Mueller probe does not conclude if Trump committed crime, says U.S. attorney general

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Attorney General William Barr told Congress Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller did not reach a conclusion as to whether president Donald Trump had obstructed justice.

Barr said in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that Mueller's report, which was submitted Friday, states that it "does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

The attorney general wrote that Mueller's "decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions" leaves it to him to determine whether president Donald Trump's examined conduct described in the special counsel's report "constitutes a crime."

Barr added that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined "that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."

Barr's letter was summary of what he called the "principal conclusions" of Mueller's nearly two-year investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. According to the letter, Mueller's investigation did not uncover evidence that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.