US President Donald Trump has said that he has not yet read Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report into the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, as House Democrats call for the release of the document publicly.
"I have not read the Mueller Report yet, even though I have every right to do so. Only know the conclusions, and on the big one, No Collusion. Likewise, recommendations made to our great A.G. who found No Obstruction," Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning.
I have not read the Mueller Report yet, even though I have every right to do so. Only know the conclusions, and on the big one, No Collusion. Likewise, recommendations made to our great A.G. who found No Obstruction. 13 Angry Trump hating Dems (later brought to 18) given two.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
"13 Angry Trump hating Dems (later brought to 18) given two years and $30 million, and they found No Collusion, No Obstruction. But the Democrats, no matter what we give them, will NEVER be satisfied," he continued.
.....years and $30 million, and they found No Collusion, No Obstruction. But the Democrats, no matter what we give them, will NEVER be satisfied. A total waste of time. As @FrankLuntz has just stated, “Enough, America has had enough. What have you accomplished. Public is fed up.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
Trump has claimed “complete and total exoneration” after the Justice Department announced Mueller’s 22-month investigation found no evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.
Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, said in a four-page summary of the report released last month that Mueller’s team had concluded that no one in Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.”
However, Mueller’s findings left unresolved the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by undermining the investigations.
Many of the president’s opponents had accused him of obstructing the Russia probe when he fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017.
Echoing Trump, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the American public knows "there was no collusion, they know there was no obstruction and it's a complete and total exoneration of the president." But she also said President Trump would have no problem with the release of the full report.
Democrats have rejected the determination made by the Justice Department on the evidence presented by Muller following his extensive investigations.
They said they wanted to see Mueller’s report for themselves as they launch congressional investigations of their own into the 2016 election and Trump’s business and financial dealings.
Democrats accused Barr of putting his own finding on Mueller’s report, saying that the special counsel did not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice.
Democratic lawmakers have tried repeatedly to pass a House resolution that claims there is "overwhelming public interest" in the administration releasing the contents of the Mueller report.