Robert Mueller caused confusion during his testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee as he appeared to contradict Attorney General William Barr, as well as declined to stand by a previous official statement from his own special counsel’s office, related to the decision-making behind not charging President Trump with any crimes.
Mueller’s report did not reach a determination on obstruction of justice in his 448-page report, although he laid out 10 possible instances of obstruction. Mueller’s report referenced a longtime Office of Legal Counsel opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted, but his report did not explicitly claim that that was the only reason Trump wasn’t charged in the investigation. Moreover, Barr said in April that Mueller told him that Mueller was not saying that he would have charged Trump with a crime but for the Office of Legal Counsel opinion and, in addition, a joint statement from the offices of Mueller and Barr in May reiterated that point.
