The Department of Justice released the highly anticipated redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report Thursday morning. So, now what?
Attorney General William Barr repeatedly said Thursday that the report found there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Mueller didn't exonerate the president of potential obstruction of justice. Only a prosecutor can file charges, and Mueller didn't issue any new charges in the report.
Mueller said: "If 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."
Mueller added the president is not protected from obstruction charges under Article II of the Constitution. But it's important to note the Department of Justice has a longstanding policy against indicting a sitting president.
So, what does all this mean? It means Mueller's report is essentially a road map, and it's up to Congress to decide whether to further investigate if President Trump obstructed justice. The report even notes that Congress has the power to stop corruption through the political process of impeachment.
At this point, it's unlikely the House will choose to go the impeachment route. If you didn't already know — it's pretty hard to impeach a president. No U.S. president has ever been removed from office via impeachment. If the House did move forward with that, it would need a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate to actually remove President Trump, which it currently doesn't have.
But House Democrats aren't backing down. They're planning on pursuing their own investigations, and the House Judiciary Committee has asked Mueller to testify before it by May 23.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
