President Donald Trump has said that “nothing changes,” following Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s public statement on the ‘Russiagate’ investigation. The president declared that “the case is closed.”
“Nothing changes from the Mueller Report,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you.”
Trump’s tweet came after Mueller made his first public statement since releasing his final report almost two months ago. The Special Counsel formally closed his office, and announced he would make no further statements on the investigation. The written report, he said, “speaks for itself.”
Mueller’s final report found no evidence that Trump colluded with Russia in the runup to the 2016 election, and insufficient evidence that the president then obstructed his investigation. Mueller did, however, state that he had not determined that obstruction did not take place, but declined to charge the president with a crime, as that move would be “unconstitutional.”
Congressional Democrats have accused Attorney General William Barr of making unnecessary redactions to the 400-page report in an effort to protect Trump. Mueller dismissed these accusations on Wednesday, saying Barr has already “made the report on our investigation largely public.”
Mueller also said that he would give no testimony to Congress “beyond that which is already public.”
Previously, House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York) had expressed a desire to question Mueller about the report, saying last week that the special counsel would “probably” testify in private to the committee, and earlier threatening to subpoena Mueller if necessary.
Trump has accused Nadler and the 23 other Democrats on the committee of trying to hold a “do over” of the Mueller investigation, and has repeatedly stated that the report found “no collusion” and “no obstruction.”
Meanwhile, some Democrats have taken Mueller’s insistence on not prosecuting Trump as a cue to bring their own charges, including impeachment proceedings, against the president.
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