But the Justice Department’s long-standing policy, formulated under one president facing impeachment (Richard Nixon) and reaffirmed under another (Bill Clinton), held that a sitting president could not be indicted for a crime while in office. Although that opinion was hotly debated and had never been tested in court, Mueller under special counsel regulations was bound by it. But Mueller took it one step further: if he could not indict Trump, he told his staff, then he should not even state in his report that the president had violated the law because Trump would have no opportunity to defend
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