U.S. Special Counsel Mueller to speak on Russia probe at 11 a.m. ET

By Makini Brice

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller will make a statement at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) for his first public comments on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

Mueller will not take questions after his statement, the Justice Department said.

A redacted version of the Mueller report was published in April, concluding there was no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow. But Mueller declined to make a judgment on whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice, though the report outlined 10 instances in which Trump tried to impede the investigation.

Since then, Democratic lawmakers have tried to get the full report and underlying evidence, but the Justice Department has not cooperated. The House Judiciary Committee is also negotiating for Mueller to testify at a hearing.

Trump has said the investigation exonerated him after regularly using Twitter to denounce it as a witch hunt.

Earlier this month, Trump said Mueller should not testify before Congress but that the final decision was up to Attorney General William Barr. Democrats have denounced Barr, saying he misrepresented the special counsel’s findings.

(Watch Mueller live at 11 a.m. https://www.reuters.com/live/mueller-report)

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Bill Trott)