(CNN) President Donald Trump spent the last 18-plus months attacking the investigation into Russian interference and the possibility of collusion between his campaign and the Russians. On Sunday, that same investigation, led by special counsel Robert Mueller, gave Trump something he wanted -- and needed badly: A dismissal on the question of collusion and no charges of obstruction against either the President or his team.

"The special counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election," read a summary of Mueller's conclusions by Attorney General William Barr sent to Congress on Sunday afternoon.

On the question of obstruction, Mueller, according to Barr, was less conclusive. While he said there was not enough evidence to say that Trump committed a crime by seeking to slow or end the Mueller investigation, he also didn't provide Trump the full clearance the President and his inner circle likely wanted. "While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Barr wrote, quoting Mueller.

Still, taken in the main, the conclusions of Mueller's report -- via Barr -- are a huge gift to a President who has spent 85% of his time in office with the Mueller probe hanging over his head. Trump had spent the better part of the past 22 months -- since the inception of the Mueller probe at the behest of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein -- seeking to undermine confidence not only in the report but also in Mueller (and his team).

Trump called the probe a "witch hunt" more than 170 times, according to statistics maintained by CNN's own Marshall Cohen. He tried to raise questions about the political motivations of Mueller, a lifelong Republican, and his investigators -- some of whom made contributions to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and other Democrats. Trump even went as far as to say the investigation was illegal (it wasn't).

Read More