Detailed analysis of the redacted Mueller report that was released Thursday will go on for weeks. But one thing is immediately clear: Attorney General William Barr…
Detailed analysis of the redacted Mueller report that was released Thursday will go on for weeks. But one thing is immediately clear: Attorney General William Barr jumped the gun when he declared last month and again Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller did not find enough evidence to «establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.»
First, Barr has form here. Long before he was attorney general or knew any of the facts we know now, he had conclusively decided that it would be impossible for Trump to obstruct justice. So it’s no surprise that his opinion hasn’t changed now that the report is out.
But Mueller and his team came to a different conclusion. While recognizing that “the evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues,” they did not conclude that the evidence of obstruction was on the fence and decide to leave the final determination to Barr. Instead, they concluded that, despite the evidence they had uncovered, it would be improper to make a formal finding that the president had violated the law. They made this decision not because they concluded the president was not guilty, but because, under current Department of Justice practice, a sitting president can’t be indicted.
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Mueller’s team offered two reasons for declining to recommend prosecution of the president on obstruction charges.
