Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Barr: No conspiracy with Russia
Report doesn’t conclude whether Trump obstructed justice, AG says
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Donald Trump’s campaign or any of his associates conspired with Russia in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, according to a summary of findings sent to lawmakers Sunday.
“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,” the fourpage summary by Attorney General William P. Barr said.
On whether the president might have sought to obstruct the high-profile investigation, Mueller’s team did not offer a definitive answer.
“The Special Counsel ... did not draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction,” Barr’s letter said.
“The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,’ ” the letter said.
Trump responded on Twitter, writing “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”
“It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this for — before I even got elected, it began. And it began illegally. And hopefully, somebody is going to look at the other side. This was an illegal take-
Trump touts findings, bashes investigators before leaving Fla. 10A
down that failed,” Trump, just before boarding Air Force One in Palm Beach, Fla., to return to Washington.
The highly anticipated summary of Mueller’s investigation was sent to Congress on Sunday.
Mueller’s central mission has been to determine if Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election were aided or assisted in any way by Americans, including people close to Trump.
In all, Russian citizens interacted with at least 14 Trump associates during the campaign and presidential transition, according to public records and interviews.
Since his appointment in May 2017 as special counsel, Mueller has also wrestled with the question of whether the president attempted to obstruct justice once the FBI began investigating those close to him. Current and former White House officials who were questioned by Mueller’s investigators were repeatedly asked about how the president spoke of the investigation behind closed doors, and whether he sought to replace senior Justice Department officials to stymie the probe, according to people familiar with the interviews.
The special counsel’s work led to criminal charges against 34 people, including six former Trump associates and advisers.
A senior Justice Department official said the special counsel has not recommended any further indictments — a revelation that buoyed Trump’s supporters, even as additional Trump-related investigations continue in other parts of the Justice Department, in Congress and in New York state.
Democrats on Sunday immediately seized on Mueller’s refusal to exonerate Trump on the question of obstruction of justice, with the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee pledging to pick up where investigators left off and call Barr to testify.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., whose panel has jurisdiction over impeachment, took to Twitter to highlight Mueller’s finding that “while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
Nadler said the statement suggests that Justice Department officials are “putting matters squarely in Congress’ court” to continue to investigate.
“In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future,” Nadler said in a tweet.
In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Barr’s letter “raises as many questions as it answers” and highlighted the fact that Barr was Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department.
“The fact that Special Counsel Mueller’s report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay,” they said. “Given Mr. Barr’s public record of bias against the Special Counsel’s inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report.”
Republicans accused Democrats of trying to revive a dead investigation in order to hobble the president.
Rep. Douglas Collins of Georgia, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, pledged to fight any efforts to use Mueller’s files as a springboard for impeachment.
“It is not the Department of Justice’s job to give Chairman Nadler and the House Judiciary, or any committee in the House or in the Senate for that matter, what they want to do to go off on a purely partisan investigation that could lead to impeachment,” said Collins.