Renewed calls for Trump impeachment

There were fresh calls for impeach­ment of Donald Trump yesterday after Robert Mueller broke a two-year ­silence.

There were fresh calls for impeach­ment of Donald Trump yesterday after special counsel Robert Mueller broke a two-year ­silence to say it was “not an option” for him to recommend criminal charges against the US President ­because of Justice Department guidelines.

He also declined to clear the President of obstruction of justice, saying: “If we had had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.

“We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime.”

His comments immediately energised the Democrats, who ­renewed calls for impeachment, while the President responded by declaring nothing had changed and that “the case is closed”.

In his first public comments on his Russia investigation, Mr Mueller defended his investigation and the integrity of his team, saying his central finding of Russian interference in the 2016 election ­“deserves the attention of every American”.

 

Mr Mueller said his surprise public appearance at the Justice Department would also be his last. He said he would not be testifying in front of congress and would be making no further public comments because it was important that his 448-page report “speaks for itself”.

He used his comments to emphas­ise his decision not to re­commend charges for obstruction of justice against the President were based on legal guidelines and practice rather than on an assessment of the evidence.

COMMENT: Impeachment talks reignite but change nothing

“Under longstanding department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office,’’ Mr Mueller said.

“That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited. The special counsel’s office is part of the Department of Justice and, by regulation, it was bound by that department policy. Charging the President with a crime was, therefore, not an option we could consider.”

Mr Mueller said he was also guided by principles of “fairness” because “it would be unfair to ­potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge”.

He appeared to suggest that only congress had the power to punish a president through impeach­ment by stating that the constitution “requires a process other than the criminal justice system­ to formally accuse the president of wrongdoing”.

Mr Trump hit back quickly, tweeting: “Nothing changes from the Mueller Report. There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you.”

But Mr Mueller’s comments energised Democrats because he chose to prioritise the legal issues over the evidence in explaining his decision not to recommend charge­s against Mr Trump.

US President Donald Trump. Picture: AP

It led senior Democrats to renew calls for impeachment proceedings against the President.

Democrat presidential candid­ate Kamala Harris said: “I think it’s a fair inference from what we heard in that press conference that Bob Mueller was essentially referring impeachment to the United States congress.”

Another Democrat candidate, Elizabeth Warren, described Mr Mueller’s statement as “an ­impeachment referral, and it’s up to congress to act. They should.”

Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the house judiciary committee that would begin any impeachment proceedings, said congress would “respond” to Mr Mueller.

“Given that Special Counsel Mueller was unable to pursue criminal charges against the President, it falls to congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump — and we will do so,” Mr Nadler said. “No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said congress would step up invest­igations, while avoiding the word impeachment. “Nothing is off the table,’’ she said.

Mr Mueller’s decision to speak was aimed in part at avoiding ­giving congressional testimony because he claimed he would be unable to go beyond what was contained in his report.

“We chose those words carefully and the work speaks for itself. The report is my testimony. I would not provide information ­beyond that which is already publi­c in any appearance before congress,” he said.

Mr Mueller also defended the integrity and his team of investig­ators in the face of repeated attacks­ from the President, who has described them as “angry Democrats” conducting a political hatchet job against him.

“I want to thank the attorneys, the FBI agents, the analysts, the professional staff who helped us conduct this investigation in a fair and independent manner,’’ he said. “These individuals who spent nearly two years with the special counsel’s office were of the highest integrity.”

Mr Mueller also defended his decision to investigate Mr Trump on the issue of obstruction.

“When a subject of an investig­ation obstructs that investigation or lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government’s effort to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable,” he said.

“Opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting president because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could be charged now.”

Mr Mueller’s final report did not recommend any charges in ­relation to collusion or conspiracy between Russian officials and Trump or his campaign team.

It also said there was insufficient evidence to recommend charges of obstruction of justice against the President. But Mr Mueller indicated that the most important finding of his 22-month investigation was that Russia launched “a concerted ­attack on our political system” in 2016.

“The releases (of hacked Democrat emails) were designed and timed to interfere with our election and to damage a presi­dent­ial candidate,’’ he said.

The White House later issued a statement saying: “Mr Mueller explic­itly said that he has nothing to add beyond the report, and therefore, does not plan to testify before congress.

“The report was clear — there was no collusion, no conspiracy — and the Department of Justice confirmed there was no obstruction. After two years, the Special Counsel is moving on with his life, and everyone else should do the same.”

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia