https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22187584-barr-unredacted-memoQuote
A fair evaluation of the Special Counsel's findings and legal theories weighs in favor of declining prosecution. While cataloguing actions that the President took, many of which took place in public view, the Report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constituted obstructive acts, done with a nexus to a pending proceeding, with the corrupt intent necessary to warrant prosecution under the obstruction-of-justice statutes. Based on the evidence described and the legal theories articulated in Volume 11 of the Special Counsel's Report regarding “whether the President had obstructed justice in connection with Russia-related investigations,” we believe that prosecution would not be warranted in these circumstances, wholly apart from constitutional considerations
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B. There Is No Precedent for an Obstruction Case on Similar Facts To our knowledge, the Special Counsel's investigation of potential obstruction is not similar to any reported case that the Department has previously charged under the obstruction-of- justice statutes. The Report identifies no obstruction case that the Department has pursued under remotely similar circumstances, and we have not identified any cither. Of course, any investigation ‘concerning the President would be exceptional, but the President is hardly the only public official who could be subject to investigation. The Department has investigated the potential misuse of official authority, including the obstruction of official proceedings. in a host of different circumstances
‘The Special Counsel's obstruction theory would not only be novel, but, based on his own analysis, it would also be unusual because Volume I ofthe Special Counsel's Report is conclusive: that the evidence developed “was not sufficient to charge that any member of the Trump Campaign [including the President] conspired or coordinated with representatives of the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.” Given that conclusion, the evidence docs not establish a crime or criminal conspiracy involving the President toward which any obstruction or attempted obstruction by the President was directed.