Did US Attorney General William Barr conceal key points in his first summary of the report by Russia's special investigator Robert Mueller? This opinion seems to be several employees Mueller, as several US media report consistently. Accordingly, Barr's initial assessment does not reflect what Mueller and his team actually found out.
The New York Times had first reported that some of Mueller's employees believed that Barr had not aptly summarized their findings. In fact, these are more burdensome for Donald Trump as represented by Barr. Among the investigators therefore grow the concern that this creates a false impression in the public.
Breaking News: Some of Robert Mueller's investigators see their report as more damaging for President Trump than the attorney general indicated https://t.co/V38S13ztTT
- The New York Times (@nytimes) April 3, 2019The Washington Post also reported dissatisfied Mueller employees. "The team was immediately displeased, as the Minister of Justice has described the report," the newspaper quoted an anonymous source from the environment Mueller. Another non-specialist associate of the Special Investigator said the results were "much more acute" than Barr's.
Just in: Mueller's evidence on obstruction was alarming and significant - "much more acute than Barr's suggestion," per one source. There are "immediate displeasures" among special counsel team members. WaPo matches NYT scoop tonight -> https://t.co/4HMI4wPdGq
- Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 4, 2019The Ministry of Justice justified its handling of the 400-page Mueller report. "Because of the extraordinary public interest, the Minister of Justice has decided to immediately publish the key findings of the report and the resulting conclusions," said Barr's spokeswoman Kerri Kupec. He did not want to summarize the report. Instead, he wanted to "publish the entire report" as soon as strictly confidential passages were blacked out.
According to Barr's four-page letter to Congress, the Mueller report contains no evidence of a plot by Trump's campaign team with Russia. Mueller also examined whether Trump's attempts had been to obstruct the judiciary. According to Barr, the Special Investigator did not make a "conclusive" verdict on this point, which is why, in consultation with Vice-Minister Rod Rosenstein, he applied the principle "in doubt to the defendant" - in case of doubt for President Trump.
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Trump himself had praised the assessment as a "complete and total relief" and described the proceedings around the investigation as a "disgrace" for the United States - and thus triggered criticism amongst others among the opposition Democrats. On Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter: "There's nothing we could ever give the Democrats that would make them happy." This is the highest level of harassment of the president in US history.
The US House of Representatives leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, immediately rejected this. The US Congress has oversight responsibilities vis-à-vis the government, and this one comes after. To the address of Trump and his government, she said: "Show us the Mueller report, show us the tax returns, we will not back down just because you say no the first time."
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The Democrats had previously said they would not settle for a brief summary and interpretation by the Justice Minister. They therefore demand the publication of the entire report to the Congress - without significant blackouts. Barr had said he would submit the report in mid-April. Some passages would have to be blacked out for legal reasons. But that's not enough for the Democrats.