Obstruction of justice: Ten times Trump could obstruct justice, according to the Mueller report

Although the report of the special advocate on the interference of Russia does not indicate whether President Trump prevented justice from obstructing, the team of Robert Mueller examined 10 " isolated acts "in which he could have done so.

The report said that these 10 cases can be divided into "two phases, reflecting a possible change in the motivations of the president". The first phase took place before Mr. Trump fired his first FBI director, James Comey, after being reassured that he was not being investigated personally. After the dismissal of Comey and the appointment of Mueller as a special advocate, says the report, the president knew that he was now under investigation for possibly obstructing the smooth operation of Justice.

"At that time, the president began a second phase of conduct, consisting of public attacks on the investigation, non-public efforts to control it, and public and private efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation, "says the report. States.

According to the Mueller report, here are 10 times that Mr. Trump could have obstructed justice.

"Campaign response to information on Russian support for Trump"

The first case of possible obstruction detailed in the report occurred during the 2016 campaign, while questions "arose for the first time about the apparent support of the Russian government to the Trump candidate".

The report said that even though Mr Trump was publicly skeptical, Russia had published e-mails from Democratic leaders, but he and his collaborators were also seeking information on "any new Wikileaks publication". The report also notes that despite Mr. Trump's insistence that he had no commercial ties with Russia, his company of the same name was trying to build a Trump tower in Moscow. And once the elections are over, Mr Trump "has told his advisers of the worry that reports of Russia's interference in the elections could lead the public to question the legitimacy of his election. ".

"Conduct involving FBI director Comey and Michael Flynn"

The second case concerns Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who stepped down from the administration a few weeks after taking office after misleading FBI agents and senior officials. Administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn had stated that he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, a lie that Pence and others then rehearsed.

The day Mr. Trump learned that Flynn had lied to Pence and the FBI, he dined with Comey, whom he had asked for "loyalty." Mr. Trump then resigned from Flynn on February 13, 2017. "Now that we have fired Flynn, the situation in Russia is over," he told an external advisor, who was not disappointed. With the President's assessment.

On the same day, Mr. Trump had another meeting with Comey and encouraged him to stop investigating Flynn. "I hope you see clearly how you let this go, let Flynn go, he's a good man, I hope you can let that happen," Trump said. .

The President then asked Deputy Assistant National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland must write an internal memo "stating that the president had not asked Flynn to discuss sanctions with Kislyak." McFarland refused because she did not know if that was true and a lawyer at the office of a lawyer The White House thought the request would look like a request for an ambassador 's post, it had been offered.

"The reaction of the president to the continuation of the investigation on Russia"

The third case involved then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who discussed the opportunity to recuse the investigation of Russia in February 2017, as well as Comey. Mr. Trump asked White House lawyer Don McGahn to dismiss the sessions and became angry when the sessions announced that he would recuse himself on March 2nd. The president then asked Sessions to "abstain".

After Comey testified before Congress that there had been an FBI investigation into Russia's interferences during the 2016 election, Mr. Trump contacted his CIA and NSA directors. to help "dispel the suggestion that the president would have any connection with the Russian effort of interference in the elections." Comey had told Mr. Trump that he was not under investigation and, against McGahn's advice, the President had twice called the FBI director to ask him to say so publicly.

"The termination of Comey by the president"

The fourth case arises from Trump's decision to remove Comey, which led directly to the appointment of Mueller. Mr. Trump decided to dismiss Comey in May 2017, days after the FBI director refused to tell Congress that Mr. Trump was not under investigation.

After Mr. Trump dismissed Comey, the White House insisted that he had done so on the recommendation of the Department of Justice. In reality, Mr. Trump had not consulted the Department of Justice before deciding to dismiss Comey.

In the ensuing conversations, Trump said that the investigation into Russia was the real reason he had let Comey go: "The day after the dismissal of Comey, the president told Russian officials that He had "been under heavy pressure because of Russia", which had been The next day the president recognized in a TV interview that he was going to send back Comey regardless of the recommendation of the Ministry of the Justice and that, when he "had decided to do it", he thought that The thing with Trump and Russia is an invented story. "

"The appointment of a special advocate and efforts to send him back"

The fifth instance concerns Mr. Trump's reaction to Mueller's appointment. After hearing that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had instructed Mueller to investigate the case of Russia in May 2017, the President said privately that it was "the end of his presidency . " Mr. Trump then demanded the resignation of Sessions, although he did not accept it at the time, and told Mr. Mueller that conflicts of interest must be resolved. 39, to prevent acting as a special counsel.

