Trump-Mueller report: Explosive document reveals '11 instances of possible obstruction' as Democrats attack 'partisan' handling
The president is claiming victory. Democrats say not so fast.
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Your support makes all the difference.The explosive, and much-anticipated, release of the Mueller report has come.
Just after attorney general William Barr stood behind a podium and largely seemed to defend Donald Trump, the damaging report was released, showing that Mr Trump attempted to fire Robert Mueller multiple times and that he said he thought his presidency was "f****d" after the special counsel was appointed.
Mr Barr has declined to prosecute Mr Trump for obstruction, a decision he announced last year. But, the special counsel investigation highlights an incredible amount of damaging nuance to that decision.
And, Democrats were quick to challenge the assumption that Mr Trump did not commit a crime, or that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Instead, the 400 page document detailed dozens of interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian officials seeking to flip members of the Trump team.
In addition, the report detailed a shocking propensity for White House officials to disregard the president when it comes to the Russia investigation — and that willingness to ignore the president could be a saving grace for Mr Trump.
According to the report, Mr Trump attempted repeatedly to get his staff to force Mr Mueller's firing. Those staff members just ignored him, though.
There's a lot to unpack — and we've done most of that work for you below.
Please read along for the updates we posted throughout the day — from Mr Barr's press conference, to the shocking revelations of the report, to the reaction as Washington transitioned into its next phase of the Trump presidency:
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Trump wanted to keep the Trump Tower meeting secretThe Mueller report shows that the president instructed his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his former spokeswoman director Hope Hicks to not provide accurate descriptions of that June 2016 meeting to the public.
The report says the president attempted to discourage these disclosures "on at least three occasions" in 2017.
The warnings came after Ms Hicks warned Mr Trump that "the email setting up the June 9 meeting were 'really bad,' and the story would be 'massive.'"
Democratic presidential candidates react to the Mueller report, demanding answers and for heads to roll
Here's a searchable version of the Mueller report:
Cory Booker, being the sweetheart that he is, had his staff go through the Mueller report and make it into a searchable file. The original was not quite as accessible.
Mueller Report by on Scribd
Missed this tweet from the president earlier, taking a victory lap as the Mueller report is combed through:
Donald Trump is pretty happy about the report, it seems
During an event in the East Room of the White House, he said his day is swell and said "this should never happen to another president again, this hoax."
“I'm having a good day too. It was called ‘no collusion. No obstruction.’ I'm having a good time,” he said during an event for wounded military service members. “There never was, by the way, and there never will be.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a 'slip of the tongue' when she, during a press briefing, said "countless" FBI agents had contacted the White House to say they had lost trust in James Comey, apparently
So, now we know that one of the official reasons put forward by the White House for firing Mr Comey was... a mistake?
Kamala Harris is using the Mueller report to build her 2020 campaign contact listClick on the link below and you're going to be routed to a form to sign a petition for the un-redacted version of the Mueller report. You'll also be asked to give up your email address to Ms Harris' campaign — a bit of data that will allow her campaign to contact you wit further promotional materials.
Here's a break down of the redactions in the reportThe report has quite a few redactions — for various reasons. Members of Congress have demanded a version of the report with fewer redactions, and Mr Barr said he will provide such a document behind closed doors.
A breakdown of the redactions in the public report shows why those redactions were made. Mr Barr said that he would not — and cannot — un-redact the grand jury redactions, because those are illegal to divulge.
Education secretary Betsy Devos's brother helped finance effort to obtain deleted emails from Hillary Clinton's private serverMr Trump repeatedly asked his team on the campaign to get their hands on the emails Ms Clinton deleted from her private server, leading to an effort spearheaded by Barbara Ledeen — a former GOP staffer and associate of former national security adviser Michael Flynn — to buy them.
The Mueller report noted that there were multiple attempts to get ahold of those documents that have links to Flynn, who was charged by the Mueller team.
Ms Ledeen claimed in 2016 that she had received a "trove of emails" that belonged to the former secretary of State, but wanted to verify their authenticity.
Ms Devos's brother — defense contractor company Blackwater's CEO Erik Prince — then paid for a tech adviser to look over those documents, the report says.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hinting at impeachment for Donald TrumpMs Ocasio-Cortez tweeted a video of senator Lindsey Graham arguing that crimes don't need to be committed before Congress impeaches a president. This is relevant because the Mueller report led to no charges for the president — though plenty of indicators that Mr Trump attempted to thwart an investigation looking into his campaign.
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