AG Barr Grilled in Senate as Mueller Letter Emerges Criticizing Barr's Summary of Findings
Attorney General William Barr is on Capitol Hill today for what was expected to be an explosive hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It's the first time Barr has faced lawmakers' questions since releasing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.
The hearing comes as a Washington Post story reveals Mueller told Barr he was frustrated with how the conclusions of his investigation were being portrayed. The Post story and the Justice Department said Mueller made it clear that he didn't believe Barr's summary of Mueller's report was inaccurate or misleading.
"After the Attorney General received Special Counsel Mueller's letter, he called him to discuss it," Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. "In a cordial and professional conversation, the Special Counsel emphasized that nothing in the Attorney General's March 24 letter was inaccurate or misleading. But, he expressed frustration over the lack of context and the resulting media coverage regarding the Special Counsel's obstruction analysis."
But Mueller also wrote that the document "did not fully capture the context, nature and substance" of his report and that it created confusion about some results of the investigation.
Mueller did ask the attorney general to release introductions and executives summaries included in the report.
The story has increased concerns among Democrats about Barr's handling of the Mueller report.