What Was Said

Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont: “My question was why did you say you were not aware of concerns, when weeks before your testimony Mr. Mueller had expressed concerns to you? I mean, that’s a fairly simple — ”



Mr. Barr: “I answered the question, and the question was relating to unidentified members who were expressing frustration over the accuracy relating to findings. I don't know what that refers to at all. I talked directly to Bob Mueller, not members of his team. And even though I did not know what was being referred to, and Mueller had never told me that the expression of the findings was inaccurate — but I did then volunteer that I thought they were talking about the desire to have more information put out. But it wasn't my purpose to put out more information.”

This is misleading.

In testimony before a House appropriations committee in April, Mr. Barr was asked about reporting by The New York Times and others about unhappiness on the special counsel’s team over the way the attorney general had characterized its report. On Wednesday, Mr. Barr repeatedly defended those comments to the House committee and maintained that he was denying knowledge of the specific reports. This was misleading by omission, as Mr. Mueller had written to him twice and spoken with him about the investigators’ concerns.

“Reports have emerged recently, General, that members of the special counsel’s team are frustrated at some level with the limited information included in your March 24 letter — that it does not adequately or accurately, necessarily, portray the report’s findings,” Representative Charlie Crist, Democrat of Florida, asked Mr. Barr in early April. “Do you know what they are referencing with that?”

“No, I don’t,” Mr. Barr replied. “I think, I suspect, that they probably wanted, you know, more put out, but in my view I was not interested in putting out summaries or trying to summarize because I think any summary, regardless of who prepares it, not only runs the risk of you know, being under-inclusive or over-inclusive, but also, you know, would trigger a lot of discussion and analysis that really should await everything coming out at once.”

Asked by lawmakers last month whether he had heard from any of the investigators, Mr. Barr evaded the question and said that the article was “sourced through associates of some of the people who worked on the Mueller report.”

What Was Said

Mr. Barr: “Yeah, he fully cooperated.”

This is misleading.

Mr. Barr’s statement was in reference to a question about whether Mr. Trump had fully cooperated with the special counsel’s inquiry. Mr. Trump did not assert executive privilege during Mr. Mueller’s investigation, as Mr. Barr correctly noted. But Mr. Trump also declined to sit down for an interview with investigators. And in his written responses, the president stated on more than 30 occasions that he had no memory of what they were asking about, while other answers he provided were “incomplete or imprecise,” according to the special counsel’s report. The report also documented at least 10 potential episodes of obstruction, including attempts to end the inquiry or remove Mr. Mueller.

What Was Said

Mr. Leahy: “Mr. Mueller found the written answers to be inadequate. Is that correct?”



Mr. Barr: “I think he wanted additional, but he never sought it.”



Mr. Leahy: “And the president never testified.”



Mr. Barr: “Well, he never — he never pushed it.”

This is false.

Whether Mr. Mueller “pushed” hard enough for an in-person interview with Mr. Trump is subjective, but Mr. Mueller did seek it.

“Beginning in December 2017, this office sought for more than a year to interview the president on topics relevant to both Russian election interference and obstruction of justice,” according to the report. It goes on to document the office’s repeated efforts and to note that Mr. Trump declined.