Attorney General Bill Barr held a news conference Thursday morning to discuss special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.



Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller examined 10 episodes involving President Donald Trump when trying to determine whether Trump obstructed justice.





Barr also said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein disagreed with some of Mueller's "legal theories" involving potential obstruction and that the "publicly released report will allow every American to understand" the conclusions of the investigation.



DOJ officials said the report will be released to Congress after Barr's appearance, during the 11 a.m. hour. President Trump said he may follow up with his own news conference.



"Attorney General Barr's regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report, including his slanted March 24th summary letter, his irresponsible testimony before Congress last week, and his indefensible plan to spin the report in a press conference later this morning — hours before he allows the public or Congress to see it — have resulted in a crisis of confidence in his independence and impartiality," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement Thursday morning.



In outlining the decision not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, the attorney general said he considered the “unprecedented situation” the president faced entering office. Barr said:





A.G. WILLIAM BARR: Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation.

The president tweeted after the news conference: