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Mueller Report

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A redacted version of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019.
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The order from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dated May 17, 2017, appointing a special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

The Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, commonly known as the Mueller Report, is the official report documenting the findings and conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of conspiracy between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, and allegations of obstruction of justice by Trump,[1] as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation."[2]

A redacted version of the 448-page final report was publicly released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 18, 2019. It has two volumes: the first focusing on Russian interference and matters of conspiracy[3] and the second on obstruction of justice.[4][5][6]

The final report concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election did occur, "in sweeping and systematic fashion." Investigators found two methods in which Russia attempted to influence the election, firstly a social media campaign by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) to cause social discord, and secondly computer hacking and strategic release of emails from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party organizations.[7] It found evidence of multiple links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.[8] On obstruction of justice, the Mueller Report "does not conclude that the President committed a crime, [and] it also does not exonerate him." The investigation took an approach that would not result in a judgment that President Trump committed a crime,[9][10] and thus would not charge Trump with a crime. Investigators abided by an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial,[11][12][13] then felt it would be unfair for Trump if he was accused with no trial to clear his name.[11][12][14] Investigators also felt public knowledge of charges would affect Trump's governing and possibly preempt "constitutional processes for addressing presidential misconduct", referencing impeachment.[12][15][16] The special counsel's office did not exonerate Trump because they were not confident that Trump was clearly innocent after examining his intent and actions.[17][18][19][20] The report notes that Trump privately tried to "control the investigation" in multiple ways, but was mostly unsuccessful in influencing the investigation in large part because his aides refused to carry out his orders.[21][22][23] The special counsel's office also concluded that Congress has the authority to take action against Trump regarding possible obstruction, referring to Congress's ability to initiate impeachment proceedings.[24][25][26][3][27]

United States Attorney General William Barr received the Mueller report on March 20, 2019, and released a four-page letter describing the special counsel's conclusions on March 22. In that letter, Barr wrote that: "The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime."[26][28] Barr wrote on March 22, 2019, that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have concluded that the evidence found by the special counsel "is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."[26][29]

Background[edit]

Main article: Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

On May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump dismissed the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, who had been leading an ongoing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into links between Trump associates and Russian officials.[30][31] This investigation began in July 2016 due to information on foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos of the Trump presidential campaign.[32][33]

Over 130 Democratic lawmakers of the United States Congress called for a special counsel to be appointed in reaction to Comey's firing.[34] CNN reported that within eight days of Comey's dismissal, an FBI investigation on Trump for obstruction of justice was opened by the acting FBI Director at the time, Andrew McCabe, who cited multiple reasons including Comey's firing.[1] After McCabe was later fired from the FBI, he confirmed that he had opened the obstruction investigation, and gave additional reasons for its launch.[35]

Eight days after Comey's dismissal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel to take over and expand an existing FBI counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, as well as the FBI investigation into links between Trump associates and Russian officials.[31][36][37] According to CNN, the special counsel also took over the FBI investigation into whether President Trump obstructed justice.[1] Rosenstein's authority to appoint Mueller arose due to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' March 2017 recusal of himself from investigations into the Trump campaign.[31][37][38]

The special counsel concluded the investigation and submitted the final report to Attorney General William Barr on March 20, 2019.[39] Barr had assumed oversight of the investigation on February 14, 2019, after being approved by the Senate and sworn in as Attorney General.[40][41] Barr had been previously critical of the investigation before Trump announced his intent to nominate Barr for Attorney General on December 7, 2018.[42][43][44] Barr's predecessor as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, had resigned on November 7, 2018, writing that it was at Trump's request.[45][46]

Two days after the conclusion, Attorney General Barr sent Congress a four-page letter describing the findings of the final report.[47][48][49]

On April 18, Barr held a press conference accompanied by Rosenstein and Ed O'Callaghan, head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division, to discuss contents of the report, redacted portions, and "ten episodes involving the President and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense."[50][51] Barr also mentioned that Trump's legal team received the final redacted version of the report earlier in the week, adding that the president's lawyers "were not permitted to make, and did not request, any redactions."[51][52] Congress received the redacted report 90 minutes after the press conference by Barr.[53][54]

Barr letter[edit]

Letter from Attorney General William Barr on March 24, 2019, to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees with a summary of the investigation.
Letter from Attorney General William Barr on March 24, 2019, to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees with a summary of the investigation.

