Mueller finds no Russia collusion but some questions left unresolved

美国司法部长巴尔向国会发去的信件，概括了穆勒调查的主要发现及司法部据此得出的结论。(Photo: AP)

Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that US President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared Sunday.

Mueller’s conclusions, summarized by Barr in a four-page letter to Congress, represented a victory for Trump on a key question that has hung over his presidency from the start: Did his campaign work with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton?

美国司法部长威廉·巴尔在当地时间周日（24日）下午致信国会，在四页纸的篇幅内总结了“通俄门”特别检察官罗伯特·穆勒在过去22个月内的调查发现。完整报告穆勒在两天前便已上交巴尔，鉴于全美都高度关注穆勒究竟在调查中都发现了什么，巴尔便先写了一份“精缩版”报告知会国会。

根据巴尔的总结，穆勒主要调查了两件事。一是俄罗斯是否干预了2016年美国大选，以及特朗普及其竞选团队是否“通俄”；二是特朗普上台后是否妨碍相关联邦调查。这项调查主要围绕特朗普突然炒掉联邦调查局前局长詹姆斯·科米一事展开的。科米被开几周后，穆勒调查正式启动。

Though Mueller did not find evidence that anyone associated with the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government, Barr’s summary notes “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”

The attorney general said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had determined that Mueller’s evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe.

已完成调查报告的穆勒周日首次出现在公众视野 (Photo: AP)

巴尔引述穆勒报告称，调查认为没有证据显示任何特朗普竞选团队成员与俄罗斯政府合谋或协作干预选举活动。但是巴尔在总结中提到，一些与俄罗斯有关联的人员主动接触过特朗普的竞选团队，提出会提供支持。

巴尔说，穆勒团队就特朗普妨碍司法的各项指控进行了“全面的事实调查”，最终决定“对所调查（总统）言行是否构成妨碍司法不做结论”，而交由司法部长裁定。巴尔引述穆勒报告说：“报告没有作出总统妨碍司法的结论，同时也没有为他脱罪。”

Barr said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and not affected by Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Obstruction of justice is a difficult crime to prove. There is also a legal debate surrounding whether a president can be alleged to have obstructed justice, with some legal scholars arguing that the president has the constitutional authority to fire the FBI director and tell the Justice Department who and who not to investigate.

巴尔说，经审阅穆勒报告及与司法部官员磋商，依据联邦检方起诉决定的指导原则，他和司法部副部长罗森斯坦所作结论是：穆勒调查所发现的证据“不足以确定总统犯有妨碍司法的违法行为”。

美国司法部法律顾问办公室曾在2000年公布过一份备忘意见书，认为现任总统一旦被起诉，或是被发起刑事调查，会导致美国政府的行政部门无法履行宪法所制定的职责。

一些法学专家也认为，在法庭上证明特朗普妨碍司法难度相当大，毕竟开除FBI局长和叫停司法部某项调查，都是总统正当的宪法权力。

穆勒完成报告的消息一出，美国媒体除了关心报告内容，也紧盯总统本人的反应。

特朗普的推特在沉寂了一整个周六之后，在周日清晨发出了穆勒报告提交后的首批推文： “早安！祝有美好的一天！”、 “让美国再度伟大！”

“没有‘通俄’，没有妨碍司法，完全脱罪。让美国保持伟大！”——直到周日下午，特朗普才直接回应了穆勒调查结论。

“通俄”调查是种耻辱，总统特朗普对记者表示。(Photo: AP)

Trump cheered the outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration. “It’s a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this,” he said.

司法部的结论令特朗普喜悦，在媒体面前他又难掩对“通俄”调查的不满。周日（24日）他对媒体说：“这是个耻辱，我们国家竟要经历这样的事。老实说，你们的总统要遭遇这种事，也是一种耻辱。”

Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demanded to see his full report. They insisted that even the summary by the president’s attorney general hardly put him in the clear.

“Attorney General Barr’s letter raises as many questions as it answers,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

“Given Mr. Barr’s public record of bias against the special counsel’s inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report,” they said. Trump’s own claim of complete exoneration “directly contradicts the words of Mr. Mueller and is not to be taken with any degree of credibility,” they added.

民主党对巴尔提交的报告总结显然十分不满，要求查看报告全文。他们认为，仅凭这四页纸并不足以洗清特朗普所有嫌疑，穆勒肯定找到了特朗普妨碍司法的相关证据。

国会两院民主党领袖在一份声明中说，“巴尔的总结留下的问题跟它解决的一样多。” 众议院议长南希·佩洛西和参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默在这份声明里了质疑巴尔的中立性：基于巴尔对调查存在的偏见，他无法保持中立，也无法做出客观的裁定。

收到巴尔总结后，国会众议院司法委员会主席、民主党议员杰罗尔德?纳德勒在社交媒体上表示，将会要求司法部长本人到国会作证，解释司法部如何根据穆勒调查报告得出总统无嫌疑的结论。

Mueller’s findings absolve Trump on the question of colluding with Russia but don’t entirely remove the legal threats the president and associates are facing. Federal prosecutors in New York, for instance, are investigating hush-money payments made to two women during the campaign who say they had sex with the president. Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, implicated Trump in campaign finance violations when he pleaded guilty last year.

It’s unclear, however, what, if any, other ongoing investigations have grown out of the special counsel’s investigation. Trump’s inaugural committee also has faced scrutiny in various districts, though it’s unclear whether those are in any way connected to Mueller’s probe.

(Photo: AP)

美国媒体普遍认为，穆勒报告没有完全去除特朗普所面临的法律威胁。特朗普虽然已摆脱与俄罗斯暗通款曲干涉大选的嫌疑，但涉及特朗普及其助手们的多项司法调查并未随着穆勒调查的终结而停止。

目前，纽约的联邦检察官还在调查特朗普涉嫌违反竞选财务法，在竞选期间向两名女性支付“封口费”。据美联社报道，特朗普的总统就职委员会，已在多个司法辖区接受调查。穆勒报告将如何影响国会众议院民主党针对特朗普一系列调查的走向，也广受关注。

Sources: AP, The Hill, 新华社

Compiled by Chen Lidan