Trump news: President celebrates Mueller report ending as new probes ramp up against White House
At least 17 other entities are still probing the president
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has held a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign a proclamation formally recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights as the fallout from the Mueller report continues.
Attorney-general William Barr, a Trump ally handpicked by the president, came to the conclusion Mr Trump had not colluded with Russia to win the 2016 president election after reading FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's report, submitted following the conclusion of a 22-month investigation into the allegation.
In a four-page letter to Congress, Mr Barr quoted Mr Mueller in conceding: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
“A number of actions” carried out by Mr Trump could raise obstruction of justice concerns, Mr Mueller thought, but Mr Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, decided these actions did not reveal “corrupt intent”.
A jubilant Mr Trump was quick to hail the verdict as a “complete and total exoneration”, repeating his long-running attack on the “witch hunt” as “an illegal takedown that failed” - to the delight of Trump loyalists - while Democrats called for the Mueller report’s full release.
The summary by Mr Barr notes the special counsel's office did not “draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction,” but rather set out evidence for both sides, leaving the question unanswered.
The attorney general wrote in the summary that ultimately he decided that the evidence developed by Mr Mueller was “not sufficient” to establish, for the purposes of prosecution, that Mr Trump committed obstruction of justice
Mr Barr’s summary also notes that Mr Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia. To prove a crime, the special counsel's office must generally meet a standard of proving an offence beyond a reasonable doubt.
The summary did not clear the president of improper behaviour regarding Russia but did not establish that “he was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference,” Mr Mueller said in a passage from the report quoted by the attorney general.
The four-page summary signed by Mr Barr gave the bottom line only as he and Mr Rosenstein saw it. Mr Mueller’s detailed findings remain confidential at least for now.
Additional reporting by AP. Read The Independent's live coverage on the White House from Monday below.
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A copy of the talking points Donald Trump’s White House plan to use in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluding his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has been leaked, and it is, well, predictable:
We’ve known for quite some time now that Donald Trump was misleading the public when said John McCain distributed the infamous Steele dossier to the media, and that the late senator and war hero actually delivered it to the FBI, as he previously confirmed.
New reporting reveals he went to his friend and colleague Lindsey Graham upon receiving the dossier, who then encouraged him to give it to the federal agency.
Here’s more on John McCain’s decision to turn over the Steele dossier to the FBI, from CNN’s Manu Raju:
NBC News’ Kin Dilanian has reported the FBI will soon brief a set of bipartisan senators called the Gang of 8, who receive briefings on matters of classified intelligence, about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings into whether Donald Trump is under the influence of foreign powers. That question was at the heart of the special counsel’s counterintelligence probe.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has continued the White House victory lap after Donald Trump’s attorney general released a summary claiming Special Counsel Robert Mueller had no found the president to be involved in a conspiracy with Russia during the 2016 election. Her comments are particularly outlandish here:
Donald Trump and his supporters have pointed to a four-page summary produced by William Barr, who the president appointed to lead the Justice Department late last year, as evidence of his exoneration in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Regardless of whether that is true or not, the special counsel is far from the only entity to probe Mr Trump. His financial dealings, contacts between Russians and his campaign associates and other major scandals that have plagued the White House since he took office have all become the subject of at least 17 different ongoing investigations.
Donald Trump hosted the Capitals hockey team in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, where he celebrated its Stanley Cup victory:
That's all for today's live coverage on Donald Trump's White House in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluding his report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Read below for live updates as they happened and check back in tomorrow for more reporting on the Trump presidency.
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