U.S. Special Counsel Mueller says charging Trump was ‘not an option’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller said
on Wednesday his investigation into Russia’s interference in the
2016 election was never going to end with criminal charges against
President Donald Trump and that he would give no more information
than was already published in his report.

In his first public comments since starting the investigation in
May 2017, Mueller said Justice Department policy explicitly
prevented him from bringing charges against a sitting
president.

“Charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option
we could consider,” Mueller told reporters as he announced his
resignation from the Justice Department.

A redacted version of Mueller’s report was published in April,
concluding that Russia repeatedly interfered in the 2016 election
and that Trump’s election campaign had multiple contacts with
Russian officials but did not engage in a criminal conspiracy with
Moscow to win the White House.

Mueller’s report also declined to make a judgment on whether
Trump obstructed justice, although the report outlined 10 instances
in which Trump tried to impede the investigation.

“If we 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,”
Mueller said.

He said the 448-page report spoke for itself.

“Beyond what I’ve said here today and what is contained in our
written work, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to speak
further,” Mueller said in a brief press appearance at the Justice
Department’s headquarters.

He did not take questions.

Trump, who has repeatedly denounced Mueller’s probe as a witch
hunt, said the matter was settled.

“Nothing changes from the Mueller Report,” he said on Twitter.
“There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a
person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you.”

Since the report’s release, Democrats have debated whether to
bring impeachment charges against Trump or simply continue their
multiple investigations into his administration and his private
business.

“Given that Special Counsel Mueller was unable to pursue
criminal charges against the President, it falls to Congress to
respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump
– and we will do so,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman
Jerrold Nadler.

Representative Justin Amash, the only Republican to have said
publicly that Trump has committed impeachable offenses, tweeted:
“The ball is in our court, Congress.”

The investigation ensnared dozens of people, including several
top Trump advisers and a series of Russian nationals and
companies.

Among them are his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who
is serving 7 1/2 years in prison for financial crimes and lobbying
violations, and his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who
recently began a three-year sentence for campaign-finance
violations and lying to Congress.

Since the report’s release, Democratic lawmakers have tried
without success to get the full report and underlying evidence. The
House Judiciary Committee also is negotiating for Mueller to
testify at a hearing.

Trump has said Mueller should not testify before Congress but
that the final decision was up to Attorney General William Barr.
Democrats have denounced Barr, saying he misrepresented the special
counsel’s findings.

Mueller appeared to have misgivings at one point as well,
complaining to Barr in March that he had initially disclosed his
main findings in an incomplete way that caused public confusion. In
congressional testimony in April, Barr dismissed Mueller’s concerns
as “a bit snitty.”

Barr now is leading a review of the origins of the Russia
investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the FBI’s
handling of the matter. Trump harbors suspicions that the
Democratic administration of President Barack Obama started the
investigation in 2016 to undermine his presidency.

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