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Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op

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Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church
Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church

On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[1][2] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[1][3] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[4]

Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[5] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[6]

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See also: Links between Trump associates and Russian officials, Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia, and Operation Crossfire Hurricane
Robert Mueller in the Oval Office c. 2012

American intelligence sources found the Russian government attempted to intervene in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump,[7] and that members of Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian government officials both before and after the election.[8] In May 2017, the Department of Justice appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate coordination between the Russian government and Trump's presidential election campaign.[9]

During his January 2017 confirmation hearings as the attorney general nominee before the Senate, then-Senator Jeff Sessions omitted two meetings he had in 2016 with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, when asked if he had meetings involving the 2016 election with Russian government officials. Sessions later amended his testimony saying he "never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign" and recused himself from any investigation regarding connections between Trump and Russia.[10][11]

In May 2017, Trump revealed classified intelligence in an Oval Office meeting with the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak, providing details that could expose the source of the information and how it was collected.[12]

The New York Times reported in June 2021 that in 2017 and 2018 the Justice Department subpoenaed metadata from the iCloud accounts of at least a dozen individuals associated with the House Intelligence Committee, to investigate leaks to the press about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Records of the inquiry did not implicate anyone associated with the committee, but upon becoming attorney general Bill Barr revived the effort, including by appointing a federal prosecutor and about six others in February 2020.[13][14]

Mueller Report

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Main article: Mueller Report

In July 2018, the special counsel indicted twelve Russian intelligence operatives and accused them of conspiring to interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections, by hacking servers and emails of the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.[15] Six of Trump's campaign advisors and staff were indicted by the special counsel's office; five of them (Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos) pleaded guilty, while one has pleaded not guilty (Roger Stone).[16] As of December 2020, Stone, Papadopoulos, Manafort, and Flynn have been pardoned by Trump, but not Cohen or Gates.[17]

The redacted version of the Mueller report was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019.

On March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted the final report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent Congress a four-page letter, describing what he said were the special counsel's principal conclusions in the Mueller Report. Barr added that since the special counsel "did not draw a conclusion" on obstruction,[18] this "leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime".[19] Barr continued: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."[20][21]

On April 18, 2019, a two-volume redacted version of the Special Counsel's report was released to Congress and to the public.[22][23][24] Volume I discusses Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, concluding that the Internet Research Agency, a Russian government-linked internet troll farm, campaigned on social media to favor presidential candidate Donald Trump and disparage his opponent, Hillary Clinton,[25] and to "provoke and amplify political and social discord in the United States".[26] The report also described how the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, performed computer hacking and strategic releasing of damaging material from the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations.[27] The investigation "identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", and found that Russia had "perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency" and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign "expected it would benefit electorally" from Russian hacking efforts.

Ultimately, "the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."[28][29] This may have been due to some associates of Trump campaign providing either false or incomplete testimony, declined to testify; or deleting, not saving or using encrypted communications. As such, the Mueller Report "cannot rule out the possibility" that information then unavailable to investigators would have presented different findings.[30]

Volume II covered obstruction of justice. The report described ten episodes where Trump may have obstructed justice as president, plus one instance before he was elected.[31][32] The report said that in addition to Trump's public attacks on the investigation and its subjects, he had also privately tried to "control the investigation" in multiple ways, but mostly failed to influence it because his subordinates or associates refused to carry out his instructions.[33][34] For that reason, no charges against the Trump's aides and associates were recommended "beyond those already filed".[31] The Special Counsel could not charge Trump himself once investigators decided to abide by an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial,[35][36] and they feared charges would affect Trump's governing and possibly preempt his impeachment.[36][37] In addition, investigators felt it would be unfair to accuse Trump of a crime without charges and without a trial in which he could clear his name,[35][36][33] hence investigators "determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes".[36][38][39]

Since the Special Counsel's office had decided "not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether to "initiate or decline a prosecution", they "did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct". The report "does not conclude that the president committed a crime",[25][40] but specifically did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice.[41][42] The report concluded "that Congress has authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice" and "that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law".[39][42][33]

Upon announcing the formal closure of the investigation and his resignation from the Justice Department on May 29, Mueller said, "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, decide as to whether the president did commit a crime."[43]

Amid accusations by Trump and his supporters that he had been subjected to an illegitimate investigation, in May 2019 attorney general Bill Barr appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to review the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.[44] By September 2020, Durham's inquiry had expanded to include the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 campaign.[45] A previous two-year review of earlier Clinton investigations by another Trump Justice Department federal prosecutor, John Huber, was wound-down in January 2020 after finding no improper activity.[46]

