Mueller report

A redacted version of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019.

The order from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dated May 17, 2017, appointing a special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

The letter from United States Attorney General William Barr dated March 22, 2019, notifying leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees about the conclusion of the investigation.

The Mueller Report, formally known as the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, documents the findings and conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of conspiracy between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, and allegations of obstruction of justice by Trump, as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation". A redacted version of the 448-page report was publicly released by Attorney General William Barr and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 18, 2019. It is comprised of two volumes: Volume I (pages 1–207) focusing on Russian interference and matters of conspiracy and Volume II (pages 208–448) discussing potential obstruction of justice.

The report concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election did occur "in sweeping and systematic fashion" and "violated U.S. criminal law." It listed two methods by which Russia attempted to influence the election: firstly, a social media campaign by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) to "amplify political and social discord," and secondly computer hacking and strategic releasing of emails from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party organizations. The report found evidence of multiple links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations. However, the investigation did not establish that the campaign "coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities", and did not pursue any charges under conspiracy statutes and statutes governing foreign agents, with the exception of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates who were found guilty of criminal offenses stemming from their prior lobbying work for the Ukrainian Party of Regions.

Regarding obstruction of justice, the report "does not conclude that the President committed a crime, [and] it also does not exonerate him." The investigation intentionally took an approach that could not result in a judgment that Trump committed a crime, and refrained from charging him for the following reasons: investigators abided by an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial; they feared that charges would affect Trump's governing and possibly preempt impeachment; and they were concerned with fairness issues had they accused Trump of a crime with no charges and no trial. The Special Counsel's office did not exonerate Trump either, because they were not confident that he was totally innocent after examining his intent and actions. The report describes ten episodes where Trump could potentially have obstructed justice, noting that he privately tried to "control the investigation" in multiple ways, but mostly failed to influence the investigation because his aides refused to carry out his instructions. The special counsel's office also concluded that Congress can decide whether Trump obstructed justice, and has the authority to take action against him, in reference to potential impeachment proceedings.

The completed report was delivered on March 22, 2019 to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr wrote in a four-page letter to Congress stating that "the Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime." Barr continued: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."

Background

Main article: Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

On May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump dismissed the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, who had been leading an ongoing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into links between Trump associates and Russian officials. This investigation began in July 2016 due to information on foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos of the Trump presidential campaign.

Over 130 Democratic lawmakers of the United States Congress called for a special counsel to be appointed in reaction to Comey's firing. CNN reported that within eight days of Comey's dismissal, an FBI investigation on Trump for obstruction of justice was opened by the acting FBI Director at the time, Andrew McCabe, who cited multiple reasons including Comey's firing. After McCabe was later fired from the FBI, he confirmed that he had opened the obstruction investigation, and gave additional reasons for its launch.

Eight days after Comey's dismissal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel to take over and expand an existing FBI counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, as well as the FBI investigation into links between Trump associates and Russian officials. According to CNN, the special counsel also took over the FBI investigation into whether President Trump obstructed justice. Rosenstein's authority to appoint Mueller arose due to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' March 2017 recusal of himself from investigations into the Trump campaign.

The special counsel concluded the investigation and submitted the final report to Attorney General William Barr on March 20, 2019. Barr had assumed oversight of the investigation on February 14, 2019, after being approved by the Senate and sworn in as Attorney General. Barr had been previously critical of the investigation before Trump announced his intent to nominate Barr for Attorney General on December 7, 2018. Barr's predecessor as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, had resigned on November 7, 2018, writing that it was at Trump's request.

Two days after the conclusion, Attorney General Barr sent Congress a four-page letter describing the findings of the final report.

On April 18, Barr held a press conference accompanied by Rosenstein and Ed O'Callaghan, head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division, to discuss contents of the report, redacted portions, and "ten episodes involving the President and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense." Barr also mentioned that Trump's legal team received the final redacted version of the report earlier in the week, adding that the president's lawyers "were not permitted to make, and did not request, any redactions." Congress received the redacted report 90 minutes after the press conference by Barr.

