Hannah Astin
Staff Writer
In his 300-page report submitted to the Department of Justice, special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Donald Trump’s campaign or associates knowingly colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential campaign.
In his report, Mueller did not conclude whether the President committed obstruction of justice, but it also, “does not exonerate him.” Attorney General William Barr wrote in a four page summary of Mueller’s report and submitted his conclusions to Congress on March 24.
“The special counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election,” said Barr’s summary.
While Trump is no longer being investigated by the special counsel probe, he still faces legal threats from legal and congressional actions from ongoing investigations. Nevertheless, Trump and his allies believe that Mueller’s report vindicated the president.
Trump called the conclusions of Barr’s summary of the report as a, “complete and total exoneration.”
“No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” tweeted Trump.
“The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the special counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public,” said the Attorney General’s letter.
Throughout the course of the two year investigation, the special counsel’s office interviewed around 500 witnesses, issued more than 3,500 subpoenas and warrants and sent 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence to reach its findings.
While the President believes that he is exonerated from all wrongdoing, Mueller left the question of obstruction of justice open. Barr and Rosenstein, however, maintain that they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump’s action obstructed a specific investigation.
“While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” Barr quotes Mueller as saying in his summary.
“In cataloguing the President’s actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent, each of which, under the Department’s principles of federal prosecution guiding charging decisions, would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish an obstruction-of-justice offense,” said Barr in his report.
To many congressional Democrats, Barr’s summary of the report is not sufficient, and they have demanded that Barr make the full report public and provide the special counsel’s evidence to 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,” tweeted the House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler.
Barr says that he intends to release as much as possible from the report. The Mueller team will assist in editing the report to remove secret grand jury content and any material that may implicate ongoing proceedings.
Mueller’s two year probe resulted in charges against 37 defendants: six Trump associates, 26 Russians and three Russian companies. Many of these are ongoing proceedings.
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THE CAROLINIAN 
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