On March 22, 2019, Attorney General Barr sent Congress a four-page letter describing the special counsel's conclusions regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and obstruction of justice.[47] On Russian interference, Barr relayed how the special counsel found two ways in which Russia attempted to influence the election: firstly, disinformation through social media campaigns by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) "to sow social discord"; and secondly, hacking computers for emails that came from the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee.[47][49] On obstruction of justice, Barr concluded that the special counsel "did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction."[55][56] "The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime." Barr concluded on obstruction of justice by saying: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."[53][51]

Redacted final report[edit]

On April 18, 2019, a redacted version of the special counsel's final report was released to Congress and the public. About one-eighth of the lines in the public version were redacted.[50][57][58] Barr described the four kinds of redactions in the released report: "harm to ongoing matter" (HOM), "personal privacy" (PP), "investigative technique" (IT), and "grand jury" material.[59] Of those, only the grand jury redactions are required by law due to 6(e) of United States criminal procedure.[60][61][62] Barr characterized the report as being "lightly redacted."[5]

The report notes that in spite of "more than a year of discussion," Trump refused to be interviewed by the special counsel's office. Trump gave written answers to the investigators on matters related to Russia, but failed to "provide written answers to questions on obstruction topics or questions on events during his transition." The special counsel's office considered Trump's "written answers to be inadequate," and considered a subpoena of Trump, but ultimately decided against a subpoena due to anticipating a lengthy legal battle that would delay the pending end of the investigation.[63]

Volume I[edit]

Russian interference[edit]

Further information: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

The Mueller report found that the Russian government "interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion."[64] The report relayed two methods how Russia attempted to influence the election: firstly, disinformation through social media campaigns by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) "to sow social discord"; and secondly, hacking computers for emails that came from the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee.[47][49]

Conspiracy[edit]

The investigation found there were numerous contacts between Trump campaign advisors and individuals affiliated with the Russian government, before and after the election, but the evidence was insufficient to show an illegal conspiracy.[65]

The special counsel identified two methods the Russian government tried to communicate with the Trump campaign. "The investigation identified two different forms of connections between the Internet Research Agency (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 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," the report states.[64] The special counsel found that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump cited or retweeted content from IRA-controlled social media accounts.

Secondly, the report details a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016. The intent of the meeting was to exchange "dirt" on the Clinton presidential campaign. There was speculation that Trump Jr. told his father. However, the special counsel could not find any evidence that he did.[64] The office declined to pursue charges for two reasons: the office "did not obtain admissible evidence" that would meet the burden of proof principle beyond a reasonable doubt that the campaign officials acted with general knowledge about the illegality of their conduct; secondly, the office expected difficulty in valuing the promised information that "exceeded the threshold for a criminal violation" of $2,000 for a criminal violation and $25,000 for a felony punishment.[66]

Volume II[edit]

Trump's reaction to Mueller appointment[edit]

According to the report, upon learning that Mueller had been appointed as Special Counsel, Trump said "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm fucked," to Jeff Sessions when they were having a meeting in the Oval Office.[67][68] "You were supposed to protect me," Sessions recalled Trump telling him. "Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me," Trump later said, according to Sessions and Jody Hunt, Sessions' then-chief of staff.[68]

Obstruction of justice[edit]

Further information: Dismissal of James Comey

The special counsel investigation "did not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," but investigators wrote that obstruction of justice could still occur "regardless of whether a person committed an underlying wrong."[69] The report details ten episodes where Trump could have potentially obstructed justice.[17][70]

On obstruction of justice, the report "does not conclude that the President committed a crime, [and] it also does not exonerate him." Since special counsel's office had decided "not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment," they "did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President’s conduct."[71] The special counsel's office decided "not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes,"[9] and would not charge Trump with a crime for two main reasons: Firstly, the investigation abided by DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion written in 2000 that a sitting president cannot be indicted, a stance taken from the start of the investigation.[11][12] Secondly, investigators did not want to charge Trump because a federal criminal charge would hinder a sitting president's "capacity to govern and potentially preempt constitutional process for addressing presidential misconduct," with a footnote reference to impeachment. Even if charges were recommended in a secret memo or a charging document sealed until Trump's presidency ended, the information could still be leaked.[12][15][64] In addition, the special counsel's office rejected the alternative option of accusing Trump of committing a crime without bringing a charge. Investigators felt that this alternative option would be unfair to Trump, as there would be no trial in which Trump could clear his own name.[11][12][72]

