Mueller report finds no evidence that Trump campaign colluded with Russia - U.S. Justice Department

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Mueller report finds no evidence that Trump campaign colluded with Russia - U.S. Justice Department

By Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks upon his departure from West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque  

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between President Donald Trump's election team and Russia in the 2016 election, Attorney General William Barr said on Sunday. Barr said he had determined that Trump did not obstruct justice during the investigation.

 

In a major political victory for Trump, Mueller, who spent nearly two years investigating allegations that Russia meddled in the election to help Trump defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, did not find evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated with the Russian government," according a summary of Mueller's findings.

 

While Mueller left open the possibility that Trump had obstructed justice in his response to the Russia probe, U.S. Attorney General William Barr concluded that the evidence was "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offence," the summary said.

 

"While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Barr quoted Mueller as writing in his report on the issue of possible obstruction of justice.

 

Mueller said he would leave it to the attorney general to decide whether a crime was committed.

 

Barr's summary said Mueller found no evidence that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia, despite multiple offers from individuals associated with Russia.

 

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the findings on the Russia probe were a "total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States."

 

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said it "seems like the Department of Justice is putting matters squarely in Congress' court."

 

The release of the summary is likely to ignite a new political fight in Washington as Democrats push for Barr to release the full report, and Trump seizes on the findings as vindication of his near daily assertion that he was a victim of a "witch hunt" that has cast a long shadow over his presidency.

 

Trump has always denied collaborating with Moscow or obstructing justice. Russia says it did not interfere in the election, although U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it did.

 

Barr said the investigation also found insufficient evidence that Trump had attempted to obstruct justice. Many of his opponents accused him of obstructing the Russia probe when he fired former FBI director James Comey.

 

The Department of Justice announced on Friday that Mueller had ended his investigation after bringing charges against 34 people, including Russian agents and former key allies of Trump, such as his campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Mike Flynn and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

 

None of those charges, however, directly related to whether Trump's campaign worked with Moscow.

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by by Roberta Rampton in Palm Beach, Florida; Karen Freifeld, Doina Chiacu and Nandita Bose in Washington; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Ross Colvin; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-25

[sanemax]

Who are the people that began and circulated those rumors ?

They should be prosecuted for defamation

[jimmyyy]

That report just secured hs reelection.  The house will now spend 2 years trying to find something on him verses governing and will lose control of the house dor it next cycle.

[smedly]

what a total waste of time and resource - said it here 6 months ago - total complete bullshit and the world was sick listening to it - every day every week - Mueller this Mueller that - for what ?

 

total nonsense

[MadMuhammad]

8 minutes ago, sanemax said:

The false rumous about the Russians colluding with Trump to get him elected .

After a two year investigation , it was found to be untrue .

So, who started the rumors and who was spreading false info ?

HRC and friends would be my guess...

[TopDeadSenter]

Reset the clock. Restart Trump's first term again. There needs to be precedent set that embarking on such a far fetched conspiracy and witch hunt has serious consequences for those that started it. Together with dismantling the fake news outlets that pushed this hoax. CNN(the most trusted name in news), MSNBC hang your heads in shame. It was clearly a hoax yet you pushed it with no evidence 24/7 for nearly 2 years. Consequences will be severe, after all fake news is a big no no these days.

 This is a great day seeing Trump finally vindicated, but sadly so much damage has been done by the sore losers of the 2016 election it will be difficult to heal the division the democrats and weaponized FBI have caused. Still, if anyone can do it, Trump can.

Can't wait for MAGA2020!

[beechguy]

29 minutes ago, simple1 said:

What "false rumours"? I am referring to the establishment of the Mueller investigation triggered by the Australian intelligence report sent to US authorities from a meeting concerning a trump operative claims and the firing by trump.

They set the guy up, so they could use it for the FISA Warrants. Get over it, the Democrats are being shown for the corrupt and incompetent tools they are. Especially Schiff, anybody else would be too embarrassed to show their face after all of this.

[Tug]

I would like to see the full report and this I know if the fbi thought you or I did something ontoward with the Russian federation they would look but you can bet before they call Donald a traitor they will look a hell of a lot harder he is the pres.im thinking it dident reach that threshold so let’s see the full report not just Donald’s hand picked guys brief 

[alex8912]

Probably worse than the Salem witch trials. Utterly a waste of time and energy and money. Just watch no other strong candidate for Pres in 2020 will even be able to come along now. Let’s face it the New Hampshire primaries are less than 11 months off. The Dems are donze now because they will start some more distracting nonsense and not concentrate on a leader for the next elections. The 2024 elections will be pretty interesting however.  

[ShortTimed]

I never understood why people thought there needed to be collusion.

 

They were simply two different people who shared a common goal...to keep Hillary Clinton out of office.

 

There was no need to collude since combining efforts offered no advantage.

