Former prosecutor John Lauro reveals special counsel will drag heels with Russia probe
A former US federal prosecutor has spoken out to predict that Robert Mueller will delay the submission of his Russia probe report for “many, many months.”
Attorney John Lauro believes that the special counsel is a long way from submitting the final report on the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russian agents.
As 2018 drew to a close, President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani tweeted Sunday that it’s time for Mueller to “put up or shut up.”
But Lauro believes Mueller will drag his heels on the report until a permanent attorney general is in place.
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I challenge Mueller to put up or shut up. You have no evidence of the President being involved in a conspiracy with anyone including Russia to hack. And you also have no evidence of collusion. It’s been 2 years so submit a report to DOJ and we will answer it.
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) December 30, 2018
According to Fox News, Giuliani followed up his “challenge” to the special counsel with another tweet Monday, calling for an end to the “Mueller Witch Hunt.”
I am looking forward to 2019 so we can end the Mueller Witch Hunt before he starts his unpaid traffic ticket investigation. Happy 2019 to all.
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) January 1, 2019
On “America’s News HQ” Tuesday, Lauro, who worked in the criminal division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, said the tough rhetoric is “typical Rudy.”
Lauro said Giuliani is correct that Mueller has not yet revealed any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he noted that Mueller’s team has successfully secured multiple indictments and guilty pleas from former Trump associates and Russian nationals for other crimes.
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Lauro said the timeline is “entirely in Mueller’s hands,” and he predicted that the release of his report could be “many, many months away.”
“The way that the Justice Department procedure works is that the report goes to the attorney general, and then the attorney general decides how much of the report to make public,” Lauro explained.
“I suspect that Mueller will not turn over a report until there is an actual … appointed attorney general in place.”
He said if that’s the case, then Mueller will wait for a permanent replacement to take over for Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
Trump has nominated William Barr, the George H.W. Bush-era leader of the Justice Department, as his next attorney general, but leading Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have expressed concerns about Barr and predicted a lengthy confirmation process.