On Thursday, Attorney General William Barr released the redacted final report by Robert Mueller. In a press conference announcing its findings, Barr said, “As you will see, the Special Counsel’s report states that his ‘investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'” Barr also addressed Mueller’s second major line of inquiry, obstruction of justice, stating that, after careful review and in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel and Department of Jusice lawyers, “I concluded that the evidence developed by the Special Counsel is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
During an event at the White House Thursday for the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride, Trump took a moment to celebrate the big news, which he summarized as “no collusion, no obstruction.”
After drawing attention to some of the distinguish guests, including a couple of congressmen, Trump said, “They’re having a good day — I’m having a good day, too,” a comment that drew a few laughs. “It was called ‘No collusion, no obstruction.'”
The room broke into cheers and applause, some of the wounded warriors joining in. After the room quieted down, Trump added, “There never was, by the way, and there never will be.”
“And we do have to get to the bottom of these things,” Trump continued. “I say this in front of my friends, wounded warriors — and I just call them ‘warriors’ because we just shook hands, and they look great, they look so good, so beautiful. But I say it in front of my friends: This should never happen to another president again, this hoax. This should never happen to another president again.”
Trump’s full remarks below (“collusion” comments begin at around the 1:08:55 mark, via RCP)
“After carefully reviewing the facts and legal theories outlined in the report, and in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel and other Department lawyers, the Deputy Attorney General and I concluded that the evidence developed by the Special Counsel is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense,” Barr said.
Barr noted that he took into account when considering Trump’s actions the “context” of the situation, namely that the president faced “an unprecedented situation”: “As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as President, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office, and the conduct of some of his associates. At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the President’s personal culpability. Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. And as the Special Counsel’s report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks.”
Barr went on to say that the White House “fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims,” and “took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation.”
“Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation,” said the attorney general.
Related: SHAPIRO: The 8 Things You Need To Know About The Mueller Report