What we know up to here from the Mueller report

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Investigators examined about 10 episodes in which the president could have obstructed justice, but Mueller said he could reach a conclusion.

"The evidence we have obtained about the actions and intent of the president raises difficult issues that should be resolved if we make a traditional judgment of the prosecutor. At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly had not obstructed justice, we would say so. Based on the facts and applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach this judgment. As a result, although this report does not conclude that the President has committed a crime, he does not exonerate him either. "

Mr. Barr, however, chose to conclude that Mr. Mueller would not do so. "After careful consideration of the facts and legal theories set out in the report, and in consultation with the Office of the Legal Counsel and other departmental counsel, the Deputy Attorney General and I have concluded that the evidence developed by the Special advice was not enough to establish that President committed an offense of obstructing justice, "Barr said at a press conference before the report's release.

Mr. Barr stated that he "disagreed with some of the legal theories of special counsel" regarding obstruction, but that even accepting them found no basis for a criminal charge.

Among the incidents considered by the Special Council was Mr. Trump's decision to dismiss James B. Comey, FBI Commander. Director, in May 2017, and the President, a month later, attempted to fire his lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, to the White House, against Mr. Mueller.

He also reviewed the president's efforts to conceal the details of a Trump Tower meeting with the Russians during the elections and to pressure Jeff Sessions, then Attorney General, to reconsider his decision. to withdraw from the supervision of the investigation.

Mr. Barr stated that he would not object to Mr. Mueller testifying at Capitol Hill about his findings. "I have no objection to what Bob Mueller testifies," Barr said.

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The past two years have been filled with angry clashes, tantrums, threats of resignation and misrepresentations during Mr. Trump's reaction to the investigation.

After stating that Mr. Mueller's appointment would mean "the end of my presidency", Mr. Trump turned to Jeff Sessions and then the Attorney General, accusing him of being recused from do not supervise the investigation. "How did you let that happen, Jeff?" Asked he.

The tension between Mr. Trump and Mr. McGahn, then a White House lawyer, broke out several times. In June 2017, Mr. Trump called Mr. McGahn from Camp David twice and told him to fire Mr. Mueller for alleged conflicts of interest. Mr McGahn refused, saying that he did not want to repeat the "Saturday night massacre" when Richard M. Nixon ordered the removal of the Watergate prosecutors.

Mr. McGahn is prepared to submit his resignation. He called Reince Priebus, then chief of staff of the White House, and told him that the president had asked him to "bullshit". Finally, Mr. Trump retreated, but when the New York Times reported on the episode, he asked Mr. McGahn to publicly deny it, which he would not do.

Mr. Trump called Mr. McGahn a "liar bastard" and said that he did not refute the report, "I should maybe get rid of him". He did not fire Mr. McGahn, who left later. this year.

During his press conference on Thursday morning, Mr. Barr sometimes appeared to be a defense lawyer, not criticizing the president and offering a comprehensive interpretation of the acts that, according to his critics, constituted an obstruction of justice.

[[[[Read Mr. Barr's full remarks.]

In addressing the obstruction, Mr. Barr stated that the President had no corrupt intentions and that his actions considered a hindrance to investigation resulted from his frustration and anger "due to his sincere belief that the investigation was threatening his presidency, under the impetus of his political party. " opponents and fueled by illegal leaks. "

New York Democratic Party Representative Jerrold Nadler, who is chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday afternoon that Mueller's report made it clear that the president "has been obstructing justice and other acts "that required further consideration by Congress.

"It is now up to Congress to hold the President accountable," said Nadler.

The Judiciary Committee of the House is the traditional place of impeachment proceedings, and Mr. Nadler did not exclude them, although he stated that such discussions were premature. He has already opened his own investigation into a possible obstruction of justice, abuse of power and corruption.

Addressing reporters in New York, Nadler sharply criticized Barr and said, "We clearly can not believe what Attorney General Barr is telling us."

Senator Mark Warner, the Senate's largest Democrat Intelligence Committee, said that Barr had "fundamentally misinterpreted" Mueller's findings, adding that it was "essential that Congress hear directly from the Council." special".

Mr. Nadler stated that he would promptly issue a subpoena to compel the committee to submit the full report and the underlying evidence.

Mr. Barr stated that he had given Mr. Trump's lawyers access to the report in advance, which allowed them to prepare their defense.

