Two prosecutors from the special counsel’s office said privately there was enough evidence to file federal criminal charges of obstruction of justice against President Trump over his efforts to halt an FBI probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, reports Murray Waas at the New York Review of Books. But Trump’s status as president precluded them from advocating for criminal charges.

The report’s sourcing comes two steps removed from the special counsel himself. Two prosecutors reportedly told other top law enforcement officials, two of whom then told the story’s author.

“Privately, the two prosecutors, who were then employed in the special counsel’s office, told other Justice Department officials that had it not been for the unique nature of the case—the investigation of a sitting president of the United States, and one who tried to use the powers of his office to thwart and even close down the special counsel’s investigation—they would have advocated that he face federal criminal charges,” the story reads.

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