Barr letter

Letter from Attorney General William Barr on March 24, 2019, to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees with a summary of the investigation.

On March 24, 2019, Attorney General Barr sent Congress a four-page letter describing the special counsel's conclusions regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and obstruction of justice. On Russian interference, Barr relayed how the special counsel found two ways in which Russia attempted to influence the election: firstly, disinformation through social media campaigns by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) "to sow social discord"; and secondly, hacking computers for emails that came from the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee. On obstruction of justice, Barr concluded that the special counsel "did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction." "The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime." Barr concluded on obstruction of justice by saying: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."

After the release of the full report, Barr's initial letter was criticized as a deliberate mischaracterization of the Mueller Report and its conclusions.

Redacted final report

On April 18, 2019, a redacted version of the special counsel's final report was released to Congress and the public. About one-eighth of the lines in the public version were redacted. Barr described the four kinds of redactions in the released report: "harm to ongoing matter" (HOM), "personal privacy" (PP), "investigative technique" (IT), and "grand jury" material. Of those, only the grand jury redactions are required by law due to 6(e) of United States criminal procedure. Barr characterized the report as being "lightly redacted".

The report notes that in spite of "more than a year of discussion", Trump refused to be interviewed by the special counsel's office. Trump gave written answers to the investigators on matters related to Russia, but failed to "provide written answers to questions on obstruction topics or questions on events during his transition." The special counsel's office considered Trump's "written answers to be inadequate", and considered a subpoena of Trump, but ultimately decided against a subpoena due to anticipating a lengthy legal battle that would delay the pending end of the investigation.

Volume I

Russian interference

Further information: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

The Mueller report found that the Russian government "interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion" and "violated U.S. criminal law." The report relayed two methods by which Russia attempted to influence the election: firstly, disinformation through social media campaigns by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) "to sow social discord"; and secondly, hacking computers for emails that came from the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee.

Conspiracy

The investigation found there were numerous contacts between Trump campaign advisors and individuals affiliated with the Russian government, before and after the election, but the evidence was insufficient to show an illegal conspiracy. The New York Times estimated as many as 140 contacts between "Mr. Trump and his associates and Russian nationals and WikiLeaks or their intermediaries" in the report.

The special counsel identified two methods the Russian government tried to communicate with the Trump campaign. "The investigation identified two different forms of connections between the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and members of the Trump Campaign…First, on multiple occasions, members and surrogates of the Trump Campaign promoted – typically by linking, retweeting, or similar methods of reposting – pro-Trump or anti-Clinton content published by the IRA through IRA-controlled social media accounts. Additionally, in a few instances, IRA employees represented themselves as U.S. persons to communicate with members of the Trump Campaign in an effort to seek assistance and coordination on IRA-organized political rallies inside the United States," the report states. The special counsel found that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump cited or retweeted content from IRA-controlled social media accounts.

Secondly, the report details a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016. The intent of the meeting was to exchange "dirt" on the Clinton presidential campaign. There was speculation that Trump Jr. told his father. However, the special counsel could not find any evidence that he did. The office declined to pursue charges for two reasons: the office "did not obtain admissible evidence" that would meet the burden of proof principle beyond a reasonable doubt that the campaign officials acted with general knowledge about the illegality of their conduct; secondly, the office expected difficulty in valuing the promised information that "exceeded the threshold for a criminal violation" of $2,000 for a criminal violation and $25,000 for a felony punishment.

Volume II

Trump's reaction to Mueller appointment

According to the report, upon learning that Mueller had been appointed as Special Counsel, Trump said "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm fucked," to Jeff Sessions when they were having a meeting in the Oval Office. "You were supposed to protect me," Sessions recalled Trump telling him. "Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me," Trump later said, according to Sessions and Jody Hunt, Sessions' then-chief of staff.

Obstruction of justice

On the topic of obstruction of justice, the final report stated that the investigation "did not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference", but investigators wrote that obstruction of justice could still occur "regardless of whether a person committed an underlying wrong". The report details ten episodes where Trump could have potentially obstructed justice.

