CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is a little late to the party on this one; it was Tuesday night when reporters and pundits were lighting up social media over a letter from Robert Mueller to Attorney General Bill Barr that was evidently leaked to the press on the eve of Barr’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As Twitchy reported, the “bombshell” headline implied that Mueller was unhappy with Barr’s summary of his report, but anyone who read beyond the headline learned that what bothered Mueller was the way the press was misreporting Barr’s four-page letter:

So Mueller did think Barr’s letter was accurate; he just thought the media coverage was getting it wrong. Frankly, it was probably President Trump’s loud and proud victory lap that bothered Mueller and the press.

But now Toobin has weighed in, and according to The Hill, Toobin says the letter was “scathing”:

“That is a scathing, outraged letter,” Toobin said of the Mueller letter. “Accusing the attorney general of completely distorting and lying to the public about what Mueller spent two years on.”

“I mean, that is not a polite letter among old friends. That is an accusation of political interference in Mueller’s work,” he continued. “That is not a routine letter in any sense of the word.”

Toobin went on to say Mueller was claiming that “the fix was in.”

“Let’s be clear about what Mueller is saying,” Toobin concluded. “That the fix was in and he is saying that Barr deliberately distorted his conclusions for the political gain of the president. That’s what that letter says in plain English.”

Thanks for translating it for us — we guess when Mueller wrote that he didn’t think Barr’s summary was inaccurate, he really was accusing Barr of deliberately distorting his conclusions for political gain. Got it.

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Tags: CNNJeffrey Toobinlettermedia coverageRobert MuellerscathingWilliam Barr