The Justice Department on Wednesday released special counsel Robert Mueller’s letter complaining about Attorney General William Barr’s initial summary of the 400-plus page report’s findings, just ahead of Mr. Barr’s first full public testimony about the report.
In the March 27 letter, Mr. Mueller says he felt Mr. Barr’s original four-page summary left “public confusion” about his work.
“This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations,” Mr. Mueller wrote.
He urged Mr. Barr to release the summaries he and his team had prepared, saying it “would alleviate the misunderstandings that have arisen and would answer congressional and public questions about the nature and outcome of our investigation.”
The Justice Department says the two men spoke after the letter and Mr. Barr decided that the best course was to speed release of the full report, rather than the summaries.
He did, though, release a public follow-up letter making clear that his original four-page document was not a summary of Mr. Mueller’s work, but rather his own sense for the main conclusions.
DOCUMENT: Read Robert Mueller's letter of complaint to AG William Barr
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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