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William Barr was invited to meet with representatives of the Department of Justice last summer. On the same day, he submitted an "unsolicited" memo strongly criticizing the investigation by the special advocate Robert Mueller on the obstruction of justice led by Donald Trump.
Barr, who was then a private lawyer, met with the officials three weeks later for lunch. He was later named Trump's Attorney General about six months later.
The revelation about the meeting, which was organized by Steve Engel, head of the Office of the Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Justice, and which has not yet been publicly disclosed, raises new questions as to whether the the White House to engage Barr has been influenced. through private discussions, he had his legal opinion on Mueller's investigation.
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Last month, Barr announced that he had concluded that the investigation by the special council did not establish that Trump had obstructed justice. He made that decision, he wrote in a letter to Congress, after consulting with Engel – who is legal counsel at the White House – and Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General.
Barr's decision is controversial because, several months before he was hired, he sent a 20-page memo to two senior DOJ officials – Engel and Rosenstein – in which he claimed that Mueller's theory of obstruction was " immensely ill-conceived "and" legally unbearable ". Barr, who served as Attorney General under George HW Bush, stated that he had written the memo in order to "make sure that all the lawyers involved had carefully studied the potential implications of the theory. "that Mueller seemed to pursue.
Unnamed officials told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the existence of the memo, that it played no role in the decision to hire Barr.
In his written responses to the questions asked by senators in his confirmation hearing, Mr. Barr stated that he had provided copies of his memo to Rosenstein and Engel on June 8, 2018. He had stated that he had discussed his legal opinions with Rosenstein at breakfast in early 2018, and later, on another occasion, he briefly discussed his views with Engel. He then stated in written responses that after writing the memo: "None of those in charge of the Ministry followed up".
But a person familiar with the case said that Engel had sent an invitation to Barr on June 8 – the day the memo had arrived at the Department of Justice – for a lunch bag. when he had been invited to speak at the Ministry of Justice. Staff.
Lunch was then held on June 27th.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that lunch had taken place. "The moment was chosen by chance and the memo was not discussed," the spokeswoman said.
"OLC regularly brings back former OLL leaders (like the other divisions) so that they can eat with the new team and share their experiences from their experience at OLC," she added.
Barr's lunch was not a routine affair, however. While lunch baskets were a tradition at the DoJ in the past, a knowledgeable person said Barr's luncheon was meant to revive the tradition, after two years of no meal of this type having taken place. .
The spokeswoman for the DoJ first challenged this story and promised to give the Guardian a list of names and dates of other former officials and personalities who attended such a luncheon before Barr. But the spokeswoman did not give any other information.
"This revelation adds yet another piece of data suggesting that Barr's wacky memo has indicated that he would protect Mr. Trump even for highly dubious or erroneous legal reasons, and that he was dragged into the This is the case, "said Ryan Goodman, NYU law professor and former special advisor to the Ministry of Defense.
While Mueller's investigation was supposed to be centered on Trump's decision to dismiss James Comey, who was at the head of the FBI and was investigating a possible plot between Russia and Trump's campaign, Barr claimed in his note that a true act of obstruction imply the explicit destruction of evidence. These acts may include falsifying witnesses or other deliberate acts designed to undermine the integrity of the evidence.
The DoJ downplayed the importance of Barr's June note. Rosenstein told the WSJ that Barr had neither requested nor received non-public information about the current investigation, and that his memo had "no impact" on the investigation.
Someone with knowledge of the matter said that any discussion between Barr and Engel would be relevant because she would have informed the DoJ, and perhaps the White House, about Barr's view of the executive branch.
Engel has kept a relatively low profile in his role at the Office of the Legal Counsel. He was part of the Trump campaign transition team and is known to be a close friend of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Engel does not serve as a personal lawyer in Trump. In his capacity at the CLO, he advises the White House on the extent of their powers, sometimes offering a legal justification for certain actions of the White House.
Trump recently told the Republican Senate that he had a great affection for Barr.
"I like AGs. He works fast. I love this guy. You told me I would do it, "he told the group, according to an article in the New York Times.
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