Donald Trump tried to get his version of events out first. Typically, it consisted of a single word, in a tweet, in capitals: “EXONERATED.” Today we finally got to see the authorised version and, to no one’s surprise, it consists of the direct opposite, but in a long report, in lower case, and hedged about with qualifications.
Robert Mueller, the independent counsel, did not conclude that the president committed a crime, but he also did “not exonerate him”.
The picture painted by the report is not a flattering one of the president. The verbatim account of his response to the appointment of Mr Mueller to investigate links between Russia and the Trump election campaign is colourfully plausible: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency.”
The report then recounts Mr Trump’s attempts to make Don McGahn, his legal counsel, call Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to tell him to fire Mr Mueller. Mr McGahn thought about resigning but in the end just ignored the instruction. So it might be said that Mr Trump tried to obstruct justice but did not succeed.
In all the hoopla surrounding the publication of Mr Mueller’s report, however, it is easy to miss the story. Mr Trump is patently unfit for the high position he holds. He wilfully flouts all the norms of modern American democracy and has little respect for constitutional law. But he has not yet been found guilty of a crime – still less a “high crime or misdemeanour” that might warrant his removal from office.
1/12
Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president.
Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI.
Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led.
REUTERS
2/12
Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a “witch hunt”.
AFP/Getty Images
3/12
Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active.
Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight.
AP
4/12
Attorney general Jeff Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end.
Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back.
Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of.
AP
5/12
Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation.
Mr Barr’s office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public.
EPA
6/12
Michal Cohn is the president’s former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to.
Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump.
Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said.
AP
7/12
Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump.
The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign.
AP
8/12
Paul Manafort was Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman.
Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court.
Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel’s office for a much harsher sentence.
AP
9/12
George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials.
AP
10/12
Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics.
He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016.
Getty Images
11/12
Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty.
AP
12/12
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office.
Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to “willfully” making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact.
REUTERS
1/12
Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president.
Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI.
Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led.
REUTERS
2/12
Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a “witch hunt”.
AFP/Getty Images
3/12
Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active.
Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight.
AP
4/12
Attorney general Jeff Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end.
Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back.
Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of.
AP
5/12
Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation.
Mr Barr’s office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public.
EPA
6/12
Michal Cohn is the president’s former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to.
Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump.
Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said.
AP
7/12
Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump.
The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign.
AP
8/12
Paul Manafort was Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman.
Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court.
Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel’s office for a much harsher sentence.
AP
9/12
George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials.
AP
10/12
Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics.
He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016.
Getty Images
11/12
Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty.
AP
12/12
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office.
Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to “willfully” making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact.
REUTERS
What we knew before the Mueller report was bad enough: Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election in an attempt to help Mr Trump; Mr Trump was glad to have that help; his team met the Russians; and the president has not been open about those contacts.
It is hard to say that this interference swayed the outcome of the election; equally, the result was so close that it is hard to say that it did not. And now we know that it is also hard to say that these contacts and common interest amounted to the legal definition of collusion. But it is an unedifying spectacle – a candidate in a sophisticated democracy appearing to solicit help from another country, and a historical enemy, in an election.
The other part of the bigger story, however, is that the inquiry into Mr Trump’s Russian links was always essentially political – although Mr Mueller deserves some praise for trying so hard to adhere to the legal formalities.
The first thing that any student of the US system understands is that the impeachment and removal of a president is political rather than legal. Impeachment – that is, drawing up the charges against a president – requires a majority of the House of Representatives, while conviction and removal requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate.
That threshold was never going to be reached. And those who had hoped that the Mueller investigation might provide the material by which to test whether a president is immune from an ordinary criminal prosecution have today been disappointed. Mr Mueller has scrupulously observed the legal principle of innocent unless proven guilty. He has “not exonerated” Mr Trump, but neither has he found him guilty.
That means we must reach a political, rather than a legal, conclusion: Mr Trump is a terrible president who does not deserve to be re-elected.
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