References

  1. ^ a b Leonnig, Carol D.; Zapotosky, Matt; Dawsey, Josh; Tan, Rebecca (June 2, 2020). "Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  2. ^ Bump, Philip (June 2, 2020). "Timeline: The clearing of Lafayette Square". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ Gittleson, Ben; Phelps, Jordyn (June 3, 2020). "Police use munitions to forcibly push back peaceful protesters for Trump church visit". ABC News. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  4. ^ Shear, Michael D.; Rogers, Katie (June 3, 2020). "Trump and Aides Try to Change the Narrative of the White House Protests". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Stableford, Dylan; Wilson, Christopher (June 3, 2020). "Religious leaders condemn teargassing protesters to clear street for Trump". Yahoo! News. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Scores of retired military leaders publicly denounce Trump". AP News. June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  7. ^ Nakashima, Ellen (October 7, 2016). "U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  8. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Mazzetti, Mark; Apuzzo, Matt (February 14, 2017). "Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  9. ^ Rosenstein, Rod (May 17, 2017). "Rod Rosenstein's Letter Appointing Mueller Special Counsel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Jarrett, Laura (March 3, 2017). "Sessions recusal: What's next?". CNN. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Entous, Adam; Nakashima, Ellen; Miller, Greg (March 1, 2017). "Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  12. ^ Rosenberg, Matthew; Schmitt, Eric (May 15, 2017). "Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally, Officials Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  13. ^ Benner, Katie; Fandos, Nicholas; Schmidt, Michael S.; Goldman, Adam (June 11, 2021). "Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Jalonick, Mary Clare; Balsamo, Michael (June 11, 2021). "Trump DOJ seized data from House Democrats in leaks probe". Associated Press. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Ward, Alex (July 13, 2018). "Read: Mueller indictment against twelve Russian spies for DNC hack". Vox. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  16. ^ Yourish, Karen; Buchanan, Larry; Parlapiano, Alicia (March 13, 2019). "Everyone Who's Been Charged in Investigations Related to the 2016 Election". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  17. ^ Brown, Pamela (December 24, 2020). "Trump issues 26 new pardons, including for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner". CNN. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  18. ^ Gurman, Sadie (March 25, 2019). "Mueller Told Barr Weeks Ago He Wouldn't Reach Conclusion on Obstruction Charge". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  19. ^ "Read Attorney General William Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report". The New York Times. March 24, 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  20. ^ Calia, Mike; El-Bawab, Nadine (April 17, 2019). "Attorney General William Barr will hold a press conference to discuss Mueller report at 9:30 am ET Thursday". CNBC. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  21. ^ "Mueller finds no collusion with Russia, leaves obstruction question open". American Bar Association. March 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  22. ^ Pramuk, Jacob (April 18, 2019). "Mueller report recounts 10 episodes involving Trump and questions of obstruction". CNBC. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  23. ^ "Special Counsel's Office". United States Department of Justice. October 16, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  24. ^ "The Mueller Report by the Numbers". The Wall Street Journal. April 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Main points of Mueller report". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  26. ^ Harris, Shane; Nakashima, Ellen; Timberg, Craig (April 18, 2019). "Through email leaks and propaganda, Russians sought to elect Trump, Mueller finds". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  27. ^ Mackey, Robert; Risen, James; Aaronson, Trevor (April 18, 2019). "Annotating special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report". The Intercept. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  28. ^ Ostriker, Rebecca; Puzzanghera, Jim; Finucane, Martin; Datar, Saurabh; Uraizee, Irfan; Garvin, Patrick (April 18, 2019). "What the Mueller report says about Trump and more". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  29. ^ Law, Tara (April 19, 2019). "Here Are the Biggest Takeaways From the Mueller Report". Time. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  30. ^ Yen, Hope (May 1, 2019). "AP Fact Check: Trump, Barr distort Mueller report findings". Associated Press. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Farley, Robert; Robertson, Lori; Gore, D'Angelo; Spencer, Saranac Hale; Fichera, Angelo; McDonald, Jessica (April 19, 2019). "What the Mueller Report Says About Obstruction". FactCheck.org. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  32. ^ Desjardins, Lisa (April 18, 2019). "11 moments Mueller investigated for obstruction of justice". PBS. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  33. ^ a b c Schmidt, Michael; Savage, Charlie (April 18, 2019). "Mueller Rejects View That Presidents Can't Obstruct Justice". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  34. ^ Pramuk, Jacob (April 18, 2019). "Trump barely disrupted Russia investigation, Mueller report says". CNBC. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  35. ^ a b Day, Chad; Gresko, Jessica (April 19, 2019). "How Mueller made his no-call on Trump and obstruction". Associated Press. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  36. ^ a b c d Gajanan, Mahita (April 18, 2019). "Despite Evidence, Robert Mueller Would Not Say Whether Trump Obstructed Justice. Here's Why". Time. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  37. ^ Gregorian, Dareh; Ainsley, Julia (April 18, 2019). "Mueller report found Trump directed White House lawyer to 'do crazy s". NBC News. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  38. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Zapotosky, Matt (April 17, 2019). "Mueller report lays out obstruction evidence against the president". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  39. ^ a b Mascaro, Lisa (April 19, 2019). "Mueller drops obstruction dilemma on Congress". Associated Press. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  40. ^ Neuhauser, Alan (April 18, 2019). "The Mueller Report: Obstruction or Exoneration?". US News. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  41. ^ Blake, Aaron (April 18, 2019). "The 10 Trump actions Mueller spotlighted for potential obstruction". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  42. ^ a b "Mueller report: Eight things we only just learned". BBC News. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  43. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon; Sullivan, Eileen (May 29, 2019). "Mueller, in First Comments on Russia Inquiry, Declines to Clear Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  44. ^ Goldman, Adam; Savage, Charlie; Schmidt, Michael S. (May 13, 2019). "Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  45. ^ Goldman, Adam; Rashbaum, William K.; Hong, Nicole (September 24, 2020). "In Politically Charged Inquiry, Durham Sought Details About Scrutiny of Clintons". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  46. ^ Breuninger, Kevin; Mangan, Dan (October 9, 2020). "Trump gets angry when told that findings from Durham probe might not come out before election". CNBC. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
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