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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Elizabeth Warren making the customer service argument for releasing the unabridged Mueller report.
The AP's Matt Sedensky has collected some choice quotes from the American people in reaction to the Mueller news...
In West Palm Beach, Florida, along the route Donald Trump's motorcade took before returning to Washington on Air Force One, Mary Jude Smith got a wave and a smile from the chief executive. The 71-year-old retiree from Hypoluxo, Florida, speaks about him with passion and insists he has been exonerated. She sees the investigation as Democrats' pathetic attempt to impeach President Trump.
"I think Mueller was a crook. He wasted millions of our tax dollars for nothing," she said, before offering her assessment of Trump: "He's as clean as the driven snow."
In blue-state New York, 49-year-old filmmaker Dan Lee of Brooklyn Heights felt let down by Robert Mueller and left with more questions than answers. "It stings a little, because I trusted Mueller," said Mr Lee, a Democrat. "There are still so many questions and it seems inconceivable that obstruction isn't one of the conclusions."
In red-state West Virginia, 44-year-old truck driver Michael Tucker of Bancroft, declared the Russian investigation "a joke, for the most part" and that Mr Trump has been treated unfairly.
"It's one witch hunt after another," said Mr Tucker, who gave his vote to Trump in 2016 and likely will again next year. "If they could have found anything, they would have."
Trump supporter Richard C Osburn, 52, a nurse from South Charleston, West Virginia, said Mr Mueller's findings were proof the president was "drug through the mud." He knows Democrats are "hell-bent" on destroying President Trump, but says it's time for the president to be given a break.
Claire Finkelstein, a University of Pennsylvania professor who founded the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, said if the full report isn't made available to the public and its contents become known only through leaks and back channels, it would be damaging to faith in the government.
"Secrets are where conspiracy theories fester and grow," Professor Finkelstein said. "The only way that we are going to be able to move past this state of affairs is by as much coming out into the light as possible. Let's flesh out the facts, let's get them on the table and have a robust conversation."
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 74-year-old Richard Howell, a supporter of the president, said news of the Mueller report proves what critics of the investigation have been saying all along. "So we spent two years and millions of dollars," he said, "worrying about nothing."
In Gaston County, North Carolina, Trump voters outnumbered Hillary Clinton backers nearly two-to-one in 2016, but Joy Owens didn't budge from her opposition. She believes Bob Mueller has done a good job with the investigation but she's left feeling unfulfilled.
"I keep hoping that if we just be patient, we be patient for a little bit longer, that there will be justice," said Ms Owens, 66, who recently retired from running a yarn shop and framing business. "I cannot believe of all the other convictions that are happening about this that Trump is going to be scot-free on this."
A poll from Fox News (!) indicates either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden would beat Donald Trump in 2020.
The data was published prior to the William Barr bombshell mind.
As predicted, Sarah Sanders is coming after the Mueller investigation on cost grounds.
We're expecting a press conference from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at 3pm GMT (11am EST) to discuss William Barr's conclusions.
Vice-president Mike Pence is currently addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) over the Golan Heights, with Donald Trump due to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu shortly.
The Veep is not letting up on his boss's gross attack on the Democrats as "an anti-Jewish, anti-Israel party" over Ilhan Omar's criticism of AIPAC.
On Mueller, he said this:
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