Job done:Special Counsel Robert Muller walks from the podium after speaking at the US Department of Justice on Wednesday.Credit:AP
Before leaving the podium,he returned to the original reason his probe was launched:"There were multiple,systematic efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every American."
Trump,who has repeatedly described Mueller's probe as a biased"witch hunt",responded almost immediately on Twitter.
"Nothing changes from the Mueller Report,"the President wrote."There was insufficient evidence and therefore,in our Country,a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you."
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement:"After two years,the Special Counsel is moving on with his life,and everyone else should do the same."
Justin Amash,the only Republican in Congress who has called for Trump to be impeached,wrote on Twitter:"The ball is in our court,Congress."
Democratic senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker,in his first statement calling for impeachment,said:"Robert Mueller’s statement makes it clear:Congress has a legal and moral obligation to begin impeachment proceedings immediately."
Richard Blumenthal,a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,said:"Mueller reaffirmed the point made by me and nearly one thousand fellow former federal prosecutors:Donald Trump would be in handcuffs,criminally indicted,but for his being President of the United States."
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Mueller said he was making a short statement because the role of the special counsel had officially ended. He had closed the special counsel's office and resigned from the Department of Justice. He will head back to private life and does not intend to make any further statements about his investigation.
It emerged earlier this month that Mueller hadwritten to Trump's Attorney-General William Barr objecting to the way Barr summarised his report in an initial four-page memo released to the public in March.
In the letter,Mueller said Barr's summary"did not fully capture the context,nature,and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions".
"There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation,"he wrote.
At an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee,Barr said he thought Mueller's letter was a"a bit snitty"and defended his handling of the report's release.
Democratswant Mueller to testify before Congress about his report and how the Trump administration handled its release. But Mueller said he would not go beyond what he had written in his 448-page report in any public statements.
"We chose those words carefully,and the work speaks for itself,and the report is my testimony,"Mueller said.