Attorney General William Barr, joined by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on his left, who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller and had oversight of the investigation.
It’s officially official. Despite two years of relentless accusations that Donald Trump and others colluded with the Russians to sway the 2016 election, there is no evidence that happened. Likewise, there is no evidence that President Trump obstructed the investigation.
On Thursday morning, Attorney General Willam Barr gave a press conference on the forthcoming release of the full report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. This is a follow-up to his March 24th summary of the report in which he wrote there was no collusion, no obstruction.
The Mueller Report concludes:
1. Neither Trump or any other American colluded with Russia.
2. The Russian government sponsored efforts through social media and the GRU (Russian intelligence) to interfere. This is old information–these entities were found guilty and charged, but because there is no extradition treaty with Russia, the entities remain at large.
- No American assisted with those attempts.
- The GRU hacked into computers and stole documents and emails from Democrats and Hillary’s presidential campaign.
- The GRU leaked some of the materials through DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, and transferred some of the stolen materials to Wikileaks for publication.
- Wikileaks made a series of document dumps—which is not a crime unless the publisher, Julian Assange (see below) participated in hacking.
3. President Trump was frustrated and angered because he believed the investigation was undermining his presidency. Even so, the President did not have a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation.
- The Special Counsel investigated ten episodes involving the President and whether he obstructed the investigation.
- Barr and Deputy AG Rosenstein, who was in charge of the Special Counsel’s investigation–reviewed the facts and legal theories but concluded sufficient evidence had not been developed to establish an offense.
Barr summarized the obstruction allegation as follows:
“President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as President, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office, and the conduct of some of his associates.
At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the President’s personal culpability. Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. And as the Special Counsel’s report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks.
Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims.
And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation.”
4. A slightly redacted copy of the report has been released. A copy went to Congress, and after that, it was posted on the Department of Justice website.
- The redactions hide sources and methods used by intelligence agencies and the names of those under grand jury indictment.
- The President could have used executive privilege to redact (hide) certain portions of the report, but he chose not to in the interest of full transparency.
- President Trump’s personal lawyers read the final version of the redacted report according to law but did not make any redactions.
Why this Matters: Those opposed to the President have reacted in a predictable fashion. Because the report doesn’t contain what they hoped for, they are attacking Barr and calling him a partisan, and also insisting that Robert Mueller must testify before Congress because Barr’s report cannot be believed.
The Reactions
–Reporter to Barr – “Is it an impropriety for you to come out and sort of, what appears to be, sort of, spinning the report before the public gets a chance to read it?”
–Barr – “No.”
–CNN commentator Jeffrey Toobin on the press conference – “It was an extraordinary political commercial for the President.”…and “left out the most important thing that Mueller could have gotten, an interview with the President.”
–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – “Attorney General Barr’s partisan behavior has triggered a crisis of independence & impartiality.”
–Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA and presidential candidate) – “It’s a disgrace to see an Attorney General acting as if he’s the personal attorney and publicist for the President of the United States.”
–Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) – “The House Intelligence Committee has formally invited Special Counsel Mueller to testify on the counterintelligence investigation. After a two year investigation, the public deserves the facts, not Attorney General Barr’s political spin.”
And finally,
–President Trump – “I’m having a good day too. It’s called there was no collusion, no obstruction. This should never happen to another president again.”
The report concluded that Julian Assange got stolen documents from the Russians, even though he explicitly denied this during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. He said his source was not a “state actor.” Assange and WikiLeaks offered $20,000 for information on the July 2016 murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich, creating suspicion that Rich stole the data from the DNC and gave it to Wikileaks. Rich was a Bernie supporter and was said to be furious when Bernie lost the nomination to Hillary, even though he had more delegates.
The Mueller report states that Wikileaks was approached by DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0, both Russian personas, and they arranged to transfer the Clinton and DNC documents to Wikileaks.
How to Pray: Continue to ask God that all the evil will be exposed. Thank God that He promises many times to right the wrongs of those whose words and actions are twisted (froward) and morally tortuous.
Proverbs 2:11-14 – Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
Proverbs 2:21-22 – For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Praying Citizen 
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