The really good news some 14+ hours after the Mueller Report

[Jersey Devil]

We may still have no idea what is in the report, but there is one thing I would have bet the ranch on, that if the report was favorable to Trump he'd be tweeting up a storm of "no collusion" long before now. But what we are getting instead from the White House is total silence. You know damned well that the WH knows everything that is in the report by now and not even one "no collusion" or "witch hunt"? Hmm....

[Dennis Donovan]

1. That, and the fact that he traveled with his lawyers to Mucho Loco...

...and with his favorite liar, SHS.

This report will be huge, IMO.

[emulatorloo]

4. "Mucho Loco" lol

This report is going to get realeased one way or another, despite what pessimists might say. At the very least Schiff is going to pull people in to testify. This thing is too big to cover up.

[PatSeg]

24. And it would appear that

for once, Trump may actually be listening to his lawyers and keeping his stupid mouth shut.

[Jarqui]

2. It would be bad form if the White House already had the report

All kinds of conspiracies could be spun out that that.
I suspect they had a good idea of what was coming and the muted response is intentional.
They'll have plenty of time to spin 'no Mueller indictments' in the days ahead. You can count on it.

[Honeycombe8]

6. It's an executive branch document, atty on tv said.

Trump will get it before Congress.

[Jarqui]

11. Trump has the power to demand it immediately

The AG works for him.
If he did, he risked Barr potentially resigning.
It appears from what Guiliani was saying before the report was released that they knew no further indictments were coming.

Giuliani: "We're ‘not expecting’ any more indictments from Mueller" 21 hours ago
https://www.msnbc.com/stephanie-ruhle/watch/giuliani-we-re-not-expecting-any-more-indictments-from-mueller-1463045699976

As speculation grows that the Mueller report could drop at any moment, President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani says they’re not expecting further indictments from the Special Counsel.

So the White House got a heads up well before the report went to Barr.

[Honeycombe8]

13. That was probably why Trump changed his tune, saying the report should be released.

It was a surprising, stark turnaround in what he'd been saying all along.

[Jarqui]

14. Yep, they knew.

They also know about Rosenstein's letter saying the Mueller report will follow DOJ policy to not publicly discuss those not indicted.

They know they will be trying to restrain themselves from dancing in the streets in short order because the shady stuff is under wraps.

[Honeycombe8]

16. Oh, I did not know that.

I thought the report would list the evidence that led to any conclusion NOT to indict. That's a disappointment.

[Jarqui]

18. I didn't know either until a couple of days ago.

It is a gigantic reason why I am upset.

With no new indictments, the initial version of the Mueller report can't say much we don't already know. It can speak in generalities but no specifics related to individuals not charged. Congress will have to fight for that and the evidence gathered (which they may never get - executive privilege and other legal hurdles). It took Mueller two years to collect it and he had the power of warrants, the FBI, etc. It's less than two years before the 2020 election. Congress is unlikely to get it all before then. Hopefully, we can turn that into an election issue - 87% of the country wanted the whole story.

The better bet, as some have been saying, seems SDNY and others nailing them in financial crimes.

[Honeycombe8]

19. +1. nt

[Lonestarblue]

30. I'm eager to see what Barr releases, but I'm skeptical.

Trump put Barr in place to end the Mueller probe as soon as possible, which he has done, and to hide any negative parts of the report. We don’t yet know what Barr will be releasing, but it is not rational to believe that Trump and his campaign did nothing to work with the Russians or that Trump did not obstruct justice. He did that in public through television interviews and his tweets!

[csziggy]

29. The report to Barr should include that evidence (why not to indict) but the public won't get it

For people not indicted by Mueller the information will be withheld from the public, which is considered fair. After all, if someone is not indicted under American law they are considered innocent so releasing the evidence concerning them would be prejudicial.

I suspect that information that might lead to prosecutions, even if those are not pursued by Mueller's team, will have been turned over to other agencies which CAN prosecute. Releasing the information that could be used might jeopardize future cases.

[cilla4progress]

34. I

agree.

[lunatica]

52. Knowing Trump he may well have spoken too soon

I can’t help remembering how easily he trips over himself to get his slanted word out before he knows all the fact.

Plus it doesn’t bother him to lie with every breath. If the facts prove otherwise he’ll just make up another lie on the spot. It’s all cavalier to him.

I think someone ‘accidentally misplaced’ his iPhone, thus no tweets.

