Attorney General William Barr gave an interview to Jan Crawford with CBS This Morning in Alaska on Thursday that is set to air Friday. CBS posted excerpts Thursday afternoon in which Barr said he thought Special Counsel Robert Mueller could have reached a decision on President Trump and obstruction of justice in the Russia collusion investigation but was not going to argue about Mueller’s reasons for not doing so.
“I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision…Right. He could have reached a conclusion. The opinion says you cannot indict a president while he is in office, but he could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity. But he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained and I am not going to, you know, argue about those reasons.”
Barr also defended his actions as attorney general, saying he is “going to make the decisions based on the law and the facts and I realize that’s in tension with the political climate we live in because people are more interested in getting their way politically.”
Barr also made a veiled criticism of Mueller, “The Department of Justice doesn’t use our powers of investigating crimes as an adjunct to Congress.”
CBS posted two video clips from the interview:
NEW: Attorney General Barr tells @JanCBS he “personally felt” Special Counsel Robert Mueller “could've reached a decision” on obstruction of justice by President Trump.
More on @CBSEveningNews tonight and @CBSThisMorning Friday. #CTM pic.twitter.com/b8ik2q32ZK
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 30, 2019
“I’m going to make the decisions based on the law and the facts and I realize that's in tension with the political climate we live in because people are more interested in getting their way politically." — AG Barr tells @JanCBS
More on @CBSEveningNews & @CBSThisMorning Friday. pic.twitter.com/h1zG8NLaGG
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 30, 2019
The CBS report on the interview can be read at this link.
