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Trump Claims ‘Total Exoneration,’ but Report Is Mixed on Obstruction

Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, walking with Ann Standish, his wife, after they attended Sunday services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Park from the White House.Credit...Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

• The investigation found that neither President Trump nor any of his aides conspired with the Russian government.

The report offered a mixed assessment on the question of obstruction of justice. “The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,’” Attorney General William P. Barr wrote. Mr. Barr said that he had concluded after reviewing the report that there was not sufficient evidence to establish that the president committed obstruction of justice.

• On his way back to Washington from Florida, Mr. Trump said it was “a complete and total exoneration” and said that he hoped someone would “look at the other side.”

Mr. Barr’s letter said that Mr. Mueller’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to manipulate the 2016 presidential election. He quoted the following takeaway line from the special counsel report: “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

Mr. Barr’s letter went on to note that “despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign,” the special counsel did not find evidence of “agreement — tacit or express — between the Trump campaign and the Russian government on election interference.” The letter did not use the word “collusion,” which has become the term of art for the question at the heart of the Russia investigation, though Republican lawmakers were quick to declare that there was “no collusion.”

[Read the attorney general’s summary of the Mueller report.]

For each of the relevant actions by Mr. Trump the special counsel examined, “the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as ‘difficult issues’ of law and fact concerning whether the President’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction. The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’”

While Robert S. Mueller III did not take a position on whether Mr. Trump committed obstruction and explicitly said his report did not exonerate the president, Attorney General William P. Barr said that he and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller, separately concluded that the evidence Mr. Mueller gathered “is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

Importantly, Mr. Barr stressed that this conclusion was not based on the Justice Department’s view that the Constitution bars indicting a sitting president.

“It was a complete and total exoneration,” Mr. Trump said, in brief remarks to reporters in Florida before he boarded Air Force One en route back to Washington. “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this.”

In his first public remarks, an hour after the report summary was released, Mr. Trump claimed victory on Twitter.

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Mueller Report Findings Are ‘Total Exoneration,’ Trump Claims

“It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia,” President Trump said Sunday after the attorney general’s summary was released. Mr. Trump added: “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this.”

“So after a long look, after a long investigation, after so many people have been so badly hurt, after not looking at the other side, where a lot of bad things happened, a lot of horrible things happened, a lot of very bad things happened for our country, it was just announced there was no collusion with Russia — the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction, and none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration. It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this for — before I even got elected, it began. And it began illegally, and hopefully somebody is going to look at the other side. This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully somebody is going to be looking at the other side. So it’s complete exoneration. No collusion, no obstruction. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

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“It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia,” President Trump said Sunday after the attorney general’s summary was released. Mr. Trump added: “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this.”CreditCredit...Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Mr. Trump, who learned about the special counsel’s findings on Sunday, falsely said that the report exonerated him, when Mr. Barr cited the special counsel report, which specifically said: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, also claimed victory for the White House: “The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.”

In his brief remarks, Mr. Trump was critical of the lack of investigation into people he perceives as his opponents.

“So after a long look,” Mr. Trump said. “After a long investigation, after so many people have been so badly hurt, after not looking at the other side, where a lot of bad things happened, a lot of horrible things happened, a lot of very bad things happened for our country, it was just announced there was no collusion with Russia — the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

He later added: “This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully somebody’s going to be looking at the other side.”

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William P. Barr, the attorney general, leaving his home on Sunday morning in McLean, Va.Credit...Alex Wong/Getty Images

Mr. Trump did not specify who or what was on “the other side,” but he has previously suggested that senior officials at the Justice Department and the F.B.I. were working against him, as well Democrats, including his one-time political opponent Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Trump also falsely said that the Russia investigation was started “illegally,” a claim he has made previously, accusing the F.B.I. of straying from its own investigative policies and opened an inquiry because of political motivations. Mr. Trump has always been especially critical of a dossier of allegations that the F.B.I. received during the 2016 campaign.

In completing his investigation, the special counsel had an array of resources at his disposal. The team consisted of 19 lawyers, about 40 F.B.I. agents, analysts, forensic accountants and other staff. Since his appointment in May 2017, Mr. Mueller’s team issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants and interviewed about 500 witnesses. It also made requests to 13 foreign governments for evidence.

