For those actually paying attention about Robert Mueller’s apparent “complaint” letter to Barr, you will find that Mueller didn’t disagree with anything Barr wrote but was instead, Mueller complained about the media and fake news being reported.
Mueller sent the letter to Barr on March 27, three days after AG Barr issued his four-page summary, and cited “public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation.” The letter was first reported by The Washington Post.
“This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations,” Mueller wrote.
A Justice Department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said in a statement that Barr called Mueller after receiving the letter to discuss it further.
“The Special Counsel emphasized that nothing in the Attorney General’s March 24 letter was inaccurate or misleading,” Kupec said. “But, he expressed frustration over the lack of context and the resulting media coverage regarding the Special Counsel’s obstruction analysis. They then discussed whether additional context from the report would be helpful and could be quickly released. However, the Attorney General ultimately determined that it would not be productive to release the report in piecemeal fashion.”
“The Attorney General and the Special Counsel agreed to get the full report out with necessary redactions as expeditiously as possible,” Kupec’s statement continued. “The next day, the Attorney General sent a letter to Congress reiterating that his March 24 letter was not intended to be a summary of the report, but instead only stated the Special Counsel’s principal conclusions, and volunteered to testify before both Senate and House Judiciary Committees on May 1st and 2nd.”
In response to questions from Senator Richard Blumenthal, William Barr said he called Bob Mueller after receiving the letter.
“I said, ‘Bob, what’s with the letter? Why don’t you just pick up the phone and call me if there’s an issue?’” Barr said.
Mueller was on speaker phone and there were multiple observers in the room including Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, according to Barr.
“He said they were concerned about the way the media was playing this and felt it was important to get out the summaries,” he said. “I asked him if he felt that my letter was misleading or inaccurate, and he said no.”
Blumenthal not paying attention about the phone call said that nothing in Mueller’s letter complained about press coverage and claimed that Barr’s letter did not fully capture the report’s findings and created public confusion.
“His letter was an extraordinary act. A career prosecutor rebuking the Attorney General of the United States, memorializing it in writing,” Blumenthal said.
Barr confirmed that notes were taken on the conversation, and Blumenthal asked if the committee could have them. Barr said no. “Why should you have them?” he said.
He gave his assessment of Mueller’s letter: “The letter’s a bit snitty, and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people.”
With that, the hearing has wrapped up.
Senate Judiciary Chairman won’t call Mueller to testify
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham says he will not call Robert Mueller to testify before the committee. “I’m not going to do anymore. Enough already. It’s over,” he said,
Sen. Lindsey Graham says he won't call for Robert Mueller to testify before Congress: "I'm not going to do any more. Enough already. It's over." https://t.co/rd17bJTJ8u pic.twitter.com/71gLTFBCp6
— ABC News (@ABC) May 1, 2019
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