Mueller Found Trump Did Not Conspire With Russia, But Didn’t Clear Him on Obstruction of Justice
Attorney General William Barr sent a summary of the Mueller report’s findings to Congress Sunday. According to Barr’s letter, Mueller’s investigation cleared Trump and his campaign on the allegations of conspiring with Russia to undermine the 2016 election, but did not reach a conclusion on the matter of obstruction of justice.
"The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election," wrote the Attorney General. But Mueller apparently punted the obstruction question to the Attorney General’s office, after determining "not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment."
Instead of making a final conclusion on the obstruction issue, Mueller’s report apparently "sets out evidence on both sides of the question." Barr quotes Mueller’s report as reading that, "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
Mueller left it to the Attorney General to review his findings and determine whether or not obstruction was committed. Within 48 hours of receiving the report-and without interviewing Trump-Barr and his Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence from the Mueller investigation "is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice."
"It was a complete and total exoneration," Trump falsely declared to reporters after the Barr letter's release on Sunday. "This was an illegal take down that failed, and hopefully somebody’s going to be looking at the other side."
BREAKING: President @realDonaldTrump just spoke about the Mueller report before boarding Air Force One @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/ZvGWrmeOee
- Yaremi Farinas (@YaremiNEWS) March 24, 2019
Reactions to Barr’s summary immediately began pouring in, with Trump supporters taking a victory lap while Democrats demanded to see Mueller’s full report, not just Trump-appointee Barr's summation of its findings. Check out some reactions to the news below.
Donald Trump
No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019
Eric Trump
Sad to see that you are upset by the fact that #POTUS and the Trump Campaign did NOT collude with Russia, despite the hoax @CNN has exploited for two years. What part of “No American conspired or worked with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign” is unclear? #CNNSucks https://t.co/nxbQkttYNu
- Eric Trump (@EricTrump) March 24, 2019
Nancy Pelosi
The American people deserve the truth. AG Barr must #ReleaseTheReport & allow the facts to be known! https://t.co/fQMUyuU22b
- Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 24, 2019
Elizabeth Warren
Congress voted 420-0 to release the full Mueller report. Not a "summary" from his handpicked Attorney General. AG Barr, make the full report public. Immediately.
- Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 24, 2019
Sarah Sanders
The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.”
- Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) March 24, 2019
Cory Booker
The American public deserves the full report and findings from the Mueller investigation immediately-not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official. https://t.co/8Lj0O881Cw
- Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 24, 2019
Lindsey Graham
Bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down.
- Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 24, 2019
Ted Lieu
More reason why Congress and the American people need to see the entire #Mueller report. #ReleaseTheFullReport https://t.co/wylmTcHDQ1
- Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 24, 2019
Howard Dean
A partisan conclusion by an AG with a long history of partisanship. #ReleaseTheReport https://t.co/4r4weisSZj
- Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) March 24, 2019
Matt Gaetz
Happy No Collusion Sunday! pic.twitter.com/57NqIk45DJ
- Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 24, 2019
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