Mr. Barr said that it was “my goal and intent” to “release as much of the special counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and department policies.” In short, that means — as expected — he has concerns about grand jury secrets and other sensitive investigative material in Mr. Mueller’s report.

Democrats will not be satisfied with that answer, but in the short term they are unlikely to get access to Mr. Mueller’s evidence.

Members of the president’s party quickly jumped on the Mr. Barr’s letter to insist it was time for Washington and the country to move on. Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called on its Democratic chairman to “rethink his sprawling investigation” into obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

“Russia is a bad actor with dark intentions, but there is no evidence that they compromised a presidential nominee. The special counsel’s investigation was long, thorough and conclusive: There was no collusion. There is no constitutional crisis,” Mr. Collins said. “I look forward to moving ahead and working with everyone on the Judiciary Committee to do the business of the American people.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered a similar assessment: “Good day for the rule of law. Great day for President Trump and his team. No collusion and no obstruction.”

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader from California, said “the case is closed.”

“It is abundantly clear, without a shadow of a doubt, there was no collusion,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

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How the Mueller Investigation Unfolded

This is the story of how the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s extensive investigation into Russian efforts to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential race got started.

2014: Russia sends troops into Ukraine and occupies the Crimean Peninsula. That helps set in motion a chain of events that brings us to here. “I call it the Russian witch hunt.” The public release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the investigation into whether people associated with Donald Trump’s campaign — “Lock him up!” — conspired with Russia in 2016 — “It’s a whole big fat hoax.” and whether Trump or his aides tried to obstruct this investigation. “The people doing that investigation, they’re dirty cops.” So how did we get here, from this to this? “There was no collusion, there’s no Russia.” O.K., starting with Crimea, Russia enters and eventually annexes the region from Ukraine. The U.S. supports Ukraine’s government, so the U.S. responds with sanctions. “To impose a cost on Russia.” Russia decides to strike back to undermine U.S. democracy. “Show me what hypocrisy looks like!” How? Use America’s polarized politics to turn people against each other. “Don’t shoot!” Perfect timing, because it’s 2015, and here comes the presidential election. The months tick by. Trump does well. “I consider myself the presumptive nominee.” Then several members of his campaign get approached by people with ties to Russia. Those people claim to have information that can hurt the Hillary Clinton campaign. See, the Russians don’t like Clinton. They don’t want her to become president. They say that she meddled in Russian affairs when she was secretary of state. But Trump — “Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia?” Then we learned that Russian hackers had infiltrated the Democratic National Committee’s computer system. And just over a month later, Wikileaks publishes 20,000 hacked Democratic emails. All of this makes the F.B.I. more suspicious of Russian meddling and suspicious of ties between Trump campaign aides and Moscow. Trump’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul Manafort, denies this. “We have no relationship.” The F.B.I. investigates. Then — election victory, and the stakes get higher. President Obama gets ready to leave office. But before he does — “The Russians were responsible for hacking the D.N.C.” — he announces new sanctions on Russia. Enter Michael Flynn, Trump’s soon-to-be national security adviser. He urges Russia’s U.S. ambassador from Moscow not to retaliate over those Obama sanctions. Russia agrees. That’s a problem because Trump hasn’t been inaugurated yet. Flynn isn’t part of the U.S. government. He may have broken federal law by doing this. Then — “So help me God.” Soon Flynn has to resign because he misled the vice president and others — “I was disappointed.” — about those conversations with the Russian ambassador. These chats become part of the F.B.I. investigation into Russian ties with the Trump campaign. The day after Flynn resigns, Trump meets with F.B.I. Director James Comey. According to Comey, Trump asked him to stop investigating Flynn. “I took it as this is what he wants me to do.” Three months after that meeting, Trump fires Comey. According to the White House — “He fired him because he was not fit to do the job. It’s that simple.” Eight days later, the Justice Department taps former F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation now that Comey is gone. His inquiry now includes Comey’s firing. Did Trump try to obstruct the investigation by asking Comey to stop investigating Flynn? Let’s move ahead to five months after Mueller took the job. He begins charging several Trump associates with a variety of crimes, like lying to the F.B.I. and bank fraud. See, that’s important because they may have information that helps Mueller’s investigation. He can offer them lesser punishments in exchange for that information. Now it’s been almost 11 months since Mueller took over the investigation. And who gets caught up in this? Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer. He’s mostly charged with crimes that aren’t part of the Mueller investigation. “Mr. Cohen will continue to cooperate.” But Mueller wants to talk to him to see if he knows anything about Trump business dealings in Russia while Trump was running for president. “How do you feel about you may have changed an election?” By the time Cohen testifies before Congress, it’s clear he’s done being loyal to Trump. “He is a racist. He is a con man. And he is a cheat.” And so we come to the present, about five years since Russia annexed Crimea. The investigation — “You wouldn’t oversee a witch hunt, would you?” — speculation — “There was no anything, so that’s the nice part.” — and anticipation — “Robert Mueller may be ready to submit his findings.” — are all in the past. Only the future will tell us how the Mueller report will go down in American history.

