Special counsel Robert Mueller told Attorney General William Barr weeks ago that he wouldn’t reach a conclusion on whether President Trump obstructed justice in the Russia probe.

Mueller’s announcement came during a March 5 sitdown at the department with Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a source told the Wall Street Journal, which reported that the pair were caught off guard by the assertion.

And the move left Barr, a Trump political appointee who previously expressed doubts about the legality of Mueller’s Russia probe, in the position of having to answer questions about a probe that was intended to be non-political.

Barr determined over the weekend that Mueller’s evidence was not enough to establish that the president committed a crime — but Mueller’s full report remains under wraps.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday killed a resolution offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer that would have called for the report’s release — even though Trump has said he’s fine with letting people see it.

Democrats pounced on Barr’s memo outlining his opinion given that the report had not been made public, and said they would continue investigating Trump and pushing for the Mueller report to be made public.

Mueller has not said why he did not reach a conclusion on whether the president committed obstruction of justice in his efforts to limit the probe, which included the firing of FBI chief James Comey.

In his letter to Congress about the Mueller report, Barr wrote that he reached his conclusions along with Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and oversaw the probe until Barr’s confirmation.