U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election at the Justice Department in Washington, U.S., May 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in his first public comments on his investigation, said on Wednesday that charging President Donald Trump was never an option for his team of prosecutors, citing Justice Department guidelines that prohibit charging a sitting president.

“Charging the president with a crime was ... not an option we could consider,” Mueller told reporters as he announced his resignation. “We concluded that we would not reach a determination one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime.”