Influential Democrats lined up to call for the start of the impeachment process against President Trump following Special Counsel Robert Mueller's dramatic statement that it was 'not an option' for his office to have charged the president.

The normally tight-lipped Mueller stirred the impeachment pot with his remarks at the Justice Department without actually uttering word – noting instead that 'the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing.'

With Mueller mentioning the preservation of evidence and referencing his report's statement that it did not exonerate the president, even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – who is struggling to contain an anxious impeachment faction in her caucus – said it was 'on the table.

'If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that,' said Mueller – directly contradicting President Trump's claim that he was 'completely exonerated' by the report.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC

Several Democratic presidential candidates, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Mueller's statement was tantamount to an impeachment referral.

Pelosi put a number on the group of Democrats who were now gunning for impeachment – saying the number had reached 38 out of a House majority that is 238 strong.

That number is within the range that impeachment backer Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) referenced himself in a recent interview.

'We will continue on our path,' said Pelosi, referencing investigations by six Democratic committees and a string of recent legal victories.

'Where they will lead us, we shall see. Nothing is off the table,' she said. 'But we do want to make such a compelling case, such an ironclad case that even the Republican Senate which at the time seems to be not an objective jury, will be convinced of the path that we have to take as a country.'

President Trump tweeted immediately after Mueller spoke that there was 'insufficient evidence' and that 'a person is innocent'

Mueller said it would have been unconstitutional and not fair to the accused were he to charge President Trump with obstruction of justice

'I'm very proud of our House Democrats,' Pelosi said. 'They've been, very shall we say conscientious about how they've reached their decisions, and I think it's like 35 of them out of 238, maybe it's 38 of them out of 238, have said they want to be outspoken on impeachment.'

Mueller told the country in a dramatic statement that it was 'not an option' for his office to have charged President Trump with an obstruction crime and that it would be 'inappropriate' for him to speak further about his probe of Russian election interference.

In a public statement he said would likely be his only one, Mueller restated parts of his 448-report – including the controversial decision not to charge Trump with a crime.

Mueller's statements exposed a split with Attorney General Bill Barr

The president has repeatedly cited the report – and his own attorney general's decision not to charge him – as proof that there was 'no obstruction.'

But Mueller, in his sudden remarks delivered with little public notification, said his decision rested on Justice Department policy – not on the guilt or innocence of President Trump.

That did not stop Trump from tweeting immediately after Mueller's remarks that the case against him was 'closed.'

'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,' Trump wrote.

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Charging Trump as such would have been 'unconstitutional,' Mueller said – making a technical legal point that nevertheless contradicts President Trump's repeated claims that he has been effectively ruled innocent by the special counsel.

Mueller's remarks drew immediate and renewed calls for Trump's impeachment – including from several Democratic presidential candidates. Joining them was Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, the lone Republican to call for Congress to take up an impeachment inquiry.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg each referred to Mueller's statement as like an impeachment 'referral,' while Sen. Cory Booker called impeachment proceedings the 'only path forward.' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter: 'Mueller is playing a game of Taboo with Congress. His word is "impeach."'

House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler said it 'falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump.'

'With respect to impeachment question at this point, all options are on the table and nothing should be ruled out,' Nadler said at a press conference in New York.

Mueller made a point of plucking from the report a statement that investigators would have said so if they had been able to establish that Trump did not commit an obstruction crime.

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also weighed in on Mueller's remarks, claiming he was essentially outlining to Congress that they needed to impeach Trump without outright saying those words

The New York congresswoman said Mueller was 'playing a game of Taboo with Congress' and claimed the word on his hypothetical card that he was trying to get them to guess is 'impeach'

Several Democrats running in the 2020 primary race called for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump to being immediately after Special Counsel Robert Mueller made remarks about his findings on Wednesday. Of those calling for impeachment are Sens. Cory Booker (top left) and Kamala Harris (top right), South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (bottom left) and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (bottom right)

He cited 'longstanding' Justice Department policies that a president cannot be charged while in office and noted, as does the report, that if he had been charged the president wouldn't be able to defend himself as he would in court.

