1. In order to convict someone of a crime, you must be able to prove your case "beyond a reasonable doubt". Mueller can prove collusion with Russia, but collusion is not a crime, conspiracy is.
2. In several instances, Mueller did not believe he had sufficient evidence that would meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard in regard to conspiracy with Russia.
There are lots of examples of collusion. The June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Towers is sufficient to explain what I am talking about. The following quote begins on page 185 and ends on page 186 of Volume I.
"The Office considered whether to charge Trump Campaign officials with crimes in connection with the June 9 meeting described in Volume I, Section IV.A.5, supra. The Office concluded that, in light of the government's substantial burden of proof on issues of intent ("knowing" and "willful"), and the difficulty of establishing the value of the offered information, criminal charges would not meet the Justice Manual standard that "the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction." Justice Manual§ 9-27.220.
In brief, the key facts are that, on June 3, 2016, Robert Goldstone emailed Donald Trump Jr., to pass along from Emin and Aras Agalarov an "offer" from Russia's "Crown prosecutor" to "the Trump campaign" of "official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to [Trump Jr. 's] father. " The email described this as "very high level and sensitive information" that is "part of Russia and its government's support to Mr. Trump-helped along by Aras and Emin." Trump Jr. responded: "if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer." Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov had follow-up conversations and, within days, scheduled a meeting with Russian representatives that was attended by Trump Jr., Manafort, and Kushner. The communications setting up the meeting and the attendance by high-level Campaign representatives support an inference that the Campaign anticipated receiving derogatory documents and information from official Russian sources that could assist candidate Trump's electoral prospects.
This series of events could implicate the federal election-law ban on contributions and donations by foreign nationals, 52 U.S.C. § 3012l(a)(l)(A). Specifically, Goldstone passed along an offer purportedly from a Russian government official to provide "official documents and information" to the Trump Campaign for the purposes of influencing the presidential election. Trump Jr. appears to have accepted that offer and to have arranged a meeting to receive those materials. Documentary evidence in the form of email chains supports the inference that Kushner and Manafort were aware of that purpose and attended the June 9 meeting anticipating the receipt of helpful information to the Campaign from Russian sources.
The Office considered whether this evidence would establish a conspiracy to violate the foreign contributions ban, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3 71; the solicitation of an illegal foreignsource contribution; or the acceptance or receipt of "an express or implied promise to make a 185 U.S. Department of Justice Attofftey Wofk Pfoclttet // Mtty CotttttiH Mtttefittl Pfoteetecl UHcler Fed. R.. Criffl. P. 6(e) [foreign-source] contribution," both in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 3012l(a)(l)(A), (a)(2). There are reasonable arguments that the offered information would constitute a "thing of value" within the meaning of these provisions, but the Office determined that the government would not be likely to obtain and sustain a conviction for two other reasons: first, the Office did not obtain admissible evidence likely to meet the government's burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these individuals acted "willfully," i.e., with general knowledge of the illegality of their conduct; and, second, the government would likely encounter difficulty in proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the value of the promised information exceeded the threshold for a criminal violation, see 52 U.S.C. § 30109( d)(l )(A)(i)."
At the June 9th meeting we have Don, Jr., Kushner and Manafort meeting with lots of Russians.
1. Mueller was a DOJ employee working under DOJ rules and regulations.
2. He was not allowed to indict a president based upon DOJ policy.
3. He was required to turn his confidential report into the Attorney General when it was completed.
Trump was not the focus of Mueller's investigation. Russian interference was the focus of Mueller's investigation.
Trump refused to be be interviewed in person. He submitted written answers to some questions and he often said he couldn't remember in his answers.
