Read The Report

Mueller report: Six things we only just learned
57 minutes ago | BBC

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, released in a 448-page redacted report on Thursday, paints a decidedly mixed picture of President Donald Trump's conduct, both suspicious and exculpatory, that both sides of the political divide will seize upon.

As Attorney General William Barr said last month, the inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election did not conclude that Mr Trump committed a crime, but it also did not exonerate him.

Mr Trump already has the result he insisted on from the outset: no collusion. While it is unclear if the document contains any "smoking gun" that might make impeachment proceedings against the president any more likely, there are enough potential red flags in there to keep congressional hearings ticking over for the remainder of his term in office.

'This is the end of my presidency'

One of the most talked-about sections of the report details the president's expletive-filled horror when he learned that a special counsel was being appointed in May 2017.

According to the Mueller report, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the president about the coming inquiry, he replied: "Oh my god. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency." He added two expletives to describe his situation.

Mr Trump added: "Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels, it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me."

While it does not sound like the reaction of a man who had nothing to hide, the president's team will surely argue he was merely concerned about how the probe would distract from his policy agenda.

A key witness in the obstruction investigation was former White House counsel Donald McGahn, who spent more than 30 hours being interviewed by the Mueller team.

The report details how on 17 June 2017, the president called Mr McGahn from Camp David and ordered him to have the special counsel removed.

Mr McGahn told the Mueller team that the president had called him at home twice and on both occasions directed him to call Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and say that Mr Mueller should no longer serve as special counsel.

On the second call, Mr McGahn said the president was more direct, saying: "Call Rod, tell Rod that Mueller has conflicts and can't be the Special Counsel", and "Mueller has to go" and "Call me back when you do it."

Mr McGahn was so upset by the interference that he threatened to quit rather than aid what he predicted would be a Nixon-style "Saturday Night Massacre".

No 'underlying crime'
On potential obstruction of justice, the Mueller report makes clear the inquiry is far from the "total exoneration" claimed by Mr Trump during a victory lap last month.

The document cites 10 instances that were investigated as potential obstruction by Mr Trump, most of them already known because, as the inquiry says, they largely "took place in public view".

The report ultimately concludes: "Unlike cases in which a subject engages in obstruction of justice to cover up a crime, the evidence we obtained did not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference."

It adds: "Obstruction of a criminal investigation is punishable even if the prosecution is ultimately unsuccessful or even if the investigation ultimately reveals no underlying crime."

But the report also pointedly notes:

"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. The evidence we obtained about the President 's actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred."

To be guilty of obstruction, it would have to be established that Mr Trump had "corrupt intent" when he tried to undercut the investigation.

As the report makes clear, a president has wide constitutional latitude to act under his executive authority. And legal experts point out that Mr Trump could simply have argued he believed the investigation was a meritless waste of government resources.

Refusal to 'carry out orders'

The Mueller report found that potential obstruction of justice by the president only failed because members of his administration refused to "carry out orders", including former FBI Director James Comey, former White House counsel Don McGahn and even the president's staunchly loyal former campaign manager Corey Lewandowksi.

In a damning passage, the document says:

"The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests. Comey did not end the investigation of Flynn, which ultimately resulted in Flynn's prosecution and conviction for lying to the FBI. McGahn did not tell the Acting Attorney General that the Special Counsel must be removed, but was instead prepared to resign over the President's order. Lewandowski and Dearborn did not deliver the President 's message to Sessions that he should confine the Russia investigation to future election meddling only. And McGahn refused to recede from his recollections about events surrounding the President's direction to have the Special Counsel removed, despite the President's multiple demands that he do so. Consistent with that pattern, the evidence we obtained would not support potential obstruction charges against the President's aides and associates beyond those already filed."

'Inadequate written answers'

Close followers of the Mueller saga may recall that in January 2018 at the White House, President Trump told reporters that he was "looking forward" to sitting down for an interview with Mr Mueller, that he would "love to do that as soon as possible", and boasted he would do so under oath.

But in the event, the report notes, "after more than a year of discussion, the President declined to be interviewed".

He agreed to submit written answers to the special counsel's questions to Russia-related matters, but declined to "provide written answers to questions on obstruction topics or questions on events during his transition", the report notes.

The Mueller report states: "Recognizing that the President would not be interviewed voluntarily, we considered whether to subpoena for his testimony. We viewed his written answers to be inadequate."

But the Mueller team said they ultimately decided not to subpoena Mr Trump because of the likelihood of litigation would cause a substantial delay at a late stage in the inquiry.

No collusion

The report found there were a number of contacts between members of Trump's circle and Russia and the campaign "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts".

It also "showed interest" in the Wikileaks release of hacked emails and "welcomed their potential to damage" Hillary Clinton.

While political critics will paint such an attitude as unpatriotic, the Mueller team makes clear it did not amount to a criminal conspiracy.

"The Russian contacts consisted of business connections, offers of assistance to the campaign, invitations for candidate Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to meet in person, invitations for campaign officials and representatives of the Russian government to meet, and policy positions seeking improved US-Russian relations.

"While the investigation identified numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign, the evidence was not sufficient to support criminal charges.

"The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or co-ordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

Related Topics at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47983775

APRIL 17, 2019 / 11:04 PM / UPDATED 13 MINUTES AGO
In unflattering detail, Mueller report reveals Trump actions to impede inquiry
Sarah N. Lynch, Andy Sullivan | Reuters
9 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his inquiry into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election described in extensive and sometimes unflattering detail a series of actions by President Donald Trump to impede the probe, raising questions about whether he committed the crime of obstruction of justice.

Thursday’s release of the 448-page report after a 22-month investigation was a watershed moment in Trump’s tumultuous presidency and inflamed partisan passions ahead of his 2020 re-election bid in a deeply divided country.

