Before discussing the events of obstruction of justice, Mueller provided an overview about how Russia became an issue in the campaign, and how candidate Trump responded/reacted. (see table next)
note: date format: month/x/year [if only month and year was provided . x/x/y [if only year was provided]
events: that are bold typed were the events directly related to the obstructive acts.
The Campaign's Response to (media) Reports About Russian Support for Trump
| event | Response |
|---|---|
| Press Reports Allege Links between his Campaign and Russia: early 1/x/16-summer-7/x/ 16 | N/A [notes on N/A]: 6/15/16-1/x/16-7/x/16 [from Trump became Republican candidate to earlier election year to summer election year]. In contrary to the response [deny and distance] Trump actually acknowledged and distinguished himself from other Republicans to have a closer tie with Russia and claiming he can get along with Russia, questioned that NATO was obsolete. There was no reaction to the alleged report from media that Flynn, Manafort and Gates had ties to Russia. |
| WikiLeaks's Release of Hacked Emails | To the Hack: aides reacted with enthusiasm. 7/22/16 release: Cohen recalled that Trump responded, "oh good, alright,"; Manafort recalled that Trump responded that [blackout] Manafort should keep Trump updated; Trump told Gates that more releases of damaging information would be coming. [notes: many Black Outs in this paragraph] |
| Allegations That Russia was Seeking to Aid Candidate Trump | 7/23/16 (a day after first release) Trump campaign publicly rejected the allegation; 7/26/16 Trump tweets - it was "[c]razy" to suggest that Russia was "dealing with Trump" and that "[f]or the record," he had "ZERO investments in Russia. 7/27/16 press conference: "this whole thing with Russia" as "a total deflection" and stated that it was "farfetched" and "ridiculous. but if true, he would give no pause and added, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded. Trump repeated "I have nothing to do with Russia" five times. He denied any business dealings in Russia; Later (8/x/16): started to seeking to distance itself from Russian contacts. 10/7/16 (release Podesta email): 10/11/16 Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence was asked about whether Trump know the release and he responded "Nothing could be further from the truth. |
| Transition Period Reactions | Trump Continues to Deny Any Contacts or Connections with Russia or That Russia Aided his Election: on 11/8/16; and 12/10/16; 12/18/16; 12/29/16; several days later Trump's response to Steele Reporting; his associates recalled Trump viewed investigations as a threat to the legitimacy of his electoral victory |
Conduct Concerning the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1/x/16: President had a private dinner with FBI Director James Corney in which he asked for Corney's loyalty.] 2/13/17:the President asked Flynn to resign. The following day, the President had a one-on-one conversation with Corney in which he said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. 2/23/17: President asked Priebus to have McFarland draft an internal email that would confirm that the President did not direct Flynn to call the Russian Ambassador about sanctions. Around the same time: the President asked Priebus to reach out to Flynn and let him know that the President still cared about him 3/31/17: news that Flynn had offered to testify before the and congressional investigators in exchange for immunity, the President tweeted, "Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss) | President could reasonably foresee and actually contemplated that the investigation of Flynn was likely to lead to a grand jury investigation or prosecution | Evidence does establish that the President connected the Flynn investigation to the FBI's broader Russia investigation and that he believed, as he told Christie, that terminating Flynn would end "the whole Russia thing." |
Reaction to Public Confirmation of the FBI's Russia Investigation
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| After 3/20/17 President asked Coats to intervene with Corney and "stop" the investigation, President asked that Coats state publicly that no link existed between the President and Russia, The President asked Rogers if he could do anything to refute the stories linking the President to Russia, and the President asked Corney to make a public statement that would " lift the cloud" of the ongoing investigation by making clear that the President was not personally under investigation. The outreaches were in response to Corney's 3/2017 announcement that the FBI, was conducting Russia investigation | Evidence indicates that the President was angered by both the existence of the Russia investigation and the public reporting that he was under investigation, which he knew was not true based on Corney's representations. The President complained to advisors that if people thought Russia helped him with the election, it would detract from what he had accomplished. | Other evidence indicates that the President was concerned about the impact of the Russia investigation on his ability to govern and his ability to conduct foreign relations, particularly with Russia |
Events Leading Up To and Surrounding the Termination of FBI Director Corney
