FALSE: No obstruction, collusion found between Trump campaign and Russia – Pence

Claim:

US Vice President Mike Pence said during the 2020 vice presidential debates on Thursday, October 8, that investigations about Russia’s involvement in the Trump campaign showed there was no obstruction and no collusion.

Referring to the Mueller investigation, which looked into whether people associated with Donald Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia in 2016, Pence said: “It was found that there was no obstruction, no collusion. Case closed.”

Rating: FALSE

The facts:

The Mueller report released in 2019 did not say there was no collusion and obstruction of justice committed by the Trump camp, but said that there was no sufficient evidence to charge any member of the Trump campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. The report also did not draw a conclusion as to whether Trump’s camp committed obstruction of justice.

Despite this, the report said that the investigation “identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign.” It said there was conclusive evidence that Russia interfered in the election in two ways: through a social media campaign that favored Trump and denigrated Hillary Clinton, and by hacking emails from Clinton’s election team. (READ: Key findings of the Mueller report)

Pence echoed Trump’s earlier claim in March 2019, which was fact checked by fact checking organizations Politifact and FactCheck.org.

Former special counsel and lead investigator of the case Robert Mueller also confirmed that his report did not conclude there was “no collusion” and “no obstruction” – contrary to Trump’s claim.

In a speech in May 2019, Mueller explained that he did not conclude as to whether Trump committed obstruction of justice because a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. “That is unconstitutional,” Mueller said.

Still, Mueller said Trump could still theoretically be indicted after he steps down. “The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed,” American news organization Politico quoted Mueller as saying before the House judiciary committee in July 2019. – Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

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