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This is the story of how the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s extensive investigation into Russian efforts to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential race got started.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Representative Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that Mr. Barr’s letter was hardly the end of the inquiry, noting “Special Counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the President, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.”

Mr. Nadler also sounded a call for Mr. Mueller to turn over all of his underlying investigative documents.

“There must be full transparency in what Special Counsel Mueller uncovered to not exonerate the President from wrongdoing,” Mr. Nadler said on Twitter. “DOJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work.”

Mr. Nadler suggested that the Justice Department did not spend enough time considering whether the evidence presented by the special counsel was sufficient to support a charge of obstruction of justice. He said that his committee would soon be calling on Mr. Barr to testify about his findings.

“Special Counsel Mueller worked for 22 months to determine the extent to which President Trump obstructed justice,” Mr. Nadler wrote in a Twitter post. “Attorney General Barr took 2 days to tell the American people that while the President is not exonerated, there will be no action by DOJ.”

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Mr. Barr said that he and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller, separately concluded that the evidence was not sufficient to establish obstruction of justice.Credit...Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

The two most powerful Democrats on Capitol Hill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said Mr. Barr’s summary “raises as many questions as it answers.” They said that given “Mr. Barr’s public record of bias against the Special Counsel’s inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report.”

Like many other Democrats, they called for Congress to be given access to the full report and all underlying documents.

Other Democrats had a starkly different view of Mr. Barr’s summary.

Representative David N. Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said: “The Special Counsel did not exonerate the President. In fact, according to the Attorney General’s letter, he described a pattern of evidence suggesting the President engaged in obstruction of justice. The Attorney General needs to make this evidence available to Congress immediately, along with the entirety of the Mueller report, so we can decide what steps to take next.”

Senior Justice Department officials huddled at the agency’s headquarters since midmorning Sunday, examining the report that marked the conclusion of the special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump. The inquiry was led by Mr. Mueller, who delivered his report to Mr. Barr on Friday.

About an hour after his letter was delivered to lawmakers, Mr. Barr left the Justice Department.

Mr. Barr wrote in his letter to Congress that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the presidential campaign in 2016. He said the first was to “conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord.” The second element included Russian government computer hacking operations to influence the election.

Mr. Barr said the special counsel also found “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”

He was scheduled to return to the capital at 6:45 p.m.

Mr. Trump’s golf partners at his Florida course on Sunday were Senator Lindsey Graham; Trey Gowdy, the former representative; and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff. All three men are from South Carolina.

In Palm Beach, the president’s supporters were in celebration mode, and are focusing more on the Russia findings in the report than on the obstruction question. Toni Holt Kramer spoke with the president at Mar-a-Lago this weekend and described his mood while interacting with his supporters as “fantastic.” Ms. Holt Kramer, who founded the Trumpets booster group, said that she and her group would be in “full campaign mode” now that she said the president had not been found to have worked with Russia during the campaign. “He is in a phenomenal mood,” she said. “It was just like when he won the election.”

The president is scheduled to make his first appearance in front of supporters on Thursday at a “Make America Great Again” rally in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A correction was made on 
March 24, 2019

A previous version of this article misattributed a quote. It was Representative Doug Collins, Republican of Georgia, not Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who said: “Russia is a bad actor with dark intentions, but there is no evidence that they compromised a presidential nominee. The special counsel’s investigation was long, thorough and conclusive: There was no collusion. There is no constitutional crisis.”

How we handle corrections

Reporting was contributed by Katie Benner, Nicholas Fandos, Adam Goldman, Maggie Haberman, Annie Karni, Katie Rogers, Eileen Sullivan and Michael Tackett.

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