Trump claims vindication in Mueller report, goes on attack
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump claimed vindication after nearly two years of unrelenting investigation on Sunday, seeing “complete and total exoneration” in the Justice Department’s account of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings and signaling he was eager to go on offense in the political fight ahead.
A buoyant Trump reacted to the release of Mueller chief findings with a mix of celebration, personal grievance and calls for political retribution. He cast the investigation as politically motivated, and bemoaned the probe’s toll on the country — and on him.
“It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia.” Trump said in brief remarks to reporters. “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this.”
Trump spoke shortly after the Justice Department released a letter saying special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation did not find evidence that Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The four-page summary by Attorney General William Barr was less definitive on the question of whether Trump obstructed the probe. Mueller’s report “does not exonerate” on that issue and instead “sets out evidence on both sides of the question, ” Barr wrote. Barr, however, said he found insufficient evidence of a crime on the issue.
A cloud lifts over Trump, but at a cost
WASHINGTON — The cloud that has hung over President Donald Trump since the day he walked into the White House has been lifted.
Yes, special counsel Robert Mueller left open the question of whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation. Yes, separate federal probes still put Trump and his associates in legal jeopardy. And yes, Democrats will spend the coming months pushing for more details from Mueller, all while launching new probes into Trump’s administration and businesses.
But at its core, Mueller’s investigation gave the president what he wanted: public affirmation that he and his campaign did not coordinate with Russia to win the 2016 election. After spending months tweeting “No collusion,” Trump had been proven right.
The findings, summarized Sunday by the Justice Department, are sure to embolden Trump as he plunges into his re-election campaign, armed now with new fodder to claim the investigation was little more than a politically motivated effort to undermine his presidency.
“It’s a shame that our country had to go through this,” Trump said. “To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this.”
Republicans cheer, Democrats scoff as Mueller details emerge
PHILADELPHIA — Republicans cheered, Democrats scoffed, and as the first glimpse into the special counsel’s investigation emerged Sunday, just about the only thing they agreed upon was that the fight wasn’t over.
The four-page summary of Robert Mueller’s probe released by Attorney General William Barr didn’t satisfy many who wanted more details. But in a bitterly divided country, the little bit that was known was digested very differently by supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump.
In blue-state New York, 49-year-old filmmaker Dan Lee of Brooklyn Heights felt let down by Mueller and left with more questions than answers.
“It stings a little, because I trusted Mueller,” said Lee, a Democrat. “There are still so many questions and it seems inconceivable that obstruction isn’t one of the conclusions.”
In red-state West Virginia, 44-year-old truck driver Michael Tucker of Bancroft, declared the Russian investigation “a joke, for the most part” and that Trump has been treated unfairly.
Harris sends message to old-guard: Every era has its end
ATLANTA — California Sen. Kamala Harris sent a subtle signal to the old-guard of Democratic politics that every era has its end.
At an Atlanta church service dedicated to youth Sunday, the presidential candidate compared leadership to a relay race in which each generation must ask themselves “what do we do during that period of time when we carry that baton.”
Then she added with a smile that for “the older leaders, it also becomes a question of let’s also know when to pass the baton.”
The 54-year-old senator — one of the younger contenders for the White House in 2020 — did not mention any other presidential hopeful or tie her remarks to the Democratic presidential scramble. Her spokeswoman said she only wanted to encourage the youth at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Her commentary to the congregation once led by Martin Luther King Jr. comes as former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, considers whether to join a field that already includes Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is 77. Both men have run for president before and fallen short.
From wire sources
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Terror at sea: Helicopter rescues frighten cruise passengers
STAVANGER, Norway — Rodney Horgen recalled the moment he thought he was facing the end: when a huge wave crashed through the Viking Sky cruise ship’s glass doors and swept his wife 30 feet across the floor.
Horgen, 62, of Minnesota, was visiting Norway on a dream pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland when the luxury cruise quickly turned into a nightmare.
The Viking Sky was carrying 1,373 passengers and crew, going from Norway’s Arctic north to the southern city of Stavanger when it had engine trouble along Norway’s rough, frigid western coast. Struggling in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocky coast, the ship issued a mayday call Saturday afternoon.
Horgan said he knew something was badly amiss when the guests on the heaving ship were summoned to the vessel’s muster points.
“When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters (6 feet) of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet that was the breaker. I said to myself, ‘This is it,’” Horgen told The Associated Press. “I grabbed my wife but I couldn’t hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back.”
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Slain teen’s mother joins supporters at vigil
RANKIN, Pa. — The mother of a black teenager fatally shot by a white police officer outside Pittsburgh told supporters at a vigil that she was glad to see her son’s life celebrated at a place that meant so much to him.
Michelle Kenney, mother of 17-year-old Antwon Rose II, joined friends of supporters at a vigil Sunday afternoon at the basketball court in the Hawkins Village housing complex in Rankin, where she lives.
“This was definitely his spot right here,” Kenney said. “If you was looking for Antwon, you’d find him on the basketball court.”
Supporters, she said, put the event together while she was sleeping.
“I haven’t slept in I don’t know how long,” she said. “And after the verdict was read, I literally went home and I collapsed.”