"Earlier this week, the president's personal advocate asked for and was given the opportunity to read a final version of the redacted report before it was released," Barr said. "The president's personal attorneys were not allowed to do and did not ask for redactions."

Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump's personal attorney, said that he and three lawyers from the president's legal team had started reading the report Tuesday night in a secure room of the Ministry of Justice. Justice. "We could not take it out. We could not photograph him, "Giuliani said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, saying he and the other lawyers had read the report in their entirety and shared their thoughts.

[[[[Here's what you need to know about redactions and their meaning.]

Mr. Barr stated that he shared the relationship with Mr. Trump's personal attorneys in accordance with "the practice followed under the Government Ethics Act", allowing those named in a report to be read before it is published. However, this has not always been the practice. In 1998, independent lawyer Ken Starr refused to let President Bill Clinton or his lawyers read his report on the Monica Lewinsky case before sending it to Congress.

Barr stated that the White House had not claimed the privilege of leadership privilege for any information contained in the report.

At the press conference, Barr made sure to include Rod J. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, who had appointed Mr. Mueller for the first time. He also sent a letter to legislators stating that he would allow certain congressional leaders to consult a full version of the report – without redaction, with the exception of the grand jury information.

The other 12 referrals were redacted because they feared that, if the details were disclosed, they could undermine ongoing investigations.

The special council also transferred 11 cases to other federal prosecutors, including defendants awaiting trial or sentencing.

Mr. Barr largely contributed to the conclusion that Mr. Trump and the Trump campaign did not engage in illegal collusion – not with the Russian government that stole Democratic e-mails, but with WikiLeaks, which published them .

"The special council also investigated whether a member or member of the Trump campaign had encouraged or played a role in these dissemination efforts," he said. "Under the applicable law, the publication of this type of material would be criminal only if the publisher also participated in the underlying piracy plot. Here again, the special council's report did not reveal anyone illegally associated with the Trump campaign who illegally participated in the broadcast of the material.

In other words, since WikiLeaks did not participate in the underlying piracy of e-mails by Russia, its actions were not a crime. Thus, any collusion in the Trump campaign with WikiLeaks can not be an illegal conspiracy.

Mr Trump reacted to the report at a White House event for wounded soldiers, saying it had justified him.

"They have a good day," he said of the troops. "I'm having a good day too. This is called "no collusion, no obstruction". By the way, there has never been one and there will never be one.

"This should never happen again to another president, this hoax," he added.

Even before the report was released, Trump claimed victory and attacked the investigators and his detractors. He tweeted a photo resembling a "Game of Thrones" poster that was staring at him in a cloud, saying "No collusion. No obstruction. For enemies and radical left democrats: Game Over. "

The tweet was the latest of a barrage that the president posted early Thursday morning, well before the release of the report. He did not speak to reporters in the afternoon when he left the White House to travel to Mar-a-Lago, his club in Florida.

Vice President Mike Pence, perhaps the most loyal supporter of the president, said Mueller's report "confirms what the president and I have said since day one: there is no had collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and there has been no impediment to justice. "

Mr. Pence also said that the special advocate's investigation had "full cooperation" with the White House. But despite the special advocate's requests, Mr. Trump's lawyers would not let the president sit for an interview, fearing that he would make a false statement and expose himself to criminal charges. Instead, Mr. Trump provided written answers to the questions.

While attention was focused on the content of Mr. Mueller's report, many in Washington were also looking at what had been left out.

Mr. Barr did what he called "limited" editorials to the report, removing information that he felt was sensitive. More than a dozen pages have been fully written, or almost. The other pages had blackened sections of text, including whole paragraphs.

Most of the undisclosed information was in the first part of the report on Russia's interference in the 2016 elections and its interactions with the Trump campaign. The second part of the report, much less questioned, was whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice.

Mr. Barr elucidated sentences or sections that fell into four categories: testimony or testimony before a grand jury; classified information; information that could jeopardize further investigations; and details that could damage the reputation or encroach on the privacy of "third-party devices". The Attorney General used different colors in the report to identify deleted sections for the reasons indicated.

The phrase "prejudice to the current topic" appeared next to enough deleted items to quickly become his own message, thus inspiring the names of bar-gigs teams and punk groups. -rock imaginary.

Katie Benner, Nicholas Fandos, Michael S. Schmidt, Eileen Sullivan, Michael Tackett and Noah Weiland contributed to the reports.

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