The nine-page memorandum was released on Wednesday as part of of lawsuit over public records related to the Mueller investigation. Heavily edited version of the note was previously published in 2021, but a federal court ordered the Justice Department to make full document public.
“It would be rare for federal prosecutors open a criminal case for an obstruction that did not arise by itself out of production related to a particular crimewrote then senior Justice Department officials Steven Engel and Ed O’Callaghan. in document that contains with official recommendation against Trump’s indictment, which Barr signed and approved on March 24, 2019
This is the same date that Barr notified Congress. of his decision not go after Trump, which was later criticized by Mueller and legal analysts for a selection of cherries from the Mueller report.
The memorandum contains the legal analysis that was presented to Barr. Two federal courts involved in in public case records concluded that Barr did not in fact rely on memo for legal advice, never seriously considered indicting Trump, already made up his mind before he ordered the memorandum, and that he signed the memorandum after notifying Congress of his decision.
Last week, in ruling that full memo should be released, a federal appeals court called the memorandum an “academic exercise” or “thought experiment” designed to support public roll out of controversial decision against Trump’s accusation. Citizens filed suit for Responsibility and ethics in Washington, and government guard dog group.
How Barr Broke with Muller
In a memo, Barr’s deputies criticized Mueller’s analysis. of related filibuster cases, and said that Trump should not be charged because, among other things, “there is no precedent” and argues that Mueller was unable to find any comparable case. with “remotely similar circumstances.”
“In every successful case of obstruction given in Report (Muller), corrupt actions were taken to prevent investigation and prosecution of separate crime”, Barr’s aides said. in their reminder. “Existence of such an offense is not a necessary element in proving a charge of obstruction, but the absence of the underlying wine is relevant and powerful proof.”
Mueller concluded that there were several incidents with hard evidence of hurdles from Trump. But Barr’s deputies argued that Trump was basically “trying to change the process under with the special prosecutor’s investigation was ongoing” but did not attempt to “deliberately alter the evidence”, which would more serious and maybe criminal.
In particular, Barr’s deputies concluded that Trump did not violate the law. in Any of incidents noted by Muller. including Trump. firing of FBI Director James Comey and his previous request to Comey to take it easy in in criminal probe of his former chief adviser Michael Flynn.
“President’s expression of “hoping” that Comey would “let it go” clearly didn’t direct specific action in Flynn’s investigation, and Comey at the time did not react as if he had received a direct order from the President,” Barr’s deputies wrote. in internal memo.
Barr aides to some extent gave credence to the idea that Trump may have thwarted the filibuster by informing Don McGahn, his White House. counsel to write a memo saying he never tried fire Muller. Barr’s aides admit that Trump probably knew this was not true, but “there is not enough evidence to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the president was trying to persuade McGahn to lie.”
Release of unedited memo comes as DOJ still investigating Trump again for potential obstacle of justice — at that time in connection with in criminal probe of whether he mishandled the secret documents he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
This story was updated with additional details.
CNN’s Caitlin Polantz, Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
