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May 8 - June 9, 2019
Barr’s description of Mueller’s report was favorable to Trump.
“Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” Mueller’s team wrote.
The report also confirmed Mueller had declined to reach a conclusion on obstruction, though it suggested that decision was heavily influenced by Justice Department legal guidance that says a sitting president can’t be indicted. Mueller’s team wrote that, based on that and other Justice Department policies, they decided “not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes.”
“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,” Mueller’s team wrote. “Accordingly, while this report does not conclude the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
If the FBI had wanted to stop Trump, a leak about the investigation might have done the trick. Instead, the bureau kept its work secret. That stood in contrast to the FBI’s handling of its investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server, which Comey repeatedly addressed publicly in 2016, including in the final days of the campaign.
Legal analysts asserted that Trump might be obstructing justice in real time—using his presidential platform and pardon power to dissuade possible witnesses from cooperating with Mueller.
In a White House meeting in May 2017, he was said to have revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador—details so sensitive that they had been kept from close allies.
Among Trump’s friends and aides, six men pleaded guilty or were indicted. Mostly, they were charged with lying to Congress and the FBI about a wide range of issues. None were accused of criminally coordinating with the Russians. But over and over again, they were accused of lying about efforts to develop inroads with Russia and leverage that country’s hacking of Democratic emails.
As Democrats sought to digest Mueller’s voluminous findings, they also turned their fire on Barr, who many felt served as a shield for Trump by holding a press conference to summarize Mueller’s findings in a way that was favorable for the president.
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.
That information prompted the FBI on July 31, 2016, to open an investigation into whether individuals associated with the Trump Campaign were coordinating with the Russian government in its interference activities.
The investigation also identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
A statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts.
We understood coordination to require an agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference. That requires more than the two parties taking actions that were informed by or responsive to the other’s actions or interests. We applied the term coordination in that sense when stating in the report that the investigation did not establish that the Trump Campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
WikiLeaks wrote that the link would help Trump in “digging through” leaked emails and stated, “we just released Podesta emails Part 4.”258 Two days later, Trump Jr. publicly tweeted the wlsearch.tk link.259
How many times can Trump Jr tweet wikileaks and still pretend he didn't do anything wrong? All those redacted sections promise future mayhem to the Trump empire.
On November 3, 2015, the day after the Trump Organization transmitted the LOI, Sater emailed Cohen suggesting that the Trump Moscow project could be used to increase candidate Trump’s chances at being elected, writing: Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process. . . . Michael, Putin gets on stage with Donald for a ribbon cutting for Trump Moscow, and Donald owns the republican nomination. And possibly beats Hillary and our boy is in. . . . We will manage this process better than anyone.
Later that day, Sater followed up: Donald doesn’t stare down, he negotiates and understands the economic issues and Putin only want to deal with a pragmatic leader, and a successful business man is a good candidate for someone who knows how to negotiate. “Business, politics, whatever it all is the same for someone who knows how to deal” I think I can get Putin to say that at the Trump Moscow press conference. If he says it we own this election. Americas most difficult adversary agreeing that Donald is a good guy to negotiate. . . .
