WASHINGTON — Barr testifies he was surprised by Mueller’s decision
Update: Attorney General William Barr said he was surprised that special counsel Robert Mueller and his team did not reach a conclusion on whether or not President Donald Trump obstructed justice.
Barr said in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that Mueller told him of his team’s plans at a March 5 meeting. A Justice Department legal opinion says sitting presidents cannot be indicted.
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Barr said Mueller told him he wouldn’t have recommended indicting the president even without that opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel. Barr said Mueller told him that there may come a time when the Justice Department should consider revisiting that opinion but that this is not that case.
Mueller wrote a letter saying that Barr’s summary of his Russia report created “public confusion about critical aspects of the results.”
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By ERIC TUCKER and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press – Associated Press – Wednesday, May 01, 2019
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Previous report:
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr defended his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report on Wednesday amid new revelations that Mueller expressed frustration to Barr about how the attorney general was portraying the investigation’s findings.
Barr’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since releasing a redacted version of the report, promised to be a dramatic showdown as Democrats confront him with allegations that he spun the investigation’s findings in President Donald Trump’s favor. Democrats were also likely to accuse him of misleading lawmakers last month when he suggested he was unaware of concerns on the Mueller team about his actions.
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Barr’s appearance Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to highlight the partisan schism around Mueller’s report and the Justice Department’s handling of it. It will give the attorney general his most extensive opportunity to explain the department’s actions, including a press conference held before the report’s release, and for him to repair a reputation bruised by allegations that he’s the president’s protector.
Barr noted in his prepared testimony Wednesday that Mueller concluded his investigation without any interference and that neither the attorney general nor any other Justice Department official overruled the special counsel on any action he wanted to take. Barr also defended his decision to step in and clear the president of obstruction of justice after Mueller presented evidence on both sides but didn’t reach a conclusion.
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“The Deputy Attorney General and I knew that we had to make this assessment because, as I previously explained, the prosecutorial judgment whether a crime has been established is an integral part of the Department’s criminal process,” Barr said in his testimony.
A major focus of the hearing was sure to be the Tuesday night revelation that Mueller told Barr, in a letter to the Justice Department and in a phone call, that he was frustrated with how the conclusions of his investigation were being portrayed.
Mueller’s letter, dated March 27, conveys his frustration that Barr released what the attorney general saw as the bottom-line conclusions of the special counsel’s investigation and not the introductions and executive summaries that Mueller’s team had prepared and believed conveyed more nuance and context than Barr’s own letter. Mueller said he had communicated the same concern two days earlier.
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“The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions,” Mueller wrote.
“There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”
At an unrelated hearing last month, Rep. Charlie Crist of Florida asked Barr about media reports of frustration within the special counsel’s office about the way the report’s findings were characterizing. Asked if he knew what those concerns referred to, Barr said, “No, I don’t.”
Barr also is invited to appear Thursday before the Democratic-led House Judiciary panel, but the Justice Department said he would not testify if the committee insisted on having its lawyers question the attorney general.
Democrats were likely to press Barr on statements and actions in the past six weeks that have exasperated them. The tense relations are notable given how Barr breezed through his confirmation process , picking up support from a few Democrats and offering reassuring words about the Justice Department’s independence and the importance of protecting the special counsel’s investigation.
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Mueller’s letter, dated March 27, conveys his unhappiness that Barr released what the attorney general saw as the bottom-line conclusions of the special counsel’s investigation and not the introductions and executive summaries that Mueller’s team had prepared and believed conveyed more nuance and context than Barr’s own letter. Mueller said he had communicated the same concern two days earlier.
“There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation,” Mueller wrote in his letter to Barr. “This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”
Barr appeared unmoved by the criticism. He said repeatedly that Mueller had assured him that the information in Barr’s letter of conclusions was not inaccurate but he simply wanted more information out. Barr said he didn’t believe a piecemeal release of information was beneficial, and besides, it wasn’t Mueller’s call to make.
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Once Mueller submitted his report, his work was done and the document was “my baby,” Barr insisted defiantly.
“It was my decision how and when to make it public. Not Bob Mueller’s,” he said.
Barr also complained that Mueller did not, as requested, identify grand jury material in his report when he submitted it, slowing down the public release of the report as the Justice Department worked to black out sensitive information.
Barr noted that Mueller concluded his investigation without any interference and that neither the attorney general nor any other Justice Department official overruled the special counsel on any action he wanted to take. Barr also defended his decision to step in and clear the president of obstruction of justice after Mueller presented evidence on both sides but didn’t reach a conclusion.
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