REPORT, RETORTS
Responses spin after Mueller’s findings are released
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling produced a trove of new details describing a president and his associates on the cusp of violating the law in attempts to benefit from the Kremlin’s activities and in trying to thwart the inquiries that followed.
The Russian efforts were found to be wide-ranging, but “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian Government in its election interference activities,” Mueller wrote in his 448-page report revealed Thursday.
Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, noted the report “outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct.”
The president on Thursday declared the Mueller report a vindication, tweeting: “No collusion. No Obstruction. For the haters and the Radical Left Democrats – Game Over.”
WASHINGTON – Members of President Donald Trump’s campaign showed interest in benefiting from Russian government efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor, but investigators did not find evidence that their conduct amounted to a crime, special counsel Robert Mueller said in a longawaited report revealed Thursday.
The investigation that shadowed Trump’s presidency for two years produced a trove of new details that described a president and his associates on the cusp of violating the law in their attempts to benefit from the Kremlin’s activities and in trying to thwart the inquiries that followed. And in dramatic and profane language, the report showed Trump believed the probe would end his presidency.
Investigators found that some of Trump’s aides engaged in contacts with people linked to the Russian regime even as the Kremlin was carrying out a wide-ranging effort to intervene in the election using hacked documents and a phony social media campaign, carried out because the Russian government believed it would benefit from Trump winning the election.
“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 coorcampaign dinated with the Russian Government in its election interference activities,” Mueller’s report concluded.
The report also detailed steps by the president to quash the investigation that fell short of criminality in part because aides refused to carry out his orders. Mueller’s office did not conclude that Trump’s actions were illegal, but also pointedly refused to clear him of wrongdoing, saying, “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.”
In several cases, investigators found the president took steps that appeared aimed at impeding their inquiry, but failed because his aides “declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests.”
The startling portrait of the Trump showed his operatives had expressed interest in pursuing questionable contacts with Russians amid the heated 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton. At the same time, they failed to recognize that a deft intelligence operation directly tied to the Kremlin was actively manipulating the American electorate.
Those suspicious interactions were between Russian officials and Trump campaign associates, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, all of whom have been prosecuted.
Some of Trump’s aides then “lied” to the special counsel and Congress about their interactions. “Those lies materially impaired the investigation of Russian election interference,” the nearly 400page report stated.
In written responses to questions from prosecutors, Trump said more than 30 times that he did not “recall” or “remember” or have an “independent recollection” of events. Other answers, Mueller said, were “incomplete or imprecise.” Mueller expressed frustration with the president’s answers and considered whether to subpoena the president, but ultimately decided that he had enough evidence from other sources to determine the credibility of Trump’s responses.
Mueller ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support such a conspiracy, yet the report details such a range of interactions between Trump associates and Russia that even the special counsel’s exoneration may not be enough to dissolve the suspicion that has shadowed Trump administration since its first days.
“In sum, the investigation established multiple links between Trump campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government,” according to the report. “Those links included Russian offers of assistance to the campaign. In some instances, the campaign was receptive to the offer, while in other instances the campaign officials shied away.”
Of the 11 events that Mueller’s team examined into possible obstruction, perhaps the most explosive was Trump’s angry reaction to the appointment of Mueller to lead the inquiry and Trump’s efforts to pressure then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign or reverse his decision to recuse himself from managing the inquiry.
“Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m f-----,” Trump said when he learned that Mueller had been appointed to investigate his campaign, according to notes kept by Sessions’ chief of staff, Jody Hunt.