[notdarkyet]

17. A guy who worked with Mueller for years said he expects the report to be 5-800 pages long.

Trump is probably overwhelmed with the amount of reading and probably won’t understand it which is why he has 37 lawyers. Shs is going to be real helpful!

[SWBTATTReg]

26. This sounds logical. Comments have come out that the document is 'comprehensive', which means to...

me a pretty big document covering a lot of stuff (the very definition of 'comprehensive', means covering a lot of relevant topics etc.). Which means that stuff probably was found. Otherwise, why go into literally 100s of pages if there is no need to?

We already know about the people Mueller has already indicted and convicted. On these people, Mueller has submitted quite a few documents (some w/ redacted information in them to the Court).

I would assume that there must be something in his final product that ties together efforts of the people that Mueller has convicted, describes more fully the efforts of the Russians to interfere in our elections, more fully describes the efforts of individual 1 and other individuals not previously announced by Mueller or his task force yet. AND most importantly, what remains to be done and what other work products have been farmed out to other federal entities (FBI offices, etc.).

[ewagner]

22. I think Whittaker

had the draft and read it line by line to Trump.

[Texin]

25. You can bet that this is what they're working on this weekend.

Get ready for a non-stop barrage from Breitbart and Fux News day in and day out from now to kingdom come.

[muriel_volestrangler]

46. 'Bad form' is the Trump admin's middle name

The only possibility is that Barr still thinks he can get work after a spell as AG, so he's trying to preserve his own legal reputation by saying only he sees the report at first. "Muted response" is not a phrase the current White House would understand.

[manor321]

3. My assumption is the White House does not have it yet.

IMHO, Barr is reading it and hasn't given it, or any information about it, to anyone yet.

[Jersey Devil]

9. Interesting that many here at DU think Barr is playing it straight

After all the things Trump has done in his first 2+ years, you really think that he'd let Barr decide on his own what to release from the report and to withhold access to it for even one minute from Trump?

[Honeycombe8]

15. People on tv keep saying how ethical Barr is. The LAW is ...

that the report is TO the Attorney General. There is nothing in the law that makes Barr give it as is to Congress or the public. The LAW says that hte AG is to provide a summary of it.

When pressed at the Barr confirmation hearing, Barr made it clear that he would not be giving the report in full to anyone. He said he would do what the law required.

I don't hold the view that Barr will do strictly what's in the best interest of the country. He had conversations w/Trump about the Mueller investigation in the past, and disapproved of it. That was why Trump selected him. That doesn't mean he's unethical. But it does mean that Barr doesn't think much of the Report or the Special Counsel's task.

I think Barr may be more ethical than many of Trump's appointments. But I don't have rose colored glasses on. I think he'll do what he can to protect the administration.

Rep Swallwell has guaranteed that the people will get the report eventually. (Of course, we may be dead by then.)

Atty Turley has said that, by law, the report as is can't be released in full, because it contains classified info.

[csziggy]

31. Is there anything in the law that requires the report being given to the president? nt

[Honeycombe8]

36. Turley said it's an executive report. So Barr/the DOJ can give it to Trump.

Mind yu, I don't know if that's true. That's what he said.

That doesn't mean the DOJ HAS to give it to Trump.

OTOH, some other pundit said that the White House has no power to get the report in full. He can only get what everyone else gets.

So that clears that up...as clear as muddy water can be.

[csziggy]

44. Finally got a chance to do some research

From the Brookings Institution:

Testimony
Attorney General’s Special Counsel Regulations
Dick Thornburgh, Mark H. Tuohey III, and Michael Davidson
Wednesday, September 15, 1999

<SNIP>


5. Reports

The Attorney General’s regulations provide for reports from a special counsel to the Attorney General, and for reports from the Attorney General to Congress. For the former, there are to be annual (section 600.8(a)(2)) and closing (section 600.8(c)) reports by special counsel to the Attorney General. For the latter, there are to be reports from the Attorney General to the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees (section 600.9) on appointment of special counsel, on the removal of special counsel, and on the conclusion of a special counsel’s investigation.

With regard to the annual reports from special counsel to the Attorney General, the regulation (section 600.8(a)(2)) provides that after the Attorney General receives the counsel’s report on “the status of the investigation” together with a budget request for the coming year, “[t]he Attorney General shall determine whether the investigation should continue and, if so, establish the budget for the next year.” The rule making order (at 64 Fed. Reg. 37040) stresses that “this annual report is intended to be only a status report” and “will not serve as a vehicle for ongoing supervision.”