The special counsel's office did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice because they were not confident that Trump was clearly innocent, after examining "evidence [they] obtained about the President's actions and intent."[17][63] The report noted that once Trump was aware that he was personally being investigated for obstruction of justice, he started "public attacks on the investigation and individuals involved in it who could possess evidence adverse to the president, while in private, the president engaged in a series of targeted efforts to control the investigation."[21] However, President Trump'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." This prevented further obstruction of justice charges "against the President's aides and associates beyond those already filed."[21][22][73]

The report quotes the following three scenarios where Trump's orders or requests were not carried out by his subordinates, which prevented in these cases his influence over the investigation.[63]

  • James Comey did not stop investigating Michael Flynn.[63]
  • Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and White House official Rick Dearborn did not tell former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to restrict the Russia investigation to future election interference. In June 2016, Trump told Lewandowski to pass a message to the already-recused Sessions, that Sessions was to label the Mueller investigation as "very unfair," to say that Trump did nothing wrong, and to say that Mueller should be limited to "investigating election meddling for future elections." Lewandowski did not want to tell Sessions, so he assigned the task to Dearborn, who was uncomfortable with the task and did not take action.[63][74]
  • Don McGahn's actions in Trump's attempt to fire Mueller. The special counsel found that Don McGahn, Trump 2016 presidential campaign's former litigation counsel, General Counsel of Trump's presidential transition team, and former White House Counsel, was ordered by President Trump to fire Mueller in 2017–2018. Trump also ordered McGahn to release a statement denying that Trump did so. McGahn reportedly refused to comply; "deciding that he would resign rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre," Mueller found, referring to Watergate.[75] Trump called McGahn when he was home and "directed him to call the Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed."[67]

However, the Mueller report concludes that Congress has the authority to take further action against President Trump regarding the possible obstruction of justice, stating that no one is above the law.[21][24][25][63]

False public statements by Trump and his administration[edit]

Politifact published a list of eight notable public assertions Trump and his administration made that the Mueller report showed to be false or misleading:[76]

  • Mueller had conflicts of interest and was turned down to become FBI director[77]
  • Trump asserted he hadn’t thought about firing Mueller[78]
  • Press secretary Sarah Sanders asserted that Trump fired James Comey because "countless" FBI agents told her they had lost faith in him[79]
  • Sanders asserted that a DOJ internal review had prompted Comey’s firing[80]
  • Sanders claimed Trump "certainly didn't dictate" a statement by Donald Trump Jr. regarding the Trump Tower meeting[81]
  • Trump asserted that the Steele dossier triggered the initial FBI investigation and the investigation "was a plan by those who lost the election"[82]
  • Trump's repeated assertions that he had no business involvement in Russia[83]
  • Trump claimed Comey sought a dinner with him when actually Trump invited Comey for dinner[84]

Criminal investigation referrals[edit]

Further information: Criminal charges brought in the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

The Mueller report included references to 14 criminal investigations that were referred to other offices, 12 of which were completely redacted. The other two related to Michael Cohen and Gregory Craig, cases that were already public.[85]

Expected future releases[edit]

A less-redacted version of the final report "with all redactions removed except those relating to grand-jury information," which is required to be redacted by federal law,[60][61][62] is expected to be available in the coming two weeks to "a bipartisan group of leaders from several Congressional committees."[50][86][87][88]

On April 19, 2019, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler issued a subpoena for the fully unredacted report.[89]

Reactions[edit]

See also: Reactions to the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

President Trump[edit]

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President Trump's reaction to the Mueller Report

President Trump commented publicly by saying:

The president also tweeted several times about the news, including a tweet that mimicked promotional material for the television series Game of Thrones with the words "No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats – Game Over" superimposed over a photo of President Trump with his back turned, surrounded in mist.[92] The series, which concerns political powers vying for control over fictional kingdoms, had premiered its final season four days previous to the report's release. HBO, owners of the rights to the series, commented that they "prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes." Trump had made comparable posts on Twitter and Instagram on prior occasions, to HBO's misgivings.[93][94][95]

The following day (April 19) President Trump changed his position, variously labeling the report "crazy", "total bullshit", and "fabricated and totally untrue". Calling for a new investigation, the president tweeted: "It is now finally time to turn the tables and bring justice to some very sick and dangerous people who have committed very serious crimes, perhaps even Spying or Treason."[96][97][98]

Trump's lawyers[edit]

"After a 17-month investigation, testimony from some 500 witnesses, the issuance of 2,800 subpoenas, the execution of nearly 500 search warrants, early morning raids, the examination of more than 1.4 million pages of documents, and the unprecedented cooperation of the President, it is clear there was no criminal wrongdoing...This vindication of the President is an important step forward for the country and a strong reminder that this type of abuse must never be permitted to occur again," Trump's lawyers said in a statement.[99][100]

