Not guilty. Of collusion or obstruction. That’s essentially what the Mueller report, out Thursday, confirms.
The 448-page document says bluntly, as Attorney General William Barr noted weeks ago, that probers failed to find the Trump campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia. And though special counsel Robert Mueller issued no verdict on obstruction, he supplied plenty of evidence to show Trump was not trying to thwart justice but🐟 merely to have it carried out sooner, by havingꦰ the probe end.
Trump knew, after all, there was no collusion, and believed (quite correctly) the probe was dogging his presidency. Indeed, he was furious: “This is the end of my presi🌠dency. I’m f - - ked,” fumed th👍e president on learning Mueller would conduct a collusion investigation.
Trump’s fury led to sev🧔eral ill-considered moves, such as his bid to get White House Counsel Donald McGahn to fire Mueller. Had his aides carried out all his orders as directed, Mueller might’ve mustered far more evidence for an obstruction charge.
But they didn’t. In fact, Team Trump went to great lengths to cooperate with Mueller, providing, as Barr put෴ it, “unfettered access to campaign and White House documents” and “directing senior aides to testify freely.” Trump, said Barr, “took no act” that deprived Mueller of needed information.
Recall, too: The prez waged much of his Mueller war in 𓆏public, on Twitter — hardly typical of someone with crimi🤪nal intent.
All of which is why Barr and Deputy🐬 AG Rod Rosenstein found the “evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the president had a corrupt𝐆 intent to obstruct.”
Also notable: Trump opted no👍t to use executive privilege to redact anything in the report, since he believed it cleared him.
None of this will mean much to Trump’s foes. They’ll insist he’s still guilty a🎃s sin and continue to try to hobble his presidency.
Pay them no mind. It’s time to move on.