Read What you need to know about the Mueller report (cnn.com)

The Department of Justice released special counsel Robert Mueller's long awaited report earlier this morning.

The report — which only included "limited" redactions, according to Attorney General William Barr — detailed his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

The bottom line: We learned a lot.

You can read the full report for yourself, or get caught up with these key takeaways:

  • Mueller was unable to conclude that “no criminal conduct occurred.” The investigation was also unable to clear President Trump on obstruction. The report states that the evidence obtained “about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred.”
  • Why obstruction by Trump failed: Efforts by Trump to obstruct justice failed because others refused to "carry out orders," the report said.
  • Trump tried to remove Mueller: Trump called former White House lawyer Don McGahn at home and directed him to call the acting attorney general and say Mueller "had conflicts of interest and must be removed." McGahn refused.
  • What the Trump campaign knew: The special counsel’s investigation into possible collusion found that members of the Trump campaign knew they would benefit from Russia’s illegal actions to influence the election, but didn’t take criminal steps to help, the report said.
  • Why Mueller didn’t subpoena Trump: The special counsel believed it had the authority to subpoena President Trump — but decided against doing so because it would delay the investigation, according to the report. Prosecutors also believed they already had a substantial amount of evidence.
  • Sarah Sanders misled the media about the firing of the FBI director: The White House press secretary conceded in an interview with Mueller she made statements to the media that were not based in fact.
  • Trump dropped F-bomb after Mueller got the job: In May 2017, shortly after Trump learned from his then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had appointed Mueller, Trump “slumped back in his chair and said, ‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm f***ed.’”
  • Mueller said Trump's public acts can be considered obstruction: The special counsel wrote about how the President’s public comments can be considered as obstruction efforts because of his power.
  • Congress has the right to investigate: Mueller’s report laid out the case for why Congress is able to investigate and take action against Trump on obstruction of justice.
  • Trump asked campaign aides to find Clinton’s emails: After Trump publicly asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails at a July 2016 press conference, he privately and repeatedly “asked individuals affiliated with his campaign to find the deleted Clinton emails,” the report said.
  • Mueller considered different possible collusion crimes: The special counsel looked at potential crimes outside of conspiracy as he investigated collusion —including crimes under campaign finance law and regarding individuals potentially acting as illegal foreign agents for the Russian government.
  • Mueller investigated rumored compromising tapes of Trump in Moscow: The special counsel examined whether Trump learned during the presidential campaign of the rumored existence of compromising tapes made of him years earlier when he visited Moscow.

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Chris Aldrich

I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history. I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.

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