A U.S. civil liberties privacy group has filed a lawsuit seeking the public release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his 22-month probe into potential interference by Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) brought the Freedom of Information Act suit against the Department of Justice, the group said in an announcement posted on its website on Friday.
“The public has a right to know the full scope of Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election and whether the president of the United States played any role in such interference,” read the lawsuit.
“The public also has a right to know whether the president unlawfully obstructed any investigation into Russian election interference or related matters. The requested records are vital to the public’s understanding of these issues and to the integrity of the political system of the United States,” the document read.
Mueller delivered his final report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Friday afternoon, but no details of the report have been released. Barr said he will be reviewing the report and could release details as early as this weekend.
EPIC isn’t alone in calling for the release of the report. Democrats have also delivered a rallying cry for the report to be released.
“Now that special counsel Mueller has submitted his report to the attorney general, it is imperative for Mr. (William) Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.
She also added that the president shouldn’t be allowed to view the document ahead of its release, which Rudy Giuliani, U.S. President Donald Trump’s attorney, had previously suggested.
In addition, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a non-binding resolution to make Mueller’s report public.
The Justice Department was expected to release the main findings of the report as soon as Saturday.
For now, the report remains accessible only to a handful of Justice Department officials while Barr prepares to release the “principal conclusions.”
—With a file from the Associated Press