A dramatic chapter in US political history has come to an end as Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned in his final report to US Attorney General William Barr, detailing his findings on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and whether the president obstructed justice. The full report has not been released, but a four-page summary released by Barr says the 300-page report concluded there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and there was insufficient evidence that Trump obstructed justice, leaving the choice to prosecute the president to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein both agreed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Trump and will not do so, with both not considering whether prosecuting a sitting president is appropriate. Their decision effectively ends the president’s legal worries on that front.
Democrats criticized Barr for not releasing the report, calling for the full publication of the report, a position that has bipartisan support according to polls and a recent House vote on the matter. Barr has said he will release the report in April once the DOJ properly redacts it to prevent the release of classified information.
Trump has claimed complete exoneration on the matter, with Democrats responding the report did not do so, especially on the matter of obstruction. However, given Trump’s repeated claims that his campaign did not collude with the Russians and the report not discovering any evidence of it doing so, the Trump team’s celebration does not appear to be without cause.
