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Trump Claims 'Exoneration' -- Barr Says No 'Conspiracy' Found In Russia Probe

By RFE/RL March 23, 2019

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has told the country that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election states that the probe "did not establish that members" of President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

In a March 24 letter to Congress, which was also released to the public, Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence gathered by Mueller is "not sufficient to establish" that President Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice.

Trump quickly cast Barr's summary of Mueller's findings as a resounding victory on an issue that has riveted Americans and plagued his presidency from the beginning, calling the developments a "complete and total exoneration" and describing the special counsel's investigation as "an illegal take-down that failed."

In a tweet before making his remarks to reporters, Trump wrote: "No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!"

However, Barr quoted Mueller's report as saying: "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

That has led Democratic lawmakers to cry foul.

"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," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

They also said that Barr, nominated just months ago by Trump, is "not a neutral observer" in the process and that his four-page letter about Mueller's report is not an objective summary about Mueller's findings.

Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, also cited concerns about Barr's conclusions and said he would call Barr to testify before Congress.

"In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future," Nadler wrote on Twitter.

Nadler wrote that after Mueller's 22-month investigation, Barr "took 2 days to tell the American people that while the President is not exonerated, there will be no action" by the Department of Justice.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat who is running for president in 2020, pointed out that lawmakers voted earlier this month for the release of the full Mueller report, not a summary from what she called Trump's "handpicked attorney general."

Several other Democratic presidential hopefuls also said Mueller's full report on Russian election interference and Trump must be made public.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said the U.S. public "deserves the full report and findings" immediately, "not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official."

Mueller examined Russia's interference in the 2016 election, along with, as Barr's letter describes it, "allegations that members of Trump's presidential campaign, and others associated with it, conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere."

Mueller also examined whether Trump or his associates unlawfully attempted to obstruct justice by trying to hinder the investigation.

His long-awaited report was delivered to Barr on March 22. On March 24 -- Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C. -- Barr sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers with his outline of the "principal findings" of Mueller's investigation.

Over the course of his probe, Mueller indicted more than three dozen people and entities on various charges.

None of the charges have directly addressed the question of whether there was coordination between Trump's associates and Russian officials.

Barr said that that no further indictments were to come directly from the Mueller probe.

However, other jurisdictions could file charges related to offshoot issues from Mueller's investigation.

For example, the investigation led to the U.S. attorney for Manhattan charging Trump's longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, with various financial crimes.

Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty in exchange for his help with other investigations.

Barr, the Justice Department, Congress, and the White House all could play a role in deciding how much of Mueller's work should be made public.

Many lawmakers from both parties have said the entire report should be disclosed.

Democrats in the House of Representatives insist the White House should not be allowed to edit the findings or block details from being released and have threatened to issue subpoenas if necessary.

Nadler told CNN before Barr's letter was delivered that Trump has no legal right to seek to use "executive privilege to exclude parts of the report from the public."

In January 2017, the same month that Trump took office, the U.S. intelligence community said it had concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hacking-and-propaganda campaign aimed at undermining the U.S. electoral process, discrediting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and eventually at improving Trump's chances in the November 2016 election.

Putin has denied Russia meddled in the election, despite substantial evidence including indictments handed down by Mueller's office. Trump has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt" and vociferously denied that members of his campaign or other associates colluded with Russians in an attempt to sway the elction in his favor.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, The New York Times, dpa, and CNN

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-mueller- russia-report-barr-congress/29838392.html

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Trump Claims 'Exoneration' -- Barr Says No 'Conspiracy' Found In Russia Probe