It’s official my friends!
When the Mueller investigation ended with “no new indictments” the prevailing wisdom was that President Trump was vindicated.
In the clear.
But now it’s official, as the Report Summary has been released and there is no proof of Trump-Russia collusion!
DUH!
We could have told you that three years ago!
Here's more on the breaking story, from Fox News:
Attorney General William Barr on Sunday released the "principal conclusions" of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's completed Russia probe in a bombshell four-page letter to Capitol Hill lawmakers, which stated definitively that Mueller did not establish evidence that President Trump's team or any associates of the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia -- "despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign."
Mueller's team specifically looked into two Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election -- first, the work by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to "conduct disinformation and social media operations" designed to "sow discord" in the U.S."
Aaccording to Barr's letter, "The special counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its effort" to interfere with the 2016 presidential election in that manner.
Next, Mueller investigated whether the Trump team was involved in the hacking of emails, many of which were released publicly, that belonged to the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
"The Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated" with Russians who worked on those hacking efforts, according to Barr's letter, "despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign."
Mueller's report did not reach a conclusion on whether the Trump campaign obstructed justice, and left that decision to Barr and officials at the DOJ. But Mueller "recognized," according to Barr's letter, that the lack of evidence that Trump was involved in collusion would undercut any obstruction case -- which would depend on showing a corrupt intent by the president.
"The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion - one way or the other - as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction," according to Barr's letter. "Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as 'difficult issues' of law and fact concerning whether the President's actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction."
Barr'rs letter concluded: “After reviewing the Special Counsel’s final report on these issues… Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
“Our determination was made without regard to, and is not based on, the constitutional considerations that surround the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president," Barr stated.
Barr added, "the Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does no exonerate him.'"
For Trump, though, who has tweeted more than 230 times that he and his team did not collude with Russians, the moment amounted to a near-total vindication.
Barr said Mueller's team had "thoroughly" investigated allegations that Trump's team sought to conspire with Russians or obstruct investigators. Mueller said he employed 19 lawyers and approximately 40 FBI agents, executing hundreds of search warrants, 10 pen registers, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.
Barr's disclosure was a capstone moment following the 22-month investigation that ensnared six former Trump advisers and associates -- but resulted in no indictments related to collusion with Russia.
President Trump tipped his hand when he sent out this cheeky Tweet this morning.
You can only imagine how vindicated he feels!
He must be tap dancing all day!
Now can we please let him get back to running the country?
MAGA!
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