'That is unconstitutional,' Mueller said – emphasizing that the fundamental reason not to charge Trump didn't have to do with guilt or innocence, but rather those foundational factors.

'By regulation it was bound by that department policy,' said Mueller. 'Charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider.'

Mueller repeated a key conclusion of the report – although one that was not included in Attorney General Barr's original four-page letter.

Mueller said virtually nothing publicly during the course of his two-year investigation until his press statement Wednesday

'And as set forth in the report, after that investigation, 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.'

Mueller explained: 'Under long-standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited. A 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.'

He also spoke of the seriousness of obstruction, and highlighted language in the report which seemed to suggest it was up to Congress to figure out what to do with the information it included.

'It was critical for us to obtain full and accurate information from every person we questioned. 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,' Mueller said.

Although his language was indirect, Mueller referenced both possible future charges, as well as the Constitution's language dealing with impeachment as a political remedy to 'high crimes and misdemeanors' carried out by a president.

'First, the [Justice Department] opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting President because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged,' Barr said.

'And second, the opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing,' he added. The 'other than' system if for Congress, through votes in the House and Senate, to remove officials accused of misconduct from office following a trial-like procedure.

He also said he does not want to appear before Congress as Democrats are demanding.

'Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report,' Mueller said.

'The report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.'

Mueller explains why he didn't make a decision on charging Trump 'And as set forth in the report, after that investigation, 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. The introduction to the volume II of our report explains that decision. It explains that under long-standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited. A 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. Advertisement

'It contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we said. We chose those words carefully and the work speaks for itself.'

'I do not believe it is appropriate for me to speak further about the investigation,' said Mueller.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told DailyMail.com that the White House is 'always' prepared – though she didn't say outright that it had been holding impeachment strategy sessions.

'We're always prepared but I don't think the American people deserve that,' she said when asked about impeachment. 'Look, every single minute that Congress spends on that, we're not spending on infrastructure, we're not spending on lowering prescription drug prices,' she said.

'Every single thing that they're doing is taking away from things that could actually help the American people,' she said of congressional Democrats, calling it a 'great disservice.'

Asked if that meant White House staffers weren't also huddling on impeachment, Sanders responded: 'I'm not going to get into internal processes. I'm just saying we're always prepared and we're going to move forward doing what we think is important, and focus on things that actually help people.'

Mueller also plucked from the report conclusive language describing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

He brought up Russia's use of 'sophisticated cyber techniques' and quoted from indictments that blamed Russian military intelligence.

'They stole private information and then released that information through fake online identities and through the organization WikiLeaks,' he said, in order to 'damage a presidential candidate' – Hillary Clinton.

'Russian citizens posed as Americans in order to influence an election,' he said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders used Mueller's statement as a call for everyone to move on from the Russia probe.

'The Special Counsel has completed the investigation, closed his office, and has closed the case. 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. Special Counsel Mueller also stated that Attorney General Barr acted in good faith in his handling of the report. After two years, the Special Counsel is moving on with his life, and everyone else should do the same,' said Sanders.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerold Nadler vowed to continue his investigation of President Trump but stopped short of saying House Democrats would proceed with impeachment proceedings.

'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,' Nadler said in a statement.

'No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law,' he added.

Mueller's statement brought a renewed focus in Congress on the impeachment question.

'Robert Mueller's statement makes it clear: Congress has a legal and moral obligation to begin impeachment proceedings immediately,' said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic presidential candidate.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tweeted: 'Mueller's statement makes clear what those who have read his report know: It is an impeachment referral, and it's up to Congress to act. They should.'

