Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker won’t have to recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel’s Russia probe — which William Barr, President Trump’s nominee to take over the post, once slammed as “fatally misconceived,” new reports originally claimed Thursday.
Whitaker — a former federal prosecutor who has also criticized special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — was told by ethics officials at the Justice Department that there was no need for him to step aside despite that criticism, according to the reports. Those initial sources were later contradicted, with the Washington Post reporting that ethics officials, in fact, said Whitaker should recuse himself, but that the Acting Attorney General and his staff have chosen to ignore the recommendation.
Whitaker, who was fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former chief of staff, was pressured by Democrats, 18 state attorneys general and ethics officials from prior administrations to recuse himself to ensure that Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein remained in charge of the probe.
In an opinion piece Whitaker wrote last year, he argued that Rosenstein should “order Mueller to limit the scope of his investigation to the four corners of the order appointing the special counsel.”
“If he doesn’t, then Mueller’s investigation will eventually start to look like a political fishing expedition,” Whitaker wrote.
“This would not only be out of character for a respected figure like Mueller, but also could be damaging to the President of the United States and his family — and by extension, to the country.”
Meanwhile, it was also disclosed Thursday that Barr in a memo had criticized Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
The 20-page, unsolicited memo, sent in June while Barr was in private practice and months before he was selected by Trump for the top Justice Department job, could factor into his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee and may prompt questions about his ability to remain impartial.
The document argues that there could be disastrous consequences for Justice and the presidency if Mueller were to conclude that acts a president is legally permitted to take — such as firing an FBI director — could constitute obstruction just because someone concludes there was corrupt intent.
“Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction,” Barr wrote. “Apart from whether Mueller (has) a strong enough factual basis for doing so, Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived.”
Barr acknowledged that a president can commit obstruction of justice by destroying evidence or tampering with witnesses.
But, he said, he is unaware of any accusation like that in the Mueller investigation, and he said it would “do lasting damage to the Presidency and to the administration of law within the Executive branch” if an act like the firing of ex-FBI chief James Comey could amount to obstruction.
The memo was sent to Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, and to Steven Engel, head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice to executive branch agencies. It was turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which released it along with questionnaire responses that Barr submitted to the panel.
The memo adds to a record of other statements given by Barr over the last year or so about the Mueller investigation.
Those include comments to a newspaper expressing concern about the fact that multiple members of the Mueller team had made political contributions to Democratic political candidates.
A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment on the memo, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Barr’s views were based solely on publicly available information and were expressed “on his own initiative.”
In the memo, Barr says he is writing “as a former official deeply concerned with the institutions of the Presidency and the Department of Justice.”
He acknowledged that he was “in the dark about many facts.”
Kupec said: “Following the announcement of Mr. Barr’s nomination, senior Department ethics officials were consulted and advised that, under the applicable rules of professional conduct, Mr. Barr’s memo would present no conflict as to his duties as Attorney General. Mr. Barr has stated that, if confirmed, he will make any decisions based on the actual facts and circumstances of any particular matter.”
Barr served as attorney general from 1991 until 1993 under President George H.W. Bush.
With Post wires
