Robert Mueller’s report summary: Live updates | CNN Politics

It’s the first day after the Mueller report summary

President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Trump responds to AG summary of Mueller report
1:54 • Source: CNN
President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Air Force One, Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Palm Beach International Airport, in West Palm Beach, Fla., en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
1:54

What we covered here

  • The summary: Attorney General William Barr on Sunday submitted his summary of the main conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Read the PDF here.
  • What happens now: The process of determining what else can be released from Mueller’s report and scrubbing it of grand jury material, among other things, “has begun,” according to a Justice Department official. There is no timeline for this.
  • What Trump’s lawyer said: He doesn’t want the written answers the President submitted to Mueller to be released.

Updates

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Our live coverage has ended for the night. Scroll through the posts below to read more or follow CNN Politics.

Democratic congressman: "I think it's time that we wrap this thing up"

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat who represents a swing district in New Jersey, told CNN that Democrats should “move on” once they get special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report. 

Van Drew noted people in his district are ready to put this in the past. 

“Folks really are saying, ‘Hey we want all the information,’ but then we do want to move on. And we want to take care of all the other issues that we’re talking about,” he said.

Asked if that means the House should wrap up its Russia-related investigations, Van Drew said it “may” be necessary for committees to look into other areas if they feel like something important is missing, but otherwise he feels that Mueller was thorough and “as pure as the driven snow.” 

Van Drew also argued Pelosi was correct when she said it wasn’t worth going down the impeachment road a couple weeks ago, and said he feels satisfied with how she’s handling things right now. 

“I think she’s absolutely right. I agree with her. Some people would feel that their vote was taken away from them. Other people are going to feel that we’re only concentrating on removing the President,” he said.

“Unless we find something new — which we don’t see right now — impeachment is not the way to go,” Van Drew added. 

Nancy Pelosi says Trump was not exonerated

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to respond when asked if she believes there was no collusion in light of Attorney General William Barr’s summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. 

She was also asked if President Trump has been exonerated.

When pressed further, Pelosi said, “I’m not going to be having a press conference about the soul of our democracy in the hallway of the basement of the Capitol.” 

Democrats set April 2 deadline to receive full Mueller report

The chairs of six House committees sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr today demanding he make special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report available to Congress no later than April 2.

Democrats also demanded that they begin receiving the underlying evidence on the same day.

In the letter, they wrote:

McConnell blocks move to pass resolution calling for Mueller report to be made public

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked efforts today by his Democratic counterpart to pass via unanimous consent a resolution to make public special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the second time Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has tried to do so.

McConnell objected this time saying he wants to give Attorney General William Barr and Mueller time to complete their investigations and because Barr has committed to make as much of the report public, but he shouldn’t be rushed.

Schumer criticized McConnell’s objections, saying Republicans support the language in his resolution.

The White House hasn't seen the full Mueller report

The White House has still not seen special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report, according to a White House official.

Earlier today, President Trump said Mueller acted honorably in the Russia investigation — a change of tune from the man who had at one time called the special counsel disgraced and discredited.

Asked during today’s White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whether Mueller acted honorably, Trump replied: “Yes, he did.”

What we know about the report: Parts of Mueller’s original report could still become public, Attorney General William Barr said on Sunday. He also promised Congress he’d work “expeditiously” and is working with Mueller “as quickly as possible” on a public release.

Mueller's team is handing off its cases 

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is handing off its open criminal case to the DC US attorney’s office, and his prosecutors are exiting ongoing court proceedings.

Andrew Weissmann, one of Mueller’s most aggressive prosecutors and the one who oversaw the effort to flip Paul Manafort, withdrew from the Manafort case in DC District Court today.

So did his fellow trial lawyers Greg Andres and Jeannie Rhee, as well as several others who had worked on the case from Mueller’s office.

Andres led the prosecution of the former Trump campaign chairman at trial last summer in the Eastern District of Virginia, while Rhee has been involved in nearly every court hearing in recent months that Mueller’s team has handled, in any case.

Even with the special counsel’s office departures and with Manafort sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, the case against two of his associates continues and still needs prosecutors.

In their place, five federal prosecutors based in DC popped up on Monday to work on the ongoing criminal matter against Manafort’s two close associates, Konstantin Kilimnik and Rick Gates, who also served on Trump’s presidential campaign and worked on the inauguration.

