“Flood took issue with the analysis that Mueller intentionally didn’t issue a conclusion on obstruction, but rather decided to provide information about his investigation so Congress could decide whether to take action, like impeachment.”
(Judson Berger & Gregg Re – Fox News) The White House tore into Robert Mueller and his investigators in a recent letter to Attorney General Bill Barr that argued the special counsel’s team included “political statements” in their Russia report and “failed” to act as traditional prosecutors — while stating President Trump reserves his right to invoke executive privilege on matters related to the report.
In the April 19 letter to the Justice Department obtained Thursday by Fox News, White House Counsel Emmet Flood laid out a series of concerns with the Mueller report, specifically on the team’s handling of the investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice.
“The Special Counsel and his staff failed in their duty to act as prosecutors and only as prosecutors,” Flood wrote, complaining that the report “suffers from an extraordinary legal defect” by failing to comply with the “requirements of governing law.”
Flood raised concerns that the team did not reach a determination on the obstruction question while still going into great detail about the probe’s findings and including a pointed passage that stated the probe did not exonerate the president. That passage read: “The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
Read White House Counsel Emmett Flood’s Letter to Attorney General Barr on Mueller Report