DID MUELLER DO HIS JOB?
by Sharon Rondeau
(May 17, 2019) — Part of an exclusive interview aired by Fox News at 9:00 a.m. Friday between journalist Bill Hemmer and U.S. Attorney General William Barr revealed Barr stating that “Bob Mueller did not look at the government’s activities” during his 22-month investigation into alleged Trump-Russia “collusion.”
Instead, as demonstrated by the Mueller report made public last month, Mueller’s team investigated the extent of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether or not anyone from the Trump campaign, or any Americans at all, conspired with Russians to affect the outcome.
“No one has really looked across the whole waterfront,” Barr told Hemmer.
Regarding the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, Barr said that a relatively small, “ad hoc” group of top intelligence officials was involved.
He further told Hemmer that the exact start date of the FBI probe, which was assumed by Mueller in May 2017, is as yet unknown, including when “spying” on the campaign first began.
Barr told members of Congress last month in sworn testimony that he believes “spying did occur” on the part of the U.S. intelligence community and that he wishes to determine whether or not it was “adequately predicated.”
The attorney general is in El Salvador to speak with colleagues from the “Northern Triangle” countries of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala about curbing gang activity, human trafficking and drugs transported across the Mexico-U.S. border.
On Monday the Justice Department announced that U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham is investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Several sources, including Fox News, have said that Durham is likely already working with a federal grand jury to review evidence.
Barr told Hemmer that he was “surprised” that Mueller did not reach a conclusion in regard to the “obstruction of justice” allegation against the president since he believes it is the role of “a prosecutor.” Mueller’s report stated that on the “obstruction” issue, the report neither made a case for prosecution nor “exonerated” Trump (p. 214).
When asked, Barr said he “discussed with” Mueller his reason for reaching no conclusion on that point in a March 5 meeting two weeks prior to the delivery of Mueller’s final report.
Given Mueller’s indecisiveness on that point, Barr and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said they reviewed the evidence and found it insufficient to pursue prosecution.
Before becoming attorney general, Barr had opined in a letter to the Justice Department that the “obstruction” theory he believed Mueller was using was faulty.
Some have criticized Mueller for choosing a team of left-leaning prosecutors to conduct the investigation. In December, Dr. Jerome Corsi filed a criminal complaint and civil suit alleging overly-harsh interrogation techniques by Mueller’s team and pressure for Corsi to accept a plea deal when he did not lie.