Robert Mueller, in first public remarks, says charging Trump was ‘not an option we could consider’

Author : Sam Published: May 29, 2019

WASHINGTON – In his first public comments on the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday that charging President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice was “not an option” because of Justice Department policy against charging a sitting president.

In a 10-minute statement, Mueller defended the investigation he supervised, repeated its central conclusions, said it was unnecessary that he testify before Congress and announced that he was leaving the Justice Department. His remarks largely echoed the text of his 448-page report released in March.

For the first time, in his own voice, Mueller recounted his 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.

Describing the inquiry into Russia’s efforts as one of “paramount importance,” he said investigators took seriously efforts to obstruct their work. But he said the department’s Office of Legal Counsel prohibited the prosecution of a sitting president. He said prosecutors were “bound by that department policy.”

Still, Mueller said if prosecutors had confidence that the president clearly didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.”

Mueller’s final report described 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.

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.”

Mueller also indirectly referred to the political process of impeachment for resolving questions about the president conduct.

“The constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said.

Then he said he would have nothing more to say on the subject. If called to testify before Congress, he said, he would repeat only what was in his office’s final report.

Mueller said Wednesday that the investigation was concluded and “we are formally closing the special counsel’s office.” He said he was resigning from the Justice Department.

Attorney General William Barr, who consulted with other lawyers at the department, decided that no obstruction charges were warranted. 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.

But Barr 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 are 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.

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., has said he would ask Mueller whether he disagreed with the way Barr characterized the report, but that Mueller needn’t necessarily testify. A Republican member of the panel, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, said if Mueller chooses to testify, he should do so in public.

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.”