David Raymond Amos@DavidRayAmos Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 48 others YO Zoe Methinks if any one Trump's lawyers knew how to read page 2 of this old file they would have easily seen that I proved long ago that Mueller and I are far from done with our spit and chew N'esy Pas?
Charging Donald Trump with crime wasn't an option, Robert Mueller says
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Zoe Mitchell Kudos - well done - Trumpers are as usual spinning like a new machine....or don't even comprehend what just happened. There is only ONE conclusion after watching Mueller on TV just now - HE COULD NOT INDICITE A SITTING PRESIDENT. Get that through your empty noggins.
David Amos Reply to @Zoe Mitchell: Methinks if any one Trump's lawyers knew how to read page 2 of this old file they would have easily seen that I proved long ago that Mueller and I are far from done with our spit and chew N'esy Pas?
Charging Donald Trump with crime wasn't an option, Robert Mueller says
Mueller, who delivered his report in March, doesn't take questions from reporters
CBC News·
Robert Mueller last month in Washington: House Democrats are trying to get the former FBI director, who oversaw the special counsel probe, to testify. (Cliff Owen/Associated Press)
Special counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday charging the president of the United States with a crime was not an option his office could consider, given existing Justice Department guidelines that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
Mueller told a news conference he was speaking to the report as his time in the Justice Department would come to a close imminently and he would return to private life.
House Democrats have tried to arrange, so far without success, for Mueller to testify publicly. Mueller indicated that he was not open to testifying beyond what was said in the report and his statement.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. EARLIER STORY BELOW Special counsel Robert Mueller is making his first public statement with respect to his nearly two-year long Russia investigation later this morning.
Mueller, a former FBI director, hasn't commented publicly since being appointed special counsel in May 2017 to investigate "any links and/or co-ordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation."
Since Mueller delivered his report in late March, it has been the subject of partisan dispute in Congress and at the White House.
President Donald Trump has claimed the report exonerates him and his campaign team of "collusion." Mueller's report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice charges.
In an upcoming book, Siege: Trump Under Fire, controversial author Michael Wolf has claimed Mueller's team drew up a three-page obstruction indictment for Trump but decided not to pursue it.
Wolff has cited documents he's seen, but a Mueller spokesperson, Peter Carr, told the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday that the documents as Wolff described "do not exist."
Mueller's report concluded that for the purposes of a successful criminal prosecution, it could not be established that Trump campaign associates conspired with Russian officials to sway the election.
With respect to a controversial June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York attended by Russian individuals promising dirt on Hillary Clinton as well as Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, Mueller said "the government would unlikely be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the … meeting participants had general knowledge that their conduct was unlawful."
Attempts by Trump associates to lie about the meeting once it was publicly reported "may reflect an intention to avoid political consequences rather than any prior knowledge of illegality," he wrote.
Front Burner
Why the Mueller report doesn't exonerate Trump for obstruction
00:0023:03
The Mueller Report identified a series of episodes involving Trump that the special counsel considered potential obstructions of justice. But Robert Mueller chose to not charge Trump with a crime. CBC's Washington correspondent Keith Boag walks us through the long-anticipated report. 23:03
As well, Mueller said it wasn't clear that the thing of value that was being offered to the Trump campaign rose to the level that made it a contravention of federal election law.
The report did say that members of the campaign "deleted relevant communications" that hindered the investigation.
As well, several Trump associates have been ensnared as a result of the investigation or ancillary probes, including former campaign manager Paul Manafort, Manafort's second-hand Rick Gates, former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, and low-level foreign policy advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. They were charged with various offences, with Manafort and Cohen currently in prison.
Attorney general criticized
Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, is said to have co-operated with the Mueller team. A federal judge has set a Friday deadline for the Justice Department to make public unredacted portions of the Mueller report that pertain to Flynn, plus transcripts of Flynn's calls with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and of a voicemail during which someone connected to Trump referenced Flynn's co-operation.
Dozens of Russian individuals and entities were also indicted in Mueller's probe, most related for intrusions of Democratic and Clinton campaign computer systems and for online and social media efforts to sow discord in the U.S. election. The report concluded those efforts largely favoured the Trump campaign over Clinton.
Many Democrats have slammed Attorney General William Barr, believing he has been acting more in President Donald Trump's interest than that of the nation. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
Democrats in Congress and a lone House Republican, Justin Amash of Michigan, have heavily criticized Trump's attorney general William Barr for a four-page summary he delivered on Mueller's report as well as for the number of redactions in the report.
Mueller, for his part, privately complained to Barr in a letter that the attorney general's summary did not adequately capture the investigation's findings. Barr has called Mueller's letter "snitty."
Ultimately, the special counsel “recogniz[ed] that the President would not be interviewed voluntarily” and chose not to subpoena him because of concerns that the resulting “potentially lengthy constitutional litigation” would delay completion of the investigation.
Barr has so far successfully used his position to sell the president’s false narrative to the American people. This will continue if those who have read the report do not start pushing back on his misrepresentations and share the truth.
The House Democrats have tried to arrange, so far without success, for Mueller to testify publicly. While Trump first praised Mueller after Barr's summary was released, the president has more recently returned to a recurring theme, alleging without evidence that the Mueller team was a collection of "angry Democrats," with the origins of the Russia probe characterized by political bias.
Barr, currently travelling, was not present at Mueller's appearance.
