Media

More than a half-million web articles published on Russia, Trump, Mueller since investigation began: analysis

An analysis found that more than 530,000 web articles focusing on Russia, President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller have been published since the special counsel’s investigation launched in May 2017, Axios reported Monday.

According to the news outlet, data compiled by social media analytics company NewsWhip also found that the articles generated 245 million interactions, including likes, comments and shares on social media giants Twitter and Facebook.

{mosads}Mueller on Friday submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr, who on Sunday shared the report’s findings with Congress. Barr in a letter wrote Mueller and his team concluded that Trump and his campaign associates did not collude or conspire with Russian officials leading up to the 2016 election. The attorney general also wrote that Mueller could not conclude whether the president had committed obstruction of justice, but Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence that Trump had not obstructed justice.

Democrats are demanding that the complete Mueller report be made public, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying Barr’s letter “raises as many questions as it answers,” particularly around obstruction of justice.

The Trump campaign is already on the offensive in the wake of the summary release of Mueller’s findings. The president has a campaign event later this week, when it’s almost certain he’ll make the Mueller report a central theme.

“There was no collusion with Russia,” Trump told reporters in Florida late Sunday. “There was no obstruction and — none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration.”

Barr’s letter, however, quoted a line in Mueller’s report that said “while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”