Pelosi, Schumer: Mueller report ‘appears to undercut’ Barr on obstruction

Democratic congressional leaders said Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report “appears to undercut” a conclusion from Attorney General William Barr that President Trump didn’t obstruct justice.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued in a joint statement that the “differences are stark” between Mueller’s more than 400-page report and what Barr has said on obstruction.

“As we continue to review the report, one thing is clear: Attorney General Barr presented a conclusion that the president did not obstruct justice while Mueller’s report appears to undercut that finding,” they said.{mosads}

Democrats are likely to focus on the obstruction question as they plot their own investigations and prepare for Barr — and potentially Mueller — to come testify.

Mueller wrote in his report that Congress has the authority to conduct obstruction of justice investigations, stating that such probes provide a check if a president is corrupt.

The attorney general defended Trump during his press conference earlier Thursday and explained his rationale for finding that Trump didn’t obstruct justice based on the findings from Mueller. 

Barr argued that it was important to consider the “context” of Trump’s actions, arguing that he faced an “unprecedented situation” in the course of Mueller’s investigation as well as “relentless speculation” in the media surrounding Trump’s own possible culpability in Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

The attorney general added that Mueller’s report shows that Trump was frustrated by a “sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents and fueled by illegal leaks.”

Barr had previously told lawmakers in a four-page letter to Congress that Mueller didn’t reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Mueller said in his report that his team could not reach a definitive conclusion if Trump obstructed investigations into Russian collusion in the 2016 campaign. 

“[I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment,” the report reads.

The Mueller probe focused on 10 “episodes” in its obstruction inquiry, including Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his pressuring of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his decision to recuse himself from overseeing the probe.

Barr said Thursday that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “disagreed” with some of Mueller’s “legal theories” surrounding obstruction and believed some of the episodes analyzed in the report did not constitute criminal obstruction, but he noted that they did “not rely solely on that in making our decision.”

— Tal Axelrod contributed