Barr declined Mueller's request to release the report's introduction and executive summaries ahead of the full report. On March 27, Mueller privately wrote to Barr, stating that Barr's March 24 letter "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office's work and conclusions" and that this led to "public confusion". On March 24, 2019, Barr sent Congress a four-page letter detailing the report's conclusions. The report further states that Congress can decide whether Trump obstructed justice and take action accordingly, referencing impeachment. The report describes ten episodes where Trump may have obstructed justice while president and one before he was elected, noting that he privately tried to "control the investigation". As such, the investigation "does not conclude that the President committed a crime" however, "it also does not exonerate him", with investigators not confident of Trump's innocence. This decision was based on an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president is immune from criminal prosecution, and Mueller's belief that it would be unfair to accuse the president of a crime even without charging him because he would have no opportunity to clear his name in court furthermore it would undermine Trump's ability to govern and preempt impeachment. The investigation intentionally took an approach that could not result in a judgment that Trump committed a crime. Volume II of the report addresses obstruction of justice. Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American". It also identifies myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies, about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations. However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion" but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts. Investigators had an incomplete picture of what happened due in part to some communications that were encrypted, deleted, or not saved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete, or declined. The report concludes that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities". The redactions from the report and its supporting material were placed under a temporary "protective assertion" of executive privilege by then-President Trump on May 8, 2019, preventing the material from being passed to Congress, despite earlier reassurance by Barr that Trump would not exert privilege. The report was submitted to Attorney General William Barr on March 22, 2019, and a redacted version of the 448-page report was publicly released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 18, 2019. The Mueller report, officially titled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, is the official report documenting the findings and conclusions of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, and allegations of obstruction of justice.
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