Barr: Mueller did not find any evidence of collusion
WASHINGTON – Attorney General William Barr said Thursday that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III did not find any evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russian officials during his nearly two-year investigation.
“After reviewing those contacts, the special counsel did not find any conspiracy to violate U.S. law involving Russia-linked persons and any persons associated with the Trump campaign,” Barr said at a news conference at the Department of Justice in which he was accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Barr said Mueller looked into “ten episodes” involving President Trump in relation to potential obstruction and explained that he and Rosenstein ultimately concluded that “the evidence developed by the special counsel is not sufficient to establish an obstruction of justice offense.”
Barr said Mueller did find substantial evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election but emphasized that no one in the Trump campaign was involved.
Barr said he will send copies of Mueller’s final report to the chair and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees at 11 a.m. EDT. Barr said DoJ will post the report on its website after giving it to Congress.
Barr reiterated that portions of the report will be redacted to protect national security interests as well as the identities of people who were interviewed but not charged.
Democrats have demanded that the entire report, which is estimated to be 300-400 pages, be made available to Congress.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) has said he is prepared to issue a subpoena for the full report.
Shortly after Barr spoke, Nadler sent him a letter that requested he testify before the committee no later than May 23.
Barr is already expected to testify before both the House and Senate Judiciary committees at the beginning of May.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.