She added: 'Mueller leaves no doubt: 1) He didn't exonerate the president because there is evidence he committed crimes. 2) Justice Department policy prevented him from charging the president with any crimes. 3) The Constitution leaves it up to Congress to act—and that's impeachment.'

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg told NBC: 'This is as close to an impeachment referral as you could get under the circumstances.'

'The ball is in our court, Congress,' wrote Justin Amash of Michigan, the sole Republican to call for Trump's impeachment.

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retweeted Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who wrote: 'The next step is for the House Judiciary Committee to open an impeachment inquiry to formally begin consideration of whether or not articles of impeachment should be filed.'

'This Administration has continued to stonewall Congress's oversight. Beginning impeachment proceedings is the only path forward.'

Said Sen. Kamala Harris of California, another presidential candidate: '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.'

The office of Vice President Mike Pence released a statement saying there was 'no obstruction' and saying the White House had 'fully cooperated.'

'As Robert Mueller confirmed today, the investigation is complete. The Attorney General has made the Special Counsel's report public. The Department of Justice concluded there was no collusion and no obstruction. For two years, the White House fully cooperated with the investigation turning over millions of pages of documents and making witnesses available for hundreds of hours of testimony,' said Pence press secretary Alyssa Farah. Farah also called allegations against the president 'discredited.'

'The Trump Administration is focused every day on working on behalf of the American people. While some Democrats may cling to discredited allegations against the President, the American people can be confident: this Administration will continue to focus on making our nation stronger, safer, and more secure,' she said.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani blasted Mueller in an appearance on Fox News.

'The reality is that he gave us his opinion on collusion and obstruction,' Giuliani said. 'And his opinion is you can't bring a case.' Speaking to Mueller – his counterpart in negotiations where Trump avoided in-person testimony and presented responses to questions in writing, Giuliani wrote: 'Bob, that's the end of it. That's what a prosecutor does. And you don't prove negatives.'

Said Giuliani: 'What they've done here is a perversion,' The Hill reported. 'A combination of him and the media. And I'm surprised at Bob because he's a better lawyer than that. I don't know where this notion came that you have to exonerate.'

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale released a statement saying Mueller's remarks revealed there was 'no case for obstruction.'

'Special Counsel Robert Mueller's remarks today confirmed what we already knew. There was no collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign, and there was no case for obstruction. President Trump has been fully and completely exonerated. Mueller said his investigation is over. The case is now closed,' he said, picking up some of Trump's own language.

'Now it's time to turn to the origins of the Russia hoax and get to the bottom of why the Trump campaign was spied on by the Obama-era DOJ and FBI. Anyone who is for transparency, constitutional civil liberties, and the rule of law should want to know why human sources, wiretapping, and unmasking were used to infiltrate a presidential campaign,' Parscale said.

Trump also has called to 'investigate the investigators,' and even has accused multiple FBI officials of treason.

