Trump on the Russia investigation: Wrong

Robert Mueller listens at the US Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing about the FBI on Capitol Hill in Washington. Reuters

TRUMP: "After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over. The special counsel completed its report and found no collusion and no obstruction. ...Total exoneration, complete vindication." — rally.

THE FACTS: Mueller did not vindicate Trump in "total" in the Russia probe.

Mueller's exact words in the report, as quoted by Attorney General William Barr, say: "While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Read more: Russia responds to Mueller report by calling America dysfunctional and painting Trump as incompetent

The four-page summary by Barr released Sunday notes Mueller did not "draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction," but rather set out evidence for both sides, leaving the question unanswered of whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr wrote in the summary that ultimately he decided as attorney general that the evidence developed by Mueller was "not sufficient" to establish, for the purposes of prosecution, that Trump committed obstruction.

Barr's summary also notes that Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor. To establish a crime, Mueller must generally meet a standard of proving an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The summary did not clear the president of improper behavior regarding Russia but did not establish that "he was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," Mueller said in a passage from the report quoted by Barr.

The summary signed by Barr gave the bottom line only as he and his deputy saw it. Democrats are pushing for release of Mueller's full report, which is more than 300 pages. Barr is expected to release a public version of the document in the coming weeks.

TRUMP: speaking about allegations in a so-called dossier about contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election: "It came out after the election and everybody had a big fat yawn. ...All of a sudden I heard, 'Were you involved with Russia? I said, 'Russia? What the hell does Russia have to do with my campaign?'" — rally.

THE FACTS: There actually was plenty that Russia had to do with Trump's campaign.

According to US intelligence agencies and lengthy indictments brought by Mueller's team, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a multipart influence campaign aimed at hurting Democrat Hillary Clinton's candidacy, undermining American democracy and helping Trump get elected.

That effort included the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups. Russian intelligence officers then coordinated the release of stolen emails and internal documents.

There were also plenty of people around Trump receptive to Russia's help, though Mueller's report ultimately did not find that those contacts amounted to a criminal conspiracy, according to Barr's summary.

In the middle of the campaign, Donald Trump Jr. met at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer thinking he would be getting "dirt" on Clinton. Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting, which included Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, despite it being described to him as part of a Russian government effort to help his father.