Some Mueller team members say final report more damaging to Trump than Barr summary suggests: NY Times

Some members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team have said Attorney General William Barr’s summary of their report did not sufficiently portray the results of their investigation, suggesting their findings could be more damaging to President Trump than Barr conveyed, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The Times, citing government officials and others familiar with the matter, reported that members of the special counsel’s team have expressed concerns that Barr’s summary of their office’s findings helped solidify the views of the American public prior to the investigation’s conclusions being made public.

{mosads}Investigators on Mueller’s team reportedly prepared summaries of their probe, and some feel that Barr should have included more information from their summaries in his own outline of the report’s findings. However, the Justice Department determined those summaries contained sensitive information that could not be released, according to two government officials who spoke to the Times.

The officials and others did not fully explain to the Times why the investigators believe their findings are worse for the president than Barr indicated. It also is not clear how many of the 19 lawyers, approximately 40 FBI agents and other people on Mueller’s team share this sentiment about Barr’s summary. 

The Hill has reached out to the special counsel’s office for comment.

Mueller submitted his final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by Trump late last month. Barr, in a four-page summary of the special counsel’s findings, wrote that Mueller did not conclude the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, and he neither concluded that Trump committed obstruction of justice nor exonerated him of it.

Barr and other Justice Department officials believe that the special counsel did not complete his job because he did not decide whether Trump illegally obstructed the investigation, two government officials told the Times.

Barr has said he expects to be able to deliver a public version of Mueller’s report by mid-April after he removes classified information and grand jury material.

Updated 8:20 p.m.