Legal expert explains why Americans have a right know if Bill Barr used his office to shield Trump

According to former solicitor general for the Obama administration Neal Katyal, the Biden administration is making a "serious mistake" in trying to keep secret a Trump-era document detailing former Attorney General Bill Barr's decision to clear former President Donald Trump of obstructing justice.

"The American people have a right to see the memo," Katyal writes. "Then they can decide whether Mr. Barr used his power as the nation's chief law enforcement officer as a shield to protect the president."

While prosecutorial secrecy is warranted in ordinary criminal cases, Katyal argues that this is no ordinary criminal case. "It concerns attempts at the highest levels of government to shield the attorney general's boss from criminal liability," he writes, calling the memo "the people's memo."

"In the end, there must be a zone of confidential government decision-making and privacy. Good government depends on it. But that zone is a two-way street: It also depends on government officials who behave as if they deserve to be there."

Read the full op-ed over at The New York Times.