Attorney General William Barr released his much-anticipated summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report today.
Here’s everything you need to know about the four-page letter:
The special counsel’s office deliberated at length with Department of Justice officials about issuing a subpoena for President Trump to be interviewed, but ultimately the decision was made not to move forward with such a significant investigative step, according to a source familiar with the matter.
For months, Robert Mueller’s team had requested a sit-down interview with Trump, but the President’s lawyers refused to commit, and negotiations continued. Eventually, last fall, the special counsel submitted written questions to the President concerning the time frame before 2016 election, which Trump answered in late November 2018.
The source said the sensitive discussions between DOJ officials and the special counsel team, and the determination that a subpoena would not be pursued, was based on the perception of the evidence and merits of the issues — separate and apart from the fact that current Justice Department policy dictates that a sitting President cannot be indicted.
While not directly addressing the issue of a presidential interview, Attorney General William Barr’s letter to Congress Sunday offers a further glimpse into how officials at the department didn’t believe they had a prosecutable case against Trump on collusion or on the question of obstruction of justice.
The special counsel’s office and the Justice Department declined to comment on internal discussions of a subpoena.
Why this matters: In the end, the decision to not make a formal request for a subpoena was critical because that demand — should it have been rejected — would have been communicated by the attorney general to Congress, as the special counsel regulations mandate. Instead, a formal request from Mueller wasn’t made, allowing the Barr to say in his letter to Congress Friday “there were no such instances during the Special Counsel investigation” where Mueller was turned down.
President Trump was in high spirits at his Mar-a-Lago Club this afternoon after his legal told him that the attorney general was set to release findings from the special counsel’s investigation, which said it did not find that his campaign colluded with Russia, sources tell CNN.
Trump spent the weekend expressing cautious optimism while surrounded by his attorneys and had tweeted only twice, but privately was telling people he did not know what Bill Barr’s next move was.
Then Barr’s chief of staff phoned lawyer Emmet Flood to provide a readout of the report. The mood at Mar-a-Lago improved immediately.
“It was a complete and total exoneration,” Trump told reporters before heading back to Washington. “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. It’s a shame that your President has had to go through this.”
People close to the President say he has remained fixated on one thing in the last several weeks — that he and his allies were harassed by investigators and that this should not happen to another President. These people believe that Trump could potentially push for an investigation into how the Russia investigation began now that it has ended.
“It began illegally and hopefully somebody’s going to look at the other side,” Trump said Sunday.
The mood on Air Force One back to Washington was jovial, one person told CNN.
But not everyone is celebrating: Trump’s associates who were ensnared in the investigation fumed Sunday as they reflected on how much they spent on legal fees for the investigation, two people tell CNN. Several current and former Trump officials from his campaign and administration retained personal lawyers to help them respond to questions throughout the investigation.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just tweeted that “the President and his millions of supporters have been completely vindicated” following Attorney General William Barr’s findings on the special counsel report.
One thing to note: Robert Mueller’s report has not been released to Congress. Barr has only released a letter with his main conclusions from the report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said William Barr’s letter “raises as many questions as it answers.”
The Democratic leaders said Congress needs “the full report and the underlying documents so that the Committees can proceed with their independent work.”
Here’s the full statement:
Former FBI director James Comey just tweeted this:
Why Comey matters: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation began after President Trump’s sudden decision to dismiss Comey in May 2017.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called for the full release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Here’s what Hoyer said in a statement:
He went on to say, “Congress must remain a bulwark of justice and the rule of law, and House Democrats will do our part to ensure that it performs its duties faithfully under our Constitution.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just issued a statement regarding Attorney William Barr’s findings on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, calling Russia’s efforts to interfere in US democracy “dangerous and disturbing.”
McConnell acknowledged that Mueller’s findings also concluded that the Trump campaign did not coordinate with Russia to interfere in the 2016 elections. He added that he was looking forward to reviewing more information from Mueller’s report.
Read his statement:
A senior Trump campaign official calls Attorney General William Barr’s summary of special counsel Robert Mueller report “total vindication.”
The senior official went on to say, “No collusion, no obstruction, and despite the past two years… being filled with people screaming to the high heavens… it’s the same as it was on day one: no collusion.”
The official suggested that the news could help persuade moderate voters who may have been undecided on Trump.
The official also pointed to the many Democratic lawmakers who said there was collusion, perhaps previewing a future talking point: “What kind of credibility do they have left?” they asked.
The process of determining what else can be released from special counsel Report Mueller’s report and scrubbing it of grand jury material, among other things, “has begun,” according to a Justice Department official.
There’s a small team working on it, and no firm timeline for release.
Attorney General William Barr sent a letter with his findings on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report earlier today.
He spent the entire weekend at the Department of Justice after receiving the report on Friday.
In a June 2018 memo, William Barr reached a decisive and controversial conclusion that Trump’s interactions with ex-FBI Director James Comey would not constitute obstruction of justice. A copy of that memo was released to senior Justice officials in December.
Barr had not yet been confirmed as attorney general at the time of the memo release. He discussed the memo with Trump and told him it would likely come up during his Senate confirmation, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Barr has not shied away from defending Trump’s firing of Comey, but the June 8 memo offers a detailed analysis of one of the most consequential episodes of Trump’s presidency, concluding that while he’s “in the dark about many facts,” Robert Mueller’s obstruction inquiry was “fatally misconceived.”
Barr added that Trump asking Comey to let go of the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and later firing Comey were within his powers as head of the executive branch.
Rep. David Cicilline, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, insisted that special counsel Robert Mueller did not exonerate President Trump.
In a statement, the Democratic lawmaker said Attorney General William Barr needs to provide Congress with evidence showing that.
President Trump, speaking in Florida after Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Robert Mueller’s report, said it is “a shame” that the US “had to go through this.”
President Trump spoke to reporters for the first time since Attorney General William Barr’s letter, saying, “it was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided the evidence was “not sufficient” to support a prosecution of the President for obstruction of justice.
Watch Trump’s full statement:
President Trump just tweeted this:
Remember: Attorney General William Barr’s chief of staff called White House lawyer Emmet Flood this afternoon to give him a “read out” directly from this four-page summary — but that’s the extent of the conversations between the White House and Department of Justice, according to a Justice official.
President Trump’s motorcade is headed to the airport right now.
Jay Sekulow, an attorney for President Trump, said the President’s legal team is happy with Attorney General William Barr’s letter.
President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer he thinks special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, based on Attorney General William Barr’s findings, exonerated the President.
Special counsel Robert Mueller did not make the decision himself on whether to prosecute President Trump on obstruction, the attorney general wrote. Instead, Mueller left it up to Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Barr and Rosenstein did not find they could bring a criminal case with proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump’s actions obstructed a specific proceeding.
Barr notes the “absence of such evidence” related to crimes around the Russian election interference, weighed on his decision regarding obstruction.
Barr explains in the letter that Mueller’s investigation into obstruction of justice found the President’s actions were not “done with corrupt intent.”
