TRUMP FREAKED
OH MY GOD, THIS IS TERRIBLE. THIS IS THE END OF MY PRESIDENCY
10 Episodes in which president may have obstructed justice were probed
Special Counsel Mueller took 17 months to investigate and complete the report
His 500 team spoke to witnesses and subpoenas issued 2,800
This is a hoax, it should never happen to another president again President Donald Trump
1.4M Pages of documents were examined
uS President Donald Trump reacted with dismay when told a special counsel had been appointed to look into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Mueller report published on Thursday.
Trump was informed on May 17, 2017, of the appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel by then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, the report said. “When Sessions told the president that a special counsel had been appointed, the president slumped back
in his chair and said, ‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m ..... ’” the report said, citing notes from the meeting. Trump then became angry at Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation because of his prior contacts with Russian officials, it said. “The president became angry and lambasted the attorney general for his decision to recuse from the investigation, stating, ‘How could you let this happen, Jeff?’” the report said.
“Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency,” Trump was quoted as saying. “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 added. —
washington — President Donald Trump, backed by his attorneygeneral, declared himself fully vindicated on Thursday in the investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion with his campaign — before the long-awaited full probe report was made public.
“Game Over,” Trump tweeted, using a “Game of Thrones” style montage that pictured him standing in dramatic fog.
Just about an hour later, the Justice Department released the full — though redacted — report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which nevertheless raised questions about Trump’s actions, saying investigators were “unable” to clear him of obstruction.
Weeks ago, Attorney-General Bill Barr said in a summary of the report that there was no collusion between Trump and Russians seeking to influence the 2016 presidential election in his favor.
In a nationally broadcast news conference held right before the report’s release, Barr repeatedly drove that point home.
“We now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign,” Barr told reporters, in a statement that effectively sought to spin the report before it was released. “The special counsel found no collusion by any Americans,” Barr said. “That is the bottom line.” The extreme secrecy surrounding Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation ended abruptly at about 11am when the 400-odd pages of the report were made public to Congress, the media and the public.
The report’s publication marks a new peak in a political storm raging over Washington throughout the first half of Trump’s first term in office.
While leftist opponents long hoped that Mueller would either charge Trump with crimes or provide evidence for impeachment, the outcome so far has favoured the divisive, right-wing Republican president.
“NO COLLUSION. NO OBSTRUCTION,” a triumphant Trump wrote in his “Game of Thrones” pastiche tweet.
Later, he said at the start of a speech: “I’m having a good day.”
Barr emphatically sought to clear Trump of allegations that his actions — including his public attacks on Mueller and firing of then FBI chief James Comey — were not legally actionable.
The Trump-appointed attorney general had already asserted this in his summary of Mueller’s report a month ago, despite noting that Mueller himself had been unable to rule clearly on the issue.
At his news conference, Barr said he was standing by his own ruling, noting that Trump had no intention to obstruct and had merely been “frustrated and angered.”
“The White House fully cooperated with the special counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims,” he said.
“And at the same time, the president took no act that in fact deprived the special counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation.”
But the report said: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.
“Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment.”
Publication of the reportwill in theory give everyone a chance to get the full picture on a scandal that has been tangled in conspiracy theories.
But given the volcanic political temperature in Washington and the left-right chasm through the rest of the country, the debate over what really happened is likely to rage on. —