Mueller ends investigation without interrogating Trump even once, shocks mainstream media
Shortly after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office handed the final report of its investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to the Department of Justice on Friday, the mainstream media appeared to suffer a collective shock as it was revealed that Mueller will not be indicting
According to a senior Justice Department official, Mueller did not recommend any further indictments, in an indication that there may be no more criminal charges against Trump associates pertaining to the investigation. The special counsel, so far, has brought charges against 34 people and three companies throughout the probe.
MSNBC host Chris Matthews appeared flabbergasted after reports emerged that no new indictments had been planned linked to the investigation, meaning neither President Trump, his children, nor his "henchmen" would face any criminal charges, Fox News reported.
Matthews, while referring to Mueller, said: "Maybe he missed the boat here. Because we know about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, we know about the meeting at the cigar bar with Kilimnik [Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian political consultant]. My God, we know about all of those meetings with Kislyak [Sergey Kislyak, a Russian diplomat] at the Republican convention in Cleveland. All these dots we’re now to believe don’t connect.”
The cable news host was livid that the president never sat down for an interview with the special counsel pertaining to the investigation.
"Why was there never an interrogation of this president? We were told for weeks by experts, ‘You cannot deal with an obstruction-of-justice charge or investigation without getting the motive. How could they let Trump off the hook?” Matthews asked. “He will not be charged with obstruction of justice or collusion without having to sit down with the Special Counsel Mueller and answer his damn questions. How could that happen?”
Multiple personalities on CNN admitted that the announcement of the Mueller report was a positive development for Trump. In a rare favorable commentary for President Trump, CNN's chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called the end of the Mueller investigation "really good news" for the Republican.
"There has been a lot of suspicion around certain people. And a lot of negative things have been said and imputation of criminal activity," Toobin told 'Situation Room' anchor Wolf Blitzer. "Mueller has said, ‘I am not proceeding.’ There is no better news to receive than you are not being indicted by the United States government."
CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta later said that the White House was "quietly celebrating" and that the Trump administration was reacting to the report with "a fair amount of glee."
Acosta, while talking to 'AC360' anchor Anderson Cooper, said: "I talked to a Trump campaign adviser earlier this evening who said, ‘This was a great day for America and we won.That’s how they feel right now.”
Meanwhile, some liberal celebrities also appeared surprised by the abrupt end to the much-talked-about Mueller investigation.
'Real Time' host Bill Maher expressed disappointment over the Mueller report, but continued to slam the president: "Did the Democrats put too must trust in the Mueller report? Because I don’t need the Mueller report to know he’s a traitor. I have a TV," he said while addressing his panel of guests.
The question now remains whether the report submitted by Mueller contains any allegations of wrongdoing by Trump himself or exonerates him. Trump aides are confident that the special counsel did not find any collusion in his report.
Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that his legal team was "not expecting" further indictments from the report.
“We’re pleased that the Office of Special Counsel has delivered its report to the Attorney General pursuant to the regulations. Attorney General [William] Barr will determine the appropriate next steps," Guiliani said in a statement. He also added that the president's legal team wants an advance look at Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report before it is made public.
However, Democrats in Congress urged Barr to not give Trump a "sneak preview" of the findings of the report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a joint statement wrote: "Attorney General Barr must not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any ‘sneak preview’ of Special Counsel Mueller’s findings or evidence, and the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public. The Special Counsel’s investigation focused on questions that go to the integrity of our democracy itself,” they added.