The Mueller Report Quotes

“The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“It is well established that a[n] [obstruction-of-justice] offense is complete when one corruptly endeavors to obstruct or impede the due administration of justice; the prosecution need not prove that the due administration of justice was actually obstructed or impeded.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“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 authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Although the President publicly stated during and after the election that he had no connection to Russia, the Trump Organization, through Michael Cohen, was pursuing the proposed Trump Tower Moscow project through June 2016 and candidate Trump was repeatedly briefed on the progress of those efforts.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Taking into account that information and our analysis of applicable statutory and constitutional principles (discussed below in Volume II, Section III, infra), we determined that there was a sufficient factual and legal basis to further investigate potential obstruction-of-justice issues involving the President.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“An “agent of a foreign government” is an “individual” who “agrees to operate” in the United States “subject to the direction or control of a foreign government or official.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“A statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts. In evaluating whether evidence about collective action of multiple individuals constituted a crime, we applied the framework of conspiracy law, not the concept of “collusion.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“The evidence concerning this sequence of events could support an inference that the President used inducements in the form of positive messages in an effort to get Cohen not to cooperate, and then turned to attacks and intimidation to deter the provision of information or undermine Cohen’s credibility once Cohen began cooperating.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“At the time, Cohen’s understood that his legal fees were still being paid by the Trump Organization, which he said was important to him.2312 Cohen believed he needed the power of the President to take care of him, so he needed to defend the President and stay on message.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Finally, we concluded that in the rare case in which a criminal investigation of the President’s conduct is justified, inquiries to determine whether the President acted for a corrupt motive should not impermissibly chill his performance of his constitutionally assigned duties.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“a statute that prohibits official action undertaken for such corrupt purposes furthers, rather than hinders, the impartial and evenhanded administration of the law. It also aligns with the President’s constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“The term “corruptly” sets a demanding standard. It requires a concrete showing that a person acted with an intent to obtain an improper advantage for himself or someone else, inconsistent with official duty and the rights of others. A preclusion of “corrupt” official action does not diminish the President’s ability to exercise Article II powers.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Cohen admitted that he had told Congress work on the Moscow project ended in January 2016—in fact, it lasted until June 2016, after Trump had sealed up the Republican nomination for president.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Just a few weeks after he finished Princeton with a degree in politics in 1966, Mueller enlisted in the Marine Corps, a rare choice for an Ivy League graduate at a time when many young men were casting about for ways to avoid the draft.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Mueller and Trump, the war hero and the draft avoider,”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“We received the President’s written responses in late November 2018.2379 In December 2018, we informed counsel of the insufficiency of those responses in several respects.2380 We noted, among other things, that the President stated on more than 30 occasions that he “does not ‘recall’ or ‘remember’ or have an ‘independent recollection’ ” of information called for by the questions.2381 Other answers were “incomplete or imprecise.”2382”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“In any event, probing the President’s intent in a criminal matter is unquestionably constitutional in at least one context: the offense of bribery turns on the corrupt intent to receive a thing of value in return for being influenced in official action.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“The Supreme Court has long recognized Congress’s authority to place for-cause limitations on the President’s removal of “inferior Officers” whose appointment may be vested in the head of a department.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“While the President’s removal power is an important means of ensuring that officers faithfully execute the law, Congress has a recognized authority to place certain limits on removal.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“The obstruction statutes thus would restrict presidential action only by prohibiting the President from acting to obstruct official proceedings for the improper purpose of protecting his own interests.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Applying that test here, we concluded that Congress can validly make obstruction-of-justice statutes applicable to corruptly motivated official acts of the President without impermissibly undermining his Article II functions.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Cohen’s false congressional testimony about the Trump Tower Moscow project was designed to minimize connections between the President and Russia and to help limit the congressional and DOJ Russia investigations—a goal that was in the President’s interest, as reflected by the President’s own statements.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“c. Intent. In analyzing the President’s intent in his actions towards Cohen as a potential witness, there is evidence that could support the inference that the President intended to discourage Cohen from cooperating with the government because Cohen’s information would shed adverse light on the President’s campaign-period conduct and statements.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Cohen said that his “agenda” in submitting the statement to Congress with false representations about the Trump Tower Moscow project was to minimize links between the project and the President, give the false impression that the project had ended before the first presidential primaries, and shut down further inquiry into Trump Tower Moscow, with the aim of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.2266”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“We also examined the evidence of the President’s intent in making public statements about Manafort at the beginning of his trial and when the jury was deliberating. Some evidence supports a conclusion that the President intended, at least in part, to influence the jury.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“Evidence concerning the President’s conduct towards Manafort indicates that the President intended to encourage Manafort to not cooperate with the government.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“With respect to Manafort, there is evidence that the President’s actions had the potential to influence Manafort’s decision whether to cooperate with the government.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post

“c. Intent. Substantial evidence indicates that in repeatedly urging McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, the President acted for the purpose of influencing McGahn’s account in order to deflect or prevent further scrutiny of the President’s conduct towards the investigation.”
― The Washington Post, The Mueller Report: Presented with Related Materials by The Washington Post