WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has released a 2019 memo to then-Attorney General William Barr advising him not to pursue obstruction of justice charges against then-President Donald Trump related to the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The memo by two senior Justice Department officials, which the Trump and Biden administrations both fought to shield from public view, states that Trump’s attempts to influence the investigation — including urging those in his circle not to “flip” on him, firing the head of the FBI and attempting to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — did not constitute obstruction of justice because Trump thought the investigation was politically motivated.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the Justice Department to release an unredacted version of the memo under the Freedom of Information Act. A version of the memo with more than half of its 10 pages redacted was released in May 2021 in response to a FOIA suit brought by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
