A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

by Philip Rucker

Yet Quarles was saying they would not go down that road of deciding one way or another. Barr thought, why not? You’re the special counsel. Your job was to investigate and make charging decisions. Mueller spoke up to reiterate the position Quarles presented. “We determined we should not try to decide if the conduct constitutes a crime due to the reasoning of the OLC memo,” he said. “It would be possible for somebody else later on to decide.” Barr wanted to be sure. He asked specifically whether someone could review the report and make an independent decision about criminality. The special counsel’s team told him yes. Later, another Barr aide asked whether the attorney general could decide whether there was enough evidence to constitute a crime. Again, the Mueller team said they assumed the attorney general had that power. Of course, Barr was in charge of the probe and could have said to Mueller, “I want you to make a recommendation,” but he didn’t. Mueller’s team thought they were discussing legal authority in the abstract. They gave the answers never contemplating Barr might actually exercise that power within days.