Barr Says Report Was ‘My Baby’ After Getting It: Releasing It Was My Decision

Attorney General William Barr got possessive of special counsel Robert Mueller report during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Arguing that Mueller’s work “concluded” once he handed it over to Barr’s office, Barr said the report became his “baby” at that point and he, and he alone, had the right to decide how and whether it would be released.

“Let me also say that, you know, Bob Mueller is the equivalent of a U.S. Attorney. He was exercising the powers of the attorney general, subject to the supervision of the attorney general, he’s part of the Department of Justice,” he said. “His work concluded when he sent his report to the attorney general. At that point, it was my baby and I was making a decision as to whether or not make it public. I effectively overrode the regulations used discretion to lean as far forward as I could to make that public and it was my decision how and when to make it public, not Bob Mueller’s.”

Barr says he thought of Mueller report as "my baby" after Mueller turned it over to his office pic.twitter.com/65PZ2686Ru

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) May 1, 2019