Robert Mueller said William Barr acted in 'good faith' and Democrats and the media will ignore it

by Eddie Scarry

| May 29, 2019 11:49 AM

Robert Mueller, now-former special counsel, said Wednesday in a rare, on-camera statement that he wouldn't question Attorney General William Barr's final decision to release the full special counsel report rather than select segments, because he believed that Barr acted in "good faith."

This will probably be the last time you hear about that. Democrats and the media will instead theorize about what Mueller didn't say, the tone of his voice, and perhaps whether he threw in a knowing wink at the end.

"What does it mean?" they'll ask for 48 hours on CNN.

For the past month, Democrats and liberals in the media have been pointing to a letter sent to Barr by Mueller, wherein he complained that Barr's own initial summary of the report's findings didn't fully capture the "context" of what the document said.

The letter, according to Democrats and the media, was proof that Barr had misrepresented the special counsel's findings. Mueller in his statement on Wednesday put that controversy to bed. Here's what he said and enjoy it now while you can before it's buried in time:

We conducted an independent criminal investigation and reported the results to the attorney general, as required by department regulations. The attorney general then concluded that it was appropriate to provide our report to Congress and to the American people. At one point in time, I requested that certain portions of the report be released. The attorney general preferred to make the entire report public all at once and we appreciate that the attorney general made the report largely public and I certainly do not question the attorney general’s good faith in that decision.

— Robert Mueller, now-former special counsel

What Mueller had suggested after the report was finalized was that its executive summaries, as prepared by the special counsel's office, be made public. Barr, in his wisdom, decided that he would give a very brief summary of the report's findings — no conspiracy between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia, and no recommendation on the obstruction question, which was left to Barr — and then shortly thereafter, release the full report with the most limited redactions required by law.

Sure, Barr's own summary of the special counsel's own summary lacked context. That's why it's a "summary." But that's kind of a moot point when the intention is to just days later release the raw report. There is no more "context" beyond the report itself.

But none of this will matter. Democrats, with the encouragement of the media, have never cared about "context." They've cared about dragging this dead body through the 2020 election.

Thanks for your work, Mueller. Sorry that Democrats won't put it in "context."

Opinion