Robert Mueller spoke for a few minutes this morning in front of reporters at the Department of Justice. He basically said he was closing down the special counsel’s office, that he was retiring and returning to private life, and that there is no point in him testifying because any and everything he has to say is in the report.

But he also said that the special counsel did not bring criminal charges against the President because it could not do so, as sitting Presidents cannot be criminally indicted. The reverse implication of that is that the President committed crimes, but that the special counsel’s office couldn’t do anything about it. That is the job of Congress.

He also reiterated what he wrote in the Mueller report: “If we had confidence he did not commit a crime we would have said so.”

Robert Mueller: "If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so…By regulation, it was bound by (DOJ) policy…charging the president with a crime was, therefore, not an option we could consider." pic.twitter.com/KZPloWSW8q

— Axios (@axios) May 29, 2019

That statement in and of itself seems to contradict what Trump has been saying for months, “No collusion. No obstruction.” But as the special counsel’s office has no say in whether Trump can be charged, Mueller is putting the ball in Congress’ court. It’s not Mueller’s job to impeach. It was Mueller’s job to find the evidence. He found the evidence and that evidence strongly suggests that the President obstructed justice. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi is too afraid for political reasons to push it, and Senate Republicans do not give a f**k, so we’re right back where we started.

Fmr. federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah: "Mueller made as clear today as he possibly could … that he did not charge Trump with a crime because he could not, because of that policy … this policy is what prevented him from stating that he would have charged him with a crime." @MSNBC

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 29, 2019

However, Mueller did close by reiterating that there is no doubt that the Russians meddled in the 2016 election, and that’s something that “deserves the attention of every American.”

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

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