Biden hiding Russiagate evidence in the face of a judge's order

Biden's DOJ appeals order to release FULL Russia memo which cleared Trump of obstruction during Mueller investigation

• The Biden administration appealed a judge's order directing it to release in its entirety a legal memo on whether Trump had obstructed Russia investigation 
• However it also agreed to make a brief portion of the document public 
• In its motion Monday, Justice Department lawyers said the government never meant to mislead the court 
• However it acknowledged that some of its language could have been clearer 
• It appears the decision was made to avoid setting a new precedent where more sensitive documents would have to be released in the future 
• Democrats had pressed AG Merrick Garland not to appeal the court's order 

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The Biden administration said Monday that it would appeal a judge's order directing it to release a memo explaining why Attorney General Bill Barr didn't choose to prosecute President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice by allegedly thwarting Robert Muller's Russia investigation. 

But it also agreed to make a brief portion of the document public, which shows that two senior Justice Department leaders advised Barr that, in their view, Mueller's evidence could not support an obstruction conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt. 

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson earlier this month ordered Biden's DOJ to release the entire March 2019 memo as part of a public records lawsuit from a Washington-based advocacy organization.

She said the department, under Attorney General William Barr, had misstated the purpose of the document in arguing that it was legally entitled to withhold it from the group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

In a motion filed late Monday, the deadline for deciding whether it would comply with the judge's decision or appeal it, the Justice Department said that it continued to believe even that the full document should be exempt from disclosure.

It appears Biden's DOJ took the decision to avoid setting a new precedent where more sensitive internal documents would have to be released, Politico reported. 

Presidents and administrations of both parties have constantly fought to keep these documents secret.