Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report says members of the Trump campaign, including the president, did not coordinate with the Russian government in efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary of the report from Attorney General William Barr.
Mueller did not find that “anyone in the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired with the Russian government,” Barr said.
Trump called the results “complete and total exoneration,” while Democrats on a number of committees investigating various aspects of Russia meddling and actions by members of the Trump team asked to review Mueller’s full report.
“The Attorney General must release the report and the underlying evidence in full, and appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer our questions without delay,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a joint statement.
After laying out the facts and reasoning on both sides of the issue, Mueller left it to Barr and the Justice Department to determine whether the president obstructed justice when he took a number of actions, including firing former FBI Director James Comey, which he said later “relieved great pressure” on him regarding the Russia investigation that Comey was overseeing at the time.
Mueller’s report regarding obstruction “does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” Barr wrote Sunday.
“So, Mueller’s long-awaited report proved what was known in Russia from the very beginning: There was no collusion between Trump and any of his team with the Kremlin,” Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev said in a Facebook post.
The Mueller investigation yielded 199 criminal charges, 37 indictments or guilty pleas, and five prison sentences, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker pointed out last Friday. Many of those charges and indictments – including one naming 12 Russian military intelligence officers – were related to Russia’s hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a widespread campaign meant to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.
The special counsel’s report “outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by personas associated with the Russian government in connection with those efforts,” Barr said.
