by Chuck Ross
Special counsel Robert Mueller will not issue any additional indictments in the Russia investigation and has not filed any charges under seal, a senior Justice Department official told news outlets Friday.
The revelation would seem to be a positive sign for President Donald Trump and several Trump associates who faced legal jeopardy in the Mueller probe. It also means no Trump associates will face charges related to the main focus of the special counsel’s investigation: whether Trump of members of his campaign conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election.
Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017. In those 22 months, Mueller has indicted or obtained guilty pleas from six Trump associates, most recently Jan. 24 against longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. None of the Trump associates faced charges related to contacts with Russia.
Mueller provided a report of his investigation Friday to Attorney General William Barr, signaling the end of the probe. Barr notified the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees that he had received the report and would likely provide more details to Congress over the weekend.
Trump critics have long speculated that Mueller would release a slew of indictments prior to or shortly after submitting his final report. Others asserted Mueller had filed a batch of sealed indictments that would be released at some point during the probe.
None of those predictions proved accurate.
Attorney General William Barr letter to House & Senate Judiciary Committees Chairs & Ranking Members on Mueller Report pic.twitter.com/2XAlkLnBgT
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 22, 2019
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Chuck Ross is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Chuck on Twitter.
Photo “Robert Mueller” by James Ledbetter. CC BY-SA 2.0.
