On Sunday, after roughly two years, close to $30 million spent; 1,600 subpoenas and 500 witness interviews, Attorney General William Barr released a summary of “principal conclusions” of the long-awaited special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into collusion between the Trump Presidential campaign and Russia to affect the outcome of the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Barr’s letter said, “The special counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its effort” to interfere with the 2016 Presidential election.
Folks, this is a total legal exoneration of the president. Congress will want to know more, of course. But the topline: No conspiracy, no obstruction.
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) March 24, 2019
Barr’s letter also stated that, “The Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated” with Russians who worked on those hacking efforts, according to Barr’s letter, “despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”
Here is the full letter from AG Barr to Congress: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5779699-Letter-to-Congress-detailing-Robert-Mueller-s.html
Mueller’s investigation did not reach a conclusion on whether the Trump campaign obstructed justice, and left that decision to Attorney General Barr and officials at the DOJ.
Fox News stated, “But Mueller ‘recognized,’ according to Barr’s letter, that the lack of evidence that Trump was involved in collusion would undercut any obstruction case – which would depend on showing a corrupt intent by the President.”
“The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction,” according to Barr’s letter. “Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and 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.”
