Special Counsel Robert Mueller speaks on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington on May 29, 2019.
Mr. Mueller, breaking a two-year silence on his investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, announced his resignation from the Justice Department on May 29 so that he can “return to public life”.
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in his first public comments on his investigation, said on May 29 that charging President Donald Trump was never an option for his team of prosecutors, citing Justice Department guidelines that prohibit charging a sitting president.
“Charging the President with a crime was... not an option we could consider,” Mr. Mueller told reporters as he announced his resignation. “We concluded that we would not reach a determination one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime.”
Mr. Mueller, breaking a two-year silence on his investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, announced his resignation from the Justice Department on May 29 so that he can “return to public life”.
Mr. Mueller’s statement was expected to be relatively brief, about eight minutes, and Attorney-General William Barr was given a heads-up about what he would say, according to people who were not authorised to provide details on the record and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The statement came amid demands for Mr. Mueller to testify on Capitol Hill about his findings and tension with Mr. Barr.
Mr. Mueller and Mr. Barr have been at odds over the attorney general’s handling of the special counsel’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and the possibility that Republican candidate Trump’s campaign cooperated with the Russians’ efforts to help him win.
Mr. Mueller has remained a Justice Department employee since submitting the report in March, though the Justice Department has not said what work he has been doing.
Mr. Mueller’s report into meddling in the 2016 campaign did not find that the Trump campaign coordinated to sway the presidential election. But, despite Mr. Trump’s repeated assertions to the contrary, it did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump had obstructed justice.
Mr. Mueller said in his report that he did not think it would be fair to publicly accuse the President of a crime if he was not going to charge him. A Justice Department legal opinion says sitting presidents cannot be indicted, and Mueller made clear in his report that that opinion helped shape the investigation’s outcome and decisions.
Mr. Barr has said he was surprised that Mr. Mueller did not reach a conclusion, and he decided with Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein that the evidence did not support an obstruction of justice allegation.
Mr. Mueller, for his part, privately complained to Mr. Barr that a four-page letter the Attorney-General wrote summarising his main conclusions did not adequately capture the investigation’s findings. Mr. Barr called Mr. Mueller’s letter “snitty” in congressional testimony this month in which he defended his decision to reach a conclusion on obstruction in place of Mr. Mueller.
Mr. Barr is currently in Alaska for work.
A senior White House official said “the White House was notified” on May 28 night that Mr. Mueller might make a statement on May 29.
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