Donald Trump today said Russia helped get him elected as US president, as he launched into a tirade labelling Robert Mueller's investigation into claims of collusion "Presidential Harassment."
The US President let the remark slip in a Tweet in which he wrote: "Russia, Russia, Russia! That’s all you heard at the beginning of this Witch Hunt Hoax...And now Russia has disappeared because I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected.
"It was a crime that didn’t exist. So now the Dems and their partner, the Fake News Media say he fought back against this phony crime that didn’t exist, this horrendous false accusation, and he shouldn’t fight back, he should just sit back and take it.
"Could this be Obstruction? No, Mueller didn’t find Obstruction either. Presidential Harassment!"
Yesterday US special counsel Robert Mueller has said he believed he was constitutionally barred from charging President Donald Trump with a crime but pointedly emphasised that his Russia report did not exonerate the president.
"If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," Mr Mueller said at a press conference.
"We did not however make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime."
Mr Trump, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed that Mr Mueller's report cleared him of obstruction of justice, modified that contention somewhat shortly after the special counsel's remarks.
He tweeted: "There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed!"
Mr Mueller's comments were his first public statements since his appointment as special counsel two years ago.
Mr Mueller said indicting Mr Trump was "not an option" in light of a Justice Department legal opinion that says a sitting president cannot be charged.
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But, he said, the absence of a conclusion should not be mistaken for an exoneration of the president.
"The opinion says the constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing," Mr Mueller said, referring to the Justice Department legal opinion.
Mr Mueller's report into Trump concluded that Russia carried out "systemic" election meddling but the Trump campaign did not cooperate.
Mr Mueller stepped down as Special Counsel following yesterday's press conference.