WASHINGTON, March 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s
report on Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 election found no evidence of
conspiracy by President Donald Trump’s campaign to collude with Russia, the
Justice Department said Sunday.
Mueller also declined to rule on whether evidence showed Trump obstructed
justice, according to a summary submitted to Congress by Attorney General
Bill Barr.
In a letter to Congress summarizing the report’s key points, Barr quoted
Mueller as saying: “While this report does not conclude that the president
committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
Barr said the investigation did not recommend any further indictments and
does not have any further sealed indictments outstanding.
In his own review of Mueller’s findings on obstruction — one of the most
explosive allegations against Trump — Barr said “the evidence… is not
sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-
justice offense.”
Barr’s letter marked the conclusion of the 22-month investigation by
Mueller, a former FBI director, into allegations that Trump’s election
campaign coordinated and colluded with Russians to skew the 2016 vote so the
billionaire real estate magnate would win.
But it marked the beginning of a new phase, the determination of Democrats
in Congress to further investigate Trump, using the evidence from the Mueller
probe.
“Seems like the Department of Justice is putting matters squarely in
Congress’ court,” tweeted Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, the
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“Special Counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the
President, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see
all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.”