           

                                                                                   
</p><!--l. 29--><p class="indent" >   <span 
class="cmti-12">Third</span>, we considered whether to evaluate the conduct we investigated under
the Justice Manual standards governing prosecution and declination decisions,
but we determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a
judgment that the President committed crimes. The threshold step under the Justice
Manual standards is to assess whe