He simply declared that Mr. Mueller had made no call, leaving it to the attorney general to decide that the evidence did not support obstruction charges. During his confirmation hearing, Democrats expressed worries that he would invoke his broad view of executive power to tell Mr. Trump that the Constitution puts him, as president, above the law. Mr. Barr has written that obstruction laws cannot cover a president who abuses his official powers to impede an investigation, and argued for a sweeping view of a president’s authority as commander in chief. Against that backdrop, it was notable on Wednesday that he invoked no constitutional theories to justify clearing Mr. Trump of obstructing justice. But Mr. Barr at times seemed to channel the vantage point of a defense lawyer for Mr. Trump that was at odds with the image of an attorney general who enforces the law dispassionately.

Source: New York Times May 01, 2019 23:59 UTC