As things stand,
obstruction laws do not criminalize just any act that can influence a ‘proceeding,’” he wrote
in a document shared on Twitter by The Daily Beast’s Justin Miller. “Rather, they are concerned with acts intended to have a
particular kind of impact.”
Barr then spelled out what would constitute obstruction, such as witness tampering. And he specifically said that even the president could be guilty in that case:
“
Obviously, the President and any other official can commit obstruction in this classic sense of sabotaging a proceeding’s truth-finding function. Thus, for example, if a President knowingly destroys or alters evidence, suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony, or commits any act deliberately impairing the integrity or availability of evidence, then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction.”