Redacted Justice Department memo on Trump and obstruction raises fresh questions about Barr’s handling of Mueller probe
A federal judge’s ruling this week ordering the release of a redacted Justice Department memo recommending that former President Donald Trump should not be charged with obstruction of justice could place new scrutiny on then-Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller investigation.
The memo, if released, would likely provide fodder to Barr’s critics who charge that the attorney general actively distorted the findings of the former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in an effort to protect Trump, or even fuel accusations that he lied to Congress.
Judge blasts former attorney general, Justice Department for ‘disingenuous’ handling of secret Trump obstruction memo Updated: May 5 Published May 5
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Print article A federal judge has accused the Justice Department and then-attorney general William P. Barr of misleading the court and public to hide how he decided that former president Donald Trump should not be charged for obstructing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington ordered the release Monday of a 2019 memo prepared by the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which Barr and a string of Justice officials had sought to keep secret by asserting it was part of the department’s internal decision-making process before he selectively announced the Mueller report’s findings that March.
Donald Trump Obstruction Memo Was a Fig Leaf for Bill Barr, Judge Says, Ordering Release
On 5/4/21 at 11:24 PM EDT
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson had harsh words Monday for former Attorney General William Barr, saying the Justice Department should not have withheld a memo from a watchdog group.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested a March 24, 2019 memo prepared for Barr via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but the request was denied. At the time, the DOJ said the memo was protected from being disclosed as it was legal advice.
However, Jackson ruled that the memo actually contained strategic, as opposed to legal advice. In addition, she said the writers of the memo already knew that President Donald Trump would not be prosecuted.
Judge orders Justice Department to release memo on Trump obstruction
The document was prepared for then-Attorney General William Barr before he announced his conclusion that the president had not obstructed justice during the Russia investigation.
By ERIC TUCKERAssociated Press
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WASHINGTON A federal judge has ordered the release of a legal memorandum the Trump-era Justice Department prepared for then-Attorney General William Barr before he announced his conclusion that President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice during the Russia investigation.
Attorney General William Barr speaks during a news conference on Dec. 21. A federal judge has ordered the release of a legal memorandum the Trump-era Justice Department prepared for Barr before he announced his conclusion that President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice during the Russia investigation.