The Mueller Report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and more will finally be released today.
But first: a press conference from Attorney General William Barr, happening now.
7 am:
In the press conference, Barr said the report will be delivered to members of Congress at around 8 am Pacific today and will be posted on the Justice Department's web site afterward.
He also adopted the president's language, saying that while it's clear the Russians tried to interfere in the 2016 election there was "no collusion" with the Russians on the part of the Trump campaign or any other Americans.
"President Trump faced an unprecedented situation," Barr said, adding—in case you've missed it—that Tump's been rather upset about the whole Mueller thing. “Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion,” Barr declared.
Wait for it... Oh wait, it's already there:
pic.twitter.com/222atp7wuB
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2019
But, as reporters at the press conference pointed out, the actual Mueller report is not yet available to the public. All we have is Barr's "generous"—in the words of one reporter— summary of what the report says. Does Barr think he's behaving inappropriately with all this pre-summarizing? "No," he said.
Barr also revealed that White House lawyers and Trump's personal lawyers were given the opportunity to read the redacted report in advance of today's announcement. The White House chose not to try to assert executive privilege over any aspect of the report and did not suggest any further redactions, according to Barr. In all, he said, the redactions in the report are "limited."
Now we wait to see the report itself.
7:20 am:
While we wait, some non-Trump tweets:
5 Points on Barr Presser:
Didn't include Mueller at all
Admits he disagreed with Mueller on several "legal theories"
Admits he gave WH advance copy of Report
Claims Trump's "anger" is a defense
Says Mueller details 10 "episodes" of Trump's potential obstruction of justice
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) April 18, 2019
The only way to begin restoring public trust in the handling of the Special Counsel’s investigation is for Special Counsel Mueller himself to provide public testimony in the House and Senate as soon as possible.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 18, 2019
Attorney says Michael Cohen can "fill in the bulk" of #MuellerReport redactions https://t.co/qq5v4IBjN0 pic.twitter.com/rqQdBUmMgs
— The Hill (@thehill) April 18, 2019
It is clear Congress and the American people must hear from Special Counsel Robert Mueller in person to better understand his findings. We are now requesting Mueller to appear before @HouseJudiciary as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/Mmo6PA4KPt
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) April 18, 2019
8:07 am
The redacted Mueller Report has been released:
Here it is —> https://t.co/M0IKIoF2bN
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 18, 2019
The report's summary of it's findings offers significantly more nuance than Barr's "no collusion" statement:
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.
And:
Trump upon learning of Mueller's appointment: "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."
page 290 pic.twitter.com/U3pDPgY56U
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 18, 2019
Also:
The investigation established that several individuals affiliated with the Trump Campaign lied to the Office [of Special Counsel], and to Congress, about their interactions with Russian-affiliated individuals and related matters. Those lies materially impaired the investigation of Russian election interference.
The report establishes that Trump lied to the American people about a certain incident Trump described as "fake news."
Volume 2, page 4: Trump called McGahn to remove Mueller. McGahn refused. When the NYT reported this incident, Trump called it "fake news." It was real news. @JakeTapper points out: "It's not illegal to lie to the American people, but it was done." pic.twitter.com/79foNghy7i
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 18, 2019
It shows the breadth of the Russian influence operation:
Mueller report says dozens of political rallies were surreptitiously organized by Russia's Internet Research Agency and sometimes drew hundreds of attendees. "The reach and success of these rallies was closely monitored [REDACTED]" pic.twitter.com/Tj7GreqJDA
— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) April 18, 2019
Mueller Report includes Russian propaganda poster of “Miners for Trump” in PA pic.twitter.com/e4Nh3mI5qA
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) April 18, 2019
Here's a quick summary of all the obstruction-y things the Special Counsel fund Trump did, as compiled by The New York Times.
And here's a Washington Post take on how Mueller's team struggled with the obstruction issue.
Repeatedly, it appears Trump may have been saved from more serious legal jeopardy by his own staffers, who refused to carry out orders they thought were problematic or legally dangerous.
Zooming out, what do Barr's "limited" redaction of the report actually look like?
What does the redacted Mueller report look like? Check out this great visualization from @gaufre and @LATimesGraphics https://t.co/8phguSNTI6 pic.twitter.com/Hlm1O5aLLH
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) April 18, 2019