Attorney General Barr US Senate Hearing….Rundown….

Attorney General Bill Barr is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election — a day after it was revealed that Mueller sent him a letter objecting to his March 24 characterization of the report’s findings.

1 big thing: Barr told Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that if Mueller felt as if he could not make a prosecutorial decision on the question of obstruction of justice, then he “shouldn’t have investigated it. That was the time to pull up.”

Live updates:

• Barr said that he told Mueller in a phone call that he “wasn’t interested” in putting out the special counsel’s prepared summaries in a “piecemeal” fashion, despite Mueller’s requests.
• Barr explained that he decided to clear President Trump on obstruction of justice because the government would not be able to establish “corrupt intent” beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Responding to the episode in which Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to remove Mueller due to conflicts of interest, Barr argued that Trump truly believed Mueller was conflicted and that “remove,” which he said is different than “fire,” implies that a new special counsel would be appointed.
• Barr said that there are “multiple criminal leak investigations underway” related to the media’s coverage of the Russia investigation.
• Barr told Sen. Chuck Grassley that if Mueller felt as if he could not make a prosecutorial decision on the question of obstruction of justice, then he “shouldn’t have investigated it. That was the time to pull up.”
• Barr told Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that Trump “fully cooperated” with the investigation. Trump never submitted to an in-person interview and multiple episodes in the Mueller report suggest that Trump tried to get Mueller removed….

More…

image…Attorney General Bill Barr. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images