Mueller’s moment
Trump says case ‘closed’ in Russia investigation
WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert Mueller declined to clear President Donald Trump of criminal wrongdoing in the Russia investigation on Wednesday, but he said charging Trump with obstruction was “not an option” because of laws against prosecuting a sitting president.
❚ Mueller spoke from the Justice Department and said Russia launched a “concerted” effort to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
❚ Mueller said if prosecutors had confidence that the president clearly didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.” Mueller seemed to offer a signal to Congress that it has the power to make its own judgment about the president’s conduct even if he couldn’t bring criminal charges.
“As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.”
Robert Mueller, special counsel
WASHINGTON – In his first public comments on the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller refused to clear President Donald Trump of criminal wrongdoing, but said charging him with obstruction was “not an option” because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
In a 10-minute statement delivered from the Justice Department on Wednesday, Mueller defended the investigation he supervised, said it was unnecessary that he testify before Congress and announced that he is leaving the department and closing his office. His remarks mostly echoed the text of the 448-page report he submitted in March, but this time he delivered them himself, on camera and in public.
Mueller also recounted his report’s findings, saying Russia launched a “concerted” effort to interfere with the election. “There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American,” he said.
Mueller said the inquiry into Russia’s efforts was one of “paramount importance,” so investigators took seriously efforts by Trump and others to thwart their work. But he said the department’s Office of Legal Counsel has prohibited the prosecution of a sitting president and that his team of prosecutors was bound to follow that law.
Still, Mueller said if prosecutors had confidence that the president didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.”
Before leaving the podium, Mueller seemed to offer a clearer signal to Congress that lawmakers have the power to make their own judgment about the president’s conduct.
“The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said. He did not identify that process, but he was referring to the daunting political exercise of impeachment.
Trump tweeted after the statement that nothing had changed from Mueller’s report.
“There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent,” Trump said. “The case is closed!”
Mueller’s final report described wide-ranging efforts by the Russian government to intercede in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, but said investigators did not find sufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy with Trump’s campaign. Mueller made no decision on whether to press charges of obstruction of justice, despite detailing 10 episodes in which investigators said the president tried to thwart their work.
In his report and again Wednesday, Mueller framed that decision as being less about evidence than about the government’s rules for accusing the president of a crime.
Justice Department policy “clearly permits the investigation of a sitting president because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available,” Mueller said. “Among other things, the evidence could be used if there were coconspirators who could now be charged.”
Mueller said he would have nothing more to say, that the special counsel’s office is closing and that he is resigning from the Justice Department. If called to testify before Congress, he said, he would repeat only what was in his office’s final report.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Mueller “is moving on with his life, and everyone else should do the same.”
Mueller’s statement came at a time when more House Democrats are calling for Trump’s impeachment, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has not approved taking that step. Her position appeared unaltered on Wednesday, when she said in a statement that Congress would “continue to investigate and legislate.”
Other Democrats in the House appeared eager to take more aggressive steps. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said the next step is to open an impeachment inquiry, to allow the collection of evidence and compel the attendance of witnesses.
Jimmy Gurule, a former assistant attorney general who is now a law professor at University of Notre Dame, said Mueller left open the question of whether Trump obstructed justice. But he and others questioned whether the special counsel delivering that assessment in person would do much to change the political calculus in Congress, which is conducting its own investigations and where some Democrats have insisted that Trump should be impeached.
“I think the voice in the House is going to get louder. There are going to be more calls for impeachment,” Gurule said. “But I don’t think it’s going to change any Republican views.”