WASHINGTON: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation did not find evidence that Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, the Justice Department said.Mueller also investigated whether Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer, Attorney General William Barr said in a letter to Congress summarising Mr Mueller’s report.The special counsel “does not exonerate” Trump of obstructing justice, Barr said, and his report “sets out evidence on both sides of the question”. However, the President tweeted that he had been “completely exonerated” of collusion and obstruction of justice.Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from a weekend at his private club in Florida, Trump said “it was a shame” the nation had to go through the investigation.Trump claimed the report found “there was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction”. He also lashed out at the investigation, claiming without evidence that it was “an illegal takedown that failed”. After consulting with other Justice Department officials, Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence “is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offence”.Barr released a four-page summary of Mueller’s report on Sunday afternoon. Mueller wrapped up his investigation on Friday with no new indictments, bringing to a close a probe that has shadowed Trump for nearly two years.Barr’s chief of staff called White House counsel Emmet Flood on Sunday to brief him on the report to Congress. Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, about to return to Washington after spending the weekend there.White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that Trump had been completely exonerated. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham added that “the cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed”.Graham, a close ally of Trump, also said it is “a bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down”. Republican Doug Collins said “there is no constitutional crisis” while House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican said “it is time we move on for the good of the nation”.Democrat Jerry Nadler tweeted that Barr’s letter to Congress says that while Trump may have acted to obstruct justice, the government would need to prove that “beyond a reasonable doubt”. But Nadler tweeted that Congress must hear from Barr about his decision making and see “all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts”.Top Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Barr is “not a neutral observer” and they urged the full release of the report. Pelosi, the House speaker, and Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said that Barr’s letter to Congress “raises as many questions as it answers”.
03-26-2019, 09:03 AM
Mueller finds no evidence of Trump collusion with Russia
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