A trio of powerful House Democratic committee chairmen is blasting Attorney General William Barr for reaching his conclusion not to charge President Trump with obstruction just 48 hours after receiving the Mueller report.
The lawmakers are calling the Barr letter 'far from the '"total exoneration"' claimed by Trump – and point to 'shortcomings' in the letter to demand both that Barr come and testify and that he release the report and its evidence to Congress for review.
'These shortcomings in today's letter are the very reason our nation has a system of separation of powers. We cannot simply rely on what may be a partisan interpretation of facts uncovered during the course of a 22-month review of possible wrongdoing by the President,' said the letter.
Attorney General William Barr decided along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein not to charge President Trump with obstruction. He made the decision within 48-hours of getting the Mueller report, which listed facts on both sides of the issu
The chairmen, each of whom is conducting his own probe of Trump-related inquiries, request that Barr testify before the Judiciary Committee – which would give lawmakers the chance to question him about the decisions undergirding his letter, which shocked Washington by revealing that Mueller did not find that anyone associated with the Trump campaign 'conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.'
House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler, House Intelligence chair Adam Schiff, and House Oversight chair Elijah Cummings issued the letter.
Legal observers have been parsing the letter, noting that Barr's use of the term 'Russian government' would not necessarily apply to WikiLeaks, who Barr notes received emails hacked by Russia.
It also wouldn't apply to Natalia Veselnetskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower in 2016 after the promise of 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton.
The letter questions's Barr's 'objectivity' in the matter.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and two other chairs calling on William Barr to testify about his decisions
'America is the greatest place on earth,' President Trump said Sunday upon his return to the White House
Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the joint decision not to charge the president with obstruction of justice
Robert Mueller attended church near the White House on Sunday
'Far from the 'total exoneration' claimed by the President, the Mueller report expressly does not exonerate the President. Instead, it 'sets out evidence on both sides of the question' of obstruction-including the evidence that President Trump attempted to obstruct justice,' the chairmen write.
Barr's letter, which notably did not reach a conclusion on whether or not Trump should be prosecuted for potential obstruction, raised new questions for how a series of Demoratic probes would proceed.
Major committees have already been gearing up probes of Trump's business, foreign contacts, and role in hush payments to women, amid increasing pressure from rank-and-file members for impeachment.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) jointed in the effort
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) is probing a range of White House issues, including security clearances for Trump family members
Now, they must contend with a summary of a report that at least states Trump's camp did not engage in a conspiracy with Russia to hack the elections.
The letter indicates that at least one area of the Judiciary panel's inquiry will be how Barr – who was nominated after penning a letter bashing Mueller's obstruction theory – handled his own role.
'It is unacceptable that, after Special Counsel Mueller spent 22 months meticulously uncovering this evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the President in under 48 hours,' they write.
'The Attorney General did so without even interviewing the President. His unsolicited, open memorandum to the Department of Justice, suggesting that the obstruction investigation was 'fatally misconceived,' calls into question his objectivity on this point in particular,' they added.
Nadler tweeted: 'Mueller worked for 22 months to determine the extent to which President Trump obstructed justice. Barr took two days to tell the American people that while the President is not exonerated, there will be no action by DOJ'
Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted that the House Judiciary Committee which he chairs will be calling Barr to testify
Barr's letter states that Mueller did not uncover evidence Trump or his advisors 'conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.' The letter also notes that Russian government hackers disseminated information through WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange (above)
Barr's letter did not mention Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met with key Trump campaign officials
On Russian interference, they wrote: 'Although we have confidence that Special Counsel Mueller made the right prosecutorial judgement ... notwithstanding the very public evidence of Trump campaign contact with and willingness to receive support from Russian agents – it will be vital for the country and the Congress to evaluate the full body of evidence collected by the Special Counsel, including all information gathered of a counterintelligence nature.'
They noted that Barr's four-page summary revealed only a fraction of what Mueller produced. It includes quotations that are merely sentence fragments – not sentences.
'The only information the Congress and the American people have received regarding this investigation is the Attorney General's own work product. The Special Counsel's Report should be allowed to speak for itself, and Congress must have the opportunity to evaluate the underlying evidence,' they added.
They pointed to a 420-0 House vote calling for the release of the full report.
'The Attorney General must release the report and the underlying evidence in full, and appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer our questions without delay.'
On obstruction of justice, Barr notes that Mueller sets out evidence 'on both sides' without drawing a conclusion of whether the conduct constitutes obstruction.
'The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime,' wrote Barr – without stating whether Mueller affirmatively said the attorney general should make the decision. Mueller, by failing to reach a conclusion, also could in effect have let it up to Congress to decide.
Barr, in his letter, wrote that he was 'mindful' of public interest in the matter. He said his 'goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Department policies.'
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler announced on Twitter Sunday that his committee would be calling Barr before them to explain how he reached the conclusion Trump should not be charged.
'Special Counsel Mueller worked for 22 months to determine the extent to which President Trump obstructed justice. Attorney General Barr took 2 days to tell the American people that while the President is not exonerated, there will be no action by DOJ,' Nadler wrote.
'In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future,' he added.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/25/house-chairs-blast-barr-for-deciding-not-to-prosecute-in-just-48-hours-without-interviewing-trump/
Main photo article A trio of powerful House Democratic committee chairmen is blasting Attorney General William Barr for reaching his conclusion not to charge President Trump with obstruction just 48 hours after receiving the Mueller report.
The lawmakers are calling the Barr letter ‘far from the...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/25/14/11429462-6847699-image-a-2_1553523469611.jpg
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