Report: Mueller Objected to Barr’s Report Rollout But Did Not Say It Was Inaccurate

 

 

 

Breitbart: Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote Attorney General William Barr a letter in late March complaining that Barr’s four-page letter to Congress describing the conclusions of the investigation “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the special counsel’s investigation, the Washington Post reportedTuesday.

Mueller’s March 27 letter “revealed a degree of dissatisfaction with the public discussion of the special counsel’s work that shocked senior Justice Department officials,” the Post reported, citing “people familiar with the discussions.”

Mueller reportedly wrote:

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 office’s work and conclusions. 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.

Mueller also reportedly requested that Barr release the report’s introductions and executive summaries, and he made “initial suggested redactions for doing so,” according to Justice Department officials.

News of Mueller’s complaints come on the eve of Barr’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning – set to be contentious between Senate Democrats and the Attorney General.

Democrats have accused Barr of trying to secure the most favorable outcome possible for President Trump after the report’s conclusion.

Barr notified members of Congress that Mueller had submitted his report to him on March 22.

On March 24, Barr released a letter to Congress that notified members of Mueller’s “principal conclusions” that the special counsel did not establish any collusion between any member of the Trump campaign and Russia, and did not make a determination on whether the president obstructed justice. Barr subsequently said it was his decision as attorney general to conclude that the president did not obstruct justice.

Barr later argued that his letter was not meant to be a “summary” of the report, and that he wanted the public to know the principal conclusions as quickly as possible after receiving the report before it underwent redactions for release to the public.

The anonymous Justice Department officials told the Post on Tuesday that they were “taken aback by the tone of Mueller’s letter,” and said it was “a surprise to them that he had such concerns.”

Barr has testified that he gave Mueller the opportunity to review his four-page letter, but Mueller declined.

The Post also reported that Barr and Mueller spoke by phone for 15 minutes after Barr released his letter, according to law enforcement officials.

Mueller reportedly said he was concerned that news coverage of the obstruction investigation was misguided and creating public misunderstandings about the special counsel’s work, Justice Department officials told the Post.

However, the Post also reported:

When Barr pressed him whether he thought Barr’s letter was inaccurate, Mueller said he did not, but felt that the media coverage of the letter was misinterpreting the investigation, officials said.

Barr reportedly told Mueller his letter was not a “summary” and that he did not want to put out pieces of the report, but to issue it all at once with redactions.  more here