Democrats[edit]

Congressional Democratic leaders called on Mueller to publicly testify before Congress, renewing demands for the entire report to be released and raising concern over the President's conduct detailed in the report. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler announced he would issue a subpoena for the full report after the Justice Department released a redacted version. Democrats also criticized what they say were "orchestrated attempts" by the Trump administration to control the narrative surrounding the report's April 18 release.[101] Nadler issued the subpoena on April 19.[102] A DOJ spokesperson called Nadler's subpoena "premature and unnecessary," citing that the publicly released version of the report had "minimal redactions" and that Barr had already made arrangements for Nadler and other lawmakers to review a version with fewer redactions.[103][104]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying "Special Counsel Mueller's report paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies, and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn't apply to him." Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin stated "The Special Counsel's findings paint a very different picture than what the President and his Attorney General would have the American people believe," and called the details of the Russian contacts with the Trump campaign and Trump's efforts to impede the investigation "troubling."[105]

2020 United States presidential election candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, citing the "severity" of the "misconduct" detailed in the report, called for the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump, the first 2020 election candidate to do so post-report.[106] Senator Cory Booker, also a 2020 candidate, tweeted out a searchable version of the report, as the Justice.gov version of the report is not able to be searched digitally.[107] He also called for the full release of the report, stating "The American people deserve the truth. Not spin from a Trump appointee. Release Mueller's full report now." in an earlier tweet.[108]

Republicans[edit]

Congressional Republican leaders viewed the report as vindication of President Trump and signaled that lawmakers should move on. On April 18, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated "Nothing we saw today changes the underlying results of the 22-month-long Mueller investigation that ultimately found no collusion." House Minority Whip Steve Scalise tweeted "Democrats owe the American people an apology," along with a statement declaring the probe to be dead. Representative Jim Jordan, the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee, wrote "This sad chapter of American history is behind us," and that it "would be a shame for the onslaught of misguided politicized investigations to continue."[105]

On April 19, Utah Senator Mitt Romney wrote in a statement on Twitter that he was "sickened" and "appalled" by the findings in the report, and said reading the report was a "sobering revelation of how far we have strayed from the aspirations and the principles of the founders."[109] Romney later expounded on his comments in a press release by saying "It is good news that there was insufficient evidence to charge the President of the United States with having conspired with a foreign adversary or with having obstructed justice. The alternative would have taken us through a wrenching process with the potential for constitutional crisis. The business of government can move on."[110][111][112]

"They do want people who launched this investigation, on a false premise, they do want them held accountable, " Republican Ohio Representative Jim Jordan said on Cavuto Live. Jordan, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, continued: "You can't have the FBI using one party's opposition research document to launch an investigation and spy on the other party's campaign. We know that took place and we do need to get to the bottom of that because it's never supposed to happen in this country." Jordan referring to former President Barack Obama's administration surveilling then-candidate Donald Trump's 2016 campaign out of its concern over potential ties to Russia.[113]

Commentators[edit]

Numerous political and legal analysts, including Bob Woodward and Brian Williams, observed significant differences between what Barr said about Mueller's findings in his March 24 summary letter, and in his April 18 press conference, compared to what the Mueller report actually found. This commentary included a comparison of Barr to Baghdad Bob, calling him Baghdad Bill.[114][115][116][117][118] Some, including Chris Wallace of Fox News, observed that Barr appeared to behave more as Trump's defense attorney than as an attorney general in his characterizations of the Mueller report.[119][120][121][122][123]

Press coverage[edit]

Despite persistent derision of the press as "fake news" by Trump and his supporters during the investigation, the Mueller report mostly corroborated press coverage of the investigation and confirmed efforts by Trump and his allies to mislead the public. Kyle Pope, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, remarked that “The media looks a lot stronger today than it did before the release of this report.” [124][125]

Impact[edit]

Polling[edit]

A Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll conducted between the afternoon of April 18 and the morning of April 19 found that 37 percent of adults in the United States approved of Trump's performance in office, down from 40 percent in a similar poll conducted on April 15 and matching the lowest level of the year. That is also down from 43 percent in a poll conducted shortly after the Attorney General's summary was released.[126] Among the respondents that said they were familiar with the Mueller report, 70 percent said the report had not changed their view of Trump or Russia's involvement in the U.S. presidential race and only 15 percent said they had learned something that changed their view of Trump or the Russia investigation.[127]

References[edit]

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External links[edit]

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