Newly re-cast CBS This Morning delivered more of its headline-grabbing exclusives Friday morning – this time a sit-down with Attorney General Bill Barr.
It’s Barr’s latest round in his Battle Of Who Gets Last Word with the now-former Special Counsel Robert Mueller since Mueller turned in his report about Russian 2016 election meddling and whether President Donald Trump’s campaign and associates colluded and/or obstructed the probe.
In this round, CBS News‘ Jan Crawford noted Mueller on Wednesday broke his silence from a podium at DOJ. Mueller explained “he analyzed 11 instances where there were possible obstruction, and then said that he really couldn’t make a decision – conclusion on whether or not the President had in fact committed obstruction because of the existing OLC opinion in the legal counsel’s office,” Crawford described.
Shot back Barr, “I am not sure he said it prevented him,” apparently figuring more people would see his interview than had watched Mueller’s Wednesday presser.
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Barr’s sit-down with Crawford is his first since Mueller’s appearance blew holes in Barr’s four-page spin of Mueller’s report. In that report, Mueller summarized findings of his two years of investigation. Journalists unearthed a letter Mueller had sent to Barr objecting to his characterization of the report in Barr’s summary, which was issued to the public about a month before Barr finally released the redacted 400-plus-page report.
Before releasing the report, Barr held a news conference in which he continued to contradict the actual report, enabling Trump to tweet his Game of Thrones-ish “Game Over” victory lap.
