President Trump boasted today that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month Russia probe ended with a ‘complete exoneration,’ slamming the entire operation as “an illegal takedown that failed.”
“There was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction and none whatsoever and it was a complete and total exoneration. 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,” Trump said in West Palm Beach, Florida before he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington D.C.
In fact, Mueller concluded that he could not exonerate Trump on Obstruction of Justice, something the Congress is likely to closely examine in the coming weeks.
The American people have only, so far, seen the brief four-age summary of the Mueller report by Trump’s attorney general. Many are anxious to read all the findings themselves.
Late today Trump tweeted this victory message:
No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019
Trump called the concept that his 2016 campaign aides would collude with agents of Russia the ‘most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,’ and claimed the Mueller probe was illegal, an argument he has long made.
“Before I even got elected it began,” said Trump. And it began illegally. This was an illegal takedown that failed, and hopefully somebody is going to be looking at the other side.”
In fact, six people connected to Trump have been charged by the special counsel with an array of crimes, including financial fraud and lying to Congress and investigators.
Five have been convicted or pleaded guilty.
Twenty-eight others, including 26 Russians, also face charges.
Mueller referred a number of cases to federal prosecutors in New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.—and their investigations are ongoing.
While Mueller concluded that Trump and his campaign did not collude directly with Russians in order to improve his chances of beating Democrat Hillary Clinton, it made clear that Russia did interfere in the 2016 campaign.
Mueller’s findings will not be an end to the investigations surrounding Trump.
Instead they likely signal a new stage that will involve round after round of congressional subpoenas and hearings as House Democrats probe how Mueller came to his findings.
The special counsel did not draw a conclusion ‘one way or the other’ as to whether the president obstructed justice, according to the findings, but left that decision to Attorney General William Barr.
Barr explained it was a joint decision between him and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – who was in charge of Mueller’s investigation during the majority of its existence – not to charge the president.
He explained that the two men concluded after 24 hours “the investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
But Democratic leaders in Congress slammed Barr’s decision, saying he was not ‘neutral’ in the investigation, and called for Mueller’s full report and its supporting documentation to be made public.
“Attorney General Barr’s letter raises as many questions as it answers. 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. 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,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a joint statement.
“And most obviously, for the president to say he is completely exonerated directly contradicts the words of Mr. Mueller and is not to be taken with any degree of credibility,” the two leaders added.