Attorney General Barr says he 'disagreed with' Mueller over what constituted obstruction of justice
Special Counsel Robert Mueller wasn't always on the same page as the Justice Department.
On Thursday, Attorney General William Barr gave a press conference ahead of releasing a redacted version of Mueller's report on Russian election interference. Mueller's team, Barr revealed Thursday, specifically probed "10 episodes" in determining whether President Trump obstructed justice, all of which are mentioned in the report. But Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "disagreed with some of the special counsel’s legal theories and felt that some of the episodes did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law," Barr said, implying that Mueller did think some of Trump's actions constituted obstruction.
As Barr indicated in his early Mueller report findings, Mueller left the question of whether Trump obstructed justice for the attorney general to determine. Barr said Mueller did not exonerate Trump, but he did decline to charge Trump with obstruction — something Trump spun as a massive victory. The full redacted report will be available to Congress at 11 a.m. and to the public shortly after.
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