U.S. Attorney General William Barr and the U.S. Department of Justice have released the redacted Mueller report.
Earlier on Thursday, Barr held a press conference to discuss the report and its release to Congress and the public. Read more on that press conference, here.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Public at last, special counsel Robert Mueller’s report revealed to a waiting nation Thursday that President Donald Trump had tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller’s removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president.
The report said that in June 2017, Trump directed White House Counsel Don McGahn to call the acting attorney general and say that Mueller must be ousted because he had conflicts of interest.
McGahn refused – deciding he would rather resign than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre of Watergate firings fame.
For all of that, Mueller said in his report that he could not conclusively determine that Trump had committed criminal obstruction of justice.
The Justice Department posted a redacted version of the report online Thursday morning, 90 minutes after Attorney General William Barr offered his own final assessment of the findings.
The two-volume, 448-page report recounts how Trump repeatedly sought to take control of the Russia probe.
Mueller evaluated 10 episodes for possible obstruction of justice, including Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president’s directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.
The president’s lawyers have said Trump’s conduct fell within his constitutional powers, but Mueller’s team deemed the episodes deserving of criminal scrutiny.
Mueller reported that Trump had been agitated at the special counsel probe from its earliest days, reacting to Mueller’s appointment by saying it was the “end of his presidency.”
As for the question of whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, Mueller wrote, “While the investigation identified numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign, the evidence was not sufficient to support criminal charges.”
Mueller also said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge any campaign officials with working as an unregistered foreign agent of Russia.
The report included an appendix that contained 12 pages of Trump’s written responses to the special counsel. They included no questions about obstruction of justice, as was part of an agreement with Trump’s legal team.
Trump told Mueller he had “no recollection” of learning in advance about the much-scrutinized Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and a Russian lawyer. He also said he had no recollection of knowledge about emails setting up the meeting that promised dirt on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
He broadly denied knowing of any foreign government trying to help his campaign, including the Russian government. He said he was aware of some reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made “complimentary statements” about him.
Trump said that his comment during a 2016 political rally asking Russian hackers to help find emails scrubbed from Clinton’s private server was made “in jest and sarcastically” and that he did not recall being told during the campaign of any Russian effort to infiltrate or hack computer systems.
Trump’s legal team called the results “a total victory for the president.”
For complete coverage of the Mueller report, go to: https://www.apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations
Cassidy Statement on Release of Mueller Report
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), delivered the following statement after Attorney General William Barr’s public release of the Special Counsel’s report.
“Looking forward to reviewing the Mueller report in detail,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It’s important this report is public so Americans can review the facts for themselves.”
CHAIRMAN JOHNSON STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) released the following statement following U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s release of the Mueller report:
“Since he received the report, AG Barr has acted quickly to ensure transparency for the American people. Within just 3 days, he gave a principled summary to Congress highlighting the conclusions reached by Special Counsel Mueller. Now, the AG has combed through more than 400 pages and released the report to the public within the bounds of the law, just as he said he would. All of us in Congress are now reviewing the full report along with the rest of the nation.
“For nearly two years, this investigation has been a source of great division in our country, however, my hope is that this report will provide the clarity and peace of mind needed for Congress to move ahead and devote our time, energy and resources to solving America’s most pressing issues.”
Higgins Issues Statement on Mueller Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) issued the following statement after today’s public release of the Mueller Report.
“The Special Counsel’s findings have been voluntarily made public today. I’ve supported this release and it should be noted that the redactions were minimal, in accordance with the law, and, of key significance, was not further redacted by Executive Privilege. There was no evidence of criminal collusion or obstruction by the President nor his campaign. Democrats, on the other hand, should take a deep breath because the witch hunt they began has now shifted to the frightening reality of possible criminal collusion to corrupt our 2016 presidential election by their own candidate and her allies. Further, while this chapter of the investigation is closed, I have serious concerns regarding potential abuse of the FISA process by politically-biased actors within the FBI. The American people deserve to know the full truth, the whole truth. If criminal political corruption existed at the highest levels of the Obama executive and the Clinton campaign, and if top DOJ officials violated long-established protocol to spy on President Trump’s 2016 campaign, then some Americans should go to prison.”
