Attorney General William Barr issued a mild critique of special counsel Robert Mueller in a clip of interview with “CBS This Morning,” released a day after Mueller’s public statement about the probe.
“I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision,” he said, referring to Mueller’s decision not to determine whether President Trump obstructed justice.
“He could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity, but he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained,” Barr continued. “I’m not going to argue about those reasons, but when he didn’t make a decision, the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and I felt it was necessary for us as the heads of the department to reach that decision.”
This comes after Mueller said Wednesday that he felt it would be unfair to say whether Trump committed a crime when the issue could not be resolved in court. He also said that if the special counsel’s office had felt confident Trump hadn’t committed a crime, it would’ve said so.
NEW: Attorney General Barr tells @JanCBS he “personally felt” Special Counsel Robert Mueller “could've reached a decision” on obstruction of justice by President Trump.
More on @CBSEveningNews tonight and @CBSThisMorning Friday. #CTM pic.twitter.com/b8ik2q32ZK
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 30, 2019