Yeah, yeah, we know. It seems like the type of thing we’d draw coming out of Donald Trump‘s mouth.
But according to the Mueller Report, which was finally released on Thursday, this is really what the President of the United States said.
When he found out Robert Mueller had been appointed to investigate Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and any obstruction of justice committed to cover it up, Trump reportedly “slumped back in his chair” and said:
“‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m f**ked.'”
As it turns out the report hasn’t ended his presidency.
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But it doesn’t exonerate him either. If anything, it paints a portrait of a disgustingly corrupt leader — whose inability to get things done is the only thing saving him.
And isn’t that a summary of the entire Trump presidency?
Here are the biggest reveals from the Mueller Report:
Contents [hide]
Evidence Of Conspiracy?
It may not amount to a charge of criminal conspiracy — but it also isn’t a “hoax” as Trump has tried to convince America.
No one really thought Trump and his team signed a piece of paper saying “Let’s Crime” with Vladimir Putin. So the report saying it “did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government” is not all that surprising.
The report does NOT say it found no evidence of conspiracy, however. It says there was insufficient evidence to take to trial and prove “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
That is NOT clearing someone.
The report does spells out the quid pro quo going on between the two:
“T]he investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome…”
The Russians interfered on behalf of Trump.
Their months long cyber campaign was an effort to GET TRUMP ELECTED.
It has been a point argued against rather weakly by Trump supporters for months, after every intelligence agency in the U.S. and our ally countries confirmed Russia did everything they could to interfere, that maybe they weren’t doing it with a Pro-Trump lean.
That obviously made no sense, and now it’s spelled out.
But the second part is even bigger. The report points out Team Trump KNEW Russia was on their side!
“…the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”
Yeah.
The campaign that changed the Republican platform to be more pro-Russia, led by a man who hid his $100 million project in Moscow, was well aware Russia was helping them.
So every time they’ve said otherwise has been a total lie!
The report also made a point of stating it identified “numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign” and then pointing them out for OVER 100 PAGES.
And while there apparently isn’t enough proof (“beyond a reasonable doubt” as the report puts it) the campaign worked directly with Russia on committing crimes, we do know this…
Trump asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton‘s emails on TV (and they did indeed hack the DNC looking for that exact info just FIVE HOURS later).
And NOW we know Trump then ordered Michael Flynn to acquire those hacked emails.
This was at the time Trump’s sanctions relief plans would save Russia trillions of dollars, giving Putin plenty of reasons to do what Trump asked. Like we said, quid pro quo.
But the report says the standard it used for “coordination” required agreement between the parties, not simply “taking actions that were informed by or responsive to the other’s actions or interests.”
That’s how they arrived at the determination they did not reach the standard to prove conspiracy.
The Pee Tape
Was there a pee tape or not?
As you probably know, the Steele Dossier was a bunch of information compiled by a British spy, initially hired as part of another Republican’s opposition research on Trump.
The most lurid aspect of the Dossier was the inclusion of a rumor Russia had kompromat on Trump — in the form of a tape of him watching as prostitutes urinated on one another in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.
Here’s the thing: the pee tape might not be real — but we now know the rumor reported in the dossier DEFINITELY was.
The Mueller Report states Giorgi Rtskhiladze, a Russian businessman working on the Trump Tower Moscow project, sent a text to Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, saying:
“Stopped flow of tapes from Russia but not sure if there’s anything else. Just so you know…”
Damn! He really used the word “flow”??
Rtskhiladze told Mueller “tapes” did indeed refer to the pee tape being held by someone who had helped arrange the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.
Cohen confirmed he spoke to Trump about this. Separately, Rtskhiladze revealed he’d heard the tapes were fake, “but he did not communicate that to Cohen.”
So it sounds like the pee tape was a hoax… but not one created by “angry Democrats” out to get Trump.
No, it sounds like it was a fiction created by Russians trying to get leverage over him.
https://giphy.com/gifs/justin-kids-in-the-hall-brain-candy-urine-xT0BKviv2VgrRE7H7W
Obstruction Like A MoFo
Attorney General William Barr made it sound a couple weeks ago like Mueller couldn’t make up his mind on obstruction. That isn’t true.
Not only does the report specifically say it “does not exonerate” Trump, it states that AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK:
“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.
In other words, Trump is not not guilty.
The report then details TONS of efforts by the president to obstruct the investigation.
A lot of obstruction worked.
The office says it missed a lot of information due to Trump acolytes lying, pleading the Fifth despite not having the grounds to do so, and even DESTROYING EVIDENCE!
And of course there was when Trump dictated the statement his son later put out about his big June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer, saying it was all about adoptions.
(BTW Mueller chose not to indict Donald Trump Jr. because he didn’t think he could prove the moron “willfully” broke the law. The ignorance defense? Really?)
One of the most important statements about obstruction?
According to the Mueller Report, it was Trump’s intent to commit WAY more — but people kept telling him NO:
“The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests.”
For instance the Office cites an incident in which Trump ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to have Mueller fired, saying he “had conflicts of interest and must be removed.”
McGahn refused, saying he would “rather resign than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre,” the dark mark on the presidency in which Richard Nixon ordered the firing of the special prosecutor investigating Watergate.
Wow. These people may have actually saved him from himself. Well, for now…
Congress Needs To Impeach
If you remember nothing else from the Mueller Report, take away this:
Robert Mueller does not say Trump didn’t commit a crime. He says over and over again he committed the crime of obstructing justice.
As to why an innocent person would try to block an investigation, well, we’ll leave that to you.
But what Mueller says is he’s not indicting because of DOJ policy.
He does however, say:
“The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the President’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”
Hint, hint, Congress.
In other words, we aren’t able to indict because that’s the job of Congress when it comes to the President.
And Congress. Needs. To. Impeach.
It even mentions even the President must answer for “bribing a witness or suborning perjury” as those are NOT executive powers and says when it comes to those powers:
“…we concluded that Congress has authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice. Under applicable Supreme Court precedent, the Constitution does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice through the use of his Article II powers.”
That’s a lot of specificity for not having reached a conclusion on obstruction of justice.
“No person is above the law.”
Could it be any clearer than that??
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Is A Big Damn Liar. Officially.
OK, this is just the cherry on top.
We obviously all know Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a liar.
And that she uses the ashes of the truth for her smoky eye or whatever.
But apparently she had to admit she was full of BS directly to Mueller’s office!
How amazing…
After Trump fired FBI director James Comey, the obstruction-tastic action that got Mueller appointed in the first place, Sanders came out in a press conference claiming “countless members of the FBI” had told the White House they weren’t happy with Comey.
She told Mueller that was completely untrue — but that it had been a “slip of the tongue.”
Um, one wrong word is a slip of the tongue. This is what’s called a LIE.
Hilariously, Sanders REPEATED her supposed slip in a separate press interview later. She admitted to Mueller’s team that comment “was not founded on anything.”
“Was not founded on anything” should be engraved on Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ tombstone.
We’re sure more will come out. The report is over 400 pages after all. But for now that’s what stands out to us.
[Image via BBC One/WENN.]
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