Gates pleaded guilty last February and continues to cooperate with the Justice Department on several ongoing matters. Kilimnik, who lives in Russia, has not appeared in US court to face witness tampering charges.

One of the new prosecutors is Jonathan Kravis, who’s taken a leading role in almost all of the open Mueller court cases in recent weeks.

A DC assistant US Attorney named Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez has entered appearances in the Manafort case in DC and the case against Sam Patten

Patten’s case, for illegal foreign lobbying that led to getting Kilimnik and a Ukrainian oligarch tickets to the Trump inaugural, is related to Manafort’s — though it’s never been primarily prosecuted by Mueller and has always been handled by the DC US attorney’s office.

Also taking on Gates’ ongoing criminal case, which hasn’t yet been scheduled for sentencing, are Molly Gulland Gaston, Deborah Curtis and Zia Mustafa Faruqui, according to new attorney appearances filed in court Monday. Gaston focuses on fraud and public corruption, while Fauqui is working on several open cases in the court system, including a money laundering conspiracy case against eight Russians for transactions in Syria. Curtis notably has experience as a national security prosecutor and is involved in the Concord case.

The federal prosecutor in DC is also working on the Roger Stone and Concord Management and Consulting cases, which are headed to trial.

Mystery foreign company case continues after Mueller probe wraps up

A criminal matter involving a mysterious grand jury subpoena in the Mueller investigation appears to continue on after special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concluded last week.

The DC US attorney’s office will handle the case now, seeking documents from an unnamed company owned by a foreign government, the special counsel’s office said Monday.

Why this matters: Earlier today, the Supreme Court declined to take up a case related to this grand jury subpoena.

For months now, the case has been one of the most closely watched and guarded secrets among Mueller’s work. The company, which calls itself a wholly owned agency of an unnamed foreign state, fought the subpoena arguing it was immune under a federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act that limits such prosecutorial action.

The case was so secret that at one point court security took the almost unprecedented step of clearing an entire floor of a courthouse in Washington to keep secret the identities of the lawyers arguing the case.

Lindsey Graham: Barr told me he'd be glad to testify 

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said Attorney General William Barr told him in a phone call today he would testify about the Mueller investigation.

Graham said Barr should testify after he and Mueller go through the report to vet it for classified and grand jury information.

“He needs some reasonable period of time to go through it, working with Mr. Mueller,” Graham said.

Graham wouldn’t say whether Barr gave him a timeline or an estimate, just “sooner rather than later.”

Trump on Mueller probe: "We can never, ever let this happen to another president again"

President Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said he is glad special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is over, and added that he believes some people did “very evil” and “treasonous things.”

Trump went on to say that those people — who he did not name — created a “false narrative.” He then said no other president should go through this.

Here’s what Trump said:

Trump: "Wouldn't bother me at all" if Barr releases Mueller report

President Trump says it “wouldn’t bother” him “at all” if Attorney General Barr releases the Mueller report adding that it’s up to Barr.

Trump was asked the question in a second photo op with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to which he answered:

Lindsey Graham: "This cloud has been removed"

In a press conference Monday morning, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation confirmed Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election, but maintained that the Trump administration did not collude.

“The conclusion was firm, without equivocation, that no one on the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians,” Graham said, adding that there was also no evidence of obstruction of justice.

Graham said he hopes to see more of the report released soon, and wants Attorney General William Barr, who summarized Mueller’s findings on Sunday, to testify. As for a possible testimony from Mueller, Graham said, “I’ll leave that up to Mr. Barr as to whether he thinks that would be helpful.”

He also had a message for President Trump:

Graham said that he will be talking to Barr by phone today.

Trump says Mueller acted honorably

Asked whether special counsel Robert Mueller acted honorably, President Trump answered simply and said, “Yes, he did.”

It was the only question Trump took on the Mueller investigation in a pool spray with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he was walking out of the room.

Mueller told Barr 3 weeks ago he wouldn't reach a conclusion on obstruction

About three weeks ago, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team told top Department of Justice officials that Mueller would not be reaching a conclusion on obstruction of justice, according to a source familiar with the meeting. 

The team was briefing Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on the investigation, the source said. The team also asked for more time to finish their work, which was granted.

Why this matters: After Barr’s summary of the report on Sunday, some have raised doubts that he came up with his analysis on obstruction in 48 hours.

“After two years of investigation, Mueller said that he could not make a determination, and it is highly concerning that what Mueller couldn’t do after two years, the attorney general thinks that he can do after two days,” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna told CNN on Monday morning.

This timeline now shows this assumption is inaccurate, since Barr has known for weeks what was coming. And of course, the Deputy Attorney General’s office has been heavily involved in overseeing the investigation since its inception. 

Mike Pence: "The special counsel confirmed what President Trump said all along"

Vice President Mike Pence made his first on-camera remarks following the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigation, calling it “a total vindication” of President Trump.

Speaking this morning at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference in Washington, DC, Pence called Sunday — the day Barr submitted his findings to Congress — a “great day for our country.”

“Make no mistake about it my fellow Americans, this was a total vindication of the President of the United States and our campaign, and it should be welcomed by every American,” he added.

Key witnesses won't turn over White House docs unless Trump approves

 Bill Burke — the lawyer representing former White House counsel Don McGahn, White House strategist Steve Bannon, and Trump’s former chief of staff Reince Priebus — told lawmakers none of his clients will turn over any records from their period at the White House without the Trump administration’s signoff, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Why this matters: That effectively puts the decision over what documents the Hill receives to the White House counsel’s office, which is expected to assert executive privilege over some of the contents.

And about the Mueller report: This person said special counsel Robert Mueller report’s findings of no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government is likely to embolden the White House to resist turning over materials.

Mueller's investigation is done, but the political fight is still on

Though special counsel Robert Mueller has finished his investigation, it has only fueled the ongoing political fight.

On one side, congressional Democrats are raising questions about Attorney General William Barr making the prosecution decision on obstruction of justice.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler tweeted that he would call on Barr to testify “in the near future.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are joining Trump in claiming vindication for the President.

“For years, high-ranking Democrats in leadership positions in Congress claimed the special counsel’s report would provide definitive proof of collusion, and today’s report has proven that to be an outright lie once and for all,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

It’s a political fight of competing narratives that is expected to spill into the 2020 presidential election.

These House Democrats are calling on Mueller to testify

Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia

Two House Democrats this morning told CNN they were not ready to put questions of collusion with Russia to rest, even after Attorney General William Barr cited Robert Mueller’s report to assert there was no Trump-Russia conspiracy on Sunday.

Both Reps. Gerry Connolly and Ro Khanna said that they need to see the full report, want Mueller to testify, and believe there are more questions about Trump’s ties to Russia.

He added he doesn’t think it “explains why the President of the United States would actually disregard the unanimous findings of his own intelligence community and accept the word of Vladimir Putin,” he added.

Khanna said there are “still outstanding questions” on Trump-Russia connections, saying it’s unclear whether Mueller looked into Trump’s actions over Russia during his presidency.

He also said he accepts Mueller’s finding but a “prosecutor can have a significant amount of evidence and say that it just doesn’t rise to a crime… But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t misconduct.”

"It’s a great day for America": How the White House is reacting to the Mueller report summary

The White House is in celebration mode after special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found no evidence Trump or his campaign associates conspired with Russia to win the presidential election.

Here’s how the White House is reacting to the report:

  • This morning, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told New Day that Sunday was “a day America has looked forward to for a long time,” describing it as “a great day” for the country.
  • On the Today Show, Sanders also called the report a “complete and total exoneration of the President, and added that Democrats and the “liberal media” owe Trump an apology.
  • And on the North Lawn, Sanders said said that Barr and Rosenstein made the decision that were was no obstruction, “so that makes it a complete and total exoneration. I don’t know any other way to look at it when the whole purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not there was collusion.”
  • Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s attorneys, said today he does not want the written answers Trump submitted to special counsel Robert Mueller to be released, describing them as “confidential.”
  • Trump tweeted yesterday, “No collusion, no obstruction, complete and total exoneration.” On Monday morning, he quote tweeted Bret Baier of Fox News and Attorney General William Barr’s summary of the report, as well as MSNBC.

See the tweets:

Court won't take up mystery Mueller grand jury case

An unnamed foreign government-owned corporation will have to turn over information that was related to the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation to federal prosecutors or continue to accrue escalating fines after the Supreme Court without comment denied the company’s request to hear its appeal on Monday.  

Why this matters: The Supreme Court’s order marks the last stop for the company that has been fighting the subpoena under the shroud of secrecy. 

The special counsel’s office declined to say if the mystery grand jury case has been referred to another part of the Justice Department. However, attorneys from other parts of the department have worked on the case.

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