WASHINGTON Attorney General William Barr will tell members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he had to make a prosecutorial judgment and clear President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice before releasing a public version of Robert Muellers special counsel report.

Barr, in prepared remarks released Tuesday night, said that it would not have been appropriate to release the volume of Muellers report that focused on the question of obstruction without making a prosecutorial judgment of his own. Taking into consideration the Justice Departments longstanding view that the president cannot be indicted while in office, Muellers report did not state outright that Trump committed a crime but rather laid out extensive evidence of Trump attempting to influence the Mueller investigation and criminal investigations of his associates.

But Barr, in counsel with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, concluded that the evidence established by Muellers investigation was not sufficient to support an obstruction of justice prosecution.

Barr has come under fire for mischaracterizing the Mueller report ahead of its public release. His March 24 letter to Congress selectively quoted phrases from the Mueller report out of context, and he echoed the presidents rhetoric and sympathized with the presidents feelings during an April 18 news conference before making a redacted copy of the report public.

Barr will tell senators on Wednesday that, aside from the cases that had been referred to other offices, the Justice Departments work on the special counsel investigation was done and that the exercise of responding and reacting to the report is a matter for the American people and the political process.

As Im sure you agree, it is vitally important for the Department of Justice to stand apart from the political process and not to become an adjunct of it, Barr is expected to say.

Read Barrs prepared remarks below.