On obstruction of justice, the report "does not conclude that the President committed a crime, [and] it also does not exonerate him." Since the special counsel's office had decided "not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment", they "did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct." The report "does not conclude that the president committed a crime", as investigators decided "not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes". Investigators did not charge Trump with a crime, for two main reasons: Firstly, the investigation abided by DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion written in 2000 that a sitting president cannot be indicted, a stance taken from the start of the investigation. Secondly, investigators did not want to charge Trump because a federal criminal charge would hinder a sitting president's "capacity to govern and potentially preempt constitutional process for addressing presidential misconduct", with a footnote reference to impeachment. Even if charges were recommended in a secret memo or a charging document sealed until Trump's presidency ended, the information could still be leaked. In addition, the special counsel's office rejected the alternative option of accusing Trump of committing a crime without bringing a charge. Investigators felt that this alternative option would be unfair to Trump, as there would be no trial in which Trump could clear his own name.

The special counsel's office did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice because they were not confident that Trump was clearly innocent, after examining "evidence [they] obtained about the President's actions and intent." The report noted that once Trump was aware that he was personally being investigated for obstruction of justice, he started "public attacks on the investigation and individuals involved in it who could possess evidence adverse to the president, while in private, the president engaged in a series of targeted efforts to control the investigation." However, President Trump's "efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests." This prevented further obstruction of justice charges "against the President's aides and associates beyond those already filed."

The report notes that Congress has the authority to decide if Trump obstructed justice, and then take further action if obstruction occurred, with investigators writing: "The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law". This phrase was interpreted as a possible reference to Congress potentially initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

Episodes of alleged obstruction

The final report details ten episodes where Trump as president could have possibly obstructed justice:

The Campaign's Response to Reports About Russian Support for Trump

The final report states the first possible obstruction case during the 2016 campaign, when questions "arose about the Russian government's apparent support for candidate Trump." The report states that while Trump was publicly skeptical Russia had released emails from Democratic officials, Trump and his aides were also trying to obtain information about "any further planned WikiLeaks releases." The final report also notes that Trump consistently said that he had no business connections to Russia, despite his company trying to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. "After the election, the President expressed concerns to advisors that reports of Russia's election interference might lead the public to question the legitimacy of his election."

The President's Conduct Concerning the Investigation of Michael Flynn

Further information: Michael Flynn § Dismissal and investigation

The final report outlines Michael Flynn's, Trump's first national security advisor, contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, shortly after the Obama Administration imposed sanctions against Russia on December 29, 2016. Later that day, K. T. McFarland, "who was slated to become the Deputy National Security Advisor...talked by phone about what, if anything, Flynn should communicate to Kislyak about the sanctions." The final report details that based on those conversations, "McFarland informed Flynn that incoming Administration officials at Mar-a-Lago did not want Russia to escalate the situation." Then former Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, "recalled that McFarland may have mentioned at the meeting that the sanctions situation could be "cooled down" and not escalated." Priebus recalls that President-Elect Trump viewed the sanctions "as an attempt by the Obama Administration to embarrass him by delegitimizing his election." Later that evening, Flynn called Kislyak and requested how Russia should respond to the newly-placed U.S. sanctions: "only in a reciprocal manner, without escalating the situation." Afterwards, Flynn briefed McFarland on the call. Flynn said that the Russian response to the sanctions "was not going to be escalatory because Russia wanted a good relationship with the Trump Administration." On December 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia "would not take retaliatory measures in response to the sanctions at that time and would instead "plan . . . further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration." Trump responded to the news by tweeting "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart! " The report details that Trump was warned by McGahn and Priebus to not discuss about the Russian investigation with Comey, but Trump did so anyway.

The President's Reaction to Public Confirmation of the FBI's Russia Investigation

After Trump learned that Sessions planned to recuse himself from the Special Counsel investigation, Trump sought to prevent Session's move. "After Sessions announced his recusal on March 2, the President expressed anger at Sessions for the decision and then privately asked Sessions to "unrecuse." On May 20, Comey publicly disclosed the FBI's Russia investigation. "In the days that followed, the President contacted Comey and other intelligence agency leaders and asked them to push back publicly on the suggestion that the President had any connection to the Russian election-interference effort in order to "lift the cloud" of the ongoing investigation," the report says.

