potentially, it would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge. so that was justice department policy. those were the principles under which we operated and from them, we concluded that we would, would not reach a determination one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime. that is the office s final position and we will not comment on any other conclusion or hypothetical about the president. we conducted an independent criminal investigation and reported the results to the attorney general as required by department regulations. the attorney general then concluded that it was appropriate to provide our report to congress and to the american people. at one point in time, i requested that certain portions of the report be released, the attorney general preferred to
the report has two parts. addressing the two main issues we were asked to investigate. the first volume of the report details numerous efforts emanating from russia to influence the election. this volume includes a discussion of the trump campaign s response to this activity as well as our conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy. and in this second volume, the report describes the results and analysis of our obstruction of justice investigation involving the president. the order appointing the special counsel authorized us to investigate actions that could obstruct the investigation. we conducted that investigation and we kept the office of the acting attorney general a prized of the progress of our work. and as set forth in the report after that investigation, if we
had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. we did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime. the introduction to the volume two of our report explains that decision. it explains that under long standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. that is unconstitutional. even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that, too, is prohibited. the special counsel s office is part of the department of justice and by regulation, it was bound by that department policy. charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider. the department s written opinion explaining the policy makes several important points that
been attacking the united states in a devastating way in 2016. he really refocuses our attention on the bigger picture, however, this investigation is underway and one of the things mueller statement brings to light is that the gravity of what happened with russia, he talks about it in very patriotic terms. this is threat to the county. if you re the president, if you re the attorney general and if you re not taking this incredibly seriously and if you re doing something to obstruct the investigation. it speaks directly to your patriotism and becomes a congressional question. what do we do with our leaders if they are doing something deeply unpatriot tideep ly unpatriotic. phil rutker, on days like this, i don t think any of us are satisfied on the candor and clarity front. we had this conversation before because you re a righter. i think this report probably
further informed our handling of the obstruction investigation. those points are summarized in our report and i ll describe two of them for you. first, the opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting president because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents available. among other things, that evidence could be used if there are co-conspirators that could be charged now. and second, the opinion says that therg constitution requirea process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing. and beyond department policy, we are regarded by principles of fairness. it would be unfair to potentially, it would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge.