Under pressure from Democrats, Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday defended his decision to clear President Donald Trump of criminal obstruction of justice by attempting to impede special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia inquiry and criticized Mueller for not reaching a conclusion of his own on the issue.
In his first congressional testimony since releasing a redacted version of the report on April 18, Barr also dismissed Mueller's complaints that the attorney general had disclosed the special counsel's conclusions in an incomplete way. Illustrating tensions between the two men, Barr called a March 27 letter from Mueller "a bit snitty."
During the sometimes testy hearing, Barr faced sharp questions from Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on why he decided after receiving the 448-page document from Mueller in March to conclude that the president had not unlawfully sought to obstruct the 22-month investigation.