Here’s POLITICO’s rolling analysis of the hotly anticipated document.
The Justice Department on Thursday released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian officials and whether the president obstructed justice.
While the investigation did not find hard evidence of collusion, the report detailed numerous instances in which Trump tried to interfere with the probe.
We’re annotating the document in real time, pulling out the excerpts we find most interesting, and giving you the analysis you need to understand Mueller’s findings.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
Trump raises pressure on Jeff Sessions
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- Discussion
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Too busy to read the full Mueller report?
Check out our annotated guide to the 448 page conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation https://t.co/Xn48B4aPDH
— POLITICO (@politico) April 18, 2019
Trump went to great lengths to encourage Sessions to investigate Hillary Clinton.
But Sessions repeatedly declined to honor Trump's requests, which clearly irked the president https://t.co/Xn48B4aPDH pic.twitter.com/B6zlYczrrm
— POLITICO (@politico) April 18, 2019
Contra Trump’s claims of no obstruction, Mueller is again saying that he found evidence of obstruction.
Specifically, Mueller says here that Trump sought to influence the investigation in a way that would “restrict its scope" https://t.co/QsLWHiaWZz pic.twitter.com/xm8NGmJw4I
— POLITICO (@politico) April 18, 2019
Though the report didn’t find evidence that Trump campaign officials conspired with Russia, it notably confirms that the Trump campaign believed Russia’s efforts would help him as he faced off with Hillary Clinton in 2016 https://t.co/QsLWHiaWZz pic.twitter.com/se4jtVCidY
— POLITICO (@politico) April 18, 2019
P 335: "In Jan 2018, Manafort told Gates that he had talked to the President's personal counsel & they were 'going to take care of us.' Manafort told Gates it was stupid to plead … Gates asked Manafort outright if anyone mentioned pardons & Manafort said no one used that word."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 18, 2019
MORE: “Evidence concerning the President's conduct towards Manafort indicates that the President intended to encourage Manafort to not cooperate with the government,” Mueller report states. https://t.co/lm9xAASdUn
— ABC News (@ABC) April 18, 2019
This is a striking footnote. It’s raising seriously the possibility of criminal liability when Trump leaves office. Amazing. https://t.co/zSuMf1tL0f
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) April 18, 2019
The Report is clear on pp1-2 that Mueller was 100% guided by doj policy that a sitting President could not be indicted. Barr was deeply misleading in his initial 4 page letter. And that’s why Mueller could not recommend charges even if he thought them warranted.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) April 18, 2019
Thank you Consistent. This helps a lot.
The report also says that people being investigated, "including some associated with the Trump Campaign," "deleted relevant communications." The report says there are "gaps" in the special counsel's knowledge, and they can't "rule out the possibility" that there is more.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller: Trump made a concerted effort to get Corey Lewandowski to get then-attorney general Jeff Sessions to limit the Mueller investigation to…preventing future election interference. pic.twitter.com/0kYkASGQ4i
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller: After telling McGahn to get the special counsel fired, Trump told McGahn to deny reports that he had done so.
McGahn also told Mueller that Trump scolded him for taking notes, saying, "Lawyers don't take notes. I never had a lawyer who took notes." pic.twitter.com/4cdVfcm0ik
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller: Manafort told Gates that Trump's personal lawyer told him that "we'll be taken care of," though the lawyer didn't specifically use the word pardon, and that it'd therefore be stupid to plead guilty. pic.twitter.com/bGb441dJUx
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) 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
The Mueller report includes a lengthy analysis on this question, which Mueller acknowledges has not been "definitively resolved." https://t.co/9siNjGyBJr
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
A lot of redactions in the Contacts with the Campaign about WikiLeaks section. It does say Gates said, after WikiLeaks began releasing docs, Trump told him there was more coming, and the campaign planned a "communications campaign" around possible releases of Clinton emails. pic.twitter.com/7NBoXCkzx1
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller says Papadopoulos informed the Greek foreign minister and another government (Australia) that Russia had dirt on Clinton, but he says he didn't tell anyone on the Trump campaign itself, and campaign officials say they don't think he did. pic.twitter.com/et6O6nQj5p
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller: It appears that any conversation between Sessions and the Russian ambassador at the Mayflower Hotel was "a brief one conducted in public view"; no evidence of a private conversation involving either Trump or Sessions. pic.twitter.com/5yEkQYfSAS
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
In Trump's submission, he said his request for Russia to obtain Clinton emails was "in jest and sarcastically, as was apparent to any objective observer"…yet Mueller reports that Trump repeatedly asked people affiliated with his own campaign to find the emails, and they tried. pic.twitter.com/e1bz9p9252
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller says the sponsor of the platform resolution re Russia said Trump advisor Gordon told her he was on the phone with Trump at the time Gordon requested that the resolution be weakened — but the investigation "did not establish" that Gordon spoke to or was directed by Trump. pic.twitter.com/nC8winQSeR
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller also says Manafort "also twice met Kilimnik in the United States during the campaign and conveyed campaign information." The second meeting, in Aug. 2016, was to get Manafort a message from former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych about his "peace plan." pic.twitter.com/Q9Hcq6kfXV
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller: Though phone provider records show that Steve Bannon and Erik Prince "exchanged dozens" of text messages around the time of the Seychelles meeting, there were no messages available for investigators to read on their phones. Both men said they didn't know why that was. pic.twitter.com/jCVDKBkIIB
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Mueller explained explicitly that they were investigating whether there were violations of conspiracy law, not investigating "collusion." Barr kept using the word "collusion" anyway. pic.twitter.com/X88vxY13pT
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 18, 2019
Here’s our list of (at least) 11 examples from the Mueller report of the people around President Trump who “declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests” pic.twitter.com/BjEFWefHLV
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) April 19, 2019
And by "mainstream media," I'm talking about reporting by journalists, not cable chatter by pundits. It held up very well, as the many lies of Trump and White House officials were exposed under oath.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) April 19, 2019
Hey, I was Senate staff and had a TS clearance, and I tried to get stuff on other American citizens from foreign intelligence services all the time.
No, wait. I never did that. https://t.co/rQrV8yjEoh
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 19, 2019
#MuellerReport #BytheNumbers @JohnAvlon pic.twitter.com/8bvXJw2Ze1
— Stand Up Republic (@StandUpRepublic) April 19, 2019
We scrubbed through the Mueller report and found at least 30 new instances where Trump and his associates had contacts with Russians.
Pick up today's print NYTimes for a two-page graphic that lays out all 140+ contacts. pic.twitter.com/Z18L9UnVPW
— NYT Graphics (@nytgraphics) April 19, 2019
Mueller report shows how Trump wants to be an authoritarian leader.
But can’t be.
Because the checks and balances on his power are too strong,
Because his own advisors won’t help him,
And because he’s too incompetent to pull it off.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 19, 2019
Suppose a POTUS directed SecDef and CJCS to surround the Capitol with tanks and to arrest all opposition members of Congress, and suppose they patriotically disobey that order. Wouldn’t that POTUS still have committed an impeachable offense? https://t.co/GyKg1wS9g7
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 20, 2019
chart pic.twitter.com/6lfKyA0fED
— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) April 20, 2019
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