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| The act of firing Corney removed the individual overseeing the FBI's Russia investigation. And the President followed the termination with public statements that were highly critical of the investigation. Those actions had the potential to affect a successor director's conduct of the investigation | evidence showing that a grand jury proceeding or criminal prosecution arising from an FBI investigation was objectively foreseeable and actually contemplated by the President when he terminated Corney | Substantial evidence indicates that the catalyst for the President's decision to fire Corney was Corney's unwillingness to publicly state that the President was not personally under investigation, despite the President's repeated requests that Corney make such an announcement. |
Efforts to Terminate the Special Counsel
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| directed McGahn to call Rosenstein to have the Special Counsel removed.in the days before the calls to McGahn, the President, through his counsel, had already brought the asserted conflicts of interest to the attention of the Department of Justice. | Substantial evidence indicates that by 6/17/17, the President knew his conduct was under investigation by a federal prosecutor who could present any evidence of federal crimes to a grand jury | Substantial evidence indicates that the President's attempts to remove the Special Counsel were linked to the Special Counsel's oversight of investigations that involved the President's conduct-and, most immediately, to reports that the President was being investigated for potential obstruction of justice. |
Efforts to Curtail the Scope of the Special Counsel's Investigation
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| The President sought to have Sessions announce that the President "shouldn't have a Special Prosecutor/Counsel" and that Sessions was going to "meet with the Special Prosecutor to explain this is very unfair and let the Special Prosecutor move forward with investigating election meddling for future elections so that nothing can happen in future elections | As described above, by the time of the President's initial one-on-one meeting with Lewandowski on 6/19/17, the existence of a grand jury investigation supervised by the special counsel was public knowledge | Substantial evidence indicates that the President's effort to have Sessions limit the scope of the Special Counsel's investigation to future election interference was intended to prevent further investigative scrutiny of the President' s and his campaign's conduct. |
Efforts to Prevent Disclosure of Information about the 6/9/19 Meeting
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| On at least three occasions between 6/29/17 and 7/9/17, the President directed Hicks and others not to publicly disclose information about the 6/9/16 meeting; ___________ Trump directed his son and his communications director to issue a false public statement in 6/x/17 about 6/9/16 meeting. Trump directed Ms. Hicks to say, “Only that Trump Jr. took a brief meeting and was about Russian adoption,” | by the time of the President's attempts to prevent the public release of the emails regarding the June 9 meeting, the existence of a grand jury investigation supervised by the Special Counsel was public knowledge, and the President had been told that the emails were responsive to congressional inquiries. | The evidence establishes the President's substantial involvement in the communications strategy related to information about his campaign's connections to Russia and his desire to minimize public disclosures about those connections. |
Efforts to Have the Attorney General Unrecuse
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| On multiple occasions, the President spoke with Sessions about reversing his recusal so that he could take over the Russia investigation and begin an investigation and prosecution of Hillary Clinton | by mid-June 2017, the existence of a grand jury investigation supervised by the Special Counsel was public knowledge. | There is evidence that at least one purpose of the President's conduct toward Sessions was to have Sessions assume control over the Russia investigation and supervise it in a way that would restrict its scope |
Orders McGahn to Deny that the President Tried to Fire the Special Counsel
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| The President's repeated efforts to get McGahn to create a record denying that the President had directed him to remove the Special Counsel | By January 2018, the Special Counsel's use of a grand jury had been further confirmed by the return of several indictments. | Substantial evidence indicates that in repeatedly urging McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, the President acted for the purpose of influencing McGahn 's account in order to deflect or prevent further scrutiny of the President's conduct towards the investigation. |
Conduct Towards Flynn, Manafort, [blackout ]
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| overall pattern | President's actions towards witnesses had the natural tendency to prevent particular witnesses from testifying truthfully, or otherwise had the probable effect of influencing, delaying, or preventing their testimony to law enforcement. | N/A | N/A |
