Mueller report
heavily redacted (448 pages) is out
(AG Barr
addresses it publicly)
Testy AG Barr
snaps at media questions during presser
(April
18, 2019)
My
early but totally incomplete review of the Mueller report (much more later):
“In
his report, Mueller invites Congress to investigate Trump obstruction”
Special
counsel Robert Mueller wrote in his 381-page report, a redacted version of
which was released by the DOJ that
although he lacked sufficient evidence to clear or charge President Trump on
possible obstruction of justice, Congress
could take up the issue, saying:
“We concluded that Congress has authority to
prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the
integrity of the administration of justice.”
Mueller made it clear in his report
that he did not believe his investigation cleared the president of much,
adding:
“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.”
Mueller also wrote that Trump was,
for the most part, unsuccessful in influencing the outcome of the investigation
adding:
“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. 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.”
That part of the Mueller wrote was in the redacted
version of which was released by the DOJ by Barr (April 18).
Mueller also made clear in his report that he did not
believe his investigation cleared the president of much.
The release
of the report was the first chance for the public to hear directly from the
special counsel himself. Days after Mueller submitted his findings to AG Barr, who
then wrote a four-page summary of them, and portrayed the conclusions in a
favorable light for Trump.
While Trump concluded
Barr’s summary proved his complete and total exoneration, Mueller’s report itself
was far less definitive.
For Example:
Mueller specifically wrote:
“Collusion is not a specific offense or
theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in
federal criminal law.”
After describing the rationale on
whether to charge the president with a crime, Mueller laid out a damning series
of events detailing the contacts between the Trump campaign, the president’s
family members (*Don Jr., and Ivanka), and former Trump personal lawyer Michael
Cohen and thus Russians this way:
“In approximately September 2015, Cohen
obtained approval to negotiate with Russian real estate company from candidate
Trump ... Cohen also discussed the Trump Tower Moscow project with Ivanka ...
and Donald J. Trump Jr.”
Mueller was also resolute on the role
the Russian government played in helping elect Trump writing:
“The Russian government interfered in the
2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”
Specifically, Mueller found clear
evidence that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia’s Internet Research
Agency (IRA), writing:
“The investigation identified two different
forms of connections between the IRA and members of the Trump Campaign.”
“First, on multiple occasions, members and surrogates
of the Trump Campaign promoted — typically by linking, retweeting, or similar
methods of reposting — pro-Trump or anti-Clinton content published by the IRA
or through IRA-controlled social media accounts.”
“Additionally, in a few instances, IRA employees
represented themselves as U.S. persons to communicate with members of the Trump
Campaign in an effort to seek assistance and coordination on IRA-organized
political rallies inside the United States.”
(CRITICAL NOTE: The investigation
identified no similar connections between the IRA and the Clinton Campaign).
On the question of obstruction by Trump,
Mueller wrote:
“Engaged in efforts to curtail the Special
Counsel's investigation and prevent the disclosure of evidence to it, including
through public and private contacts with potential witnesses.”
That contradicts Barr’s above assertion that the president “fully cooperated” with the investigation.
The president realized the
appointment of the special counsel spelled trouble for his presidency and that
is according to notes contained in the report:
“When AG Sessions told the President that a
Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair and
said: ‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm
f**ked.’”
Follow up to Mueller passing this to
Congress:
For the
first time, however, AG Barr noted that the report details “10 episodes” of
possible obstruction on the part of the president and discusses potential legal
theories for connecting those activities to the elements of an obstruction
offense.
Barr said
that he and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein found that the Mueller evidence was “not sufficient for an obstruction offense”
and that he never spoke to Mueller about his decision not to file criminal
charges against the president.
However, prior to Barr’s news
conference, the
White House counsel was given a copy of the report, but Trump decided not to
invoke executive privilege to redact the document further before its public
release, Barr further said.
Sounding at
times like a defense lawyer for the president, Barr noted that Trump “was frustrated and angered by a sincere
belief that the probe undermined him.”
Barr also
faulted the media for Trump’s impatience, noting the “relentless speculation in the news media about the president's personal
culpability,” and when asked whether it was proper for the attorney general
to be “spinning the report before the
public gets a chance to read it,” Barr
responded sharply: “No.”
Another reporter asked: “Was
Mueller invited to join you up on the podium? Why is he not here? This is his
report obviously that you're talking about today.”
Barr snapped back: “No,
it's not. It's a report he did for me, as the attorney general.”
My 2 cents: The entire Barr/DOJ redacted version of the Mueller report is
here (.pdf format from NPR) – all 448 pages.
Based my reading thus far and important media analysis
updates, the proverbial ball is in the House’s court. This is especially true
based on several key points re:
(1) On-going investigations (e.g., involving Trump,
Jr. Roger Stone, and others), and perhaps Trump himself on the critical
question of “obstruction of justice.” (Some redacted in black/white: “HOM (Harm to Ongoing Matter).”
(2) This from the Mueller notes and Barr remarks: “[…]
report details 10 episodes of possible
obstruction on the part of the president and it discusses potential legal
theories for connecting those activities to the elements of an obstruction
offense.”
So it is not over yet – only the narrow Mueller
investigation, that reaped good solid convictions, charged, and leads for
further investigation to get to the full story. So, we shall see.
100% stay tuned – a ways to go yet and more so as we
head in the 2020 election season and dramatic Trump spin machine just warming
up.
Thanks for stopping by.
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