Law DOJ releases a Mueller-era memo to Barr on the decision to not prosecute Trump August 24, 20225:26 PM ET

Law

DOJ releases a Mueller-era memo to Barr on the decision to not prosecute Trump

August 24, 20225:26 PM ET   https://www.npr.org/2022/08/24/1119322386/memo-barr-trump-mueller-doj

The watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued under the Freedom of Information Act for the memo to be made public. The Justice Department long fought its release, arguing that the memo was part of the department's internal deliberative process.

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Law

The DOJ under Barr wrongly withheld parts of a Russia probe memo, a court rules

A district court judge and a panel of circuit court judges disagreed and ordered its release.

Then-Attorney General William Barr ultimately declined to prosecute Trump for obstruction of justice stemming from Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump and his supporters lauded the decision, but many legal experts questioned the reasoning and conclusion. More than 1,000 former federal prosecutors signed a letter in 2019 saying that the conduct described in Mueller's report would normally lead to multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.

The memo concludes that there was not sufficient evidence to establish Trump obstructed justice during Mueller's probe. It says that obstruction cases usually are brought when a person prevents the investigation and prosecution of a separate crime, and that the Mueller probe did not establish an underlying crime or criminal conspiracy.

It also says that there is considerable evidence that Trump took official actions, such as asking the White House Counsel to fire Mueller, "not for an illegal purpose, but rather because he believed the investigation was politically motivated and undermined his administration's efforts to govern."