Robert Mueller statement: Charging Trump in Russia probe was never an option
Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday put the final stamp on his role in the Russia investigation — saying the probe was complete, he was resigning his post and that his more than 450-page report should speak for itself.
“I am speaking out today because our investigation is complete. The attorney general [Bill Barr] has made the report on our investigation largely public and we are formally closing the special counsel’s office and as well, I’m resigning from the Department of Justice to return to private life,” a stonefaced Mueller said during a dramatic news conference at the Justice Department in his first public comments on the investigation.
He emphasized that he was reluctant to speak further on the matter to Congress or anyone else.
“I’ll make a few remarks about the results of our work, but beyond these few remarks, it is important that the office’s written work speak for itself,” he continued.
Mueller then summarized parts of his report, saying that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in favor of President Trump by stealing data from Hillary Clinton’s campaign — but that there was “insufficient evidence” of a conspiracy with the Trump campaign or any other American, and that he could not conclusively determine whether or not Team Trump obstructed justice.
“Russian intelligence officers who are part of the Russian military launched a concerted attack on our political system. The indictment alleges that they used sophisticated cyber techniques to hack into computers and networks used by the Clinton campaign,” he said.
“They stole private information and then released that information through fake online identities and through the organization WikiLeaks. The releases were designed and timed to interfere with our election and to damage a presidential candidate.”
But, he said, “there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy.“
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He also emphasized that his report did not clear the president or his campaign of obstruction — as Trump has repeatedly claimed — but that he was resigning, his probe was over and the question of what to do next was now up to Congress.
“As set forth in the report, after that investigation, if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime,” he said.
Mueller also explained the Justice department’s policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
“Under long-standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited,” he said in his 10-minute remarks.
“Charging the President with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider.”
But, he added, “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing,” referring to Congress’ powers of impeachment.
There were no new revelations in Mueller’s highly anticipated remarks, which were delivered while Barr was on a week-long trip to Alaska.
