Analysis: Legal experts question William Barr’s rationale for exonerating Trump
By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow March 25 at 6:00 AM A big question hanging over William P. Barr’s nomination to be attorney general this year was whether, once he got the job, he would do President Trump’s bidding. Barr had made statements critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and he even wrote a long memo rejecting the need for the obstruction of justice portion of Mueller’s inquiry.
Then he explained. “In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that ‘the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference,’ and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President’s intent with respect to obstruction.”The first is Barr’s rationale.
Gene Rossi, another former federal prosecutor, said the lack of an underlying crime does matter. “However, the existence of an underlying crime is not an essential element of the crime of obstruction. End of story,” he said. “To the extent the attorney general suggests such an element, he is dead wrong.”
The same goes for longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, who has been indicted in connection with attempts to contact WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign. Stone’s indictment notably said that “a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE” about the matter. Some have suggested that it might be Trump who did that directing. Even if it wasn’t, Mueller clearly sees an actual crime here, which Trump’s actions vis-a-vis his investigation could affect.
“You don’t need to be guilty of an underlying crime to obstruct an investigation — especially one that might, and in fact did, implicate a number of close associates and aides,” said Jens David Ohlin, a law professor at Cornell University.
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