They report to you, so they knew at least, it seems, if her account is to be believed.
She then said, “I will briefly pause” about “my...state of mind”, that the final decision had been made and so forth.
In my view, the communications and efforts to change my mind on this matter should have stopped. Various officials also urged me to take partisan political considerations into account, which it was clearly improper for me to do. We either have a system that is based on the rule of law, the independence of prosecutorial functions and respect for those charged to use their discretion and powers in a particular way, or we do not.
Therefore she said very clearly to your staff that this was to be the final decision.
Mr. Butts, what we're here to do is to determine whether a line was crossed—