The Department of Justice has released a statement reacting to leaks from within Robert Mueller’s investigation that showed displeasure at how the Mueller Report was being framed by Attorney General Bill Barr.
Read the statement: “Every page of the “confidential report” provided to Attorney General Barr on March 22, 2019 was marked ‘May Contain Material Protected Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)’ — a law that protects confidential grand jury information — and therefore could not be publicly released. Given the extraordinary public interest in this matter, the Attorney General decided to release the report’s bottom-line findings and his conclusions immediately — without attempting to summarize the report — with the understanding that the report itself would be released after the redaction process.”
In related news, NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian says sources within Mueller’s team say the findings show a troubling relationship between Trump’s campaign and Russian agents.
Tweets Dilanian: “NBC News has confirmed that some members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team have expressed frustration that AG Barr cleared Trump of obstruction and they believe the evidence is stronger than Barr suggested in his March letter summarizing Mueller’s findings. … NBC News is also reporting that some on the Mueller team say his findings paint a picture of a campaign whose members were was manipulated by a sophisticated Russian intelligence operation. Some of that information may be classified. …
The Washington Post also added to the earlier report from the New York Times about Team Mueller’s dissatisfaction with the AG’s characterization of their report.
The WaPo reports: ‘…members of Mueller’s team have complained to close associates that the evidence they gathered on obstruction was alarming and significant. “It was much more acute than Barr suggested,” said one person, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity. … Some members of the office were particularly disappointed that Barr did not release summary information the special counsel team had prepared, according to two people familiar with their reactions. “There was immediate displeasure from the team when they saw how the attorney general had characterized their work instead,” according to one U.S. official briefed on the matter.’
