Mueller submits report
Doesn’t recommend additional indictments in Russian probe
WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III turned in his long-anticipated report on the Russia investigation Friday, but did not recommend any more indictments in the political and legal saga that has threatened President Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House and is likely to cloud his legacy.
Mueller delivered a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department announced. A Barr spokeswoman described it as “comprehensive” but provided no other details.
The special counsel’s decision to wrap up the investigation without further criminal charges likely brings a measure of relief to the president and his inner circle after nearly two
years under scrutiny by the former FBI director.
Mueller has charged 34 people, the most of any special prosecutor since Watergate. They include more than two dozen Russians and several of Trump’s top former aides, including his national security adviser and his campaign chairman.
No Americans were charged with conspiring with Moscow to influence the 2016 presidential campaign, the original focus of the criminal and counterintelligence investigation.
However, Mueller’s work spawned a web of other inquiries, most notably from House Democrats and federal prosecutors in New York, that will continue to shadow Trump and may lead to additional charges.
In a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees, Barr wrote that Mueller “has concluded his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters.”
Barr said he may be able to advise the committees of Mueller’s principal conclusions “as soon as this weekend.” He also wrote that other information may be made available to Congress, and he remains “committed to as much transparency as possible.”
There were no instances in which Justice Department leaders overruled a decision by the special counsel, Barr wrote.
Trump flew to his resort compound in Florida, Mar-a-lago, before Barr received the report and had no immediate comment.
The White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement that the “next steps” are up to Barr “and we look forward to the process taking its course. The White House has not received or been briefed on the Special Counsel’s report.”
Although Mueller’s report ends his investigation, its filing marks the starting point for waves of legal battles, congressional wrangling and political recriminations in the months ahead and through the 2020 presidential campaign.