'So much for complete and total exoneration': NYT shreds AG Barr for exposing Trump criminality -- and then excusing it

On Thursday, the editorial board at The New York Timeswrote a scathing editorial that details the "dysfunction and distrust" revealed in special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

The highly anticipated report was released by Attorney General Bill Barr early Thursday morning after a press conference.

"So much for 'complete and total exoneration,'" the editorial bluntly begins in a slap at Trump's claim of "no collusion."

"In addition to pointing to possible criminality, the report revealed a White House riddled with dysfunction and distrust, one in which Mr. Trump and his aides lie with contempt for one another and the public," the editorial said.

It goes on to explain the multiple bombshells that the report revealed, but noted that one questions still lingers even after the drop of the report.

"Why did Mr. Mueller decide not to make a finding of whether President Trump obstructed justice?" the editorial said.

“We determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes,” the Mueller report says, because “fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought.”

"In other words, Mr. Mueller felt his hands were tied. Longstanding Justice Department policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president, and it isn’t fair to make accusations without giving the president a legal forum in which to respond," the editorial states.

It goes on to explains that the report shows the accuracy of claims made against Trump and his White House.

"By contrast, the special prosecutor’s report illustrates again and again that, despite Mr. Trump’s constant cries of 'fake news,' responsible news media’s reporting on the investigation was overwhelmingly accurate," the editorial states.

Some pundits have argued that the report serves as a roadmap towards impeachment, but even with findings, there will be a "long way to go" before true justice happens.

"Mr. Mueller may have felt he couldn’t indict a president in the legal sense of the term, but he has delivered a devastating description of Mr. Trump’s attempts to abuse his powers and corrupt his aides. This report, even in its censored format, is an important step toward putting the truth of this presidency in the public record. But there’s still a long way to go before it can be said that justice has been done."

Read the full editorial here.