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The Biden DOJ is fighting to keep secret a memo that Bill Barr used to clear Trump of obstruction.
Barr cited the memo in his decision not to charge Trump, and a judge ordered its release this month.
Here s what s in the memo, why it s controversial, and why Biden s DOJ wants to keep it under wraps.
The special counsel Robert Mueller s investigation into Russia s interference in the 2016 US election formally wrapped up more than two years ago.
But the inquiry catapulted back into the spotlight this month when a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release a secret memo that Attorney General William Barr used in 2019 to clear President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice.
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Justice Dept. releases part of memo on Russia probe, but appeals judge s order to release in full Share Updated: 1:10 AM PDT May 25, 2021 By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File In this Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump listens as Nevada business leaders talk at Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. SOURCE: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
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Justice Dept. releases part of memo on Russia probe, but appeals judge s order to release in full Share Updated: 1:10 AM PDT May 25, 2021
A federal judge accused former Attorney General Bill of plotting to get a “jump” on the department’s “public relations” spin of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s…
The Justice Department turned over other documents to CREW as part of the group s lawsuit, but declined to give it the OLC memo. Government lawyers said they were entitled under public records law to withhold the memo because it reflected internal deliberations among lawyers before any formal decision had been reached.
But Jackson said those arguments were disingenuous because the memo was prepared for Barr at the same time as a separate Justice Department letter informing Congress and the public that Barr and senior department leaders had concluded that Trump had not obstructed justice.
She said the OLC memo could therefore not have been “predecisional” in nature if the Justice Department had already decided that there would be no obstruction case.