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The Mueller report is out

By Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner, Amanda Wills and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 7:55 PM ET, Thu April 18, 2019

44 Posts

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11:53 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Mueller referred 14 investigations to other offices

From CNN's Kara Scannell

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team referred 14 investigations to other US attorney's offices, including the prosecution of Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen and Greg Craig, the Skadden Arps attorney who was indicted for lying to DOJ about work he had done for the Ukraine Ministry of Justice.

The other 12 investigations are redacted.

About some of the investigations:

Michael Cohen: He was sentenced to three years in prison by a federal judge. Cohen pleaded guilty to evading taxes from his personal business ventures, violating campaign finance laws at the direction of candidate Donald Trump, and lying to Congress about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Russia during the campaign. Most of the charges were brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan after a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller.
Greg Craig: A prominent Democratic lawyer and former White House counsel in the Obama administration, Craig was indicted in a case that was referred to other prosecutors by special counsel Robert Mueller. He was charged with lying to the Justice Department and concealing information about work he performed for the Ukrainian government in 2012. Craig’s involvement in the Ukraine project was arranged by Paul Manafort, who later became Donald Trump's campaign chairman. Craig's lawyers called the indictment "unfair and misleading."

More on the other investigations into Trump's world:

11:24 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Special counsel declined to subpoena President because it would "delay" the investigation

From CNN's Erica Orden and Laura Jarrett

The special counsel believed it had the authority to subpoena President Trump, but decided against doing so because it would delay the investigation, according to the report. The prosecutors also believed they already had a substantial amount of evidence.

"We made the decision in view of the substantial delay that such an investigative step would likely produce at a late stage in our investigation" special counsel wrote in the report. "We had sufficient evidence to understand relevant events and to make certain assessments without the President's testimony."

The report also says that while the Office of Legal Council opinion concludes that a sitting president may not be prosecuted, "It recognizes that a criminal investigation during a President’s term is permissible."

The OLC opinion "also recognizes that a President does not have immunity after he leaves office," the report says.

11:21 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

What Mueller considered in the obstruction investigation

From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Laura Jarrett

In his evaluation of whether President Trump obstructed justice, special counsel Robert Mueller looked at a number of issues and areas involving the President and his aides focused on whether they were attempting to curtail the investigation.

Those areas include: The Trump campaign's response to reports about Russian support for Trump and conduct involving FBI Director James Comey and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Mueller’s report says that after the election, “the President expressed concerns to advisors that reports of Russia’s election interference might lead the public to question the legitimacy of his election.”

Other areas that Mueller probed: The President's reaction to the continuing Russia investigation; the firing of FBI director James Comey; the appointment of the Special Counsel and efforts to remove him; efforts to curtail the special counsel; efforts to prevent public disclosure of evidence; further efforts to have attorney general Jeff Sessions take control of investigation; efforts to have White House counsel Don McGahn deny that the President ordered him to have Mueller removed; conduct towards Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort; and conduct toward former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

11:22 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Trump's lawyers call the report a "total victory for the President"

From CNN's Pamela Brown

President Trump's lawyers just sent out a statement following following the release of the redacted version of Robert Mueller's report.

The described the investigation as a "total victory for the President."

"This vindication of the President is an important step forward for the country and a strong reminder that this type of abuse must never be permitted to occur again," they said.

Read the full statement:

"The results of the investigation are a total victory for the President. The report underscores what we have argued from the very beginning - there was no collusion - there was no obstruction. After a 17-month investigation, testimony from some 500 witnesses, the issuance of 2,800 subpoenas, the execution of nearly 500 search warrants, early morning raids, the examination of more than 1.4 million pages of documents, and the unprecedented cooperation of the President, it is clear there was no criminal wrongdoing. Nothing withheld; nothing concealed; nothing deleted; nothing destroyed; and nothing bleached. In addition to the report completely vindicating the President, both Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - working with the career professionals in the Office of Legal Counsel - concluded there was not a single instance in which the elements of any crime were met.
It is also clear that the President acted properly in firing now-disgraced, former FBI Director James Comey who lied and displayed disdain for the values at the core of the FBI. It is troubling that Comey - and top members of his team - launched a biased, political attack against the President - turning one of our foundational legal standards on its head. Instead of protecting the time-honored principle that the President - as with any American - is innocent until proven guilty, they clearly set up a scheme to derail the President - pushing a twisted narrative claiming he was guilty until proven innocent. The report itself is nothing more than an attempt to rehash old allegations, despite the fact that, as reiterated in the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General's recent report on the 2016 election 'neither the FBI nor Department prosecutors are permitted to insinuate or allege that an individual who has not been charged with a crime is nevertheless guilty of some wrongdoing.'
This vindication of the President is an important step forward for the country and a strong reminder that this type of abuse must never be permitted to occur again."

11:18 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Trump says he's having a good day as Mueller report drops

From CNN's Maegan Vazquez

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s having a good day, following Attorney General Bill Barr’s news conference ahead of the release of the Mueller report.

“They’re having a good day. I’m having a good day, too. It was called no collusion. No obstruction,” Trump said to cheers at a Wounded Warriors event at the White House.

He continued: "There never was by the way and there never will be. And we do have to get to the bottom of these things I will say. This should’ve never happened … I say this in front of my friends, this should never happen to another president again. This hoax — it should never happen again. Thank you."

11:15 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Redacted Mueller report has been delivered to members of Congress

From CNN's Manu Raju and Lauren Fox

The redacted version of the Robert Mueller report has been delivered to the House and Senate Judiciary committees on Capitol Hill.

11:09 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Mueller: Congress still has ability to find the President obstructed justice

In special counsel Robert Mueller's report, the team writes that:

"With respect to whether the President can be found to have obstructed justice by exercising his powers under Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice."

11:08 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Mueller describes a myriad of Trump associate contacts with Russians

From CNN's Marshall Cohen

In the portion of the report that focused on collusion, Mueller offered a big-picture overview of the myriad contacts between Trump associates and Russians that occurred in 2016.

"The Russian contacts consisted of business connections, offers of assistance to the campaign, invitations for candidate Trump and Putin to meet in person, invitations for campaign officials and representatives of the Russian government to meet, and policy positions seeking improved US-Russian relations," Mueller wrote in the report.

Many of these contacts are already known. At least 16 Trump associates had Russian contacts during the campaign or transition, according to public statements, court filings, and reports from CNN and others. Some of the Trump aides lied about these contacts and were charged with lying to investigators.

These contacts include the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, negotiations with a Russian company to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow, meetings with the Russian ambassador, and more.

11:10 a.m. ET, April 18, 2019

Special counsel: Trump campaign "expected" benefit from Russia's illegal actions

From CNN's Evan Perez and Katelyn Polantz

The special counsel's investigation into possible collusion found that members of the Trump campaign knew they would benefit from Russia's illegal actions to influence the election, but didn't take criminal steps to help, Robert Mueller's report said.

"Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in the election interference activities," the report said.

Mueller specifically said Trump's presidential campaign "showed interest" in WikiLeaks' releases of emails that the Russians stole from the Democrats to hurt his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Barr noted earlier Thursday that "publication of these types of materials would not be criminal unless the publisher also participated in the underlying hacking conspiracy."