By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Even though Robert Mueller said a Justice Department policy prevents charging a sitting president, Attorney General William Barr said the former special counsel could have declared whether President Trump broke the law.
In a CBS interview aired Thursday evening, Barr said nothing stopped Mueller from deciding whether Trump obstructed justice.
“I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision,” Barr said. “He could’ve reached a conclusion.”
Barr made the comments a day after Mueller spoke publicly for the first time since the two-year special counsel investigation began in 2017. Democrats in Congress believed Mueller had suggested during the press conference that Congress should investigate the special counsel’s findings.
Barr said he wasn’t so sure that’s what Mueller was saying.
“I’m not sure what he was suggesting, but the Justice Department doesn’t use our powers to investigate crimes as an adjunct to Congress,” Barr said.
Mueller said he didn’t reach a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice because “a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office.”
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 This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 30, 2019
