April 18, 2019

As part of Attorney General Barr’s repeated efforts to spread misinformation about the Mueller report, he held a press conference in advance of his release of the Mueller report to Congress and the public. Barr’s conduct raises serious concerns that the Special Counsel’s investigation and its findings have been tainted in an effort to protect the president rather than the American public.

During the press conference, Barr discussed his decision to find that President Trump had not obstructed the Special Counsel’s investigation and noted that he consulted the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) before reaching his conclusion “that the evidence developed by the Special Counsel is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

CREW sent a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents OLC provided Barr about whether Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s evidence was sufficient to establish that the President obstructed justice. CREW also sent a request to expedite the receipt of the documents, due to strong public interest in the matter.

Barr’s efforts to spread misinformation about the report and its findings, particularly on the issue of whether President Trump obstructed justice, are deeply concerning. The requested records will shed light on the legality of and reasons for the Attorney General’s conclusions. Because the Attorney General so directly and significantly placed his hand on the scales of justice in making and announcing his declination decision, the public deserves to know the full basis for that decision.

Read the request here, and the request for expedition here.