Report: Mueller not recommending any more indictments

As Steve notes, special counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his report to attorney general William Barr. This completes the Mueller investigation, though not its outgrowth in the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Fox News reports that Mueller has not recommended any new indictments. Thus, President Trump will not be indicted based on the Mueller report.

What we don’t know is why. Is it because Mueller has concluded that the U.S. president can’t be indicted while in office? Is it because Mueller has concluded that Trump did not do anything wrong, either by way of “colluding” with Russia or interfering with the administration of justice? Or is it because Mueller has concluded, James Comey style, that Trump did collude and/or interfere but that his conduct doesn’t rise to the level of a crime?

I hope we’ll find out which of these conclusions Mueller reached. I think the public has the right to know, especially given all the time, money, and drama associated with Mueller’s investigation.

However, I get the impression that Barr is going to play Mueller’s report “by the book,” disclosing only as much as Justice Department rules and protocol call for. Thus, if Mueller concluded that Trump engaged in wrongdoing but not criminality, we’re unlikely to get a Comey-like performance laying this out.

I hope, however, that Barr errs on the side of transparency.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses