Mueller Inquiry and Trivia. (Q: Who accused the Russian of being co-accused with Paul Manafort, former president of the Trump campaign, for tampering with witnesses? A: Konstantin V. Kilimnik.) Mr. Eliason also downplayed any expectation that the president is charged or the entire report of Mr. Mueller is available to ordinary citizens.
"If you do not charge someone, you do not write a report about it and do not post it to the public," Eliason said. "It's just not the way the Justice Department is supposed to work."
A few kilometers from Florida Avenue, in the bustling Adams Morgan neighborhood, Lee Farmer, a planner, and Elizabeth Rairigh, a historian of preservation of history, were drinking wine at the Jack Rose Dining Saloon, both exhausted by the news of the publication of the report.
"I have this constant anticipation of something," Ms. Rairigh said. "Every day, I am disappointed."
Ms. Farmer said that she had recently given up on cable television – an improvement, she joked, for her mental health. She added about the report: "I'll know it before I die."
Inside the White House, the preparation was not much longer.
No War Room is Preparing Mr. Mueller's Findings and No Intent to Establish One, as Mr. Clinton Did When He Was Charged and May Be Removed from Office . There are no calls with surrogates to align a messaging plan. The president's advisers are just flying blind, said one person directly involved in the planning, who was not allowed to discuss it.
Their problem is familiar. White House officials do not know for sure that the report will be sent to the White House for consideration of the privilege issues of the executive before being submitted to the Department of Justice, not to mention that what he will say.
For those who are involved in the investigation of a special board, the wait is even more busy.
"My family's life has been on hiatus for two years and we are waiting to play the game since the rumors about the end of the investigation," said Michael R. Caputo, a former Trump campaign collaborator, interviewed by Mr. Mueller. team.
The review cost Mr. Caputo considerable business and legal costs, he said, but he expressed optimism that the publication of Mr. Mueller's findings will allow him to continue.
"Do it with the report already," he said.
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