WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert Mueller's review of Russian interference in the 2016 election is "close to being completed," Acting Attorney General Mathew Whitaker said Monday, suggesting that the investigation that has roiled Washington for nearly two years may be nearing its conclusion.

“Right now the investigation is – I think – close to being completed," Whitaker said in his first public comments on the probe he now supervises. "I hope we can get the report from Director Mueller as soon as possible."

The timing of Mueller's investigation had been a matter of intense speculation since months after it began in May 2017. Since then, the special counsel has brought criminal charges against a succession of aides and associates of President Donald Trump, mainly for lying about interactions with Russia or intermediaries linked to the Kremlin. The charges have laid out intense interest by Trump's associates in benefiting from Russian efforts to sway the election in his favor, but have not accused the president or any of his aides of participating in the scheme.

Whitaker didn't say exactly when he thought the investigation would end.

And prosecutors' public actions suggest they may still be gathering evidence. Investigators carried out a search on Friday at the home of Roger Stone, the longtime Trump adviser charged with lying to Congress. Separately, Mueller's office is still fighting in federal court to force a reluctant witness to testify to a grand jury.

Whitaker had been critical of the Mueller probe before he joined the Justice Department as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in late 2017. Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt," named Whitaker acting attorney general in November after firing Sessions.

“I have been fully briefed on the investigation. I look forward to Director Mueller delivering the final report," Whitaker said. "I really am not going to talk about an open and ongoing investigation otherwise. But the statements I made were as a private citizen with only publicly available information."

Whitaker said decisions in the probe would be reviewed.

"I am comfortable that the decisions that were made are going to reviewed ... through the various means that we have," Whitaker said. He did not elaborate.

Trump's lawyers did not immediately respond to Whitaker's remarks and a spokesperson for Mueller's team declined to comment.

William Barr, Trump's nominee to become attorney general, has assured senators that he wouldn't fire Mueller without cause and that he would release as much of Mueller's final report as possible.

Whitaker's tenure temporarily leading the Justice Department has led to questions due to past comments he'd made about the Russia investigation, which he now oversees. Whitaker suggested that the probe, which was assigned to Mueller after Sessions recused himself because he worked on Trump's campaign, should end and that the department could starve it of funding.

Ethics officials at the Justice Department recommended that Whitaker recuse himself from overseeing Mueller's investigation, a precaution due to his previous remarks, but Whitaker decided not to disqualify himself and has continued to oversee the probe.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Monday that "an Acting Attorney General who refuses to follow the advice of ethics lawyers and recuse himself from an investigation in which he has shown a clear bias is the last person who should speak for the Special Counsel."

Some Democrats and Republicans also have questioned the legality of Whitaker's appointment, arguing that even an interim replacement for Sessions requires Senate confirmation, a level of scrutiny that Whitaker did not go through.

Whitaker is scheduled to testify Feb. 8 at the House Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on Barr's nomination and a full Senate vote could come as early as next week.

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