As the political world gears up for the release of Robert Mueller’s report—or a redacted version of it, at least—the Justice Department announced Wednesday that the hotly-anticipated document will be introduced once again not by Mueller himself, but by Attorney General William Barr. The A.G. will hold a press conference at 9:30 A.M. Thursday to discuss the report—which, with the report’s congressional and public release set for between 11:00 A.M. and noon, will be before lawmakers and the public get to see it for themselves. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to attend the press conference, but the Special Counsel's office has confirmed that Mueller and his team won't be present, leaving it up to Barr to speak about the report.

Thursday’s press conference is not the first time Barr has stepped in as Mueller’s narrator, having already issued a four-page summary of the report’s findings back in March. Based on his track record, there’s reason to wonder whether the A.G. will be the most reliable messenger for the 400-page report: Barr’s initial summary, which claimed Mueller’s evidence was “not sufficient” to support an obstruction of justice charge against President Donald Trump, was criticized by members of Mueller's team for “fail[ing] to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry.” The Trump appointee also has a history of writing not-entirely-accurate D.O.J. summaries. A report Barr wrote in 1989 at the Office of Legal Counsel apparently neglected to include key conclusions from the document he was summarizing.

In addition to Barr’s introduction to the report Thursday morning, the A.G. will also have influence over the document itself. Parts of the report will be redacted by Barr, presumably to keep classified information private. Though Trump detractors fear the redactions could also help to protect the president from Mueller’s more damaging findings, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that the report will be “lightly redacted,” with a “granular look” at the evidence behind the obstruction allegations against Trump. The Justice Department also said Wednesday that a limited number of lawmakers will receive a copy of the report with fewer redactions—though not the completely unredacted version Democrats have been pushing for.

Barr’s press conference, of course, will be a boon for the White House’s broad-scale response to the report, joining Rudy Giuliani’s expected “counter-report” and a potential press conference from the president himself in pushing an anti-Mueller narrative before the report’s contents are fully known. But the news that Barr will be holding court on the Mueller report to “pre-spin” its findings—at least 90 minutes before members of Congress receive the report via C.D.-ROM—has inspired fury among Democratic lawmakers, particularly after the New York Times reported the D.O.J. has been sharing the report’s findings with the White House while leaving Congress in the dark. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter that Barr had “thrown out his credibility and the D.O.J.’s independence” with the move, while Rep. Adam Schiff tweeted, “This is not justice. Just P.R.” House Judiciary chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler held his own press conference decrying the move, before joining with other House committee chairs in calling on Barr to cancel the “unnecessary and inappropriate” press conference. “These new actions by the Attorney General reinforce our concern that he is acting to protect President Trump,” the committee chairs wrote, calling on Barr to let the report “speak for itself.” “With the Special Counsel’s fact-gathering work concluded, it is now Congress’ responsibility to assess the findings and evidence and proceed accordingly.”

This post has been updated.

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