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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday released the unredacted version of a 2019 memo that made the case to then-Attorney General William Barr that President Donald Trump should not be charged with obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation.
The nine-page memo, from March 24, 2019, was written by Steven Engel, then the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, and Ed O’Callaghan, who was the Justice Department's principal associate deputy attorney general. Barr, a critic of then-special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, announced that the Justice Department would not prosecute the case the same day the memo was sent to him.
Even if there were no constitutional barriers to charging a president, the memo argued, the Justice Department should decline to charge Trump.
"Given that conclusion, the evidence does not establish a crime or criminal conspiracy involving the President toward which any obstruction or attempted obstruction by the President was directed," the memo contended, dismissing Mueller's concerns about Trump’s firing FBI Director James Comey, his attempts to fire Mueller and his dangling of pardons to some witnesses while he was warning others not to "flip" on him.
"The President's public statements could be viewed as efforts to defend himself from public criticism related to the Special Counsel’s investigation or to discourage the witnesses from making what the President believed might be false statements in exchange for a lesser sentence. Those statements do not warrant a prosecution for obstruction of justice," the memo said. It did not touch on whether such pressure could have persuaded witnesses to withhold information.
"In the absence of an underlying offense, the most compelling inference in evaluating the President's conduct is that he reasonably believed that the Special Counsel's investigation was interfering with his governing agenda," the memo states. "Even if the President were objectively wrong about the intentions of the Special Counsel, many, if not all, of his actions could be viewed as lacking the intent element under the relevant statutes."
Trump's 'brain trusts' got themselves in trouble, not because of anything they did with Trump, but lying about personal actions to the FBI.Mueller did a great justice putting several of Trump's campaign braintrust behind bars and solidifying the ties between the campaign and Russian intelligence.
He should have insisted on deposing the blob in person though. The moment Trump testifies in person under oath...he goes away. Other Presidents had done it...there was no reason for Mueller to not have insisted on the blob sitting before him and his investigators.
Wow... you're incredibly dense. Manafort got pinched for meeting with Russian intel during the campaign.Trump's 'brain trusts' got themselves in trouble, not because of anything they did with Trump, but lying about personal actions to the FBI.
It has never been a "cross to bear". You may recall your blob getting beaten by like 8M votes.Funny how Garland's DOJ releases this now.
Wanna bet obstruction is going to be a huge cross to bear for the democrats, once again?
Manafort got pinched for lying to the feds. Taking to the Rusky's isn't a crime.......lying about it was.Wow... you're incredibly dense. Manafort got pinched for meeting with Russian intel during the campaign.
It has never been a "cross to bear". You may recall your blob getting beaten by like 8M votes.
Gee, your blob's campaign manager was pinched for lying to the Feds about talking to Russian Intel...who later hacked the DNC. Yeah...nothing to see there.Manafort got pinched for lying to the feds. Taking to the Rusky's isn't a crime.......lying about it was.
Wow... you're incredibly dense. Manafort got pinched for meeting with Russian intel during the campaign.
Well he had to lie about it to keep the "no collusion" fable alive. And of course he was pardoned for it later on.What was the charge for meeting with Russian intel?
Mueller did a great justice putting several of Trump's campaign braintrust behind bars and solidifying the ties between the campaign and Russian intelligence.
He should have insisted on deposing the blob in person though. The moment Trump testifies in person under oath...he goes away. Other Presidents had done it...there was no reason for Mueller to not have insisted on the blob sitting before him and his investigators.
You mean solidifying the link between the Hillary campaign and Russian intelligence, right?Mueller did a great justice putting several of Trump's campaign braintrust behind bars and solidifying the ties between the campaign and Russian intelligence.
He should have insisted on deposing the blob in person though. The moment Trump testifies in person under oath...he goes away. Other Presidents had done it...there was no reason for Mueller to not have insisted on the blob sitting before him and his investigators.
Wow, could you imagine if that really happened?You mean solidifying the link between the Hillary campaign and Russian intelligence, right?
Cause you are obviously a biased piece of shit.Mueller did a great justice putting several of Trump's campaign braintrust behind bars and solidifying the ties between the campaign and Russian intelligence.
He should have insisted on deposing the blob in person though. The moment Trump testifies in person under oath...he goes away. Other Presidents had done it...there was no reason for Mueller to not have insisted on the blob sitting before him and his investigators.
And how did that lawyer get into the country again?Gee, your blob's campaign manager was pinched for lying to the Feds about talking to Russian Intel...who later hacked the DNC. Yeah...nothing to see there.
Cause? LOL....Cause you are obviously a biased piece of shit.
LOL...what lawyer are you talking about you dickless wonder?And how did that lawyer get into the country again?
Well he had to lie about it to keep the "no collusion" fable alive. And of course he was pardoned for it later on.
Here now you go back to playing the fool.LOL...what lawyer are you talking about you dickless wonder?
Only trouble here, ma'am, is there was no link to the Trump administration or any of His people.Cause? LOL....
If someone was investigating the local PTA looking for a missing $20 bill, the first person they would talk to is the head of the PTA. Somehow an investigation into the 2016 election and the ties one of the campaigns had to those that interfered didn't involve talking to the big fat orange blob who was the head of the campaign.
First, our investigation found that the Russian government interfered in our election in sweeping and systematic fashion. Second, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government in its election interference activities. We did not address collusion, which is not a legal term; rather we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy, and there was not.
So the man is, great until you don't get your emotional jollies, then he failed.Cause? LOL....
If someone was investigating the local PTA looking for a missing $20 bill, the first person they would talk to is the head of the PTA. Somehow an investigation into the 2016 election and the ties one of the campaigns had to those that interfered didn't involve talking to the big fat orange blob who was the head of the campaign.
Mueller deserves praise for what he did...putting felons behind bars. But he dropped the ball when it came to deposing the blob.