At the end of a special counsel’s investigation, section 600.8(c) of the regulation provides that a special counsel “shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.” The special counsel’s obligation to file “a summary final report” is “limited.” The counsel’s report is to be “handled as a confidential document as are internal documents relating to any federal criminal investigation.” 64 Fed. Reg. 37041.

More: https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/attorney-generals-special-counsel-regulations/

So there is NO requirement in the regulations that the report go to the President. The Attorney General and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees should received reports last year - but then we know that the Republican controlled committees would have done nothing with any information detrimental to Trump.

[Honeycombe8]

45. Thank you, Ziggy! Good job!

But one thing. You said, "The Attorney General and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees should received reports last year...."

That's not my reading.

The Special Counsel had to give annual status reports to the AG, but the AG was not under any requirement to report that to Congress. The AG gives SC reports to Congress ONLY on the appointment, removal, and conclusion of the SC.

For the latter (AG reports to Congress), there are to be reports from the Attorney General to the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees (section 600.9) on appointment of special counsel, on the removal of special counsel, and on the conclusion of a special counsel’s investigation.

[csziggy]

47. Whoops - you're right. I misread it

[Honeycombe8]

5. He will be. There hasn't been time yet for Barr to read it all.

Barr will give Trump a rundown of the report, but it has to be read and digested first.

There's no doubt he'll say "No collusion!" no matter what the report says, but he has to get briefed on it first. He's also in Mar-A-Lago.

[Iliyah]

7. I am a believer that the WH, t-rump, his lawyers,

the GOP, especially Graham (spouting "lock her up&quot , and t-rump's family knows what is in the report.

Barr is not to be trusted.

As for further indictments, Mueller and crew handed them off to States, my opinion to avoid pardons.

[ewagner]

23. The "tell" happened yesterday...

when Trump pivoted from "No Conspiracy" to "No Obstruction"...

There's something about "unindicted co-conspirator" in that report concerning witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.

[myohmy2]

8. no...

...trump's a political beast...he knows it's in the bag...

...nothing more to be gained by stokering the political fires on this one...

...no, not good news, bad news...

...

[mucifer]

10. more waiting we don't know anything yet

[Honeycombe8]

37. We know a LOT. No indictments from Mueller for the Trump family conspiring with Russia.

That's a lot. That's what we've been waiting for, what the Mueller team was investigating.

The one question is...there is no indictment for that or obstruction against Trump, but that's to be expected, since Trump can't be indicted (as President).

[jayschool2013]

12. It will take some time

for the graphic novel version that will then have to be condensed into a one-page pop-up book that "our president" can then actually have read to him.

[Gothmog]

20. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[SWBTATTReg]

32. Thanks for posting...I like the Hoarse Whisperer...pretty good stuff. Seems what's happening...

(rump holed up, not saying a word, in FL) is what a lot of speculation has centered on, in that the rump campaign, aided and encouraged from the top down, did in fact encourage a foreign entity to attempt to manipulate our election results. Pretty damning conclusion (IMHO) to reach, but logical, I think. The fact that rump has not uttered a word yet is pretty telling in itself.

The fact that lots of staff are all huddled down in FL with him is pretty telling.

The fact that if such a report has been issued, Wash DC is awful damned quiet. So the report must be pretty damning, especially against rump and repugs, which is surprising since Mueller is a repug too.

Of the previous stuff above has been speculated already so nothing new. There must be something else in this report ... that is a big shocker too. Otherwise, like others have said, rump would be pounding the pavement crowing about his innocence.

[Gothmog]

55. Wrong as to what?

I have it seen any tweets from trump. It is well established thattrump is mentally ill

[TruckFump]

21. MY FIRST THOUGHT EXACTLY!!!!

I was thinking about posting a thread on this exact point.

IMO, someone leaked something to tRump, et al. Look who the hell went Magna Loco with him. He went to golf? Whaaaaat? Why the WH entourage?

My second thought, I wonder if he might get in a plane, boat, but not a train, and leave the jurisdiction of the U.S.

[Honeycombe8]

38. He went to Mar-a-Lago before the report was submitted.

He tweets a lot when there's bad news a-comin'. He has not been tweeting like a maniac today, as far as I know.

