Justice Department Releases Redacted Memo on Volume II of the Mueller Report
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
On May 25, the Justice Department released a redacted version of a 2019 memo that, according to the department, advised Attorney General William Barr on how to handle the Mueller report’s descriptions of possible obstruction of justice offenses committed by then-President Trump. The department released the memo following a court order by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. The memo was written after the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) reviewed Volume II of the Mueller report and noted that, “the evidence described in Volume II of the Report is not, in our judgment, sufficient to support a conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the President violated the obstruction-of-justice statutes.” The authors of the memo reached the conclusion that, “were there no constitutional barrier, we would recommend, under the Principles of Federal Prosecution, that you decline to commence such a prosecution.” You can read the redacted memo here or below.