Events Leading Up To and Surrounding the Termination of FBI Director Comey

Further information: Dismissal of James Comey

"In the week leading up to Comey's May 3, 2017 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, the President told Don McGahn that it would be the last straw if Comey did not set the record straight and publicly announce that the President was not under investigation, despite repeated requests that Comey make such an announcement," the report states. Trump told aides that he was going to fire Comey on May 5, and did so on May 7, 2019. The report notes that Trump fired Comey before he received a recommendation by the Justice Department. “Substantial evidence indicates that the catalyst for the President’s decision to fire Comey was Comey’s unwillingness to publicly state that the President was not personally under investigation, despite the President’s repeated requests that Comey make such an announcement,” the report reads. Trump boasted about the firing of Comey to the Russian foreign minister and U.S. Ambassador of Russia in an Oval Office meeting, saying "I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."

The President's Efforts to Remove the Special Counsel

When Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Special Counsel investigation, Trump said "that it was the end of his presidency and that Attorney General Sessions had failed to protest him and should resign. Sessions submitted his resignation, which the President ultimately did not accept." The report notes that on June 14, 2017, "the press reported that the President was being personally investigated for obstruction of justice. and the President responded with a series of tweets criticizing the Special Counsel's investigation." The following weekend, Trump called McGahn and "directed him to have the Special Counsel removed because of asserted conflicts of interest." McGahn did not act on the request "for fear of being seen as triggering another Saturday Night Massacre and instead prepared to resign."

The President's Efforts to Curtail the Special Counsel Investigation

After McGahn did not follow Trump's request, Trump went to Sessions. On June 19, 2017, Trump met with Corey Lewandowski, one of the Trump Campaign's managers, to dictate a message that was to be delivered by Sessions. The report notes the the message would "have had the effect of limiting the Russia investigation to future election interference only.” The report relays that Trump told Lewandowski "that Sessions was weak and that if the President had known about the likelihood of recusal in advance, he would not have appointed Sessions." The message that Sessions was to give says "I know that I recused myself from certain things having to do with specific areas. But our POTUS . .. is being treated very unfairly. He shouldn't have a Special Prosecutor/Counsel b/c he hasn't done anything wrong. I was on the campaign w/ him for nine months, there were no Russians involved with him. I know it for a fact b/c I was there. He didn't do anything wrong except he ran the greatest campaign in American history." The message goes on in which Sessions would meet with the Special Counsel and limit its jurisdiction to future election interference. "Now a group of people want to subvert the Constitution of the United States. I am going to meet with the Special Prosecutor to explain this is very unfair and let the Special Prosecutor move forward with investigating election meddling for future elections so that nothing can happen in future elections." Trump reportedly said that "if Sessions delivered that statement he would be the "most popular guy in the country."" The message was never delivered to Sessions "due to a last minute conflict."

The President's Efforts to Prevent Disclosure of Emails About the June 9, 2016 Meeting Between Russians and Senior Campaign Officials

Further information: Trump Tower meeting

The final report cites three different occasions between June 29, 2017 and July 9, 2017, when Trump directed Hope Hicks, former White House Communications Director, and others to not disclose information about the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting. According to the final report, these requests were directed to the press and could have constituted obstructive only if Trump "sought to withhold information from or mislead congressional investigations or the Special Counsel." The Special Counsel could not find any evidence to establish that Trump intended on preventing the Special Counsel or Congress from obtaining the emails or information referring to meeting. According to the final report, Rick Gates, then Deputy Campaign Chairman, recalled that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Jared Kusnher, Ivanka Trump, Paul Manafort, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, were meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange "dirt" on the Clinton presidential campaign. Gates testified that Trump Jr. announced at a regular planned meeting that he “had a lead on negative information about the Clinton Foundation.” Gates recalled Manafort saying at the meeting that the Trump Tower meeting “likely would not yield vital information and they should be careful.” The Special Counsel found Manafort to be correct, as the "dirt" was information regarding the Ziff brothers doing tax evasion and money laundering in Russia and the United States and donating the illegal proceeds to the Democratic National Committee or the Clinton campaign. There was speculation that Trump Jr. told his father. However, the Special Counsel could not find any evidence that he did.