HOW ROBERT MUELLER BROKE TWO YEARS OF SILENCE: HIS FULL STATEMENT RESIGNING AND NOT CLEARING TRUMP OF A CRIME This is the script Robert Mueller read from at the Department of Justice on May 29, his first public statement since being appointed as special counsel Two years ago, the Acting Attorney General asked me to serve as Special Counsel, and he created the Special Counsel's Office. The appointment order directed the office to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This included investigating any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign. I have not spoken publicly during our investigation. I am speaking today because our investigation is complete. The Attorney General has made the report on our investigation largely public. And we are formally closing the Special Counsel's Office. As well, I am resigning from the Department of Justice and returning to private life. I'll make a few remarks about the results of our work. But beyond these few remarks, it is important that the office's written work speak for itself. Let me begin where the appointment order begins: and that is interference in the 2016 presidential election. As alleged by the grand jury in an indictment, Russian intelligence officers who were part of the Russian military launched a concerted attack on our political system. The indictment alleges that they used sophisticated cyber techniques to hack into computers and networks used by the Clinton campaign. They stole private information, and then released that information through fake online identities and through the organization WikiLeaks. The releases were designed and timed to interfere with our election and to damage a presidential candidate. And at the same time, as the grand jury alleged in a separate indictment, a private Russian entity engaged in a social media operation where Russian citizens posed as Americans in order to interfere in the election. These indictments contain allegations. And we are not commenting on the guilt or innocence of any specific defendant. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. The indictments allege, and the other activities in our report describe, efforts to interfere in our political system. They needed to be investigated and understood. That is among the reasons why the Department of Justice established our office. That is also a reason we investigated efforts to obstruct the investigation. The matters we investigated were of paramount importance. It was critical for us to obtain full and accurate information from every person we questioned. 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. Let me say a word about the report. The report has two parts addressing the two main issues we were asked to investigate. The first volume of the report details numerous efforts emanating from Russia to influence the election. This volume includes a discussion of the Trump campaign's response to this activity, as well as our conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy. And in the second volume, the report describes the results and analysis of our obstruction of justice investigation involving the President. The order appointing me Special Counsel authorized us to investigate actions that could obstruct the investigation. We conducted that investigation and we kept the office of the Acting Attorney General apprised of the progress of our work. As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime. The introduction to volume two of our report explains that decision. It explains that under long-standing Department policy, a President cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. 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. The Department's written opinion explaining the policy against charging a President makes several important points that further informed our handling of the obstruction investigation. Those points are summarized in our report. And I will describe two of them: First, the opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting President because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged. And second, the opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing. And beyond Department policy, we were guided by principles of fairness. It would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of an actual charge. So that was the Justice Department policy and those were the principles under which we operated. From them we concluded that we would not reach a determination – one way or the other – about whether the President committed a crime. That is the office's final position and we will not comment on any other conclusions or hypotheticals about the President. We conducted an independent criminal investigation and reported the results to the Attorney General—as required by Department regulations. The Attorney General then concluded that it was appropriate to provide our report to Congress and the American people. At one point in time I requested that certain portions of the report be released. The Attorney General preferred to make the entire report public all at once. We appreciate that the Attorney General made the report largely public. I do not question the Attorney General's good faith in that decision. I hope and expect this to be the only time that I will speak about this matter. I am making that decision myself—no one has told me whether I can or should testify or speak further about this matter. There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis, and the reasons for the decisions we made. 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. In addition, access to our underlying work product is being decided in a process that does not involve our office. So beyond what I have said here today and what is contained in our written work, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to speak further about the investigation or to comment on the actions of the Justice Department or Congress. It is for that reason that I will not take questions here today. Before I step away, I want to thank the attorneys, the FBI agents, the analysts, and the professional staff who helped us conduct this investigation in a fair and independent manner. These individuals, who spent nearly two years with the Special Counsel's Office, were of the highest integrity. I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments—that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. That allegation deserves the attention of every American. Thank you. Advertisement

Mueller finally broke his silence Wednesday in a decision his office revealed less than two hours in advance.

Mueller 'will make a statement on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election,' the special counsel's office announced Wednesday morning shortly before the event was to be held.

'This will be a statement only, no question and answer period to follow,' according to Mueller's office.

Trump's campaign immediately fired off a fundraising email following Mueller's appearance.

'America doesn't want to hear another word about the Mueller Report, unless it's an apology from the Left and their Fake News friends,' said the appeal.

Mueller spoke at the Justice Department inside the same venue where Barr provided his own comments about what was in the report before he released it – saying it showed 'no collusion' between the Trump campaign or other Americans and Russia's election hacking.

The decision for Mueller not to take questions immediately criticism from Democrats in Congress who are pushing for more disclosure – and want to bring him before lawmakers to answer for his conclusions and information he gathered during his probe.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller finally spoke publicly Wednesday morning

Mueller turned in a 448-page report to Attorney General Bill Barr in March but has not yet spoken publicly about it. The only glimpse of his views came in a letter he wrote to Barr raising concerns about how the attorney general had presented his findings.

