Mueller Told Barr Three Weeks Ago He Wouldn't Reach Obstruction Conclusion

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Allegra Kirkland

March 25, 2019 1:27 pm

Attorney General Bill Barr has known for three weeks that special counsel Robert Mueller would not be making a determination on whether President Trump obstructed justice, multiple outlets reported Monday. bA source told CNN that this “unexpected” move on Mueller’s part left it to Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to determine how to weigh in on the issue.

There has been much speculation over how it took Barr only 48 hours from the time Mueller’s final report was submitted on Friday to release his Sunday afternoon summary, in which he said he and Rosenstein concluded there was “not sufficient” evidence to bring such a charge. This new development reveals the two Justice Department officials had more time to reach this conclusion. It’s not clear how much of the evidence Barr and Rosenstein were shown before Friday.

Barr noted in his four-page letter that Mueller laid out the evidence on both sides of the obstruction question, stating that, “‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’”

Lawmakers from both parties are still pushing for the full report to be released so the public can know exactly how Mueller determined that the Trump campaign did not coordinate with Russia in 2016, and his reasoning on the obstruction question.

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Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mueller-told-barr-no-decision-obstruction

[cstanleytech]

1. Mueller should have forced Trump to be sworn under oath or take the 5th and because he did not press

it he failed this nation imo.

[lagomorph777]

5. Don't assume Barr's spin on Mueller is accurate.

The truth will emerge, and it won't be favorable to Barr.

[cstanleytech]

11. I am simply saying that in respect for the whole obstruction aspect he appears to have done

a disservice to the country as he should have pressed Trump to testify or face the potential consequences for refusing.

[lagomorph777]

12. I don't see any reason to believe Barr's claim that Mueller was never blocked.

That remains to be seen.

[angrychair]

19. You forget

That Mueller is a Republican.

Rosenstein is a Republican.

Barr is a Republican.

The law to create a Special Counsel is absurd on its face: it gives full control of the investigation to an appointee of the person being investigated.

We have a law, written by a Republican, to allow a bunch of Republicans to investigate some other Republicans and say "we are all innocent. Investigation complete. Bonus for everyone."

[lagomorph777]

22. I agree with all of that. But I am not ready to condemn Mueller based on Barr's BS.

[zentrum]

8. Yup.

I think Mueller was weak.

[BigmanPigman]

17. I have been watching MSNBC and the pundits

have ALL been saying they do not understand why Mueller didn't have him testify. None of them can figure out why and they worked with the guy in the past and respect him. This is why Mueller must testify as well as releasing the entire report.

Some are also saying that Rosenstein may have been protecting himself from obstruction charges by working on this "summary and release" with Barr.

[Honeycombe8]

2. Yet, several weeks ago it was reported that Barr had not spoken with Mueller.

I wonder which is true.

[Turbineguy]

3. If you can't trust a fix, what can you trust?

[FBaggins]

4. That explains how they knew the end of the investigation was looming

It probably also explains why they were optimistic re: "no collusion". Obviously, if there was going to be a charge of collusion made, then it would be pretty hard to deny obstruction given just what was public.

[DirtEdonE]

6. Come on now. What bullshit!

mueller couldn't reach a conclusion on OBSTRUCTION???

We all read and saw enough evidence with our own eyes but mueller, with a room full of attorneys and the power of special counsel couldn't find evidence of obstruction.

Ask yourself, be honest, no one else has to know your answer but you - what does all this tell you?

[rockfordfile]

13. This so-called investigation was a white wash.

Mueller a republican and Barr a republican. The history is that Republicans don't prosecute Republicans.

[DirtEdonE]

20. +1 That's right, plain and simple. nt

[DallasNE]

15. Just Like Comey Staying Silent On Russian Penetration & Shouting

New Clinton email uncovered when all he had was an old backup file that might have some of the email Clinton deleted before turning her server over to the FBI. On a scale of 1-10 the Russian interference was a 10 and the Clinton email was a 1.

[DirtEdonE]

21. And now we have the traitor and the gop ready to start new investigations

Into Clinton! Obama! Everyone with a (D) after their name, it seems.

The first phase of the dictatorship is over. They've cemented control over all branches of government. Next phase is when they start jailing their opposition over false or "trump"ed up charges. By then, we Democrats will have to escape across the border to run a government in exile. Just like Germany in the 1930s.

[yaesu]

7. So tRump knew 3 weeks ago that he would get off scot-free

I wondered why he had that extra snap in his walk back then.

[bluestarone]

9. Well if he can't then i'm sure

The HOUSE CAN!!!

[onenote]

10. Are we still trusting reports based on unidentified "sources"? When will we learn?

[Lonestarblue]

14. Did Mueller tell Barr, or did Barr tell Mueller not to bother with a decision on obstruction?

Barr was appointed for a reason, and he has lived up to expectations. I can only hope that we have a patriot somewhere who will leak the full report. Otherwise, we will not know the truth.

Another question I have is what happened to the counterintelligence investigation. Is Trump a Russian asset or not? He sure acts like one.

[iluvtennis]

16. If the report exonerates trump, then rethugs have no reason not

to release it to the public. I won’t hold my breath for the rethugs to do the right thing

[Basement Beat]

18. Sorry...but republicans are republicans.

They will always remain so.