Special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence President Donald TrumpB次元官网网址檚 campaign B次元官网网址渃onspired or co-ordinatedB次元官网网址� with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting.
The battle began Monday as White House aides and allies blanketed television news broadcasts to trumpet the findings and claim that Trump has been the victim in a probe that never should have started.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump will let Attorney General William Barr decide whether the special counselB次元官网网址檚 Russia report should be publicly released, though she adds that B次元官网网址渉eB次元官网网址檚 more than happy for any of this stuff to come out.B次元官网网址�
Trump cheered the Sunday outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, itB次元官网网址檚 a shame that your president has had to go through this,B次元官网网址� he said.
Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the presidentB次元官网网址檚 attorney general hardly put him in the clear.
MuellerB次元官网网址檚 conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start B次元官网网址� whether his campaign worked with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
That was further good news for the president on top of the Justice DepartmentB次元官网网址檚 earlier announcement that Mueller had wrapped his investigation without new indictments. That could deflate the hopes of Democrats in Congress and on the 2020 campaign trail that incriminating findings from Mueller would hobble the presidentB次元官网网址檚 agenda and re-election bid.
But while Mueller was categorical in ruling out criminal collusion, he was more circumspect on presidential obstruction of justice. Despite TrumpB次元官网网址檚 claim of total exoneration, Mueller did not draw a conclusion one way or the other on whether he sought to stifle the Russia investigation through his actions including the firing of former FBI director James Comey.
According to BarrB次元官网网址檚 summary, Mueller set out B次元官网网址渆vidence on both sides of the questionB次元官网网址� and stated that B次元官网网址渨hile this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.B次元官网网址�
Barr, who was nominated by Trump in December, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017 and oversaw much of his work, went further in TrumpB次元官网网址檚 favour.
The attorney general said he and Rosenstein had determined that MuellerB次元官网网址檚 evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Barr has previously voiced a broad view of presidential powers, and in an unsolicited memo last June he cast doubt on whether the president could have obstructed justice through acts B次元官网网址� like firing his FBI director B次元官网网址� that he was legally empowered to take.
Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.
MuellerB次元官网网址檚 team examined a series of actions by the president in the last two years to determine if he intended obstruction. Those include his firing of Comey one week before MuellerB次元官网网址檚 appointment, his public and private haranguing of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation because of his work on the campaign, his request of Comey to end an investigation into Michael Flynn, the White HouseB次元官网网址檚 first national security adviser, and his drafting of an incomplete explanation about his oldest sonB次元官网网址檚 meeting with a Russian lawyer during the campaign.
MuellerB次元官网网址檚 findings absolve Trump on the question of colluding with Russia but donB次元官网网址檛 entirely remove the legal threats the president and associates are facing. Federal prosecutors in New York, for instance, are investigating hush-money payments made to two women during the campaign who say they had sex with the president. TrumpB次元官网网址檚 former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, implicated Trump in campaign finance violations when he pleaded guilty last year.
The special counselB次元官网网址檚 investigation did not come up empty-handed. It ensnared nearly three dozen people, senior Trump campaign operatives among them. The probe illuminated RussiaB次元官网网址檚 assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Hillary Clinton and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts.
Thirty-four people, including six Trump aides and advisers, were charged in the investigation. Twenty-five are Russians accused of election interference either through hacking into Democratic accounts or orchestrating a social media campaign to spread disinformation on the internet.
SundayB次元官网网址檚 summary B次元官网网址� and its suggestion that Mueller may have found evidence in support of obstruction B次元官网网址� sets up a fight between Barr and Democrats, who called for the special counselB次元官网网址檚 full report to be released and vowed to press on with their own investigations.
B次元官网网址淎ttorney General BarrB次元官网网址檚 letter raises as many questions as it answers,B次元官网网址� House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
B次元官网网址淕iven Mr. BarrB次元官网网址檚 public record of bias against the special counselB次元官网网址檚 inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report,B次元官网网址� they said. TrumpB次元官网网址檚 own claim of complete exoneration B次元官网网址渄irectly contradicts the words of Mr. Mueller and is not to be taken with any degree of credibility,B次元官网网址� they added.
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Trump was at his Florida estate when lawmakers received the report. BarrB次元官网网址檚 chief of staff called Emmet Flood, the lead White House lawyer on the investigation, to brief him on the findings shortly before he sent it to Congress. Mueller submitted his report to Barr instead of directly to Congress and the public because, unlike independent counsels such as Ken Starr in the case of President Bill Clinton, his investigation operated under the close supervision of the Justice Department.
Barr did not speak with the president, Mueller was not consulted on the letter, and the White House does not have MuellerB次元官网网址檚 report, according to a Justice Department official.
Though Mueller did not find evidence that anyone associated with the Trump campaign co-ordinated with the Russian government, BarrB次元官网网址檚 summary notes B次元官网网址渕ultiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.B次元官网网址�
ThatB次元官网网址檚 a likely reference not only to a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting at which Donald Trump. Jr. expected to receive damaging information on Clinton from a Kremlin-connected lawyer, as well as a conversation in London months earlier at which Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos was told Russia had B次元官网网址渄irtB次元官网网址� on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen emails.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, said Congress needs to hear from Barr about his decision and see B次元官网网址渁ll the underlying evidence.B次元官网网址� He said on Twitter, B次元官网网址淒OJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work.B次元官网网址�
Barr said that Mueller B次元官网网址渢horoughlyB次元官网网址� investigated the question of whether the Trump campaign co-ordinated with RussiaB次元官网网址檚 election interference, issuing more than 2,800 subpoenas, obtaining nearly 500 search warrants and interviewing 500 witnesses. Trump answered some questions in writing, but refused to be interviewed in person by the Mueller team.
Barr said Mueller also catalogued the presidentB次元官网网址檚 actions including B次元官网网址渕anyB次元官网网址� that took place in B次元官网网址減ublic view,B次元官网网址� a possible nod to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 public attacks on investigators and witnesses.
In the letter, Barr said he concluded that none of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 actions constituted a federal crime that prosecutors could prove in court.
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Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire in New York, Deb Riechmann in Palm Beach, Florida, and Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
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Eric Tucker, Michael Balsamo, Chad Day And Julie Pace, The Associated Press
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