Video shows William Barr denying knowledge of Mueller's objections to his summary of the Russia probe days after Mueller sent him a letter about it
- A video of Attorney General William Barr answering questions about the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation surfaced Tuesday night, in light of new reports that Mueller was unhappy with Barr's characterization of the report.
- According to reports, on March 27, several days after Barr released a four-page letter to Congress summarizing Mueller's report on March 24, Mueller wrote to Barr expressing his frustration that the letter's conclusion did not reflect the full report.
- "The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions," the letter stated, according to The Washington Post.
- Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday - and given the latest report, the questioning could shift Barr's testimony at previous hearings.
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A video of Attorney General William Barr answering questions about the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation resurfaced Tuesday night in light of new reports from The New York Times and Washington Post saying that Mueller was unhappy with Barr's characterization of the report.
According to reports, on March 27, several days after Barr released a four-page letter to Congress on March 24, Mueller wrote to Barr expressing his frustration that the letter's conclusion did not reflect the full report.
During a congressional hearing on April 10, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland asked Barr whether Mueller supported his conclusions and Barr said, "I don't know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion."
Watch the video below:
Mueller was appointed just shy of two years ago to oversee an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and to see if the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. The probe eventually expanded into whether President Donald Trump attempted to obstruct the investigation.
"The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions," Mueller's letter stated, according to The Post.
"There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations."
Mueller's report concluded there was Russian interference in the 2016 election, but that despite contacts between Russian operatives and members of Trump's inner circle, there was not enough evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy between the two.
Read more: The 11 biggest takeaways from the Mueller report
The report, which was submitted to the Department of Justice at the end of March and was made public (with redactions) in mid-April, did not reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice.
INSIDER's Sonam Sheth, who has been extensively covering Mueller's investigation, explains where Barr's summary and the 448-page report diverge.
Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday - and given the latest report, the questioning could shift to Barr's testimony at previous hearings.
Additionally during a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on April 9, Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat from Florida, referenced reports that members of Mueller's team did not think the conclusions reached by Barr in his four-page letter to Congress reflected their findings.
"No, I don't," Barr replied. "I suspect that they wanted more put out, but in my view I was not interested in putting out summaries or trying to summarize, because I think any summary, regardless of who prepares it, not only runs the risk of being under inclusive or over inclusive, but also would you know trigger a lot of discussion and analysis that really should wait for everything coming out at once."
As New York Times reporter Jo Becker noted on Twitter, the reports of this letter sent from Mueller to Barr on March 27 add new context to the past testimony.
"Now that we know that Special counsel Robert Mueller complained to Attorney General Barr in late March that a 4-page preview Barr wrote to Congress did not 'capture the context, nature, and substance' of Mueller's actual report, this April testimony is all the more interesting," Becker said.
Democratic lawmakers are also pointing to Barr's previous answers, as points of interest.
"In light of Mueller's letter, the misleading nature of Barr's 4/10 testimony & 4/18 press conference is even more glaring," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted. "Barr must bring the letter with him when he testifies in the Senate tomorrow. And it's time for Mueller to testify publicly. Now."
Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted, "I note with interest AG Barr's 4/10 Senate testimony. 'Q: Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion? A: I don't know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion.' Now it appears that Mueller objected in this 3/27 letter."