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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUpdated article MUELLER SPEAKS: Mueller told the AG Barr that the depiction of his findings failed
By Washington Post Staff
April 30 at 7:07 PM
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wrote a letter in late March complaining to Attorney General William P. Barr that a four-page memo to Congress describing the principal conclusions of the investigation into President Trump did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of Muellers work, according to a copy of the letter reviewed Tuesday by The Washington Post.
At the time the letter was sent on March 27, Barr had announced that Mueller had not found a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials seeking to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Barr also said Mueller had not reached a conclusion about whether Trump had tried to obstruct justice, but Barr reviewed the evidence and found it insufficient to support such a charge.
Days after Barrs announcement , Mueller wrote a previously unknown private letter to the Justice Department, which revealed a degree of dissatisfaction with the public discussion of Muellers work that shocked senior Justice Department officials, according to people familiar with the discussions.
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 offices 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.
More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/04/30/mueller-told-the-attorney-general-that-the-depiction-of-his-findings-failed-to-capture-context-nature-and-substance-of-probe/?utm_term=.971a08d66bec
New York Times has an article up as well.
Link to tweet
WASHINGTON Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, wrote a letter in late March to Attorney General William P. Barr objecting to his early description of the Russia investigations conclusions that appeared to clear President Trump on possible obstruction of justice, according to the Justice Department.
The letter adds to the growing evidence of a rift between them and is another sign of the anger among the special counsels investigators about Mr. Barrs characterization of their findings, which allowed Mr. Trump to wrongly claim he had been vindicated.
... snip
A central issue in the simmering dispute is how the publics understanding of the Mueller report has been shaped since the special counsel ended his investigation and delivered his 448-page report on March 22 to the attorney general, his boss and longtime friend. The four-page letter that Mr. Barr sent to Congress two days later gave little detail about the special counsels findings and created the impression that Mr. Muellers team found no wrongdoing, allowing Mr. Trump to declare he had been exonerated.
...snip
In once instance, Mr. Barr took Mr. Muellers words out of context to suggest that the president had no motive to obstruct justice. In another instance, he plucked a fragment from a sentence in the Mueller report that made a conclusion seem less damaging for the president.
More: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/us/politics/mueller-barr.html
Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)BKDem
(1,733 posts)His report is too thorough and detailed to be anything but the truth. I wondered if Barr shut Mueller down. I still wonder.
MyOwnPeace
(16,887 posts)sent him home, then wrote an excuse to the public:
"Donny has been a good boy.
Signed,
Donny's suck-up.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)Leghorn21
(13,520 posts)Standing by...just keep breathing
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)Bleacher Creature
(11,235 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)BootinUp
(46,924 posts)(Picture of Kirk screaming Khaaann!!!!)
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)Justice Department officials said Tuesday they were taken aback by the tone of Muellers letter, and it came as a surprise to them that he had such concerns. Until they received the letter, they believed Mueller was in agreement with them on the process of reviewing the report and redacting certain types of information, a process that took several weeks. Barr has testified to Congress previously that Mueller declined the opportunity to review his four-page letter to lawmakers that distilled the essence of the special counsels findings.
In his letter, Mueller wrote that the redaction process need not delay release of the enclosed materials. Release at this time would alleviate the misunderstandings that have arisen and would answer congressional and public questions about the nature and outcome of our investigation.
... snip
In the report, Mueller described ten significant episodes of possible obstruction of justice, but said that due to long-standing Justice Department policy that says a sitting president cannot be indicted, and because of Justice Department practice regarding fairness toward those under investigation, his team did not reach a conclusion about whether the president had committed a crime.
triron
(21,914 posts)thinks?
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)"William, you're full of shit."
Skittles
(152,963 posts)that's my guess what Mueller really thinks
iluvtennis
(19,756 posts)thorough and detailed oriented guy Mueller is and knew what Barr reported was hinky.
prodigitalson
(2,292 posts)It must be pretty rough. Wonder if he'll wuss out tomorrow or Thursday.
