AJustice Department memo from 2019 that was released Wednesday revealed government lawyers urged then-Attorney General William Barr to decline to bring obstruction charges against President Donald Trump based on their ruling that the then-president had not "corruptly" sought to interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. 

"A fair evaluation of the Special Counsel's findings and legal theories weighs in favor of declining prosecution," wrote Steven Engel, the assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, and Justice Department official Edward O'Callaghan in the memo.

Following the completion of his investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Mueller determined that no one of Trump's campaign could be charged with working with the foreign country towards a favorable electoral outcome. 

Despite examining 10 "discrete acts" in which Mueller said Trump might have obstructed the investigation, Mueller notably decided not to reach a conclusion as to whether the then-president actually did so, leaving the decision on obstruction charges to the Justice Department.