The Mueller Report

Against all expectations, based upon the summary just provided by Attorney General William Barr, Special Counsel Robert Mueller  has concluded that there is no evidence of any conspiracy between the Trump campaign or any persons associated therewith and the Russians to effect the 2016 election. On the issue of obstruction Mueller punted, reporting that he reached no conclusion one way or the other and left the decision, to be based on the information furnished, to Justice Department officials. Attorney General Barr, in consultation with Asst. AG Robert Rosenstein, has decided that President Trump should not be charged with obstruction based upon his review of the evidence and without regard to the question of whether a sitting president can be criminally prosecuted.

Mr. Barr, in deciding the obstruction issue, says he relies upon the absence of any underlying crime which might have been the subject of an attempt to obstruct. Also cited is the fact that much of the allegedly obstructive behavior took place in public and, therefore, was not corruptly motivated.

We may conclude from this that one may impede an investigator from obtaining evidence of criminal misconduct so long as the obstruction is transparent and successfully prevents the acquisition of evidence necessary to prove an underlying crime.