The President's Further Efforts to Have the Attorney General Take Over the Investigation

The final report notes that between 2017–2018, Trump tried to convince Jeff Sessions to reverse his recusal over the Special Counsel investigation. Trump also tried to convince Sessions to launch an investigation into Hillary Clinton and prosecute her. “On multiple occasions in 2017, the President spoke with Sessions about reversing his recusal so that he could take over the Russia investigation and begin an investigation of Hillary Clinton…There is evidence that at least one purpose of the President’s conduct toward Sessions was to have Sessions assume control over the Russia investigation and supervise it in a way that could restrict its scope…A reasonable inference from those statements and the President’s action is that an unrecused Attorney General would play a protective role and could shield the President from the ongoing Russia investigation.”

The President Orders McGahn to Deny that the President Tried to Fire the Special Counsel

After the news broke out in late January 2018, that Trump ordered Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller in June 2017, Trump pressured McGahn to deny the reports. "After the story broke, the President, through his personal counsel and two aides, sought to have McGahn deny that he had been directed to remove the Special Counsel," the final report reads. Trump told then-White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter to tell McGahn to create a record that makes clear Trump never directed McGahn to fire the Special Counsel. "Porter thought the matter should be handled by the White House communications office, but the President said he wanted McGahn to write a letter to the file "for our records" and wanted something beyond a press statement to demonstrate that the reporting was inaccurate. The President referred to McGahn as a "lying bastard" and said that he wanted a record from him." Porter recalled Trump "saying something to the effect of "If he doesn't write a letter, then maybe I'll have to get rid of him.""

The President's Conduct Towards Flynn, Manafort, (redacted name)

The final report details that Trump took actions "directed at possible witnesses in the Special Counsel’s investigation." The report notes that actions taken by Trump and his counsel “could have had the potential to affect Flynn’s decision to cooperate, as well as the extent of that cooperation. Because of privilege issues, however, we could not determine whether the President was personally involved in or knew about the specific message his counsel delivered to Flynn's counsel." For Manafort, the report details by saying: "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 President's Conduct Involving Michael Cohen

Further information: Michael Cohen (lawyer) § Federal investigations

The final instance of potential obstruction concerns Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer of Trump's. "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 report states. The report continues by detailing that Trump encouraged Cohen to "stay strong": "After the FBI searched Cohen's home and office in April 2018, the President publicly asserted that Cohen would not "flip" and privately passes messages of support to him." However, the report notes that when Cohen began cooperating with the government in the summer of 2018, Trump publicly criticized him: "Cohen also discussed pardons with the President's personal counsel and believed that if he stayed on message, he would get a pardon or the President would do "something else" to make the investigation end. But after Cohen began cooperating with the government in the summer of 2018, the President publicly criticized him, called him a "rat," and suggested that his family members had committed crimes."

Criminal investigation referrals

Further information: Criminal charges brought in the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

The Mueller report included references to 14 criminal investigations that were referred to other offices, 12 of which were completely redacted. The other two related to Michael Cohen and Gregory Craig, cases that were already public.

Expected future releases

A less-redacted version of the final report "with all redactions removed except those relating to grand-jury information", which is required to be redacted by federal law, is expected to be available in the coming two weeks to "a bipartisan group of leaders from several Congressional committees."

On April 19, 2019, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler issued a subpoena for the fully unredacted report.

Reactions

See also: Reactions to the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

President Trump

President Trump's reaction to the Mueller Report

President Trump commented publicly by saying:

I'm having a good day [...] It was called, 'No collusion. No obstruction.' There never was, by the way – and there never will be. And we do have to get to the bottom of these things [...] I say it in front of my friends: [...] this hoax – it should never happen to another president again.

