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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Here's more footage of Ivanka Trump's interview with the Associated Press, in which she addresses the release of the Mueller report.
"I knew there was not collusion, I knew there was no obstruction, and this was affirmed in the Mueller report," Ms Trump said, wrongly. In fact, the Mueller report does not clear her father of obstruction.
"I have no cause to be concerned, I never did," she added.
One of Donald Trump's bigger mistruths occurred last night. He claimed the US economy was not the biggest in the world before he became president. The US has in fact has the largest economy every year in more than a century.
OPINION: Later today, William Barr, the US Attorney General, will release a redacted version of the Mueller Report. “Redacted”, of course, is a fancy word that means “censored for public viewing.” Because the nature of Barr’s redactions will not be known until the full report is released to Congress, what will appear today is akin to a film adaption of a novel that no one but the director has read.
We’ve been down this road before. On 24 March, Barr released a “summary” of the Mueller Report which contained this dependent clause: “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” For all we know, the beginning of that sentence is the single word “although.” This did not stop the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and many other outlets from running with some variation of the misleading headline “Mueller finds no conspiracy” (Trump himself did one better, claiming “complete and total EXONERATION” on Twitter.)
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The two most senior Democrats in Congress have also spoken out against William Barr's planned press conference later today. Critics of the process say the attorney general is attempting to craft the narrative of the Mueller report before its actual release.
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said Mr Barr had "thrown out his credibility and the DOJ's independence with his single-minded effort to protect" Donald Trump.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said: "The process is poisoned before the report is even released. Barr shouldn't be spinning the report at all, but it's doubly outrageous he's doing it before America is given a chance to read it."
Here's analysis of the soon-to-be-released Mueller report by our diplomatic correspondent Kim Sengupta.
"The ongoing Democrat-led congressional investigations into Donald Trump are determined to unravel the conspiracy behind the stealing of Hillary Clinton campaign emails and the alleged part played in that incident by WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, according to diplomatic sources.
"The inquiry by the US House of Representatives intelligence committee is said to be particularly focused on how the emails, as well as those of the Democratic National Committee, were hacked and made public, gravely damaging Hillary Clinton’s campaign and helping Donald Trump to the White House.
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Chris Hayes, a prominent journalist at MSNBC, sums up what many fear about the Justice Department's planned press conference ahead of the report's release.
The Independent's Clark Mindock has outlined what to expect when the Mueller report is released later today:
A Kremlin spokesman says a US presidential adviser has traveled to Russia for talks.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Fiona Hill, special assistant to Donald Trump, held talks in Moscow on Wednesday with several Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser.
A US embassy official who asked to be unnamed because the statements about Ms Hill's visits should be made by the National Security Council confirmed the visit to the Associated Press.
Mr Peskov said Ms Hill and Russian officials discussed bilateral issues but did not discuss a potential meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump.
Here's footage of House judiciary committee chair Jerry Nadler's comments on William Barr's upcoming press conference.
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