WASHINGTON: US Special Counsel Robert Mueller said on Wednesday his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was never going to end with criminal charges against President Trump because of Justice Department policy and that he would give no more information than was already published in his report.
Mueller, in his first public comments since starting the investigation in May 2017, also addressed whether there were efforts to obstruct his investigation, saying, “After that investigation, if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so. We did not however make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime.”
Mueller said his 448-page report spoke for itself.
“Beyond what I’ve said here today and what is contained in our written work, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to speak further,” Mueller said in a brief press appearance at the Justice Department’s headquarters.
He did not take questions.
Mueller said Justice Department policy prohibited him from bringing charges against a sitting president.
“Charging the president with a crime was ... not an option we could consider,” Mueller told reporters as he announced his resignation from the Justice Department. “We concluded that we would not reach a determination one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime.”
A redacted version of Mueller’s report was published in April, concluding the campaign of President Donald Trump did not engage in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow to win the White House. Mueller declined to make a judgment on whether Trump obstructed justice, although the report outlined 10 instances in which Trump tried to impede the investigation.
Trump has said the two-year investigation exonerated him after repeatedly denouncing it as a witch hunt. The investigation ensnared dozens of people, including several top Trump advisers and a series of Russian nationals and companies.
Among them are his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who is serving 7 1/2 years in prison for financial crimes and lobbying violations, and his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who recently began a three-year sentence for campaign-finance violations and lying to Congress.
Since the report’s release, Democratic lawmakers have tried without success to get the full report and underlying evidence. The House Judiciary Committee also is negotiating for Mueller to testify at a hearing.
Trump has said Mueller should not testify before Congress but that the final decision was up to Attorney General William Barr. Democrats have denounced Barr, saying he misrepresented the special counsel’s findings.
Mueller appeared to have misgivings at one point as well, complaining to Barr in March that he had initially disclosed his main findings in an incomplete way that caused public confusion. In congressional testimony in April, Barr dismissed Mueller’s concerns as “a bit snitty.”
Barr now is leading a review of the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the FBI’s handling of the matter. Trump harbors suspicions that the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama started the investigation in 2016 to undermine his presidency.
US Special Counsel Mueller says charging Donald Trump was ‘not an option’ in post-report comments
US Special Counsel Mueller says charging Donald Trump was ‘not an option’ in post-report comments
- Mueller said his 448-page report spoke for itself
- Mueller said Justice Department policy prohibited him from bringing charges against a sitting president
Biden honors Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Biden is preparing to leave office Jan. 20 and has doled out honors to prominent individuals, including supporters and allies, in recent weeks
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Saturday honored Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the highest civilian award given by the president, saying the pontiff was “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world.”
Biden had been scheduled to present the medal to the pope in person on Saturday in Rome on what was to be the final overseas trip of his presidency, but Biden canceled his travel plans so he could monitor the wildfires in California.
The White House said Biden bestowed the award to the pope during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.
It’s the only time Biden has presented the honor with distinction during his presidency. Biden himself is a recipient of the award with distinction, recognized when he was vice president by then-President Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago. That was the only time in Obama’s two terms when he awarded that version of the medal.
The citation for the pope says “his mission of serving the poor has never ceased. A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths.”
Biden is preparing to leave office Jan. 20 and has doled out honors to prominent individuals, including supporters and allies, in recent weeks.
Somalia and Ethiopia agree to restore diplomatic ties
- Somalia's President Hassan and Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed announced the agreement after a visit by Hassan to Addis Ababa
- The two leaders also discussed deepening trade, and security cooperation against “extremist militant groups”
ADDIS ABABA/MOGADISHU: Somalia and Ethiopia announced Saturday they would restore full diplomatic relations following a visit by Somalia’s president to Addis Ababa to heal a year-long rift that threatened further instability in the Horn of Africa.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed “agreed to restore and enhance their bilateral relations through full diplomatic relations in their respective capitals,” they said in a joint statement.
Land-locked Ethiopia’s desire for access to the sea had deepened long-standing grievances between the two neighbors.
Somalia was outraged when Ethiopia signed a deal one year ago with its breakaway region of Somaliland, reportedly to recognize its independence in exchange for a port and military base on the Red Sea.
Ethiopia’s ambassador in Mogadishu was expelled last April and the countries broke off their diplomatic ties.
The row was defused by a peace deal last month, mediated by Turkiye and signed by both leaders.
During Mohamud’s visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday they reiterated their commitment to the deal and its “spirit of friendship and solidarity,” in a joint statement.
They also discussed deepening trade, and security cooperation against “extremist militant groups.”
Many questions remain unresolved, however.
Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month’s deal would eventually give Ethiopia some form of sea access, it is not clear what form this would take.
The fate of Ethiopia’s deal with Somaliland is also uncertain.
Just hours before Saturday’s presidential visit, the continued tensions in the region were on display in Cairo when Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi met his Egyptian and Eritrean counterparts.
The three countries have lately found common ground in opposing Ethiopia’s ambitions and made a veiled reference to their rival.
“The Red Sea and its security is subject only to the will of the countries on its coast, and it is absolutely unacceptable for any country not bordering the Red Sea to have a presence, whether military, naval or otherwise,” said Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia forged a new regional alliance in October at a summit in the Eritrean capital Asmara, and the foreign ministers said Saturday that more would follow.
Shared concerns about Ethiopia have also pushed Egypt and Somalia into closer military ties.
Egyptian troops joined the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), the updated international coalition to fight Somali Islamist insurgents that launched this month.
US wildfires pose fresh threat despite winds easing
- The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph, gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph
LOS ANGELES: The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Saturday, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.
Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.
The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged toward the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Death toll rises to 11 with more fatalities expected.
• 10,000 structures burned as neighborhoods turn to ash.
• Thousands homeless, public health emergency declared.
• Insurers face billions in claims, Biden vows support.
“The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast,” LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.
The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has razed whole neighborhoods to the ground, leaving just the smoldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and possessions.
Some 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in place for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph, gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph.
Officials have declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke.
Pacific Palisades residents who ventured back to their devastated neighborhoods on Friday were shocked to find brick chimneys looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles as acrid smoke lingered in the air.
“This was a house that was loved,” Kelly Foster, 44, said while combing through the rubble where her house once stood.
Foster’s 16-year-old daughter, Ada, said she tried to get inside but “I just became sick. I just couldn’t even ... Yeah, it’s hard.”
In Rick McGeagh’s Palisades neighborhood, only six of 60 homes survived, and all that remained standing at his ranch house was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“Everything else is ash and rubble,” said McGeagh, 61, a commercial real estate broker who, along with his wife, raised three children at their home.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people streamed into a parking lot near the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena for donated clothing, diapers and bottled water.
Denise Doss, 63, said she was anxious to return to her destroyed home in Altadena to see if anything was salvageable, but officials stopped her due to safety concerns.
“At least to say goodbye until we can rebuild. I will let God lead me,” Doss said.
Many Altadena residents said they were worried government resources would go to wealthier areas and that insurers might short-change those who cannot afford to contest denials of fire claims.
Beyond those who lost their homes, tens of thousands remained without power, and millions of people were exposed to poorer air quality, as the fires lofted traces of metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.
President Joe Biden has declared the fires a major disaster and said the US government would reimburse 100 percent of the recovery for the next six months.
Russia says US risks global energy instability with new sanctions
- “Of course Washington’s hostile actions will not be left without reaction,” said Moscow’s foreign ministry
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters that the Biden administration was trying to leave Trump “as heavy a legacy as possible“
MOSCOW: Moscow on Saturday accused the US of being ready to risk global energy instability with new wide-reaching sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
The US and the UK on Friday announced new sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, including oil giant Gazprom Neft, just days before President Joe Biden leaves office.
Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement that on the eve of Biden’s “inglorious time in power,” Washington was trying to “cause at least some harm to Russia’s economy even at the cost of destabilising world markets.”
“Of course Washington’s hostile actions will not be left without reaction,” it added.
In a reference to the California wildfires, Moscow accused Biden’s administration of leaving behind “scorched earth,” or total destruction, for incoming US President Donald Trump — since he cannot cancel the sanctions without Congress approval.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters that the Biden administration was trying to leave Trump “as heavy a legacy as possible.”
The US Treasury Department said Friday it was designating more than 180 ships as well as Russian oil majors Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, fulfilling “the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy.”
Gazprom Neft on Friday slammed the sanctions as “baseless” and “illegitimate,” Russian state news agencies reported.
Biden’s deputy national security adviser for international economics, Daleep Singh, called the sanctions “the most significant” yet on Russia’s energy sector, which he said was “by far the largest source of revenue for (President Vladimir) Putin’s war.”
The Russian ministry on Saturday accused the US of seeking to “hinder as far as possible or even make impossible any bilateral economic ties, including with US business.”
It said Washington was “sacrificing to this the interests... of European allies,” which are “forced to switch over to more expensive and unreliable American supplies.”
It also accused Washington of “ignoring” the views of its own population on rising energy prices once the presidential election was over.
‘Brutal’ tram collision in France’s Strasbourg injures dozens
- The collision occurred near Strasbourg’s main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris
- According to the prefecture, citing preliminary estimates, between 30 and 35 victims were injured. Firefighters put that figure at around 50
STRASBOURG, France: Two trams collided in a tunnel in a rare accident in the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, the authorities said.
The collision occurred near Strasbourg’s main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris.
In 1994, Strasbourg was the first major French city to re-introduce trams, after the service closed in 1960.
Since the return of the vehicles, there have been no major accidents.
According to the prefecture, citing preliminary estimates, between 30 and 35 victims were injured. Firefighters put that figure at around 50.
A video posted by a witness on social media showed a chaotic scene with the two trams significantly damaged in a tunnel near the station.
One of the trams appeared to have derailed as a result of the impact, whose cause has yet to be established.
“The public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation,” the prefecture said.
A large security perimeter was set up in front of the station, where ambulances have taken up position, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Paramedics and firefighters were loading injured people secured on stretchers into ambulances. Other victims were receiving first aid under the station’s glass roof.
Strasbourg’s Mayor Jeanne Barseghian and other officials rushed to the station.
The accident occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m. (15:00 GMT).
“What we know at this stage is that there was a brutal collision between two trams, on the platform, under the station,” said Barseghian.
“There were a number of people on the trams,” she said, adding that there were no fatalities or people in “absolute urgency.”
Some of the injured were in a state of shock as a result of the “head-on” impact which was “relatively violent,” the mayor added, expressing her support.
Patrick Maciejewski, chairman of the board of directors of the Strasbourg transport company (CTS), said that there had been demonstrations in central Strasbourg, which had disrupted tram traffic.
“A number of trams had to be reorganized and put on standby. There was a traffic jam,” he said.
“We don’t know why the train was stopped, but it started to move backwards.”
Rene Cellier, director of the Bas-Rhin fire and rescue service, said around 50 people had suffered non-fatal injuries such as scalp wounds, clavicle fractures, and knee sprains.
“Mostly trauma,” said Cellier.
“There are also around 100 people who have no particular injuries but are being seen by the doctors,” he added.
Cellier said around 50 vehicles and 130 firefighters were on site, adding that the situation “could have been much more serious.”
Johan, a witness who declined to give his last name, said that one of the trams reversed at full speed.
“There was a problem with the brakes,” he told AFP. “We heard a big impact, a big bang.”
The two drivers were not injured, “but are very shocked,” said CTS director Emmanuel Auneau.
Strasbourg saw a similar in 1998 when one tramway collided with another in the same tunnel, wounding 17 people.
Located in the historic region of Alsace, the city is the official seat of the European Parliament.