The president also tweeted several times about the news, including a tweet that mimicked promotional material for the television series Game of Thrones with the words "No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats – Game Over" superimposed over a photo of President Trump with his back turned, surrounded in mist. The series, which concerns political powers vying for control over fictional kingdoms, had premiered its final season four days previous to the report's release. HBO, owners of the rights to the series, commented that they "prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes." Trump had made comparable posts on Twitter and Instagram on prior occasions, to HBO's misgivings.

The following day (April 19) President Trump changed his position, labeling the report "crazy", and arguing that some of the quotes attributed to him were "total bullshit" and "fabricated and totally untrue". Calling for a new investigation, the president tweeted: "It is now finally time to turn the tables and bring justice to some very sick and dangerous people who have committed very serious crimes, perhaps even Spying or Treason."

Trump's lawyers

"After a 17-month investigation, testimony from some 500 witnesses, the issuance of 2,800 subpoenas, the execution of nearly 500 search warrants, early morning raids, the examination of more than 1.4 million pages of documents, and the unprecedented cooperation of the President, it is clear there was no criminal wrongdoing...This vindication of the President is an important step forward for the country and a strong reminder that this type of abuse must never be permitted to occur again," Trump's lawyers said in a statement.

Democrats

Congressional Democratic leaders called on Mueller to publicly testify before Congress, renewing demands for the entire report to be released and raising concern over the President's conduct detailed in the report. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler announced he would issue a subpoena for the full report after the Justice Department released a redacted version. Democrats also criticized what they say were "orchestrated attempts" by the Trump administration to control the narrative surrounding the report's April 18 release. Nadler issued the subpoena on April 19. A DOJ spokesperson called Nadler's subpoena "premature and unnecessary", citing that the publicly released version of the report had "minimal redactions" and that Barr had already made arrangements for Nadler and other lawmakers to review a version with fewer redactions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying "Special Counsel Mueller's report paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies, and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn't apply to him." Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin stated "The Special Counsel's findings paint a very different picture than what the President and his Attorney General would have the American people believe," and called the details of the Russian contacts with the Trump campaign and Trump's efforts to impede the investigation "troubling."

2020 United States presidential election candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, citing the "severity" of the "misconduct" detailed in the report, called for the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump, the first 2020 election candidate to do so post-report. Senator Cory Booker, also a 2020 candidate, tweeted out a searchable version of the report, as the Justice.gov version of the report is not able to be searched digitally. He also called for the full release of the report, stating "The American people deserve the truth. Not spin from a Trump appointee. Release Mueller's full report now." in an earlier tweet.

Republicans

Most Republican lawmakers had no immediate comment on the report. Congressional Republican leaders viewed the report as vindication of President Trump and signaled that lawmakers should move on. On April 18, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated "Nothing we saw today changes the underlying results of the 22-month-long Mueller investigation that ultimately found no collusion." House Minority Whip Steve Scalise tweeted "Democrats owe the American people an apology," along with a statement declaring the probe to be dead. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee, stated "They do want people who launched this investigation, on a false premise, they do want them held accountable," referring to retaliatory sentiment among Trump supporters about the origin of the Russia investigation, specifically the Steele dossier. "You can't have the FBI using one party's opposition research document to launch an investigation and spy on the other party's campaign. We know that took place and we do need to get to the bottom of that because it's never supposed to happen in this country," Jordan added. However in 2017, the House Intelligence Committee, then controlled by Republicans, released a report that stated that the Russia investigation had not started from information in the Steele dossier, but from information on George Papadopoulos.

On April 19, Utah Senator Mitt Romney wrote in a statement on Twitter that he was "sickened" and "appalled" by the findings in the report, and said reading the report was a "sobering revelation of how far we have strayed from the aspirations and the principles of the founders." Romney later expounded on his comments in a press release by saying "It is good news that there was insufficient evidence to charge the President of the United States with having conspired with a foreign adversary or with having obstructed justice. The alternative would have taken us through a wrenching process with the potential for constitutional crisis. The business of government can move on."

