Republicans stood by president as some Democrats embraced impeachment inquiry in response to special counsel’s comments

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

For two years, Robert Mueller, the special counsel, led one of the most consequential investigations in the history of American politics – a pursuit that was the subject of endless speculation and cast an indelible cloud over Donald Trump’s presidency.

On Wednesday, Mueller sought to cut through the noise in a rare public statement that plainly laid out the facts, despite the sharply partisan lens through which his work has been viewed in American politics.

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But Mueller’s comments, which pointedly declined to clear Trump of committing a crime and reinforced the existence of “systematic” Russian interference in the 2016 election, still left lawmakers in Washington hardening their party political battle lines.

The reaction to Mueller’s remarks was swift , with some prominent Democrats embracing a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump as Republicans instead lined up behind the embattled president and said Mueller’s report was now a closed case.

“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,” said representative Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee.

“No one, not even the president of the United States, is above the law.”

Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump’s who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, meanwhile declared the case was closed, stating: “Mr Mueller has decided to move on and let the report speak for itself. Congress should follow his lead.”

Mueller’s statement – his first and only before cameras since his appointment in May 2017 – came as the Trump administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill are locked in a constitutional showdown over congressional oversight authorities.

The White House has stonewalled a series of requests by Democrats for witnesses and documents related to the special counsel’s investigation, including for the full, unredacted version of Mueller’s report. Upping the ante, Trump also authorized his attorney general, William Barr, to declassify any intelligence surrounding what prompted the Russia inquiry in a transparent bid to investigate the investigators.

It was against this dramatic escalation of the president’s efforts to fight back that Mueller – whether intentionally or not – placed Trump’s fate squarely in the hands of Congress.

“The constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said, in explaining his office’s decision not to bring criminal charges against Trump stemming from his repeated attempts to obstruct justice.

“We concluded that we would not reach a determination – one way or the other – about whether the president committed a crime.”

Mueller also made clear that any testimony he may be forced to give before Congress would not go any further than the contents of his report or his statement on Wednesday. Democrats have called on Mueller to appear on Capitol Hill but stopped short of issuing a subpoena under which he would be compelled to answer questions under oath.

The message from Mueller, who served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013 and cultivated a reputation of an apolitical straight-shooter, was clear: if members of Congress are searching for fresh revelations to fulfill a political agenda, they ought to look elsewhere.

“The report is my testimony,” he said.