Robert Mueller, in first public remarks, says charging Trump was 'not an option we could consider'
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Special counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday that charging President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice was “not an option.”
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – In his first public comments on the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller pointedly refused to clear President Donald Trump of criminal wrongdoing, but said charging him with obstruction was “not an option” because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
In a 10-minute statement delivered from the Justice Department on Wednesday morning, Mueller defended the investigation he supervised, said it was unnecessary that he testify before Congress and announced that he was leaving the department and closing his office. His remarks largely echoed the text of the 448-page report he submitted in March, but this time he delivered them himself, on camera and in public.
For the first time, in his own voice, Mueller also recounted his report’s overall findings, saying Russia launched a “concerted” effort to interfere with the election. “There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American,” he said.Â
Mueller said the inquiry into Russia’s efforts was one of “paramount importance,” so investigators took seriously efforts by Trump and others to thwart their work. But he said the department’s Office of Legal Counsel has prohibited the prosecution of a sitting president and his team of prosecutors was bound to follow that rule.Â
Still, Mueller said if prosecutors had confidence that the president clearly didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.”
And before leaving the podium, he seemed to offer a clearer signal to Congress that lawmakers have the power to make their own judgement about the president’s conduct even if he couldn’t bring criminal charges.
“The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said, describing the department’s rationale for why a president cannot be prosecuted. He did not directly identify that process, but he was referring to the daunting political exercise of impeachment.
Trump tweeted after the statement that nothing had changed from Mueller’s report.
“There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent,” Trump said. “The case is closed!”
Mueller’s final report described wide-ranging efforts by the Russian government to intercede in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, but said investigators did not find sufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy with Trump’s campaign. Mueller made no decision on whether to press charges of obstruction of justice, despite detailing 10 episodes in which investigators said the president tried to thwart their work.
In his report and again Wednesday, Mueller framed that decision as being less about evidence than about the government’s rules for accusing the president of a crime.Â
Jimmy Gurule, a former assistant attorney general who is now a law professor at University of Notre Dame, said Mueller left wide open the question of whether Trump obstructed justice. But he and others questioned whether the special counsel delivering that assessment in person would do much to change the political calculus in Congress, which is conducting its own investigations and where some Democrats have insisted that Trump should be impeached.
“I think the voice in the House is going to get louder. There are going to be more calls for impeachment,” Gurule said. “But I don’t think it’s going to change any Republican views.”
Justice Department policy “clearly permits the investigation of a sitting president because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available,” Mueller said. “Among other things, the evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged.”
Then Mueller said he would have nothing more to say on the subject, that the special counsel’s office was closing and that he was resigning from the Justice Department. If called to testify before Congress, he said, he would repeat only what was in his office’s final report.
More: Robert Mueller: Read the full text of his comments on the Russia investigation, Trump
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Mueller “is moving on with his life, and everyone else should do the same.”
Mueller’s statement came at a time when more House Democrats are calling for Trump’s impeachment, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has not approved taking that step. Her position appeared unaltered on Wednesday, when she said in a statement that Congress would “continue to investigate and legislate.”Â
Other Democrats in the House appeared eager to take more aggressive steps. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday the next step is to open an impeachment inquiry, to allow the collection of evidence and compel the attendance of witnesses.
Jimmy Gurule, a former assistant attorney general who is now a law professor at University of Notre Dame, said Mueller left wide open the question of whether Trump obstructed justice. But he and others questioned whether the special counsel delivering that assessment in person would do much to change the political calculus in Congress, which is conducting its own investigations and where some Democrats have insisted that Trump should be impeached.
“I think the voice in the House is going to get louder. There are going to be more calls for impeachment,” Gurule said. “But I don’t think it’s going to change any Republican views.”
Attorney General William Barr, who consulted with other lawyers at the department, decided at the end of Mueller’s investigation that no obstruction charges were warranted, even if they could be brought. Barr was confirmed near the end of the inquiry that had been overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller.
Barr has been criticized for his initial four-page summary of the report’s conclusions and for statements he made in releasing a redacted version of the report. Some of the that criticism came from Mueller, who in a March letter differed with the attorney general about Barr’s characterization of the special counsel’s principal findings.
On Wednesday, Mueller acknowledged their differences but downplayed any lingering dispute, saying: “I do not question the attorney general’s good faith in that decision.”
Barr has defended his handling of the report before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump has said the report completely exonerated him and that the investigation was a partisan witch hunt and attempted coup.
House Democrats were eager to hear from Mueller. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has been negotiating for Mueller’s testimony at a public hearing, but said Mueller preferred to appear behind closed doors to avoid a public spectacle. The panel already found Barr in contempt for refusing to provide Congress an unredacted version of the report.
