Tag: Mueller Report

Trump says he was not warned about Flynn. The Mueller report disagrees.

“It now seems the General Flynn was under investigation long before was common knowledge. It would have been impossible for me to know this but, if that was the case, and with me being one of two people who would become president, why was I not told so that I could make a change?”

— President Trump, in a tweet, May 17, 2019

The president tweeted that he did not realize Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser, had been under investigation on suspicion of being a Russian agent and that he should have been warned.

This is a puzzling complaint. First, a report issued by a Republican-led House committee — often touted by Trump — disclosed in 2018 that there had been an ongoing counterintelligence investigation of Flynn. So that’s not new information. Second, Trump was warned by President Barack Obama not to hire Flynn — and the report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III says that warning actually soured Trump on Flynn.

Here’s what we know about the warnings Trump received about Flynn. In a narrow, technical sense, Trump was not warned that Flynn was being investigated as a possible Russian agent. But there were plenty of other flashing lights that Flynn was trouble — warnings that Trump chose to ignore.

View the complete May 20 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

Mueller mystery: Will he ever testify to Congress?

Democrats are trying to solve a mystery in Washington: Will Robert Mueller ever testify before Congress?

Weeks ago, it seemed all but certain that the special counsel would head to Capitol Hill in May to answer questions about his eponymous 448-page report on Russia’s election interference and potential obstruction of justice by President Trump.

Now, some frustrated Democrats say his testimony could slip into June, while others are beginning to doubt he’ll ever show, saying Mueller has no desire to become a political pawn in an ugly, partisan fight that’s become a proxy battle for the 2020 presidential race. 

View the complete May 18 article by Scott Wong and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

McGahn refused request by White House to say Trump did not obstruct justice after Mueller report’s release

President Trump sought to have former White House counsel Donald McGahn issue a public statement last month that he did not believe the president had engaged in criminal conduct when he sought to exert control over the Russia investigation — a request McGahn declined, according to people familiar with the episode.

McGahn had told the special counsel’s office that he did not think Trump’s actions rose to the level of obstruction of justice, two people familiar with his interviews said.

But Mueller’s report concluded that there was substantial evidence the president had engaged in obstruction of justice when he pushed McGahn to help oust special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. McGahn’s view was not disclosed in the report.

View the complete May 10 article by Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Nadler says Mueller will not testify next week

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y) said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller will not be testifying before his panel next week.

Nadler told reporters that the committee is still negotiating over his testimony with the Justice Department and Mueller but expects the special counsel to appear.

“It won’t be next week. We’re negotiating now,” Nadler said. “We’re talking with him and the Justice Department.”

View the complete May 10 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Trump declares executive privilege over Mueller report

The White House on Wednesday asserted executive privilege over special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, ramping up its clash with Congress over its investigations into President Trump.

The move came just before the House Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over Mueller’s unredacted report and underlying materials, which the panel had subpoenaed.Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in a letter to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), that the administration was following through on its threat to assert privilege if the panel refused to delay the contempt vote, saying lawmakers effectively “terminated” negotiations over access to Mueller’s report and underlying evidence.

View the complete May 8 article by Morgan Chalfant and Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Legal Expert: Barr Made A ‘Serious Error’ In Defense Of Trump

President Donald Trump has repeatedly described special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report for the Russia investigation as a total vindication of him, insisting that Mueller ruled out the possibility of obstruction of justice. But Mueller never ruled out that possibility; he simply didn’t reach a conclusion on the matter. And Rebecca Roiphe, a New York Law School professor and former Manhattan prosecutor, explains why Mueller was right to do what he did — and why Attorney General William Barr’s response to Mueller’s report is deeply problematic.

Mueller, Roiphe notes inThe Daily Beast, has allowed for Congress to evaluate the obstruction matter — which was exactly what he should have done.

“To be sure, by handing over the lightly redacted results of Mueller’s investigation to Congress, Barr served the purpose of the Constitution and special counsel regulations,” Roiphe observes. “But by making his own call on criminal obstruction, Barr made a serious error.”

View the completeMay 7 article by Alex Henderson of AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

Poll: Little support for Barr’s handling of Mueller report

Amid Attorney General William Barr’s escalating clash with Congress, a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows few voters are praising him for how he has handled the release of the Mueller report.

But while many voters disapprove of Barr’s handling of the report, there’s little sign of the kind of widespread antipathy that would lend public support to congressional Democrats who are considering holding the attorney general in contempt for not providing information and testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.

View the complete May 8 article by Steven Shepard on the Politico website here.

Democrats schedule contempt markup for Barr over Mueller report

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Monday took their first formal step toward holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, deepening a feud over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The committee scheduled a markup of a contempt citation for Barr over his refusal to provide Mueller’s full report to Congress for this Wednesday morning, setting up an explosive week on Capitol Hill.

The markup, slated for Wednesday at 10 a.m., comes after Democrats gave the Justice Department a deadline of 9 a.m. Monday to provide the report as well as the underlying evidence.

View the complete May 6 article by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

‘Investigate the investigators’ is new Trump rallying cry to counter Mueller report

For President Trump’s reelection effort, “Investigate the investigators!” is becoming the new “Lock her up!”

Trump and his allies, seeking to amplify claims that the FBI spied on his 2016 campaign, are seizing on news reports and statements by Attorney General William P. Barr to launch a political rallying cry they view as an antidote to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings.

Dismissed by critics as an outlandish conspiracy theory, so-called “spygate” is fast becoming a central feature of the Trump campaign as it seeks to go on offense in the wake of a report that identified 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump. The campaign is publicly calling for criminal investigations into former FBI officials, making “spygate” fundraising pitches and selling spy-themed merchandise. The goal, officials said, is to turn the Russia probe into a political winner that could help him secure another term.

View the complete May 4 article by Toluse Olorunnipa on The Washington Post website here.

Mueller fallout deepens Senate tensions

The fallout from special counsel Robert Mueller‘s probe is deepening fracture lines in the Senate.

Tensions spiked during the Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Attorney General William Barr, marking the latest point of frustration on the high-profile panel.

Republicans accused Democrats of giving Trump’s AG the “Kavanaugh treatment,” while Democrats returned fire by suggesting the GOP was chasing conspiracy theories with its plan to probe “spying” and the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

View the complete May 3 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.