![]() ![]() The investigation established multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government. ![]() The project ultimately did not come to fruition.Īmong the most notable early contacts with the Russians was through the Trump campaign’s foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, who learned that the Kremlin had “dirt” on Clinton “in the form of thousands of emails”.Īlthough Mueller did not prove that the contacts resulted in collusion, the report states that the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts”. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen was convicted in part for lying to Congress about the timeline and nature of those discussions, which reportedly entailed gifting Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, a $50m penthouse. Some of the earliest contacts dated back to 2015 and were in connection to a potential real estate project, known as Trump Tower Moscow and negotiated by the Trump Organization. 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 U.S.-Russian relations. Investigators found multiple ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians, which were described as follows: “The investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome.” It also notes that Russia was keen for Trump to win the 2016 election, beating Hillary Clinton. Trump campaign was ‘receptive’ to help from the RussiansĪlthough Mueller did not find evidence amounting to a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow, the report makes clear that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election “in a sweeping and systematic fashion”. Trump also voiced skepticism that Russia had hacked Democratic party emails “at the same time as he and other Campaign advisors privately sought information … about any future planned WikiLeaks releases”, the report states. Mueller separately noted that as a candidate, Trump repeatedly denied any connections to Russia even as his business was pursuing a potential real estate deal in Moscow. Accordingly while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. ![]() Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards however we are unable to reach that judgment. At the same time, 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. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. Mueller made clear he was not exonerating Trump of obstruction, writing: In other words, Mueller ultimately did not definitively conclude that Trump obstructed justice, but it was not for a lack of trying. “The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful,” the report states, “but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests.” They included Trump’s request that the then FBI director, James Comey, drop the investigation of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn Trump’s attempts to stop the then attorney general Jeff Sessions’ recusal from overseeing the Russia investigation Trump’s demand that the special counsel’s investigation be limited to election meddling only and Trump’s efforts behind the scenes to fire Mueller. Mueller investigated 10 instances in which Trump sought to use the power of the presidency to obstruct justice by either personally interfering with the Russia investigation or directing his aides to do so. Obstruction inquiry finds numerous ‘episodes’ involving Trump ![]()
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