Thread by @KlasfeldReports

NOW: Mueller speaks. justice.gov/live

Mueller: "I am speaking out today because our investigation is complete..."

"We are formally closing the Special Counsel's office and I am resigning from public office" to private life

Mueller says he's not commenting on the guilt or innocence of any defendant.

Mueller: If we had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so.

Mueller implicitly rebukes report of a secret, sealed indictment.

"It was not an option that we could consider," Mueller says, citing OLC policy.

Mueller: The Constitution requires a process outside the criminal justice system to accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.

Mueller is explaining why his office would not reach a conclusion one way or another on the obstruction section of the report.

Mueller: We appreciate that the attorney general made the report largely public.

Nobody has told me whether I can testify or speak further on this matter.

Any testimony on this matter would not go beyond the report.

Mueller: We chose those words carefully, and the words speak for themselves.

Mueller says that's the reason he will not be taking questions today. He thanks his legal team.

"There were multiple systematic efforts to interfere with our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American," he concludes.

Presser over.

Takeaway: For those who carefully read Mueller’s report—particular Volume II—what Mueller just said in his address was not a surprise.

That he declared those findings on obstruction flatly, concisely and on-camera was extraordinary.