It's Mueller Time: No Collusion On Trump's Part

The four-page summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report that was delivered to Congress on Sunday drew some conclusions about Russian interference in the 2016 elections, the Trump campaign’s involvement and whether the president obstructed justice even as the report itself remains confidential.

From The Wall Street Journal, here are the key takeaways from Attorney General Williams Barr's executive summary to Congress:

• The special counsel investigation was exhaustive: The question of Russia’s role during the elections has been examined by two congressional committees and U.S. intelligence agencies. But Mr. Mueller’s findings were based on material gathered using 2,800 subpoenas, nearly 500 search warrants, and about 500 witness interviews—making it the most exhaustive probe yet to look at these questions.
• Russia interfered in the 2016 election: Mr. Mueller affirmed the January 2017 conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia conducted a campaign of hacking and disinformation aimed at sowing discord and affecting the 2016 election. Mr. Mueller identified two prongs of the Kremlin campaign: a social-media-disinformation campaign conducted by an organization known as the Internet Research Agency and targeted hacks conducted by Russian intelligence aimed at Democrats.
• No finding of Trump collusion: Mr. Mueller’s investigation didn’t establish that President Trump or any of his associates participated in the Russian conspiracies to affect the 2016 campaign. Mr. Mueller said that coordination would be a crime, but “didn’t find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its effort to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” according to the attorney general’s summary of the report.
• No decision on obstruction: Mr. Mueller didn’t conclude whether Mr. Trump’s interactions with former FBI Director James Comey,  former Attorney General Jeff Sessions or others constituted obstruction of justice. His report said that “while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” That led Mr. Barr, in consultation with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,  to make his own determination: that Mr. Trump’s actions didn’t meet the department’s standards for bringing charges.
• The full report cannot be made public in its current form: Mr. Mueller used a grand jury as part of his investigation—a matter that will complicate the ultimate release of the report. Court procedure “generally limits disclosure of certain grand jury information,” Mr. Barr told Congress. Other independent prosecutors, such as Ken Starr during his investigation of President Clinton in the 1990s, used a grand jury but ultimately released public reports. Mr. Barr has asked the special counsel for assistance in identifying grand-jury information in the report to determine how to proceed. He also said he also must protect any information in the report that touches on ongoing investigations. Mr. Barr said his goal “is to release as much of the special counsel’s report as I can” but didn’t give a timeline on when his review would be complete.