| Flynn | the President sent private and public messages to Flynn encouraging him to stay strong and conveying that the President still cared about him before he began to cooperate with the government. | The President's conduct towards Flynn [and Black Out] principally occurred when he was under criminal investigation by the Special Counsel's Office | Evidence concerning the President's intent related to Flynn as a potential witness is inconclusive. However, the President had continued to express sympathy for Flynn after he pleaded guilty pursuant to a cooperation agreement, |
| Manafort | there is evidence that the President's actions had the potential to influence Manafort's decision whether to cooperate with the government. The President and his personal counsel made repeated statements suggesting that a pardon was a possibility for Manafort, while also making it clear that the President did not want Manafort to "flip" and cooperate with the government. | President's conduct towards Manafort was directly connected to the official proceedings - Manafort's criminal trial - involving him | Evidence concerning the President's conduct towards Manafort indicates that the President intended to encourage Manafort to not cooperate with the government |
| [Black Out] | The President's conduct towards [black out] principally occurred when he was under criminal investigation by the Special Counsel's Office |
Conduct Towards Cohen
| event Context [original quote] | obstructive act | nexus | corrupt intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| President or others aided or participated in Cohen's false statements to Congress: President knew Cohen provided false testimony to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project, No evidence to establish that the President directed or aided Cohen's false testimony. | President knew the Special Counsel's Office, Congress, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York were investigating Cohen's conduct | President knew that Cohen had made false statements about the Trump Tower Moscow project and that Cohen did so to protect the President and minimize the President's connections to Russia during the campaign. |
| Actions that had the natural tendency to prevent Cohen from providing truthful information to the government: Before Cohen began to cooperate with the government, the President publicly and privately urged Cohen to stay on message and not "flip." After it was reported that Cohen intended to cooperate with the government, however, the President accused Cohen of "mak[ing] up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam; and and on multiple occasions publicly suggested that Cohen's family members had committed crimes. suppot1 an inference that the President used inducements in the form of positive messages in an effort to get Cohen not to cooperate, and then turned to attacks and intimidation to deter the provision of information or undermine Cohen's credibility once Cohen began cooperating. | same as above | there is evidence that could support the inference that the President intended to discourage Cohen from cooperating with the government; the President's statements insinuating that members of Cohen's family committed crimes after Cohen began cooperating with the government could be viewed as an effort to retaliate against Cohen and chill further testimony adverse to the President by Cohen or others. |
Overarching Facts (The Summary)
The Investigation found “multiple acts by the president that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian interference and obstruction investigations,” “in which the president sought to use his official power outside of usual channels.” The president's obstruction of justice behavior included, "public attacks on the investigation, nonpublic efforts to control it, and efforts in both public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate," 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.- Three features render the case atypical:
- the conduct involved actions by the President
- might not be motivated by the attempted or actual cover-up of an underlying crime that
[because Mueller did not establish he conspired with Russia in election interference] Obstruction of justice can be motivated by a desire to protect non-criminal personal interests, to protect against investigations where underlying criminal liability falls into a gray area or to avoid personal embarrassment.” - many of the President's acts directed at witnesses occurred in public view. [no principle of law excludes public acts from the scope of obstruction statutes.]
- it is important to view the President's pattern of conduct as a whole which sheds light on the nature of the President's acts and the inferences that can be drawn about his intent.
- Viewing the acts collectively can help to illuminate their significance.
- There was a shift in the President's motives.
- Before the President fired Corney [when President believed that he was not being investigated personally]: he attempted to have the public to believe he was not being investigated personally.
- fter he fired Corney [when President became aware that he was under investigation on the alleged Russia conspiracy and on obstruction-of-justice]: he attempted to block the investigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment