President Trump on Monday endorsed the release of the confidential report from special counsel Robert Mueller on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“It’s up to the attorney general, but it wouldn’t bother me at all,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump, in an odd bedfellows moment, concurred with Democrats who have demanded that the full report be released.
The president also asserted that his successors should not have to endure another investigation as he did.
“It was a terrible thing,” he said. “We can never let this happen to another president again. I can tell you that and I say it very strongly. Very few people I know could have handled it. We can never, ever let this happen to another president again.”
Mueller on Friday submitted his confidential report to Attorney General William Barr, ending his nearly two-year long probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump obstructed justice.
On Sunday afternoon, Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress summarizing Mueller’s conclusions.
Barr told lawmakers the investigation “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
Mueller did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving that question to Barr instead. But the attorney general told lawmakers he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded the evidence from Mueller’s probe “is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
Trump has claimed victory following the release of Mueller’s conclusions from the attorney general and said the investigation could have been completed “a lot quicker.”
