NPR

Mueller Report Release Will Likely Escalate Tensions Between Trump And Congress

And unlike the attorney general's predecessors who were caught between warring branches of government, William Barr seems intent on being at the center of the conflict.
Attorney General William Barr has signaled that he will play a rather different role from recent predecessors who were caught between warring executive and legislative powers.

The news world is ravenously awaiting the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference.

But Attorney General William Barr's two trips to the Capitol last week strongly suggest that the version of the report he releases will only whet the appetites of many in Congress and beyond for more information.

That means the tension between President Trump and Congress is likely to escalate into a constitutional confrontation involving the competing authorities of at least two branches of government.

As these storm clouds gather, Barr has signaled that he will play a rather different role from recent predecessors who were caught between warring executive and legislative powers in this lawyerly version of Game of Thrones.

Barr clearly intends to be at the center of the storm. And perhaps he has meant to be so ever since he sent a 19-page critique of the Mueller investigation to the Justice Department nearly a year ago, calling its approach to obstruction-of-justice charges "fatally misconceived."

That memo was a precursor to the last month after reviewing the Mueller report. In that letter, Barr looked at the Mueller report's inconclusive statement

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Big Sean: Tiny Desk Concert
The respected lyricist and hip-hop hitmaker comes to the Desk for one of the longest setlists in Tiny Desk history.
NPR9 min readWorld
Fractures In The Grand Alliance Between Black And Jewish Americans
The Grand Alliance between Black and Jewish leaders, known largely for shared work on Civil Rights in the 1960s, has a complicated legacy--and an uncertain future between these communities.
NPR2 min read
Milky Way Black Hole Has 'Strong, Twisted' Magnetic Field In Mesmerizing New Image
The polarized light image gives us a "new view of the monster lurking at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy," according to the European Southern Observatory.

Related Books & Audiobooks