The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

by The Washington Post

the President engaged in a second phase of conduct, involving public attacks on the investigation, non-public efforts to control it, and efforts in both public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.

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, we are unable to reach that judgment.

while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

After more than a year of discussion, the President declined to be interviewed.

while we believed that we had the authority and legal justification to issue a grand jury subpoena to obtain the President’s testimony, we chose not to do so.

denying any business involvement in Russia—even though the Trump Organization had pursued a business project in Russia as late as June 2016.

Trump also expressed skepticism that Russia had hacked the emails at the same time as he and other Campaign advisors privately sought information[+ + + + + + + + + + + + +]about any further planned WikiLeaks releases.

the President-Elect continued to deny any connections to Russia and privately expressed concerns that reports of Russian election interference might lead the public to question the legitimacy of his election.

By early 2016, he distinguished himself among Republican candidates by speaking of closer ties with Russia,10 saying he would get along well with Russian President Vladimir Putin,11 questioning whether the NATO alliance was obsolete,12 and praising Putin as a “strong leader.”

Direct or indirect action by the President to end a criminal investigation into his own or his family members’ conduct to protect against personal embarrassment or legal liability would constitute a core example of corruptly motivated conduct.

Mueller was born to a social rank that barely exists anymore, a cosseted WASP elite of northeastern families who sent their sons to New England prep schools built with generations of inherited wealth.

Trump never burned a draft card, but he never enlisted either. He benefited from five draft deferments between 1964 and 1968—four for being a college student and one for a medical disqualification.

The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Not once in the course of his investigation did Robert S. Mueller III hold a televised news conference.