Attorney General William Barr said that Special Counsel Mueller could have decided on obstruction, even if he couldn’t charge Trump.
Barr told CBS News, “I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision. The opinion says you cannot indict a president while he is in office, but he could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity, but he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained and I am not going to, you know, argue about those reasons.” Video: To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily. The idea that Mueller didn’t reach a decision is a White House talking point. At his press conference, Mueller made it clear that he was limited by not being able to charge Trump, “The order appointing me special counsel authorized us to investigate actions that could obstruct the investigation. We conducted that investigation, and we kept the office of the acting attorney general apprised of the progress of our work. And as set forth in the report, after that investigation, if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime.” Mueller went on to explain, “The opinion says that the constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing formally. And beyond department policy, we were guided by principles of fairness. It would be unfair to potentially — it would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge. So that was justice department policy.” It wasn’t that Mueller couldn’t make a decision on if Trump committed a crime, but that Mueller couldn’t charge Trump with a crime, so he couldn’t pursue it. Barr was being disingenuous. He knows that the president can’t be charged, so if Mueller couldn’t determine if Trump had committed a crime. The reality is that volume two of his report was a roadmap for impeachment, and nowhere in the report does it suggest that Donald Trump did not commit a crime. Barr is continuing to act as Trump’s lawyer, not the attorney general, and the information he is spreading is blatantly false and part of a cover-up for Trump. Mueller didn’t exonerate Trump, and that is why Barr is throwing the special counsel under the bus. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements. Awards and Professional Memberships Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science AssociationMueller Did Reach A Decision On Trump’s Crimes