Mueller investigated ten cases of potential obstruction of justice by President Trump, but made no decision on whether he should be prosecuted for the conduct his report spelled out. He also made no finding that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government-backed election hacking, although he examined a skein of Russia contacts by campaign officials and Trump associates.

Rep. Gerry Connelly (D-Va.), a prominent House Democrat, told CNN he wished Mueller would take questions from the press, as it might be the only way to get at real splits within the Justice Department about decisions about how to release the report and describe to the public what was in it. Lawmakers also are girding to ask Mueller about his decision not to make a final decision himself on whether to charge Trump.

Mueller took the unusual step of memorializing objections in writing about Attorney General William Barr's own four-page letter summarizing his report

Special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats are demanding access to an un-redacted version

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said Mueller does not want to testify publicly about his report

Mueller found that the 'Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systemic fashion'

House Judiciary Democrats and other committees want Mueller to appear to testify about the report, but negotiations have yet to bear fruit, amid a broad clash with the Trump White House over documents and access to information.

Barr spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee but did not appear to the House committee after a clash with committee leadership over Democrats' insistence that committee counsel be allowed to join the grilling.

A senior White House official said the White House 'was notified' that Mueller might speak. The notification came 'last night,' according to the official – an indication Trump and his team had hours to plan for how to handle any revelations Mueller might make – unless they were already briefed on what he might say.

Democrats also have been pushing for the White House to make available the entire un-redacted version of the Mueller report.

Mueller took the unusual step of memorializing objections in writing about Barr's own four-page letter summarizing his report.

That letter served as the main public source of information about it for weeks after it was released, allowing Trump to state repeatedly that Mueller found 'no collusion' and 'no obstruction.'

Mueller wrote Barr to say that his own letter 'did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance' of the report.

Wrote Mueller: 'The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions.'

'There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations,' Mueller added.

The two men had a subsequent phone call that Barr spoke about sparingly during his own testimony in the Senate.

Barr ultimately publicly released the bulk of the report, although Democrats want the release of redacted information that Barr held back to protect people's reputations as well as to protect secret Grand Jury information and intelligence information.

After weeks of back and forth with the administration, Nadler told MSNBC last week that Mueller 'doesn't want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle.'

'We're saying we think it's important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report,' Nadler added.

Mueller was famously publicity adverse during his nearly two-year investigation. He never gave a press conference, and took pains to stay out of the limelight. His absence from the public scene was such that it made news when he was spotted in an airport and at an Apple store.

Mueller's report found that the 'Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systemic fashion.'

It cited the hack of Democratic National Committee emails and of information 'damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,' and said the Russian government was behind the effort. Prosecutors rand down a string of leads, including an infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russians in June 2016, and back-and-forth between Trump and his aides over a misleading statement describing how the meeting got set up.

Mueller's team of prosecutors also examined ten areas of potential obstruction of justice by Trump – including statements by Trump's own staffers that he ordered them to force out Mueller. They also examined Trump's conduct toward former campaign chair Paul Manafort, who is now serving a 7 1/2 year prison sentence on tax and money laundering charges. They also delved into a Trump Moscow tower project that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is also in jail, did not reveal during his own initial House testimony.

The report stated that 'if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.' But it said they were 'unable to reach that judgment.'

In another of its famous conclusions, Mueller's report states: 'Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.'

There were scant clues about how Trump would respond to the man whose inquiry he blames for tormenting him for two years of his presidency and repeatedly labels a 'witch hunt.

There was no Marine stationed outside the West Wing Wednesday morning, which would suggest Trump had made his way to his office.

The White House would not say whether Trump was planning to make a statement after Mueller.

There were not any indications of an event being set up in the Rose Garden, a natural venue for any presidential push-back, although the mercury in Washington was expected to reach the 90s.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a 'no comment' when asked if the White House was informed in advance what Mueller would say.