Mueller Expressed Misgivings To Barr About 4-page Letter, Says CNN

Special counsel Robert Mueller expressed concerns in a letter to Attorney General William Barr that Barr’s four-page letter to Congress summarizing the “principal conclusions” of Mueller’s findings didn’t fully capture his 448-page report, according to a sources, many outlets published on Tuesday.

Later, Barr and Mueller spoke by phone and while Mueller didn’t think Barr’s letter was inaccurate, the special counsel believed his report was more nuanced on the obstruction of justice issue, according to Justice Department officials. Mueller was frustrated by media coverage, and wanted more of the report to come out.

Barr’s position was he wasn’t going to do so in a piecemeal way, so he was pushing the special counsel’s office to finish the redactions of the full report as soon as possible.

At the same time, senior Justice officials have been puzzled by Mueller’s decision not to reach a conclusion on the obstruction issue and Barr felt he needed to provide finality on the matter as the attorney general.

Barr is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in a highly anticipated hearing on the Mueller report.