Robert Mueller, the US justice department special counsel, has concluded that Donald Trump and his presidential campaign did not collude with Russia in an attempt to influence the 2016 election result.
In a letter to Congress following the end of a 22-month probe that consumed Washington, US attorney-general William Barr said Mr Mueller “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or co-ordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election”.
While Mr Barr said that Mr Mueller had found no evidence of collusion with Russia, however, his letter to Congress on Sunday was more ambiguous about whether Mr Trump had attempted to obstruct justice.
“The special counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it does not exonerate him’,” Mr Barr wrote in his four-page letter delivered on Sunday afternoon.
The long-awaited outcome of the Mueller investigation — which involved 19 lawyers, 40 investigators and issued 2,800 subpoenas — marked a big victory for Mr Trump, who has repeatedly castigated the almost two-year investigation as a“witch hunt” that he claimed was orchestrated by Democrats.
“No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” Mr Trump said in a tweet on Sunday just before boarding Air Force One for his return flight from Florida to Washington DC.
“It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia . . . There was no obstruction,” Mr Trump told the media on the tarmac. “It was a complete and total exoneration. It’s a shame that our country had to go through this . . . This was an illegal takedown that failed.”
While the report provided relief for Mr Trump, many legal experts had not expected Mr Mueller to bring charges because justice department internal guidelines prohibit the indictment of a sitting president. But the outcome shifts the focus to Congress where Democrats have made clear that they will continue to investigate Mr Trump over everything from his connections to Russia to his previous business dealings.
Mr Trump also faces multiple investigations in other jurisdictions, including by the vaunted office of the US attorney for the southern district of New York, which is known for its handling of high-profile cases.
Republicans welcomed the conclusions of the Mueller report as vindication of the president. “Great day for President Trump . . . the cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed,” said Lindsey Graham, the Republican head of the Senate judiciary committee who golfed with him on Sunday.
Democrats seized on the fact that Mr Mueller had not entirely exonerated Mr Trump, suggesting that while the justice department probe had ended, the intense focus on the president would now shift squarely to Capitol Hill.
“Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the president,” said Jerry Nadler, the Democratic head of the House judiciary committee. “We must hear from Barr about his decision-making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.”
Some Democrats raised questions about what Mr Mueller had found in terms of possible obstruction of justice by the president.
Mr Mueller was appointed in May 2017 shortly after Mr Trump fired James Comey as FBI director. He took over an existing investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, including possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
The probe led by Mr Mueller, a respected former FBI chief, also looked at whether Mr Trump had attempted to obstruct justice by first urging Mr Comey to drop some elements of the Russia probe, and then firing the FBI chief.
Addressing the obstruction issue, Mr Barr said the report “leaves unresolved what the special counsel views as ‘difficult issues’ of law and fact concerning whether the president’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction”. He added that he and Rod Rosenstein, his deputy who oversaw the investigation after the recusal of then attorney-general Jeff Sessions, concluded that the evidence was “not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offence”.
Some Democrats on Sunday questioned how Mr Barr, a former attorney-general who was recently appointed once again to the top legal position, could be neutral given that he was appointed by Mr Trump. Before his nomination last year, Mr Barr argued that the legal interpretation that Mr Trump could be guilty of obstruction of justice for firing Mr Comey was “fatally misconceived”. Mr Rosenstein has also come under scrutiny because of his role drafting a memo on the need to fire Mr Comey.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said Mr Barr’s letter “raises as many questions as it answers” and added that given his “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”.
Following the release of the Barr letter, Mr Comey posted a photo on Twitter of himself looking up at tall trees in a forest with the words “so many questions”.
Mr Barr said in his letter on Sunday that he would release “as much of the report as I can” while noting that it contained material that could compromise investigations.
Many Democratic presidential contenders called for the release of the full report. “I don’t want a summary . . . I want the whole damn report,” said Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
Kamala Harris, the California senator, called on Mr Barr to provide Congress with “the underlying investigative materials”. She said Mr Barr should be called to testify because “a short letter from Trump’s handpicked attorney-general is not sufficient”.
Mr Nadler said he would call Mr Barr to testify before his committee “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”.
Ahead of Mr Barr’s letter on Sunday, Mr Nadler and other Democrats vowed to expand investigations into Mr Trump’s Russia ties. Mr Nadler said lawmakers would pick up where Mr Mueller left off. He said Democrats were prepared to take their fight to the Supreme Court if the justice department refused to provide them access to the entire Mueller report. “The job of Congress is much broader than the job of special counsel,” Mr Nadler told CNN.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump said he would be happy for the report to be released, saying, “Let it come out. Let people see it”.
Many Republicans also called for its release — with some wanting to see the facts, and others wanting to ensure the justice department was unbiased in opening the probe.
According to a recent Fox News poll, four in five Americans believe the report should be made public. The same survey also found that 45 per cent of Americans trust the special counsel more than they trust the president, while 44 per cent believed that Mr Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow; 42 per cent believed there was no collusion.
Mr Trump has remained under suspicion because of his refusal to criticise Vladimir Putin, even after his own intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian president had orchestrated efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Mr Trump exacerbated those concerns last year when, during a joint press conference with Mr Putin in Helsinki, he sided with the Russian leader over US intelligence officials.
As Mr Barr prepared to release his letter on Sunday, Mr Mueller, in a rare public appearance, was spotted coming out of church across from the White House. His spokesperson said Mr Mueller would end his service as special counsel “in the coming days”.
