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Donald J. Trump Twitter @realDonaldTrump

We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!

December 7, 2018

The Special Counsel counter report is an expected report to contest the findings of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, obstruction of justice, coordination between the Trump Campaign and Russia, legitimacy of the Special Counsel investigation due to alleged conflict of interests surrounding Mueller, among other things that is currently being developed by President Donald Trump's legal team. It was publicly acknowledged by President Trump via Twitter through a series of tweets on December 7, 2018. The current report according to President Trump and his legal team has already started and is 87 pages long. That same tweet, Trump criticized The Atlantic for promoting fake news in an article that detailed how the Trump Administration did not have a response to the Special Counsel's conclusions. Rudy Giuliani, one of the President's lawyers, has said that it has been difficult to find the time to create the counter report. It was initially reported back in July of this year that a counter report was being drafted. And the counter report was first acknowledged by Rudy Giuliani as early as August 18th, 2018 in a tweet.

Rudy Giuliani Twitter @RudyGiuliani

Time for Mueller investigation to file report. We will release ours. Don’t interfere with election like Comey. The President had nothing to do with Russians. He didn’t obstruct an investigation. 1.4 million documents and 32 witnesses no privilege raised.

August 18, 2018

Giuliani told The Daily Beast that the main portion of the counter report will be split into two sections. One section will explore the legitimacy of Mueller's investigation due to conflicts of interest among federal law enforcement entities. The next section will respond to the hefty allegations brought upon Trump, the Trump Campaign interacting with Russia, obstruction of justice, firing of James Comey, among other things. According to Giuliani back in August of 2018, the first section of the counter report was 58 pages long and the second section has not been finalized. The Special Counsel's report is expected to release in the coming months after a year and a half of investigating.

Trump has repeatedly accused the Mueller investigation of conflicts of interests and "wrongly destroyed[ing] people’s lives."

The counter report is reportedly being worked on by:

• Rudy Giuliani
• Jay Sekulow
• Marty Raskin (lawyer)
• Number of attorneys who work at the nonprofit legal group, American Center for Law & Justice, which Sekulow currently leads (though they as employees and it as in ACLJ are not involved in the production of the counter report)

See also

• Trump–Russia dossier
• Special Counsel investigation (2017–present)
• Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, a proposed law seeking to protect the investigation
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2017)
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2018)
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)

References

The final report details ten episodes where Trump 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 – 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 – "In the week leading up to Comey's May 3, 2017 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, the President told [Dan] 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 – 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 Dan 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 – 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."