Whitaker rejects advice for Mueller-probe recusal

WASHINGTON — Matthew Whitaker, who was installed last month as acting attorney general by President Donald Trump, has cleared himself to supervise the special counsel’s investigation, rejecting the recommendation of career Justice Department ethics specialists that he recuse himself, a senior department official said Thursday.

The development came soon after the disclosure that the president’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, had written a memo this spring in which he strongly criticized one of the main lines of inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller — whether Trump had committed obstruction of justice. Disclosure of the memo raised questions about whether Barr will order Mueller to shut down that component of the inquiry if the Senate confirms him.

Together, the developments underscored the potential threats to Mueller’s ability to complete his work without interference.

Both developments trace back to Trump’s decision last month to oust Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Enraging Trump, Sessions had recused himself last year from overseeing investigations related to the 2016 election on the advice of department ethics officials because of his ties to the Trump campaign.

Sessions’ recusal left the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, in the role of acting attorney general for the investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia in its electioninterference operation, and whether Trump later obstructed justice.

After firing Sessions, Trump named Whitaker the acting attorney general until the Senate confirms a successor. He then nominated Barr.

The immediate question raised by Trump’s postelection maneuvers was whether Whitaker would, like Sessions before him, recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Whitaker had publicly denigrated the special counsel’s inquiry before joining the administration.

The Justice Department had refused to answer questions about whether ethics officials cleared Whitaker to take over the supervision of Mueller. A department official said Thursday that Whitaker had not been receiving briefings on the special counsel’s investigation, but had decided on Wednesday that he will not recuse himself and will instead assume final say over major investigative or prosecutorial actions Mueller wants to take.

Separately, the Justice Department provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee late Wednesday a package of Barr’s writings and speeches. The documents included a 19-page, apparently unsolicited memo that Barr sent to senior department officials in June in which he sharply criticized Mueller’s focus on whether Trump had obstructed justice.

While acknowledging in his memo that he was “in the dark about many facts,” Barr argued that the Justice Department must not accept the notion that a president can violate a statute that criminalizes obstruction of justice when he is exercising his constitutional authority in an otherwise-lawful way — such as by firing a subordinate, pardoning someone or using his “complete authority to start or stop a law enforcement proceeding” — but with a corrupt motive.