Special Counsel investigation was an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his associates.
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The Mueller investigation culminated with the Mueller report, which concluded that though the Trump campaign welcomed Russian interference and expected to benefit from it, there was insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy to charge Trump.
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The Mueller investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
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Mueller investigation was created by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
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Former FBI director Mueller investigation was chosen to lead it due to a shortage of senate-confirmed US attorneys.
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The Mueller investigation took over the FBI's investigation, which the FBI had named Crossfire Hurricane.
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The Mueller investigation "identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", and determined that the Trump campaign "expected it would benefit electorally" from Russian hacking efforts.
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However, ultimately "the Mueller investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".
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Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had authorized the Mueller investigation probe, decided on March 24,2019, that the evidence was insufficient to establish a finding that Trump committed obstruction of justice.
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In July 2019, Mueller investigation testified to Congress that a president could be charged with obstruction of justice after he left office.
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CNN reported in December 2018 that then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe started the Mueller investigation based on Comey's firing—which had been recommended in writing by Rosenstein in what became known as the Comey memo—and Comey's allegation that Trump had asked him to stop investigating Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
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On January 16,2018, The New York Times reported that Steve Bannon was subpoenaed by Mueller investigation to testify before the standing grand jury in Washington, DC.
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Also that day, the Mueller investigation subpoenaed Randy Credico, whom Stone had described as his "backchannel" to Julian Assange.
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The Wall Street Journal reported on November 14,2018, that Mueller investigation's investigators are examining whether Stone engaged in witness tampering by intimidating Credico into supporting Stone's assertions.
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Mueller investigation stated that Mueller's investigation is a "lynch mob", that it should be limited and should not probe into Trump's finances.
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Investigation's broad scope allowed Mueller to investigate many topics, including: Russian election interference; links between Trump associates and Russian officials; alleged conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russian agents; potential obstruction of justice; financial investigations; lobbyists; Trump as a subject of investigation; other topics; and the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
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On March 22,2019, the special counsel's office concluded their Mueller investigation and sent a report to the Department of Justice where it was received by Attorney General William Barr.
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Mueller investigation ordered the memo to be publicly released within two weeks, pending any appeal by the DOJ.
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However, ultimately "the Mueller investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".
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The Mueller investigation team refrained from charging Trump with obstruction because investigators abided by a DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial, and they feared that charges would affect Trump's governing and possibly preempt a potential impeachment.
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On May 29,2019, Mueller investigation announced that he was retiring as special counsel and that the office would be shut down, and he spoke publicly about the report for the first time.
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