White House lawyer slammed Mueller report's 'political statements' in letter to Barr

Special Counsel Robert Mueller wasn't the only one sending fiery letters to Attorney General William Barr.

The day after the Mueller report's April 18 redacted release, White House lawyer Emmet Flood sent some big complaints about what he called its "political statements" to Barr, a letter published by several media outlets Thursday reveals. Flood specifically took issue with how the report said evidence "prevent[ed] [it] from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred" because that was "not the SCO's assigned task" and is "never the task of the federal prosecutor," he wrote.

Flood, who was a special counsel himself under former President George W. Bush, wrote in the letter that the Mueller report contained an "extraordinary legal defect" he didn't want to see become a "precedent." Mueller's team was tasked with compiling evidence and then needed to "either ask the grand jury to return an indictment or decline to charge the case." But "the SCO instead produced a prosecutorial curiosity — part 'truth commission' report and part law school exam paper," Flood ruthlessly continued. He then went on for four and a half pages before asking Barr to include his letter in department records with the Mueller report.

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Flood was Trump's acting White House counsel from October to December 2018, though he turned down a Trump job earlier. He has represented former Vice President Dick Cheney, but also former President Bill Clinton in his impeachment proceedings. Find the whole letter here.