otherwise going to pursue, barr was going to block him. at least as far as this letter goes from the attorney general bill barr tonight, barr says he never exercised that power. he's notifying congress formally. there's never anything the special counsel sought to do that bill barr stopped mueller from doing. and that's fascinating. of course everybody would like to hear that from robert mueller as well as from bill barr but at this point it's only bill barr who is speaking on mueller's behalf. robert mueller is still at this point publicly silent as he has been from the very beginning. although we'll have more on that in a moment. here's more from the letter, though, quote the special counsel has submitted to me today a quote, confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions he has reached as required by the regulations. quote, i am reviewing the report and anticipate that i may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principal