Here's the whitewash letter (pdf) Trump's hand-picked Attorney General William "Dis" Barr sent to Congress today providing his "principal conclusions" from the Mueller report. Here are some reactions:
Marcy Wheeler
Attorney General William Barr just engaged in utterly cowardly dereliction of duty. [snip]
Here’s the thing, though: at least given what they lay out here, they only considered whether Trump was covering up his involvement in the hack-and-leak operation. It doesn’t consider whether Trump was covering up a quid pro quo, which is what there is abundant evidence of.
They didn’t consider whether Trump obstructed the crime that he appears to have obstructed. They considered whether he obstructed a different crime. And having considered whether Trump obstructed the crime he didn’t commit, rather than considering whether he obstructed the crime he did commit, they decided not to charge him with a crime.Neal Katyal
“I hate saying that, but I have to say, given what Barr found on obstruction of justice, I think all of us should be very concerned even-handedness of the way this investigation was treated,” Katyal added.
“I think there is reason to be very concerned, given what he wrote here — that you have a two-year investigation and Mueller doesn’t make the final determination — says there’s evidence on both sides — and then you have Barr swoop in and within 48 hours make a decision,” he continued. “There is something deeply troubling about that, and it’s the same troubling thing identified during the Barr hearings, which is he wrote this kooky 19-page memo which said, effectively, presidents can’t obstruct justice.
“I’m worried that this is part of that ludicrous legal view. I don’t know what Barr’s ultimate decisions were here because he doesn’t tell us and that’s the point.
“The American public needs to know — Congress needs to know — how exactly did he conclude there was no obstruction of justice and if it’s really about the lack of intent on the part of Trump, how the heck could he know that when he didn’t even try and interview Trump?” Katyal concluded.
Rep. Jerry Nadler
“The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’”— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
Barbara McQuade
Odd that (1) #Mueller would reach no conclusion on obstruction and (2) AG would decide the issue for him. This defeats the whole purpose of a special counsel, which is to avoid conflicts of interest by those in the executive branch chain of command.— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) March 24, 2019
Vladimir Putin
Reporters from CNN and the New York Times confirm that Mueller was not consulted in the Barr letter.
Context as you read: am told Special Counsel Robert Mueller was not consulted on this letter. This was the product of the Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, per DOJ official.— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) March 24, 2019
Per a DOJ official: #Mueller was not consulted in the creation of this letter to Congress, nor was he at the department today. It was the product of Barr, Rosenstein and advisors including from the office of legal counsel.— Katie Benner (@ktbenner) March 24, 2019
Looks like Trump found the right guy to try to bury the Mueller report after all.
We need to see the full report, then have Mueller testify under oath to Congress about his (not Barr's) findings.
UPDATE: Barr has a significant history of covering up wrongdoing by other Republican administrations. He was/ is a regular one man clean- up crew.
