It’s out. (searchable version here)
This is a bad document for Trump and terrible for Barr who clearly was running interference for Trump.
Trump upon learning of Mueller’s appointment: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.”:
One takeaway throughout is how frequently White House aides lied to reporters. On day of Mueller appointment, WH aides said Trump reacted calmly. But Mueller report says Trump’s first reaction was: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 18, 2019
About collusion:
Mueller team considered Trump’s written answers ‘inadequate,’ but decided against subpoena fight for interview.
Trump directed White House Counsel Don McGahn in June 2017 to call the acting attorney general and say that Mueller must be ousted because he had conflicts of interest.
This line comes pretty close to making a formal impeachment referral. pic.twitter.com/1fH6t9IiNp
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
Mueller declined to make a call on obstruction based in part on the unsettled Q of whether POTUS can obstruct justice. He then makes the case that POTUS *can* obstruct, knocking down the legal argument made by Barr in his 2018 memo..this is the “legal theory” Barr disagreed with.
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) April 18, 2019
MORE MUELLER: “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.”
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 18, 2019
Mueller Report: “Some” Trump associates “deleted relevant communications” or used “encryption” applications, so the office was not “able to corroborate witness statements” in some instances
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) April 18, 2019
PETER SMITH was contacted by Michael Flynn to find the deleted Clinton emails, at Trump’s request, per Mueller. pic.twitter.com/jKhZZAOcrp
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 18, 2019
Peter Smith is the guy who committed suicide.
Mueller says Trump “edited a press statement for Trump Jr. by deleting a line that acknowledged the meeting was with ‘an individual who [Trump Jr.] was told might have information helpful to the campaign’ …'”
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) April 18, 2019
Yup: Mueller decided Don Jr was too stupid to conspire. Told ya. pic.twitter.com/SfQtaSH1Mx
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
#MuellerReport
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) April 18, 2019
Trump, who has “one of the great memories of all time,” can’t recall under oath a lot of things about the Russia investigation.
👀 pic.twitter.com/hvXz6NI2Lx
At 08/02/16 cigar bar meeting, Manafort, Gates and Kilimnik discussed the Trump campaign “messaging and its internal polling. According to Gates, it also included discussion of ‘battleground” states,’ which Manafort identified as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota” pic.twitter.com/lWrcroMGCB
— Joe Sudbay (@JoeSudbay) April 18, 2019
Mueller: “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.” pic.twitter.com/oy8OdQU1C5
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Incredible.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) April 18, 2019
Mueller report says Trump instructed Rosenstein to put something clearing him on Russia in memo he was drafting to justify firing of Comey.
So they all knew that was the motive.
But Rosenstein’s memo ended up citing concerns about the FBI’s treatment of Hillary! pic.twitter.com/a7pcOfr6WW
Mueller report concludes that Trump lied when he denied ordering McGahn to remove Mueller, and that “substantial evidence” supports the conclusion that Trump “directed McGahn” to “have the special counsel removed”: pic.twitter.com/Kt7JgmZXQn
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) April 18, 2019
Here’s Pap’s effort to set up an off the record September meeting with Russia.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
Funny how the habit of not writing down what happened at meetings started before the election. pic.twitter.com/JjmdUGoUxx
Although we’ve heard the “no collusion” conclusion, this from #MuellerReport p. 62 is damning. Mike Flynn contacted associates who were already trying to find Clinton’s emails. Their plan included contacting foreign intelligence services to see if anyone had hacked HRC’s server. pic.twitter.com/d2iMaMnt9a
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) April 18, 2019
Mueller explicitly says as a matter of DOJ rules, “no charges can be brought” against POTUS.
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) April 18, 2019
No charges possible means no charges possible, not by Mueller or by Barr.
So Barr’s letter was incorrect in its depiction of Mueller. (Barr can reach his own separate views.)
So the Mueller report lists cases related to Manafort and one entirely redacted one as transferred to other offices, and 12 referrals redacted as “ongoing matters.” So 14 things still out there.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
Mueller reaches the conclusion that “we were not persuaded by the argument that the President has blanket constitutional immunity to engage in acts that would corruptly obstruct justice” but doesn’t seek indictment.
— Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) April 18, 2019
From AG Barr’s summary letter, quoting the Mueller Report:
“[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinate with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
The full paragraph in Mueller’s report:
The investigation also identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through the Russian efforts,the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinate with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
Barr omitting the “although” part of that sentence he quoted on collusion tells you everything you need to know.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 18, 2019
This is they key take-away: Mueller has assembled the facts, many of which are prima facie very damning, but its not his job to hold Trump accountable. It’s the job of congress & the American public. Release of the redacted report is the beginning of that reckoning, not the end https://t.co/t5d7pCzfbE
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) April 18, 2019
A really striking contradiction in Mueller report from what Barr said this morning – Barr said Mueller told him that the OLC opinion on not indicting a sitting president wasn’t a factor. The report includes it as a factor.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 18, 2019
Omg. Not enough characters on twitter to address all the craziness on just this one page. (Lawyers do take notes actually) pic.twitter.com/eEHoUAd7ls
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) April 18, 2019
P 266: “Notes from the White House Counsel’s Office dated March 21, 2017, indicate that the President was ‘beside himself’ over Comey’s testimony. The President called McGahn repeatedly that day to ask him to intervene … the President was ‘getting hotter and hotter, get rid?’.”
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 18, 2019
Manafort had Gates regularly send campaign data to Kilimnik (who the FBI says has links to Russian intelligence); he also met with Kilimnik twice in the US in 2016 and gave him campaign info. Mueller’s office never figured out why the info was sent or what Kilimnik did with it. pic.twitter.com/Ae9fGrtZ96
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 18, 2019
Trump provided 33 paragraphs of answers to Mueller. His memory failed him 34 times.https://t.co/n8mCI7EigL
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) April 18, 2019
You know who this vindicates? @michelleisawolf https://t.co/XxIWY51MPl
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) April 18, 2019
House Judiciary Cmte. Chairman Nadler: “Attorney General Barr appears to have shown an unsettling willingness to undermine his own Department in order to protect President Trump.”https://t.co/iqaoEftQFP pic.twitter.com/TTNtNy69QQ
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 18, 2019
It’s really pathetic that Bill Barr stood up in public and said Trump had cooperated with the investigation when he gave utterly contemptuous responses to Mueller’s questions.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
But I guess he doesn’t care.
This is from Mueller report, volume II, p. 76, last paragraph. https://t.co/BBJfj2HajR
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 18, 2019
To name a few:
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) April 18, 2019
1-Trump claimed he never asked for loyalty from Comey – Mueller found he did.
2-Trump claimed he never asked Comey to let Flynn matter go – Mueller found he did.
3-Trump claimed he never pushed McGahn to fire Mueller – Mueller found he did. https://t.co/QdFTP0ZTFm