Trump says Mueller report release 'wouldn't bother' him
President Donald J. Trump (DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen/Released)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump says the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report "wouldn't bother me at all."
Trump says he's glad Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling is over and wishes it could have gone quicker. Trump says "we can never let this happen to another president again."
Asked Monday whether Mueller had acted honorably, Trump responded: "Yes, he did."
Attorney General William Barr has told Congress that Mueller found no evidence Trump or his associates conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice.
Trump was asked about Mueller's report as he spoke to reporters along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo).
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team told the attorney general about three weeks ago it would not be reaching a conclusion about whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice. That's according to a Justice Department official who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The official says the news from Mueller's team to Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was "unexpected."
In releasing a summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, Barr said Mueller had drawn no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice. Instead, his report laid out the evidence on both sides of the question.
Barr told Congress that he and Rosenstein decided there wasn't enough evidence to prove Trump had committed that crime.