Washington: The White House was jubilant yesterday after the massive Russian collusion probe cleared President Donald Trump, freeing him to campaign for re-election – and tell Americans that he was right all along.
“I think it’s a day America’s looked forward to for a long time. I think it’s a great day for America,” Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
Trump has been under the cloud of potentially historic scandal for two years while special prosecutor Robert Mueller delved into allegations that his 2016 election campaign colluded with Russian agents trying to tilt the polls in his favor.
On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr said in a brief summary of the just-finished report that Mueller had found “no collusion with Russia.”
Mueller pointedly said that he could not determine whether Trump had or had not committed the crime of obstruction of justice through his highly public opposition to the Russia probe, which he railed against as a “witch hunt.”
“While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” Barr cited Mueller as saying.
But that was only a wrinkle on an otherwise clear horizon as seen from the White House ahead of 2020 presidential elections.
Democrats, who for two years have seen the Mueller report as fuel for potential impeachment, insist they will continue to use powerful congressional committees to probe further into Trump’s business and political dealings with Russia.
But Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway said she had two words for the president’s foes.
“Move on,” she said in the spring sunshine outside the White House.
It was uncertain when Trump would speak further in public about his dramatic boost in fortunes, but the nature of his message is already clear.