Robert Mueller submitted his Special Counsel report this weekend which found that President Trump did not conspire or coordinate with Russians who interfered in the 2016 Presidential election.
According to the Associated Press, after two years of investigating President Trump, attorney and former FBI director Robert S. Mueller found that neither President Trump nor anyone related to his campaign participated in the interference by Russia in the 2016 Presidential election. The report has yet to be released to the public, but United States Attorney General William Barr released a letter on Sunday in which he summarized the report.
According to Barr’s statement, the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
The report, however, did not clear President Trump of accusations of obstructing the Mueller investigation. According to Barr’s letter, the Special Counsel report laid out evidence of obstruction “on both sides of the question” and left “unresolved what the Special Counsel views as ‘difficult issues’ of law and fact concerning whether the President’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction”
The letter continued noting that “The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction.”
The report noted that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
This left Attorney General Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to evaluate the presented arguments and decide whether or not the President obstructed the Mueller investigation.
According to the Washington Examiner, Barr and Rosenstein concluded that “the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
Following the release of the report, President Trump took to Twitter to celebrate the end of the extensive two-year investigation which required a team of 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, more than 2,800 subpoenas and the execution of almost 500 search warrants.
President Trump quoted Bret Baier of Fox News, writing, “‘No matter your ideologies or your loyalties, this is a good day for America. No American conspired to cooperate with Russia in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 election, according to Robert Mueller, and that is good.’ @BretBaier@FoxNews”
“No matter your ideologies or your loyalties, this is a good day for America. No American conspired to cooperate with Russia in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 election, according to Robert Mueller, and that is good.” @BretBaier @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019
In another tweet, he wrote, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”
No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019
Despite his celebrations, many are now calling for the release of the entire Special Report, saying that they do not want a summarized version from Barr, who was nominated to the Attorney General position by President Trump.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren wrote, “Congress didn’t ask for a “summary,” Attorney General Barr. Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report. #ReleaseTheFullReport.”
Congress didn’t ask for a “summary,” Attorney General Barr. Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report. #ReleaseTheFullReport. https://t.co/mPECdazTma
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 25, 2019
Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris wrote, “The Mueller report needs to be made public, the underlying investigative materials should be handed over to Congress, and Barr must testify. That is what transparency looks like. A short letter from Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General is not sufficient.”
The Mueller report needs to be made public, the underlying investigative materials should be handed over to Congress, and Barr must testify. That is what transparency looks like. A short letter from Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General is not sufficient.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 24, 2019
At the time of this writing, news is pending as to whether the Special Report will be released. Reportedly, the report contains information that “is or could be subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e).”
Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff
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