With the release of Attorney General William Barr’s redacted version of the Mueller report, and countless thousands of journalists and others scouring through the document, it’s clear Thursday morning’s press conference and other public communications by Barr were false.
Barr obfuscated. He cherry-picked. He hide critical elements of the information he chose to share.
For example: Barr’s now-infamous 4-page letter to Congress on March 24, in which he conveniently quoted a tiny portion of the Mueller report to make it appear as though Trump was totally innocent.
“[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” Barr’s letter (page 2) reads.
Now we know what the full sentence (on page 5 of the Mueller report) that Mueller wrote was – and it certainly changes his work product, his findings, and the facts. Here’s Mueller’s full quote from, and In bold is what Barr wrote in his March letter to Congress:
“Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
In short, the Trump campaign expected to “benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”
That’s a big deal.And a big deal to exclude.
Barr also lied Thursday morning when he claimed Mueller did not take into account DOJ policy that bars prosecution of a sitting president. Mueller did, and said he did not make a decision on if Trump’s 10 episodes of apparent obstruction because of that policy.
More examples from several experts: