Now we know what the game rules were... No charges for Orangutan was what was agreed on...

Mueller: We Could Not Clear Trump of a Crime

The special counsel says it’s now up to Congress to decide.

DAN FRIEDMAN

In his first public remarks since his appointment as special counsel, Robert Mueller said Wednesday that his investigation did not clear President Donald Trump of obstructing justice and noted that he had accepted the longstanding Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted on federal charges. Mueller also stated that his investigation did not establish the existence of a criminal conspiracy involving Trump associates related to Russia’s attack on the 2016 election, but he did not back up Trump’s “no collusion” claim. In this rare appearance, Mueller also announced his resignation as special counsel and the closure of his office.

“If we had had confidence the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller said in a brief news conference at the Justice Department. Mueller said that he believed it would be unfair to accuse Trump of obstruction of justice because of a department policy that bars indicting a sitting a president. This statement repudiated a claim by Attorney General William Barr, who said in a March letter that Mueller’s decision not to accuse Trump of obstruction was not related to the department policy.

Mueller’s comments were immediately interpreted as a message to Congress: It’s up to you to decide if Trump committed obstruction of justice.

“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,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement following Mueller’s comments. “No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law.”

Mueller, who formerly headed the FBI, also emphasized that efforts to impede his investigation were serious crimes. “When a subject of an investigation obstructs that investigation or lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of their government’s effort to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable,” he said.

He outlined efforts by Russian intelligence to interfere in the the 2016 campaign and emphasized the importance of that finding. “There were multiple systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American,” he said. This remark could be read as a dig at Trump, who has refused to fully acknowledge Moscow’s attack on the 2016 election.