04-18-2019, 01:59 PM
Well, Attorney General Bill Barr held a press conference prior to the Justice Department releasing the redacted Mueller report this morning.
Barr again contended that Mueller's report shows that Mueller did not consider the fact that there is a Justice Department protocol discouraging the indictment of a sitting President when he chose to leave the matter open-ended.
However, on the contrary............the Mueller report shows that Mueller did, in fact, contact the Justice Department's attorneys before choosing not to indict nor to exonerate President Trump.
And, Mueller's report does not indicate that he left it to Barr and Rosenstein to weigh the evidence of obstruction and make the final decision. He instead referred to Congress.
"If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," Mueller wrote. "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment."
Mueller's report also explicitly states that "we concluded that Congress has authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice."
“Congress can permissibly criminalize certain obstructive conduct by the President, such as suborning perjury, intimidating witnesses, or fabricating evidence, because those prohibitions raise no separation-of-powers questions," wrote Mueller.
So, we'll likely see further investigation and hearings by the congressional oversight committees.
Full Mueller report, 448 pages (with coded redactions): https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/04/1...chable.pdf
Barr again contended that Mueller's report shows that Mueller did not consider the fact that there is a Justice Department protocol discouraging the indictment of a sitting President when he chose to leave the matter open-ended.
However, on the contrary............the Mueller report shows that Mueller did, in fact, contact the Justice Department's attorneys before choosing not to indict nor to exonerate President Trump.
And, Mueller's report does not indicate that he left it to Barr and Rosenstein to weigh the evidence of obstruction and make the final decision. He instead referred to Congress.
"If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," Mueller wrote. "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment."
Mueller's report also explicitly states that "we concluded that Congress has authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice."
“Congress can permissibly criminalize certain obstructive conduct by the President, such as suborning perjury, intimidating witnesses, or fabricating evidence, because those prohibitions raise no separation-of-powers questions," wrote Mueller.
So, we'll likely see further investigation and hearings by the congressional oversight committees.
Full Mueller report, 448 pages (with coded redactions): https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/04/1...chable.pdf