Donald Trump’s hand-picked attorney general, William Barr, gave a press conference this morning ahead of the release of a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election. However, you may just want to read the whole thing for yourself (which you can do online, right here), after Barr’s admission that he disagreed with Mueller’s theories on Donald Trump’s obstruction of justice.
(Oh, and here’s a better version in that it’s searchable.)
What exactly was he disagreeing with there, considering that Mueller left any conclusion on obstruction out of his report—not concluding Trump did obstruct, but specifically noting that he could not clear Trump of obstruction and, apparently, suggesting that Congress might want to make that determination themselves:
BREAKING: Mueller said he lacked confidence to clear Donald Trump of obstruction of justice but suggested Congress could take action on at least 10 instances where the president sought to interfere with the probe.
— Mike Dorning (@MikeDorning) April 18, 2019
BIG: Mueller and his team concluded that Congress has authority to police obstruction of justice.
MUELLER: “[W]e concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 18, 2019
To that end, this seems relevant:
Mueller: “The President’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.” pic.twitter.com/WuNgnU0U9r
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) April 18, 2019
As does this:
Barr used the last sentence of this paragraph in his summary of the Mueller report. The preceding sentences cast it in a … somewhat different light. (Vol. 2, pg. 182) pic.twitter.com/JD4S05Irhb
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2019
… And this:
Again, this is an impeachment referral. pic.twitter.com/Zk6gydcf0k
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 18, 2019
And let’s not forget that, by the point this next excerpt happened, Donald Trump knew very well that Russia was trying to help him win the election as he publicly asked their government to provide help that it then tried to provide:
“Within approximately five hours of Trump’s statement”
Wow pic.twitter.com/V5urFrFvIW
— Roberto Ferdman (@robferdman) April 18, 2019
Oh god, I can’t look away.
I mean, come *on*. https://t.co/pL6ip77kTH
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 18, 2019
Jesus! Mueller: “Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota” were discussed between Manafort and GRU operative Kilimnik. pic.twitter.com/yfkEzYt6ZV
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) April 18, 2019
This version of the report is redacted partially because some of it has to do with legal matters that are still ongoing. Barr said it would be only lightly redacted:
“Lightly redacted” https://t.co/hzUlxDaHDr
— Geek “I have nothing to prove to you.”Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) April 18, 2019
The full report is over 400 pages long, though, so it’s unlikely most of us will ever read it in its entirety, but it’s likely to be an interesting few days as individual aspects of the report are discussed in the news. Donald Trump, of course, has already claimed that this all exonerates him, with a Game of Thrones-themed image on Twitter, despite that HBO hasn’t been thrilled with his affinity for one of their most famous shows in the past.
Importantly, though, this isn’t over yet:
The Special Counsel found evidence of crimes outside its scope and made 14 criminal referrals to other jurisdictions. Only 2 of them are known to date. https://t.co/PC77N5sPaL
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) April 18, 2019
(image: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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