Former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi criticized Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrHarris faces pivotal moment with Supreme Court battle Hillicon Valley: DOJ proposes tech liability shield reform to Congress | Treasury sanctions individuals, groups tied to Russian malign influence activities | House Republican introduces bill to set standards for self-driving cars McCarthy threatens motion to oust Pelosi if she moves forward with impeachment MORE's Thursday press conference on the release of special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's Russia investigation report, saying Justice Department officials came off looking bad.

"The optics of that press conference were horrible," Rossi told Hill.TV's Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball.

"First off, [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein Rod RosensteinDOJ kept investigators from completing probe of Trump ties to Russia: report Five takeaways from final Senate Intel Russia report FBI officials hid copies of Russia probe documents fearing Trump interference: book MORE looked like he was a hostage for God's sakes. Did you see his eyes? And who was the other guy?" he continued.

Barr held a press conference prior to the release of the redacted Mueller report, in which he was flanked by Rosenstein and acting principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan.

Rossi drew attention to the absence of Mueller from the press conference.

"I saw those two people behind Barr, I'm thinking to myself, where's Robert Mueller?"

Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the special counsel's office, had said on Wednesday that no one from its prosecution team would be present at the press conference.

Carr did not specify why Mueller or his team were not attending.

Barr submitted Mueller's long-anticipated report to Congress on Thursday, also making the redacted version available to the public. In the report, Mueller details the findings of his 22-month investigation, saying there was no evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russian election meddling in 2016. Mueller also declined to take a position on whether Trump obstructed justice with the probe.

The report is redacted to hide grand jury material, classified information, details about ongoing investigations and information that could implicate the privacy of “peripheral” third parties.

— Julia Manchester