 

Putin had a long history with Hillary and this was simply his chance for payback....and some might say her loss and Trumps victory might cause havoc in his enemy the USA.

 

And it has created tremendous social and political instability in the USA.

 

Trump had no need to collude with Putin since he could offer nothing to Putin that the man with the Russian Intelligence force at his disposal didn’t already have access to and Putin planned to move forward with his agenda without any outside influence.

 

This entire Mueller investigation was a Liberal fantasy that cost alot of money.

 

 

[ShortTimed]

All the US intelligence agencies identified Russian interference in the 2016 election. No false rumours, but investigation into the ramifications and whether there was in fact collusion by trump campaign officials or those associated with trump during their interactions with Russians. One of the outcomes being some have been convicted for lying to the FBI.  As I posted elsewhere trump family members were extremely fortunate that during their meeting  with a Russian to try and obtain 'dirt' nothing eventuated. For trump to claim he and his associates are not tainted by their actions is absolute nonsense.

But what politician in history has not attempted to get “dirt” on their opponent.

Hillary Clinton camp would have been using their available channels to get “dirt” on Donald.

This is simply politics.

[dcutman]

How many peoples lives got wrecked for nothing but BS. Just look at the resources used and found nothing. Now the Dems screaming to release full report, apparently want to wreck more lives.

 

Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mueller-report-read-ag-william-195735655.html

[simple1]

7 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

This entire Mueller investigation was a Liberal fantasy that cost alot of money.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Incorrect. Mueller investigation paid for itself by identifying unpaid taxes by some of those under investigation.

[simple1]

7 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

 

But what politician in history has not attempted to get “dirt” on their opponent.

Hillary Clinton camp would have been using their available channels to get “dirt” on Donald.

This is simply politics.
 

 

Illegal to gain from a foreign power

[ShortTimed]

How many peoples lives got wrecked for nothing but BS. Just look at the resources used and found nothing. Now the Dems screaming to release full report, apparently want to wreck more lives.
 
Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mueller-report-read-ag-william-195735655.html

Yes, excellent opinion with example of the cost.

I am not from the US. I am Canadian. I have no vested interest in this. I thought both Clinton and Trump were crooks.

But as a Canadian, I consider this entire investigation to have been a colossal waste of taxpayer funds with minimal chance of gain.

Investment risk far greater than possible gain = bad decision.

[Tug]

9 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

 

But what politician in history has not attempted to get “dirt” on their opponent.

Hillary Clinton camp would have been using their available channels to get “dirt” on Donald.

This is simply politics.
 

 

Negative that is a crime

[ShortTimed]

Negative that is a crime

OK.
I don’t know if it is possible for people here to have a cerebral conversation about Trump. I have never seen such an emotional topic amongst Americans and the world.

But if anyone actually just looks at the worst crime that could have been discovered, do they honestly believe it warranted this cost?

Using the shoe-on-the-other-foot guideline, would anti-Trumps think was a good investment if it had been aimed at a victorious Hillary Clinton?

Again, please do not immediately place me in the Trump camp for saying this was a foreseeable conclusion and waste of money.

[alex8912]

6 minutes ago, dcutman said:

So what do all the P'sOS, Brennon, Clapper, Dozens of Democratic leaders and many here on TVF, that called Trump a treasonous traitor, Have to say?

Well a lot of them ( above ) are known to be a little lazy and sleepy heads so we may have to wait till 11 or 12 noon ish to find out ????

[ShortTimed]

Incorrect. Mueller investigation paid for itself by identifying unpaid taxes by some of those under investigation.

OK.
But that is a very big claim that seems doubtful to anyone that is wise with their accounting skills.

A post above describes the manpower in this investigation.

How much in tax revenue was recouped? And please only report amounts substantiated by news reporting because almost all income tax is settled on a cents on the dollar amount.

[Credo]

6 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

 

OK.
I don’t know if it is possible for people here to have a cerebral conversation about Trump. I have never seen such an emotional topic amongst Americans and the world.

But if anyone actually just looks at the worst crime that could have been discovered, do they honestly believe it warranted this cost?

Using the shoe-on-the-other-foot guideline, would anti-Trumps think was a good investment if it had been aimed at a victorious Hillary Clinton?

Again, please do not immediately place me in the Trump camp for saying this was a foreseeable conclusion and waste of money.

 

Of course it was worthwhile.   A lot of corrupt and illegal activity was uncovered and nearly $50 million in assets were seized.   When there is reason to believe crimes have been committed, then investigations are in order.   

 

Hillary was investigated.   Her husband was the subject of a special counsel investigation as was Nixon.   

 

It's how the system works and in this case it worked.   Many will not like the outcome, but it was investigated and Mueller had the backing of both Democrats and Republicans and is a man of integrity.   I doubt he would deliberately conceal evidence.   Whether he could have been aggressive or daring in his conclusions are a matter of opinion, but he did his job.   He did it well and he did it thoroughly.   

