DOJ Partially Discloses Memo on Russia Report, Appeals Judge s Order to Release the Rest A judge had ordered the Justice Department to release the March 2019 memo as part of a public records lawsuit from a Washington-based advocacy organization By Eric Tucker •
Updated 1 hour ago
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The Biden administration said Monday that it would appeal a judge s order directing it to release a legal memo on whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the Russia investigation.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson earlier this month had ordered the Justice Department to release the March 2019 memo as part of a public records lawsuit from a Washington-based advocacy organization. She said the department, under Attorney General William Barr, had misstated the purpose of the document in arguing that it was entitled to withhold it from the group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice on April 26. Credit: Pool/AFP via Getty Images
DOJ Moves To Block Full Memo On Trump Obstruction Decision From Release By
at 4:23 am NPR
The Justice Department released a portion of an internal memo cited by former leaders as part of their decision concluding that former President Donald Trump did not obstruct justice, but in a court filing late Monday said they would seek to block the full document from release.
The move is certain to disappoint watchdog groups and Biden administration allies in Congress, who have called for transparency about alleged wrongdoing in the Trump years â and accountability for officials who allegedly abused their power.
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The Justice Department is appealing the full release of a 2019 memo on the Mueller report.
Then-AG Bill Barr cited the memo among his grounds to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice.
A federal judge recently ordered the release of the document, saying Barr was misleading.
The Justice Department on Monday appealed a federal court ruling ordering it to release in its entirety a 2019 memo that Attorney General Bill Barr used as grounds to clear then President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice. The appeal was filed late Monday night and came after the department released parts of the memo, though most of it remains heavily redacted.