Democrats said the report contained disturbing evidence of wrongdoing by Trump that could fuel congressional investigations, but there was no immediate indication they would try to remove him from office through impeachment

Mueller built an extensive case indicating that Trump had committed obstruction of justice but stopped short of concluding he had committed a crime, though the special counsel did not exonerate the president. Mueller noted, however, that Congress has the power to address whether Trump violated the law.

“The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the President’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law,” the report stated.

Mueller, a former FBI director, also unearthed “numerous links” between the Russian government and Trump’s campaign, but concluded there was not enough evidence to establish that the campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow in its election meddling.

The report, with some portions blacked out to protect sensitive information, provided fresh details of how the Republican president tried to force Mueller’s ouster, directed members of his administration to publicly vouch for his innocence and dangled a pardon to a former aide to try to prevent him from cooperating with the special counsel.

The report noted that some Trump aides did not carry out some of Trump’s demands, including the one to fire Mueller.

The report stated that when former Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump in May 2017 that a special counsel was being appointed by the Justice Department to look into allegations that the Republican’s campaign colluded with Russia, Trump slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my god. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”

Trump appeared to be in a celebratory mood on Thursday, saying at a White House event with wounded U.S. troops that he was “having a good day” following the report’s release, adding, “It’s called no collusion, no obstruction.” Trump, whose legal team called the report “a total victory” for the president, has long described Mueller’s inquiry as a “witch hunt.”

After receiving a confidential copy of Mueller’s report in March, Attorney General William Barr made his own conclusion for the Justice Department that Trump had not committed obstruction of justice. But he told a news conference on Thursday that Mueller had detailed “10 episodes involving the president and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense.”

Mueller’s report said that Trump was wary of FBI scrutiny of his campaign and him personally. “The evidence does indicate that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the campaign and the president personally that the president could have understood to be crimes or that would give rise to personal and political concerns,” the report stated.

Any impeachment effort would start in the Democratic-led House of Representatives, but Trump’s removal would require the support of the Republican-led Senate - an unlikely outcome. Many Democrats steered clear of threatening impeachment on Thursday, although a prominent liberal congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, directly brought it up.

The House, when it voted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, included obstruction of justice as one of the charges. The Senate ultimately decided not to remove Clinton from office.

The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Nadler, said he would issue subpoenas to obtain the unredacted Mueller report and asked Mueller to testify before the panel by May 23.

Nadler told reporters in New York that Mueller probably wrote the report with the intent of providing Congress a road map for future action, but the congressman said it was “too early” to talk about impeachment.

ELECTION MEDDLING

The inquiry laid bare what the special counsel and U.S. intelligence agencies have described as a Russian campaign of hacking and propaganda to sow discord in the United States, denigrate 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trump, the Kremlin’s preferred candidate. Russia has denied election interference.

In analyzing whether Trump obstructed justice, Mueller looked at a series of actions by Trump, including his attempts to remove Mueller and limit the scope of his probe and efforts to prevent the public from knowing about a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York between senior campaign officials and Russians.

In June 2017, Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to tell the then-acting attorney general Rod Rosenstein that Mueller had conflicts of interest and must be removed, the report said. McGahn did not carry out the order.

McGahn was home on a Saturday in June 2017 when Trump called him at least twice. “You gotta do this. You gotta call Rod,” McGahn recalled the president as saying, according to the report.

It also said there was “substantial evidence” that Trump fired James Comey as FBI director in 2017 due to his “unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation.”

Mueller cited “some evidence” suggesting Trump knew about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s controversial calls with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office, but evidence was “inconclusive” and could not be used to establish intent to obstruct.

The report said Trump directed former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to ask Sessions to say the Russia investigation was “very unfair.”

Barr seemed to offer cover for Trump’s actions by saying the report acknowledges that “there is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks.”

“President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of his associates,” Barr said.

Mueller’s team did not issue a subpoena to force Trump to give an interview to the special counsel because it would have created a “substantial delay” at a late stage in the investigation, the report said. Trump refused a sit-down interview with Mueller’s team and eventually provided only written answers.

The report said Mueller accepted the longstanding Justice Department view that a sitting president cannot be indicted on criminal charges, while still recognizing that a president can be criminally investigated.

Mueller said evidence he collected indicates that Trump intended to encourage his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, not to cooperate with the investigation and that the evidence supports the idea that Trump wanted Manafort to believe that he could receive a presidential pardon.

The report said the special counsel’s team determined there was a “reasonable argument” that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., violated campaign finance laws, but did not believe they could obtain a conviction.

The report also cited Trump’s repeated efforts to convince Sessions to resume oversight of the probe after he had recused himself because of his own prior contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

Barr, a Trump appointee, said he gave the president’s legal team an advance look at the report. Barr was blasted by Democrats for giving this “sneak peek” to the president’s team and for giving a news conference before the report was released trying to shape the narrative in favor of Trump.

“His press conference was a stunt, filled with political spin and propaganda,” Senator Kamala Harris, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said on Twitter.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by David Morgan, Doina Chiacu, davuid Alexander, Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan, Amanda Becker, Jan Wolfe, Nathan Layne, Karen Freifeld and Makini Brice; Writing by Will Dunham, Editing by Alistair Bell

Slideshow and related links at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/in-unflattering-detail-mueller-report-reveals-trump-actions-to-impede-inquiry-idUSKCN1RU0DN

BAM!!!

https://theintercept.com/2019/04/18/robert-mueller-did-not-merely-reject-the-trumprussia-conspiracy-theories-he-obliterated-them/

Summary of the report -

"WAAAAAA we hate Trump he's a big bad doody man WAAAAAAA"