Mueller: Special counsel probe did not exonerate Trump
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WASHINGTON -- Special counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday he believed he was constitutionally barred from charging President Donald Trump with a crime but pointedly emphasized that his Russia report did not exonerate the president.
"If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," Mueller said. "We did not however make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime."
He cautioned lawmakers who have been negotiating for his public testimony that he would not go beyond his report in the event he appears before Congress. But he also signaled that Congress was the proper venue, not the criminal justice system, for deciding whether action should be taken against the president in connection with allegations that Trump and aides obstructed the investigation of Russian interference to help the Republican in the 2016 election campaign.
