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A White House lawyer described the report of the council of special advocate Robert S. Mueller III as "a partial truth commission report and examination work." (Cliff Owen / AP).
Last month, the White House officially filed a complaint with the Justice Department for the findings of the special advocate Robert S. Mueller III – and said that President Trump thought he would retain the right to assert the privilege of the executive power over the information contained in the report, despite its publication Libération.
The letter was delivered to the Washington Post by a White House official a day after Barr had criticized Mueller during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Advocate General described a letter from the Special Advocate asking him to publish the summaries of his report as "rather attractive" and stated that he was confused by Mueller's decision not to be able to reach the end of his report. his investigation for obstruction of justice.
In his report, Mueller wrote that he believed that, as part of a Justice Department policy that the president could not be charged while he was in office, the office the special council could not determine whether the president had violated the law.
"Although this report does not lead to the commission of a crime by the president, he does not release it either," Mueller wrote in his 448-page report, which sets out the evidence gathered about the potential acts of Trump obstruction.
In his letter of April 19, Mr. Flood accused Mueller of having exceeded his authority by revealing to the public a much more detailed statement of facts than is generally included in the indictments. He described the report as "curiosity of the prosecution – party report" truth commission "and part of law test."
The Department of Justice and the Special Council Office declined to comment.
[Barr spars with Democrats over ‘snitty’ Mueller letter]
In his letter, Flood presented a scathing critique of Mueller's report, stating that the special advisory team had dropped the usual burden of proof that required prosecutors to establish crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.
The refusal to exonerate the president, he wrote, overturned the presumption of innocence.
"Because they are not part of our criminal justice vocabulary, SCO's statements on reverse evidence standards and" exemptions "can only be understood as such. policy statements from individuals (federal prosecutors) who, in our system of government, are rightly expected never to be political in the performance of their duties, "writes Flood in the letter, which was first reported by CNN.
He stated that Mueller's long report showed that his team "was failing to act as a prosecutor and only as prosecutors."
Prior to the publication of Mueller's report, the White House did not claim the executive's privilege over the document or request redactions.
In his letter, Flood writes that the White House refused to assert this privilege with a "measure of reticence born of the concern of future presidents and their advisers".
But he pointed out that the White House did not believe that this choice meant that she had closed the door to the future assertion of executive privilege on the same material.
In particular, he wrote that the publication of the report did not affect the president's ability to instruct councilors to refuse to appear before congressional committees.
"It's one thing for a president to encourage full cooperation and transparency in a criminal investigation conducted largely in the executive branch," he wrote. "It is quite another thing to allow his advisers to appear before the Congress, a coordinated branch of government, and answer questions about their communications with the president and with each other."
The Judiciary Committee of the House issued a subpoena Donald McGahn, a former White House lawyer, who was one of the main witnesses to several episodes that Mueller explained while investigating whether Trump was obstructing justice.
The White House opposed the appearance of McGahn. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said he had already had McGahn testify for more than 30 hours, referring to the time spent by the former White House lawyer with Mueller investigators. "Congress should no longer look. That's all. It's done, "said Trump.
If McGahn chooses to rely on the advice of White House lawyers, the issue is likely to lead to a long court battle that will test the limits of the president's executive powers.
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