Nadler said it is up to Congress to respond to “crimes, lies and other wrongdoing by President Trump.”
“Although Department of Justice policy prevented the special counsel from bringing criminal charges against the president, the special counsel has clearly demonstrated that President Trump is lying about the special counsel’s findings, lying about the testimony of key witnesses in the special counsel’s report, and is lying in saying that the special counsel found no obstruction and no collusion,” Nadler said Wednesday.Â
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has declared the Russia probe over and said “case closed.” The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that Barr’s decision on obstruction was sound and that it would be the final word on the investigation.
Mueller said nobody in the administration told him whether to testify. But he said he couldn’t say anything more publicly than what is included in the report.
“The work speaks for itself,” Mueller said. “The report is my testimony.”
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How powerful are sound bites? Powerful enough that one from Mueller could shift the narrative that Barr gave to Congress.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
More on special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia inquiry:
Mueller report: Investigation found no evidence Trump conspired with Russia, leaves obstruction question open
DOJ defends AG Barr’s handling of Trump, Russia conclusions; lawmakers expect Mueller to testify
Trump thought Mueller would ‘end’ his presidency and other takeaways from the Mueller report
Read special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into President Trump, Russian interference
Robert Mueller has spent two years investigating Trump, and he hasn’t said a word. It’s possible he never will.
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![Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and his wife Ann, leave St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, after attending morning services, in Washington on March 24, 2019.]()
1 of 20![Robert Mueller departs St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, after attending services, in Washington on March 24, 2019.]()
2 of 20![Robert Mueller, and his wife Ann, walk past the White House, after attending St. John's Episcopal Church for morning services on March 24, 2019 in Washington.]()
3 of 20![Robert Mueller, and his wife Ann, walk to their car after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington on March 24, 2019.]()
4 of 20![U.S. Attorney General William Barr, right, leaves his house on March 24, 2019 in McLean, Va. Barr continues to review special counsel Robert Mueller's report on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.]()
5 of 20![An empty hallway at the U.S. Capitol on Saturday morning, March 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Special Counsel Robert Muellerdelivered the report from his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to Barr yesterday and Barr is expected to brief members of Congress on the report potentially as soon as this weekend.]()
6 of 20![U.S. Attorney General William Barr departs his home March 23, 2019 in McLean, Va.]()
7 of 20![William Simms places newspaper front pages from around the nation in display cases at the Newseum, Saturday, March 23, 2019, in Washington.]()
8 of 20![The U.S. Capitol is seen before sunrise, Saturday, March 23, 2019, in Washington. Special counsel Robert Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency.]()
9 of 20![A bicyclist passes by the Justice Department on Pennsylvania Ave. where the media is set up, March 23, 2019 in Washington, DC.]()
10 of 20![U.S. Attorney General William Barr rides in the first black vehicle while arriving at the Justice Department on March 23, 2019 in Washington, DC.]()
11 of 20![Members of the press wait outside one of the office buildings used by independent prosecutor and former FBI director Robert Mueller on March 22, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump went on air Friday to double down on his attempt to discredit a massive probe into his campaign's links to Russia, which is expected to be released shortly. Ever since the investigation run by independent prosecutor and former FBI director Robert Mueller began nearly two years ago Trump has insisted that it is a witch hunt and a hoax.]()
12 of 20![A lone demonstrator departs after protesting outside the US Department of Justice March 22, 2019 in Washington, DC, shortly after the announcement that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had wrapped up his two-year investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.]()
13 of 20![Bodyguards wait for the departure of the US attorney General outside the US Department of Justice March 22, 2019 in Washington, DC, shortly after the announcement that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had wrapped up his two-year investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.]()
14 of 20![A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation, is shown Friday, March 22, 2019 in Washington. Robert Mueller turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.]()
15 of 20![Journalists work outside of the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building after the announcement that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had submitted his report to Attorney General William Barr, March 22, 2019 in Washington, DC. U.S. Attorney General William Barr told the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in a letter that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had completed his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.]()
16 of 20![Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va., on Friday, March 22, 2019. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to present a report to the Justice Department any day now outlining the findings of his nearly two-year investigation into Russian election meddling, possible collusion with Trump campaign officials and possible obstruction of justice by Trump .]()
17 of 20![President Donald J. Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Washington, DC, on March 22, 2019. The Trump administration, along with lawmakers, are awaiting the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report into President Trump's behavior.]()
18 of 20![The White House early in the morning after a rainy night in Washington, DC, on March 22, 2019. The Trump administration, along with lawmakers, are awaiting the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report into President Trump's behavior.]()
19 of 20![Special CounselRobert Mueller arrives at his office on March 21, 2019 in Washington DC. It is expected that Muellerwill soon complete his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and release his report.]()
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