Mueller Team Allegations Against Barr Could Be A ‘Game Changer,’ Claim Legal Experts
Special Counsel Robert Mueller recently finalized his investigation into Russian election interference and possible conspiracy involving Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, establishing that neither Trump nor members of his team conspired with Russia to beat Hillary Clinton.
This was revealed in a memo released by Attorney General William Barr, in which he directly quoted the Mueller report. Mueller did not, however, clear Trump of obstruction of justice, seemingly leaving the decision up to the attorney general.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, top Democrats have continued to allege collusion, while calling for the release of the full Mueller report. According to Barr, a redacted report will be released by mid-April, and the special counsel will help with redacting potentially sensitive information.
Nevertheless, hopes of a Trump-Russia conspiracy reignited following reports from two of the nation’s leading papers: The New York Times and The Washington Post. The NYT was the first to report that some members of Robert Mueller’s team feel that Barr is misrepresenting the special counsel’s findings.
The Post independently confirmed the reporting, clarifying that the Mueller team’s concerns pertain to obstruction of justice, and not conspiracy — the core claim of the Trump-Russia theory, and the matter Mueller was appointed to investigate.
Our special report tonight:
How Mueller cleared Trump of conspiracy, but not obstruction — and why the *primary legal sources* here are indictments and The Report, not a letter about it. https://t.co/yk0jx24WrA
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 28, 2019
Legal experts are now weighing in, interpreting what Mueller team’s decision to dispute — albeit anonymously — parts of Barr’s memo could mean. Newsweek talked to former Department of Justice prosecutor Gene Rossi and Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman. According to the former, Mueller team’s allegations could be a “game-changer,” and according to the latter “people have a good right to get angry” at the attorney general.
“The two reports raise incredibly serious questions about the legitimacy of the process of handling this report. That’s my view. It’s a game changer,” Rossi explained, describing Barr’s letter as “tainted,” since the attorney general appears to have omitted or misrepresented key information about potential obstruction of justice by Donald Trump.
“When you’re sitting there having done this investigation for two years and you see the whole thing being misused and used politically to support Donald Trump, and being done by the attorney general no less, I think people have a good right to get angry,” Akerman said, opining that the Justice Department is clearly opposed to releasing the Mueller report, since they could hand over their findings to Jerry Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee immediately.
“They’re just dragging their feet and slow-rolling this thing so that Donald Trump can go around the country saying he was exonerated based on this ridiculous four-page letter that Barr issued,” the former Watergate prosecutor added.
