Larry Noble is the former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission (1987-2000). He is currently a CNN contributor and has served as general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center and executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. Follow him on Twitter @LarryNoble_DC. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author; view more opinion at CNN.

(CNN) As we await Attorney General William Barr's release of his redacted and color-coded version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, speculation is mainly driven by Barr's March 24 letter and his description of the results of the special counsel's investigation into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

Larry Noble

Less detailed attention is being paid to Barr's description of the results of the special counsel's investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian interference in the 2016 election. This includes attempts by the Russian Internet Research Agency "to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord," as well as "the Russian government's efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information" to influence the election. Yet, hiding in plain sight is a footnote in which Barr explains that he and Mueller are using a definition of coordination that requires proof of an agreement, which is contrary to the law and Federal Election Commission regulations and, more importantly, has been rejected by the Supreme Court. It is also a definition with which Americans should not feel comfortable.

Regarding the Trump campaign's involvement with these activities, Barr writes : "as the report states '[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'1 "

This has become the bottom line regarding what has generically been referred to as the "collusion" issue.

Not so fast. As we have seen when he testifies before Congress, Barr is a person who picks his words carefully, so it pays to look at how Barr qualified the no "coordination" finding in Footnote 1:

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