President Trump wasted no time responding to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's statement on Wednesday regarding his investigation into 2016 Russian election interference and the Trump campaign's conduct surrounding the meddling. In the president's mind, Mueller's words sealed the deal — Trump is an innocent man, no question about it.
But, others pointed out that Mueller really didn't say anything of the sort.
Instead, Mueller said indicting Trump was "not an option" because of Justice Department guidelines that a president cannot be charged while in office and that if his team "had the confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so." He even suggested that there is another method outside of the criminal justice — that is, impeachment — for formally accusing a sitting president of wrongdoing. So, while Mueller's actual opinion on whether Trump obstructed justice remains evasive, calling the matter a closed case appears premature.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
‘This estrangement from death has beget euphemisms’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Political cartoons for October 30Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include missing SNAP benefits, working without pay, and Graham Platner's terrible tattoo
-
Should Labour break manifesto pledge and raise taxes?Today's Big Question There are ‘powerful’ fiscal arguments for an income tax rise but it could mean ‘game over’ for the government
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
