Late Wednesday night, both The New York Times and The Washington Post released dubiously sourced reports suggested that members of the Special Counsel told other people (and in some cases, those people then told other people) that Attorney General William Barr’s letter Congress was not truthful. This high-stakes game of telephone was all ABC News and NBC News needed to get there hopes up to see President Trump behind bars.
ABC congressional and anti-GOP correspondent Mary Bruce latched up The Washington Post report like it was divine scripture during World News Tonight, claiming, “an associate of the Mueller team calls the report is ‘much more acute than Barr suggested.’ Sources telling The Post, the evidence on obstruction of justice was ‘alarming and significant.’”
Of course, Bruce never made the connection that if the evidence was as “alarming and significant” as the secondary sources suggested, then there wouldn’t have been the split among the investigators.
Seeking to muddy the waters on what Barr told Congress, Bruce claimed the letter only detailed “his main conclusions” and not the fact it shared the “principal conclusions” of the Special Counsel. She also echoed The Post’s claims of other truthful summaries being withheld by the Attorney General:
But the Post reports Mueller's team is frustrated because they prepared their own summaries, to be shared "in their own words and not in the Attorney General's summary of their work." One official briefed on the issue tells the Post those summaries were written "In a way that minimum redactions, if any, would have been necessary, and the work would have spoken for itself."
NBC Nightly News latched onto The Times's reporting, with chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson hyping: “NBC News has learned that some of Robert Mueller's investigators believe the evidence that President Trump obstructed justice is stronger than the Attorney General has publicly suggested according to a U.S. official who has spoken with them.”
“The details, first reported by The New York Times, indicate Mueller's full report could be more damaging for the President than it initially seemed, even as the White House dismisses those concerns,” she added. Jackson also spoke about Barr’s decision to not pursue charges on obstruction of justice as if it was shady and improper for him to do so.
Meanwhile, CBS White House and legal correspondent Paula Reid took a more skeptical and neutral tone. She put emphasis on the fact that “Democrats on Capitol Hill today seized on news reports that some Special Counsel investigators are unhappy with the Attorney General's summary of their work.”
“CBS News has confirmed the Special Counsel team was split on whether the President obstructed justice, with some investigators believing Mr. Trump had committed a crime,” Reid added. “Barr received Mueller's report on Friday, March 22, and two days later, sent a four-page letter to lawmakers summarizing the ‘principal collusions’ of the investigation.”
Reid also noted that it was both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who jointly made the decision to not pursue obstruction of justice charges.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
April 4, 2019
6:41:02 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Back here at home tonight, there is a major new headline involving the Mueller report. And in particular, members of Robert Mueller's team who are reportedly unhappy with how the report was summarized by the Attorney General, telling associates that what they discovered was more alarming. ABC's Mary Bruce on the hill for us.
[Cuts to video]
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, for the first time, members of Robert Mueller's team are reportedly sharing frustrations with how Attorney General Bill Barr is handling their record. According to The Washington Post, an associate of the Mueller team calls the report is "much more acute than Barr suggested." Sources telling the Post, the evidence on obstruction of justice was "alarming and significant."
Barr has released a four-page letter, outlining his main conclusions, which the Justice Department insists is not an attempt to summarize the report. But the Post reports Mueller's team is frustrated because they prepared their own summaries, to be shared "in their own words and not in the Attorney General's summary of their work." One official briefed on the issue tells the Post those summaries were written "In a way that minimum redactions, if any, would have been necessary, and the work would have spoken for itself."
(…)
BRUCE: The Justice Department is pushing back, suggesting they couldn't release any of the Mueller team’s summaries, because “every page of Mueller's confidential report” was marked with a notation that it may contain confidential material. Barr has promised to make public a redacted version soon. The President says he supports that.
(…)
BRUCE: But today, he tweeted: "There is nothing we can ever give to the Democrats that will make them happy." Republicans, like Trump's ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, wants to see more.
(…)
BRUCE: Later, he told us he's standing by the Attorney General. No concern at all that Barr's summary may not be an accurate reflection?
