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2019
Government Report
Modern Era
Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election - Volume II (Introduction)
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, U.S. Department of Justice
"Because we determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment, we did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct. ... [I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
About this source
Volume II examines the President's own conduct - the firing of FBI Director James Comey, pressure on the attorney general, and other acts - and whether it amounted to obstruction of justice.
Why it matters for the project
The single most quoted passage of the investigation, and the one most often quoted with its reasoning removed. The special counsel explains that he was not applying ordinary prosecutorial judgment at all. That distinction is the whole lesson: a decision not to decide is still a decision, and it has a reason.