In June, it was reported that Mueller was investigating Mr. Trump for obstruction of justice, prompting the president to publicly attack Mueller and the Justice Department. A few days after the first report, he told McGahn to tell Rosenstein that Mueller had conflicts of interest and had to be removed.

McGahn ignored the request, explaining that he would prefer to resign.

"Efforts to prevent public disclosure of evidence"

The sixth case arises from the June 2016 meeting between key campaigners and "a Russian lawyer who allegedly provided detrimental information about Hillary Clinton as" part of Russia and his government's support of Mr. Trump " ".

Mr. Trump told his associates "not to publicly disclose e-mails preparing the June 9th meeting, suggesting that the e-mail would not leak and that the number of lawyers with access to these e-mails should be limited". Donald Trump Jr., who attended the Trump Tower meeting, wrote a press release in which it was written that "the meeting was held with" a person who [Trump Jr.] It was said that information could be useful to the campaign "" – a line that was deleted about the president.

Mr. Trump's personal attorney then denied to reporters that the president had "played a role" in Trump Jr.'s statement.

"New efforts for the Attorney General to take control of the investigation"

The seventh example concerns Mr. Trump's repeated attempts to ensure that the sessions "reverse his challenge". Mr. Trump asked Sessions to do it in the summer of 2017. The following December, Mr. Trump told Sessions that he would be a "hero" when he took control of l & # 39; investigation.

In addition, in October 2017, the President asked the sessions to "take [a] watch "to investigate Hillary Clinton.

"Efforts to get McGahn to deny that the President ordered him to remove the special council"

The eighth instance concerns Mr. Trump's efforts to convince McGahn to challenge press reports that the President has asked him to try to get rid of Mueller. In early 2018, Mr. Trump asked White House officials to ask McGahn to refute these stories, but McGahn told officials that these stories were true. Mr. Trump then personally appealed to McGahn, asking him at an oval office meeting to deny reports.

"At the same meeting, the president also asked Mr. McGahn why he had informed the special advocate of the president's efforts to dismiss him and why McGahn had taken note of his conversations with the president," he said. indicates the report. "McGahn refused to back down from what he remembered and found that the president was putting all his courage to the test."

"Driving towards Flynn, Manafort, [Redacted]"

The ninth instance arises from Mr. Trump 's response to the lawsuits against Flynn and Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, as well as an individual whose identity has been redacted.

"After Flynn withdrew from a joint defense agreement with the president and began cooperating with the government, the president's personal attorney left a message to Flynn's lawyers reminding them of the warm feelings of the president. President in regards to Flynn, which he says "still subsist" and ask for a "heads-up" if Flynn knew & # 39;information that involves the president, "says the report.

"When Flynn 's lawyer reiterated that Flynn could no longer share information under a joint defense agreement, the president' s personal attorney said that he would be watching over it. that the president knows that his actions reflect "hostility" towards him. "

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump congratulated Manafort on "his prosecution and when the jury of his criminal trial deliberated". At one point, he congratulated Manafort as a "brave man" who refused to "break".

"Conduct involving Michael Cohen"

The tenth and final instance of potential obstruction concerns Mr Trump 's behavior with respect to Michael Cohen, his former personal solicitor. Mr. Trump complimented Cohen extensively when he remained loyal to the administration, personally urging him to "stay strong," only to viciously criticize him when he began co-operating with the government. .

"After the FBI searched Cohen's home and office in April 2018, the president publicly stated that Cohen would not" rock "," would contact him directly to tell him to "stay strong" and send him messages of support. in private, "says the report.

Cohen also discussed the pardon with the president's personal council and felt that if he stayed on the message he would be taken care of.But after Cohen started cooperating with the government in the summer In 2018, the president criticized him publicly and called him "a rat," and suggested that members of his family had committed crimes.