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 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. The Justice Department argued in court that the document should be shielded from public view.
But the appeals court found that Barr never seriously considered charging Trump with obstructing the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, stating in its ruling that the memo the former attorney general requested was an "academic exercise" and a "thought experiment."
