Tag: Robert Mueller

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White House Asked Former Trump Lawyer Twice To Say He Didn’t Obstruct Justice

Donald Trump

The New York Times is reporting that Don McGahn, Donald Trump’s first White House counsel, was asked by Trump administration officials on two separate occasions to publicly say he didn’t believe Trump obstructed the Mueller investigation.

Mr. Trump asked White House officials to make the request to Mr. McGahn, who was the president’s first White House counsel, one of the people said. Mr. McGahn declined. His reluctance angered the president, who believed that Mr. McGahn showed disloyalty by telling investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, about Mr. Trump’s attempts to maintain control over the Russia investigation.

The White House made one of the requests to Mr. McGahn’s lawyer, William A. Burck, before the Mueller report was released publicly but after the Justice Department gave a copy to Mr. Trump’s lawyers in the preceding days. Reading the report, the president’s lawyers saw that Mr. Mueller left out that Mr. McGahn had told investigators that he believed the president never obstructed justice. Mr. Burck had told them months earlier about his client’s belief on the matter and that he had shared it with investigators.

Mr. McGahn initially entertained the White House request. “We did not perceive it as any kind of threat or something sinister,” Mr. Burck said in a statement. “It was a request, professionally and cordially made.”

A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a message seeking comment.

White House officials made a second request a few days after the release of the Mueller report. McGahn demurred again.

More from Trump World:

• Rudy Giuliani has called off his previously announced trip to Ukraine where he planned to encourage an investigation regarding former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. The move was seen as another attempt by the Trump campaign to seek help from a foreign country.

• The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard E. Neal, subpoenaed the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service for six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns.

• Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are pursuing testimony from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but an official date has not been agreed to.

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Trump Rants On Mueller Testifying Before Congress: “No Redos”

Donald Trump ranted on Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress, arguing that Democrats are "looking for a redo" after the investigation failed to establish that his campaign conspired with Russia.

Donald Trump ranted on Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress, arguing that Democrats are “looking for a redo” after the investigation failed to establish that his campaign conspired with Russia.

Trump has previously said that he would not stop Mueller from testifying and that he will leave it up to Attorney General Bill Barr to decide.

Barr has said the Justice Department has no issue with Mueller testifying.

The House Judiciary Committee is in negotiations with Mueller’s team and is hoping to bring him in to testify on May 15.

Note: The Mueller investigation will not cost $35,000,000 thanks to the millions of dollars seized from former Trump campaign manager, now-convicted felon, Paul Manafort.

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WaPo: Robert Mueller Frustrated Attorney General’s Summary “Did Not Capture Content, Nature, Substance” Of 2-Year Probe

The Washington Post reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to the Justice Department expressing his "frustration" that Attorney General William Barr's 4-page summary of his investigation “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the two-year probe.

The Washington Post reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to the Justice Department expressing his “frustration” that Attorney General William Barr’s 4-page summary of his investigation “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the two-year probe.

At the time Mueller’s letter was sent to Barr on March 27, Barr had days prior announced that Mueller did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials seeking to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. In his memo to Congress, Barr also said that Mueller had not reached a conclusion about whether Trump had tried to obstruct justice, but that Barr reviewed the evidence and found it insufficient to support such a charge.

Days after Barr’s announcement, Mueller wrote the previously undisclosed private letter to the Justice Department, laying out his concerns in stark terms that shocked senior Justice Department officials, according to people familiar with the discussions.

“The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions,” Mueller wrote. “There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”

Mueller sent his letter on March 24. But in early April, Barr testified to Congress that he didn’t know why there were reports that Mueller’s team was privately frustrated by Barr’s summary.

Asked by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) if he knew why Mueller’s team might be frustrated, Barr said, “No, I don’t.”

On April 20, Sen. Chris Van Hollen asked Barr, “Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?” His answer was, “I don’t know whether Mueller supported my conclusion.”

We now know Mueller stated his concerns on March 27th, and that Barr totally misled Congress and the public.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told CBS This Morning that Barr should resign since the 4-page memo misled the American people in favor of Donald Trump.

“I think his statement is deliberately false and misleading, and yes, most people would consider that to be a lie,” said Schiff. “Look, there’s no sugar coating this, I think he should step down. It’s hard, I think, for the country to have confidence in the top law enforcement official in the country if he’s asked a direct question as he was and he gives a directly false answer, so this is serious business.”

“After two years and work and investigation implicating the president of the United States, for the attorney general to mislead the public for an entire month before releasing that report is inexcusable.”

Barr is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning. The WaPo report should make Barr’s morning that much more interesting.

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Mueller Report Released – “Total Exoneration” Would Not Be Accurate

Lots of news this morning about the release of the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump

Lots of news this morning about the release of the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Here’s just a few take-aways from the report.

First up, Mueller made clear in his report that he lacked confidence to clear Donald Trump of obstruction of justice but suggested Congress could take action on at least 10 instances where the president sought to interfere with the probe.

CNN is posting excerpts from the Mueller report.

“With respect to whether the President can be found to have obstructed justice by exercising his powers under Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”

“The Russian contacts consisted of business connections, offers of assistance to the campaign, invitations for candidate Trump and Putin to meet in person, invitations for campaign officials and representatives of the Russian government to meet, and policy positions seeking improved US-Russian relations.”

