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Mueller Report Shows No Trump-Russia Conspiracy But Leaves Open Question of Obstruction

HeadlineApr 19, 2019

The Justice Department has released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report detailing Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia and President Trump’s attempts to impede the special counsel’s investigation. The 448-page document states Trump’s campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts,” but concluded, “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” The report reveals that when President Trump was first told of the special counsel’s investigation, he slumped back into his chair, proclaiming, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.” On Thursday, Trump responded to the report’s release.

President Donald Trump: “I’m having a good day, too. It was called no collusion, no obstruction.”

Mueller’s report outlined at least 10 instances where Trump tried to impede the special counsel’s investigation, but came to no definitive conclusion on whether Trump broke the law by obstructing justice. In the report, Mueller suggests that this is a decision for Congress. That contradicts the conclusion by Trump’s hand-picked attorney general, William Barr, who said Trump did not obstruct justice. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler said he’d ask Robert Mueller to appear before Congress “as soon as possible.”

Rep. Jerrold Nadler: “I have formally requested that special counsel Mueller testify before the House Judiciary Committee as soon as possible, so we can get some answers to these critical questions, because we clearly can’t believe what Attorney General Barr tells us.”

Some lawmakers said the report offers a road map to Trump’s impeachment. Freshman Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Mueller’s report is clear in pointing to Congress’ responsibility in investigating obstruction of justice by the President. It is our job as outlined in Article 1, Sec 2, Clause 5 of the US Constitution. As such, I’ll be signing onto @RashidaTlaib’s impeachment resolution.” After headlines, we’ll spend the rest of the hour discussing the Mueller report and its implications with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists David Cay Johnston and Glenn Greenwald.

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