Response to MelissaB (Original post)
SoCalNative This message was self-deleted by its author.
spanone
(135,627 posts)blueinredohio
(6,797 posts)Miles Archer
(18,837 posts)...because if I were on the House Committee, that would be the FIRST thing I'd pull out. Barr can't deny that Mueller contacted him. Barr cooked the books, or as David Corn just said on MSNBC, "Barr pulled the rug out from under him."
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)I updated OP with this one as well.
Link to tweet
WASHINGTON Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, wrote a letter in late March to Attorney General William P. Barr objecting to his early description of the Russia investigations conclusions that appeared to clear President Trump on possible obstruction of justice, according to the Justice Department.
The letter adds to the growing evidence of a rift between them and is another sign of the anger among the special counsels investigators about Mr. Barrs characterization of their findings, which allowed Mr. Trump to wrongly claim he had been vindicated.
... snip
A central issue in the simmering dispute is how the publics understanding of the Mueller report has been shaped since the special counsel ended his investigation and delivered his 448-page report on March 22 to the attorney general, his boss and longtime friend. The four-page letter that Mr. Barr sent to Congress two days later gave little detail about the special counsels findings and created the impression that Mr. Muellers team found no wrongdoing, allowing Mr. Trump to declare he had been exonerated.
... snip
In once instance, Mr. Barr took Mr. Muellers words out of context to suggest that the president had no motive to obstruct justice. In another instance, he plucked a fragment from a sentence in the Mueller report that made a conclusion seem less damaging for the president.
More: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/us/politics/mueller-barr.html
B Stieg
(2,410 posts)and let's see and hear the truth!
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)There is now public confusion about critical aspects of our investigation. This threatens to undermine the purpose for which the Dept appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.
Link to tweet
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)Remember that abuse of powerby an Attorney Generalis an impeachable offense.
Link to tweet
PatrickforO
(14,514 posts)We've got to get Trump out of office. This cretin is going down in history as the absolute worst president this nation has ever had.
EVER.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)Set out impeachment articles and our leadership did not see that?
INdemo
(6,994 posts)justice, it makes Rosenstein look even more like a wimp and a Trump lap dog
captain queeg
(10,035 posts)Glad to see Mueller trying to hold his feet to the fire.
I always questioned Obama letting Bush & Co off the hook. We need to hold this kind of crap and the people who push it accountable or itll keep getting worse.
magicarpet
(13,935 posts)... before you know it the brown shit shirted Nazis are gleefully committing genocide and ethnic cleansing where blue eyes, white skin, and blonde hair are the only human characters allowed and permitted.
The Fascists if allowed to escape justice - is to the detriment of a civilized society and our precious DEMOCRACY.
Nazis must be stopped, stomped down, sanctioned and then punished before they are allowed to act out and perpetrate their beloved atrocities.
canetoad
(17,088 posts)Did it go to both the NYT and Wapo? Are we seeing a new 'Deep Throat'?
gademocrat7
(10,623 posts)Mueller abides by the law. He will not tolerate Barrs own interpretation of his report.
FuzzyRabbit
(1,958 posts)was bullshit as soon as we read it. Evidently the TV news people believed it. NBC news this evening reported about Mueller's letter to Barr and so did my local news. They both were surprised that Mueller would disagree with Barr's conclusions.
And this is a huge problem for our country as those who get their news from TV do not hear the truth. TV news reports on Trump as if he is an ordinary politician. They may report on what he says or tweets, but they never give any background that might show that Trump and his people are liars or in any other way dishonest and manipulative.
Skittles
(152,963 posts)duforsure
(11,882 posts)And Mueller is having nothing to do with it, and I wouldn't want to be in Barr's shoes now. Barr conspired , and has taken part actively to cover up his report for trump, and Mueller will make sure he pays for it by exposing the truth, which Barr and trump are desperately trying to hide. How long before trump is threatening Mueller if he speaks before Congress? He'll use his usual tactics suggesting he was doing things illegally , then use Barr to claim he should be charged and locked up like he used on Hillary. Trump is using Barr as a weapon now to go after others that pose a threat to expose them . Mueller's letter proves he hasn't bought in to protect trump, or lie, and Barr's actions trying to cover up for trump proves how corrupt he really is, and an AG that's a liar.