His staffers are huddling so that they can read and analyze thoroughly the most important report ever submitted to the DOJ.

Someone posted that Mueller did not include a listing of all evidence, so there's not evidence stated that did not result in an indictment. If that's what you're waiting for, it won't be there. I suspect it's so it doesn't taint anyone. Also, there's just too much evidence to list.

[TruckFump]

41. I thought the advisers left with him.

If they did, I would not put it past Barr to have given a heads up to the WH.

[Honeycombe8]

43. He goes there almost every weekend. There's nothing unusual in it. nt

[TruckFump]

48. I agree that it is not unusual for tRump to go there every weekend.

But I did not think that that so many WH people went with him.

[Texin]

27. If anyone actually believes he's not planning his next move, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.

He's down at "Mucho Loco" on his secure phone direct to Moscow strategizing as we chat here.

I disagree in toto with The Hoarse Whisperer. Narcissists don't cocoon. They might retreat for the few seconds it takes them to process news and information, but they react - and their reactions are predictable. Just look at their history to see how they deflect it and where it leads. You can bet your collective asses that he will be coming after all his "enemies". And the Enemies List is growing exponentially by the second.

I would say that we should all be spotting the gaslighting to end all gaslighting to begin no later than tomorrow morning in the wee hours. That's what narcissists do.

[lancelyons]

28. I agree. Thats what I was thinking. If he isnt tweeting about being exonerated..

I agree. Thats what I was thinking. If he isnt tweeting about being exonerated.. then most likely its not a good report.

Im fairly sure that the President already has seen the report and guessing this is why they had the Cabinet Chair ceremony for Jeff Sessions that Barr, Rosenstein and Sessions attended. It was not a ceremonial purpose but to talk about the report.

We all know that Mueller has to at least have as much as the Press has already reported.

The report and Muellers work was never about indicting the president since thats against their policy so the DOJ cant just come out and say... No Indictments for collusion so its done and move on since that was not the objective of the investigation.

[RHMerriman]

33. Trump has two twitter accounts, realDJT and POTUS, and as of

a few minutes ago, nothing for almost a day; and in both cases, it was about the meeting with Caribbean leaders or RTing something from Melania Trump's account.

It's Kremlinology, but the obvious possibilities are:

1) The communications staff has finally taken complete control of his twitter accounts, and is holding off because they actually want to mount a planned media campaign;
2) The political staff doesn't have the report;
3) They have it and they are still reading it;
4) They do not have a readout from DOJ they feel they can rely on for a media campaign;
5) They have it and it amounts to an indictment guide for SDNY, NYAG, NYCDA, or one or more other prosecutorial agencies for various individuals, from Trump on down, and/or a roadmap for impeachment of Trump;
6) They have it and it exonerates the entire Administration, the Trump Organization, and the entire Trump klan going back to Germany.

My expectation is something between 1-5; six hardly seems likely, because if the report is a complete whitewash, they'd be screaming it from the rooftops...

Keep your powder dry.

[beachbum bob]

35. the bad news is Mueller's ending further indictments, no doubt trump's kids invovled and Mueller

took a pass

[uponit7771]

40. Mueller is ending the indictments, that's not an ending of indictments related to his investigation

... by other bodies of the DOJ.

Also, since Red Don can't be indicted by the DOJ of course there's no indictments for him but he can be disignated as un-indicted person.

We'll never know if Barr doesn't release the whole report !!

The "no indictment" statement by a unnamed DOJ official is "THE BIG LIE" imho.

[triron]

49. Yes. Just saw where Rick Gates case was handed off to D.C. US attorney.

Link to tweet

My question is: why did Mueller hand it off even though it was ongoing?
Still my contention that Barr somehow manipulated a premature end to the Mueller probe.

[uponit7771]

50. "Still my contention that Barr somehow manipulated a premature end to the Mueller probe." hmmmmmm,

... and we shouldn't put it past him to do this.

Also,

If no one did nothing ever to anything or anyone that ... summary ... report should take five minutes seeing no one should be doing another James Comey and editorializing findings.

[uponit7771]

39. K&R,

[H2O Man]

42. Recommended.

[gldstwmn]

51. Individual 1 is either an unindicted co conspirator

Or indicted under seal. I don't really see any other possibility.

[Iliyah]

53. My dream . . .

The GOPer leaders are signally to t-rump to resign and are negotiating a less devastating departure scenario.