The Department of Justice on Monday moved to block the release of a full secret memo that could shed some light on how Trump appointees at the Justice Department justified why he shouldn’t be charged with obstruction even though special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found strong evidence that he obstructed the Russia investigation.
This means that some sections of the memo will remain secret while litigation continues, according to CNN. The Justice Department released some new unredacted portions of the memo on Monday, though they did not provide any new details on why then-Attorney General Barr decided that Trump should not be charged with any crimes.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the memo be released, following a Freedom of Information Act request from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
Jackson argued that Barr orchestrated his rollout of Mueller’s findings and called him “disingenuous,” saying that he wasn’t using the legal advice supposedly contained in the memo because he had already decided not to prosecute Trump, CNN reported.
The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal on Monday night saying it would appeal Jackson’s decision.
The appeal by the Justice Department doesn’t necessarily mean that the Biden administration fully supports what the Trump administration did regarding the memo. This specific case is about the Mueller probe, but the ruling could influence other public records cases. Justice Department leaders under presidents of both parties have fought for decades to keep internal documents secret, CNN noted.