Commentators

Numerous political and legal analysts, including Bob Woodward and Brian Williams, observed significant differences between what Barr said about Mueller's findings in his March 24 summary letter, and in his April 18 press conference, compared to what the Mueller report actually found. This commentary included a comparison of Barr to Baghdad Bob, calling him Baghdad Bill. Some, including Chris Wallace of Fox News, observed that Barr appeared to behave more as Trump's defense attorney than as an attorney general in his characterizations of the Mueller report.

Analysis

Mueller report findings compared to Barr letter

Prior to the public release of the Mueller report, some members of the Mueller investigation, who wished to speak anonymously, expressed concerns that Barr's summary letter did not accurately portray some of the findings of the investigation, casting Trump in a better light than was intended. After the report was publicly released, numerous legal analysts reached similar conclusions. The New York Times reported instances in which the Barr letter omitted information and quoted sentence fragments out of context in ways that significantly altered the Mueller findings, including:

• A sentence fragment described only one possible motive for Trump to obstruct justice, while the Mueller report listed other possible motives
• Omission of words and a full sentence that twice suggested there was knowing and complicit behavior between the Trump campaign and Russians that stopped short of coordination
• Omission of language that indicated Trump could be subject to indictment after leaving office, to suggest that Trump was cleared in full

False and misleading public statements by the Trump administration

Politifact published a list of eight notable public assertions Trump and his administration made that the Mueller report showed to be false or misleading:

• Mueller had conflicts of interest and was turned down to become FBI director
• Trump asserted he hadn’t thought about firing Mueller
• Press secretary Sarah Sanders asserted that Trump fired James Comey because "countless" FBI agents told her they had lost faith in him
• Sanders asserted that a DOJ internal review had prompted Comey's firing
• Sanders claimed Trump "certainly didn't dictate" a statement by Donald Trump Jr. regarding the Trump Tower meeting
• Trump asserted that the Steele dossier triggered the initial FBI investigation and the investigation "was a plan by those who lost the election"
• Trump's repeated assertions that he had no business involvement in Russia
• Trump claimed Comey sought a dinner with him when actually Trump invited Comey for dinner

Vox reported that the Mueller report showed Sanders and her predecessor Sean Spicer made false statements about the circumstances surrounding the firings of Comey and Michael Flynn.

The Mueller report showed that despite assertions by Hope Hicks and Jason Miller in September 2016 that Carter Page never had any involvement with the campaign, Page actually produced work for the campaign, traveled with Trump to a campaign speech and “Chief policy adviser Sam Clovis expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials."

Press coverage

The Associated Press and Slate observed that the Mueller report mostly corroborated press coverage of the investigation. Kyle Pope, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, remarked that "The media looks a lot stronger today than it did before the release of this report," asserting that the final report absolved the media of its coverage of the investigation, the fairness, accuracy, and objectivity of which was repeatedly derided by President Trump and his allies as "fake news".

Impact

Polling

A Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll conducted between the afternoon of April 18 and the morning of April 19 found that 37 percent of adults in the United States approved of Trump's performance in office, down from 40 percent in a similar poll conducted on April 15 and matching the lowest level of the year. That is also down from 43 percent in a poll conducted shortly after the Attorney General's summary was released. Among the respondents that said they were familiar with the Mueller report, 70 percent said the report had not changed their view of Trump or Russia's involvement in the U.S. presidential race and only 15 percent said they had learned something that changed their view of Trump or the Russia investigation.

External links

• Mueller Report, redacted version publicly released April 18, 2019:
  • Non-searchable versions (Justice.gov downloadable PDF); (NBC News downloadable PDF)
  • Searchable versions (New York Times online); (Scribd online)
• Letter from Attorney General William Barr to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees of the principal conclusions of the Mueller investigation (March 24, 2019)
• Official Website of the United States Department of Justice: Office of Special Counsel
• Litigation Documents Related to the Mueller Investigation via Lawfare