IN his first public comments on the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller pointedly refused to clear U.S. President Donald Trump of criminal wrongdoing, but said charging him with obstruction was “not an option” because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

In a 10-minute statement delivered from the Justice Department on Wednesday morning, Mueller defended the investigation he supervised, said it was unnecessary that he testify before Congress and announced that he was leaving the department and closing his office. His remarks largely echoed the text of the 448-page report he submitted in March, but this time, he delivered them himself, on camera and in public.

Mueller recounted his report’s overall findings, saying Russia launched a “concerted” effort to interfere with the election. “There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American,” he said.

Mueller said the inquiry into Russia’s efforts was one of “paramount importance,” so investigators took seriously efforts by Trump and others to thwart their work. He said the department’s Office of Legal Counsel prohibited the prosecution of a sitting president, and his team of prosecutors was bound to follow that rule.

Mueller said that if prosecutors had confidence that the president clearly didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.”

Before leaving the podium, he offered a clearer signal to Congress that lawmakers have the power to make their own judgment about the president’s conduct even if he couldn’t bring criminal charges.

“The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said, describing the department’s rationale for why a president cannot be prosecuted. He did not directly identify that process, but he was referring to the daunting political exercise of impeachment.

(SD-Agencies)