 

[Scott]

Inflammatory, baiting posts removed.

 

[ShortTimed]

Of course it was worthwhile.   A lot of corrupt and illegal activity was uncovered and nearly $50 million in assets were seized.   When there is reason to believe crimes have been committed, then investigations are in order.     

Hillary was investigated.   Her husband was the subject of a special counsel investigation as was Nixon.   

 

It's how the system works and in this case it worked.   Many will not like the outcome, but it was investigated and Mueller had the backing of both Democrats and Republicans and is a man of integrity.   I doubt he would deliberately conceal evidence.   Whether he could have been aggressive or daring in his conclusions are a matter of opinion, but he did his job.   He did it well and he did it thoroughly.   

 

 

 

Some might say this was a politically motivated investigation so it was not actually a criminal investigation in the sense of Bernie Maddoff.

 

$50 million recovered? Seriously that would possibly not cover the expense of manhours for one day.

 

I feel a losing battle here because many seem to be defending this along their party lines which is a response based on emotion. Logic loses out to emotion.

 

I have no investment in this. The political theatre in our Southern neighbor is like a WWF event. Its great entertainment. I have no skin in the game.

 

Cheers

 

[ShortTimed]

Really???
I am assuming many, possibly hundreds, of innocent people were caught up in this witchhunt
and had to spend every last penny they had and even go into debt to defend themselves. Not to mention the possible negative impacts of their career's and reputation's. 
Whats the price tag on that?

Well history has long shown that witch hunts have most often resulted in innocent people left burning at the stake.

Its just a way for the aggrieved to take their anger out on others. Makes no difference if they had anything to do with it.

On that note, I wish you all an adieu ;-)

[Credo]

8 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

 

Some might say this was a politically motivated investigation so it was not actually a criminal investigation in the sense of Bernie Maddoff.

 

$50 million recovered? Seriously that would possibly not cover the expense of manhours for one day.

 

I feel a losing battle here because many seem to be defending this along their party lines which is a response based on emotion. Logic loses out to emotion.

 

I have no investment in this. The political theatre in our Southern neighbor is like a WWF event. Its great entertainment. I have no skin in the game.

 

Cheers

 

Well, I am not going to argue if it was politically motivated -- pretty much everything in Washington is political at its core.   The Mueller investigation cost about $25 Million.   The confiscated property was just under $50 Million.   

 

[Tug]

23 minutes ago, ShortTimed said:

 

OK.
I don’t know if it is possible for people here to have a cerebral conversation about Trump. I have never seen such an emotional topic amongst Americans and the world.

But if anyone actually just looks at the worst crime that could have been discovered, do they honestly believe it warranted this cost?

Using the shoe-on-the-other-foot guideline, would anti-Trumps think was a good investment if it had been aimed at a victorious Hillary Clinton?

Again, please do not immediately place me in the Trump camp for saying this was a foreseeable conclusion and waste of money.

 

Yes the dude is a dirt bag he is unfit just keep him on the rails till his term is over

[Scott]

Baiting posts removed.   Stay on topic.  

 

[ShortTimed]

Well, I am not going to argue if it was politically motivated -- pretty much everything in Washington is political at its core.   The Mueller investigation cost about $25 Million.   The confiscated property was just under $50 Million.        

 

 TIME reports it was $25 million for last six months of investigation and the expense reporting is not completed. How long did this investigation last. It seemed like years of agony.

 

EDIT:

Other news outlets reports vary.

 

 For my way of thinking, politically motivated investigations are tax dollars wasted. If a criminal investigation is started by the FBI or as a result of criminal charges at a local level (such as DUI or sexual assault, etc) then a further investigation by politicians is warranted.

 

Credo, I am not intentionally ignoring your responses in the future. I really need to go get my morning cup of over-roasted and over-priced grounds from you know where.

[doggie1955]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

Triggered by trump's own behaviour and actions. Trump only has himself to blame, plus of course his behaviour throughout the investigation. trump is a disrupter of the Rule of Law at the domestic and international levels,

 

As an Australian & UK citizen very much looking forward to him being removed from the Presidency in 2020 for the pain he is inflicting on both the Allies and US citizens.

Spoken like a true liberal... So how are things in the UK & Australia?

Because here in America, we are doing great any time Trump can make so many liberals cry in the world at the same time.

 

[ThaiBunny]

1 minute ago, doggie1955 said:

Because here in America, we are doing great any time Trump can make so many liberals cry in the world at the same time.

Make America grate again?

[ShortTimed]

Well, I am not going to argue if it was politically motivated -- pretty much everything in Washington is political at its core.   The Mueller investigation cost about $25 Million.   The confiscated property was just under $50 Million.   

 

 

Fortunately Starbucks is nearby and has wi-fi.

 

$50 million in confiscated property.

But isn’t it practice for these properties to be sold at auction for a much lesser amount than reported value?

 

I guess this still ties in to the original topic of the Mueller investigation?