CREW Calls for Release of Full Mueller Report, Citing Barr’s Conflicts - CREW

CREW Calls for Release of Full Mueller Report, Citing Barr’s Conflicts - CREW: Barr's conflicts include his involvement with President Trump’s legal team, as well as his 19-page memo criticizing a possible obstruction charge.

Washington—The only appropriate way to address Attorney General William Barr’s potential conflicts of interest and apparent lack of impartiality is for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report in its entirety, according to a request sent today to DOJ by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

CREW’s letter raises potential conflicts of interest for Barr, including his involvement, while in private practice, with President Trump’s White House legal team, Trump’s personal lawyers, and lawyers who represented likely subjects of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, as well as Barr’s 19-page legal memo criticizing possible obstruction of justice charges against the President written before he was nominated to be our country’s top law enforcement officer.

The letter further critiques Barr’s decision to issue a four-page summary on the Mueller report: “Your subsequent decision as Attorney General to release a four-page summary in which you conclude that President Trump did not obstruct justice further contributed to the impression that you prejudged the matter based on your prior involvement and undermines public confidence in DOJ’s decision-making process,” the letter reads. “This action appeared to be an attempt to skew public opinion in advance of the full release of the report. Your actions in this matter have already damaged the public’s trust in your service as Attorney General on a matter with national security implications.”

“After 215 criminal charges, 38 indictments or pleas, five prison sentences, 500 search warrants, 2800 subpoenas, and 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, there is overwhelming public interest in the Special Counsel Report,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in the letter. “The American people are entitled to full transparency into the Russian government’s attack on the 2016 Presidential election process, any established links between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign, and any actions taken by President Trump to obstruct the related federal investigations.”

Click here to read the letter.