There was a mixed reaction after US President Donald Trump was cleared of any involvement in 2016 US-Russia election conspiracy by a probe carried out by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s.
Congressman Jerry Nadler, the Democratic Chair of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, emphasised the attorney general had not ruled out that Mr Trump might have obstructed justice.
“Barr says that the president may have acted to obstruct justice, but that for an obstruction conviction, ‘the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct’.”
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, said that while there was a lack of evidence to support “a prosecutable criminal conspiracy”, questions remained over whether Mr Trump had been compromised.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that Mr Barr’s letter “raises as many questions as it answers” and called for access to the full report.
“For the president to say he is completely exonerated directly contradicts the words of Mr Mueller and is not to be taken with any degree of credibility,” the statement said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders described the findings of the report as “a total and complete exoneration of the president”.
Mr Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said the report was “better than I expected”. Republican Senator Mitt Romney welcomed the “good news”, tweeting that it was now “time for the country to move forward”.