“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. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Additionally, the Washington Post reports on Trump’s reaction when he was told the Special Counsel had been appointed:

In May 2017, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein had just appointed Mueller as special counsel.

Trump slumped back in his chair, according to notes from Jody Hunt, Sessions’s chief of staff. “Oh my God, this is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f—ed,” Trump said. Trump further laid into Sessions for his recusal, saying Sessions had let him down.

“Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency,” Trump said, according to Hunt’s notes. “It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.” The next morning, Trump tweeted, “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”

Plus, as Reuters reports Mueller did find that Russian operatives organized political rallies in support of Trump and opposing Hillary Clinton’s candidacy:

Special counsel Robert Mueller in his highly-anticipated report said his team identified “dozens” of U.S. political rallies organized on social media by the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian troll farm that was later indicted for attempting to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

According to Mueller’s report, which was released on Thursday, the IRA organized political rallies in the U.S. using social media starting in 2015 and continued to coordinate rallies after the 2016 election.

The IRA, a Russian troll farm with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian intelligence agencies, organized pro-Trump and anti-Clinton rallies on U.S. soil for years, including events in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania. The Trump campaign put a post on Facebook about one of the IRA-organized rallies in Miami, Fla. in 2016, Mueller noted.

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Redacted Version Of Mueller Report To Be Released Thursday

The Hill is reporting that the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be released Thursday morning, according to a Justice Department spokesman.
Robert Mueller

The Hill is reporting that the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be released Thursday morning, according to a Justice Department spokesman.

Democrats in Congress have been insisting on the release of the full report, but Attorney General William Barr has said that certain information — like grand jury material and information relating to other ongoing investigations — will be redacted from the document.

Barr sent a letter to Congress late last month announcing the end of Mueller’s probe and outlining the core conclusions of the special counsel’s investigation, including a finding that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 election.

Barr also wrote in that letter that Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether President Trump obstructed justice, but said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined that the evidence was not sufficient to bring forward such a charge.

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Why Doesn’t Trump Want Report That “Totally Exonerates” Him To Be Released?

Donald Trump tweeted this morning questioning why Congressional Democrats should be allowed to see the report filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump

Now, if you had a report that “totally exonerated” you of any wrongdoing, wouldn’t you want the world to see that?

Donald Trump tweeted this morning questioning why Congressional Democrats should be allowed to see the report filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

“Why should Radical Left Democrats in Congress have a right to retry and examine the $35,000,000 (two years in the making) No Collusion Mueller Report, when the crime committed was by Crooked Hillary, the DNC and Dirty Cops? Attorney General Barr will make the decision!”

Trump previously told the press that he wanted the report released to the public.

Now, why had he changed his mind? #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm

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Attorney General Will Release Mueller Report “Within A Week”

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on budget matters, Attorney General William P. Barr said he will be releasing a redacted version of the Mueller report within a week.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on budget matters, Attorney General William P. Barr said he will be releasing a redacted version of the Mueller report within a week.

From the New York Times:

Attorney General William P. Barr said he will deliver the Mueller report to Congress and the public within a week, reiterating his earlier promise to release it by mid-April.

Testifying before lawmakers, Mr. Barr said he would be transparent about redactions in the report. But he demurred when asked whether he has briefed the White House on it.

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SNL: Mueller, Barr & Trump ‘Interpret’ Special Counsel Report

In the skit, Mueller - along with Attorney General William Barr (Aidy Bryant) and Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) - played out their separate roles in the release of the report from the Special Counsel.
Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Aidy Bryant

Robert De Niro returned to SNL in his recurring role as special Counsel Robert Mueller for the show’s cold open last night.

In the skit, Mueller – along with Attorney General William Barr (Aidy Bryant) and Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) – played out their separate roles in the release of the report from the Special Counsel.

From the New York Times:

Each performer offered an introduction at the start of the sketch. De Niro said, “Dear Attorney General Barr, officials from the Justice Department and esteemed members of Congress.”

Bryant said, “Hey, guys, William Barr here. You might want to sit down for this one.”

And Baldwin said, “Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? Daddy is about to freak.”

De Niro: “I am submitting these 380 pages.”

Bryant: “I am writing almost four pages.”

Baldwin: “I am reading zero pages, but Sean Hannity has read it and he was so excited that he texted me an eggplant.”

De Niro: “On the charge of obstruction of justice, we have not drawn a definitive conclusion.”

Bryant: “But I have, and my conclusion is: Trump’s clean as a whistle.”

Baldwin: “Free at last, free at last.”

Watch below.

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Poll: Majority Of Americans Do NOT Feel Trump Exonerated By Mueller Report

Donald Trump

A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS (March 25-26) found a majority of Americans do not believe Donald Trump and his campaign associates have been exonerated of collusion by the Special Counsel’s report per Attorney General William Barr.

When asked the question “Do You Think The Report Exonerates Trump of Collusion?,” 56% say no while 43% answered yes.

Broken down by political affiliation, Republicans believe their guy (77% vs. 23%) and Democrats do not (80% vs. 19%).

But when it comes to all-important Independent voters, a majority (56% vs. 41%) do not feel Trump has been exonerated.