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Zero. He’s not stupid. Why would he do that?
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: Mary Bruce up at her post on the Hill tonight. And Mary, amid this new reporting that members of Mueller's team are not happy, tonight, House Democrats are demanding that the Attorney General hand over those summaries, reportedly prepared by Mueller's team that some maintain were actually ready for the public, but weren't turned over?
BRUCE: Yes, and not only those summaries, David. In light of these new reports, Democrats here on the Hill are demanding to see all communications between the Mueller team and the Justice Department about this report and its disclosure to Congress. David?
MUIR: Mary Bruce. We'll see you tomorrow night.
CBS Evening News
April 4, 2019
6:36:33 p.m. EasternJEFF GLOR: We learned today that some of Robert Mueller's investigators were split on whether President Trump committed a crime. Attorney General William Barr, in a summary of Mueller's report, concluded Mr. Trump did not obstruct justice. Democrats say they are not satisfied with that. Paula Reid has more.
[Cuts to video]
NANCY PELOSI: There's an easy answer to this-- release the Mueller report as soon as possible.
PAULA REID: Democrats on Capitol Hill today seized on news reports that some Special Counsel investigators are unhappy with the Attorney General's summary of their work.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: The public needs to see the whole report-- no executive privilege, no redacting. Eventually, it all comes
REID: CBS News has confirmed the Special Counsel team was split on whether the President obstructed justice, with some investigators believing Mr. Trump had committed a crime. And several news outlets cited anonymous sources claiming some of the more than dozen Special Counsel prosecutors felt Barr did not accurately convey their findings to Congress.
Barr received Mueller's report on Friday, March 22, and two days later, sent a four-page letter to lawmakers summarizing the “principal collusions” of the investigation. He revealed, "the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government," but Mueller could not exonerate the President on obstruction. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein then concluded that evidence was “not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” President Trump declared total victory.
DONALD TRUMP: The collusion delusion is over.
REID: But Democrats question how Barr reached a conclusion Mueller himself could not make. Barr has defended himself and promised to release a fuller version of the report by mid-April. Today, the Justice Department said every page of the report "May contain material protected under law," such as confidential grand jury information and must be reviewed. At the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed the Democrats' backlash as sour grapes.
SARAH SANDERS: They lost in 2016. They lost on the collusion battle, and now they're looking for any and everything they can to continue to attack this president because they have no message.
[Cuts back to live]
REID: House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jerry Nadler has asked the Attorney General for all communication between the Justice Department and the Special Counsel. Barr is unlikely to comply, but lawmakers can ask him about it next week when he testifies on Capitol Hill. Jeff.
GLOR: Paula, thank you very much.
NBC Nightly News
April 4, 2019
7:10:49 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: As that plays out, the firestorm is growing over the Mueller report. Some members of Mueller's team are frustrated over how Attorney General William Barr presented their findings about President Trump, not about collusion but on the question of obstruction of justice. NBC's Hallie Jackson has that story.
[Cuts to video]
HALLIE JACKSON: NBC News has learned that some of Robert Mueller's investigators believe the evidence that President Trump obstructed justice is stronger than the Attorney General has publicly suggested according to a U.S. official who has spoken with them.
Mueller never concluded either way whether the President obstructed justice. So, William Barr made a determination himself, writing he and his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein found “the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish” obstruction. The details, first reported by The New York Times, indicate Mueller's full report could be more damaging for the President than it initially seemed, even as the White House dismisses those concerns.
SARAH SANDERS: Let's not forget that the people that have been involved in this process, they’ve wasted two years of their life and they need to find a way to validate it.
JACKSON: Democrats argue this validates their calls to see all of Mueller's report, a demand reiterated in this letter to Barr late today.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: As discrete as the Mueller team has been, the fact they are now so distressed about the potential misconceptions that Attorney General Barr has created speaks volumes.
JACKSON: But the Justice Department today points out Barr needs to black out sensitive information which takes time and that he “continues to work with the Special Counsel on appropriate redactions” so it can be released publicly. Hallie Jackson, NBC News the White House.
