Donald Trump at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 6, 2019
Two weeks after declaring “EXONERATED” over his campaign’s links with Russia during the 2016 election, Donald Trump frets over the still-unseen Mueller Report.
Trump betrayed his concern in a series of angry tweets throughout Saturday. He began, “I have not read the Mueller Report yet, even though I have every right to do so,” misrepresenting the “big” conclusion as “No Collusion”. He then falsely presented possible evidence of links as a conspiracy by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee — and lied that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team were all Democrats supporting the plot.
So, let’s get this straight! There was No Collusion and in fact the Phony Dossier was a Con Job that was paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. So the 13 Angry Democrats were investigating an event that never happened and that was in fact a made up Fraud. I just fought back….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
…. against something I knew never existed, Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous!) – No Obstruction. This Russia Hoax must never happen to another President, and Law Enforcement must find out, HOW DID IT START?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
Mueller submitted his report, said to be almost 400 pages with hundreds of pages of supplementary material, to Attorney General William Barr on March 22. Two days later, Barr wrote legislators with a narrow statement over “coordination” and “cooperation”, thus setting aside the issue of “collusion” such as the Trump campaign’s knowledge and encouragement of Russian activities such as hacking of e-mail servers and dissemination of anti-Clinton material. He quashed any follow-up proceedings over obstruction of justice, saying Mueller had argued on “both sides” whether Trump was culpable.
Last week Mueller’s team, who had maintained silence throughout the 22-month investigation, discreetly put out a message through “Government officials and others familiar with [their] simmering frustrations”. They said that Barr did not release summary information which they had prepared for each section of the report.
“[The issue of Trump-Russia links] was much more acute than Barr suggested,” said one source.
See also EA on CNN: Mueller’s Team Counters — Attorney General Covered Up Trump-Russia Findings
Mueller’s Team — Attorney General Covered for Trump Over Russia Report
Later on Saturday, after appearing at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas, Trump fired another blast:
Why should I be defending a fraudulent Russian Witch Hunt. It’s about time the perpetrators of this fraud on me and the American People start defending their dishonest and treasonous acts. How and why did this terrible event begin? Never Forget!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
He circulated an error-strewn editorial from the New York Post titled, “Give Up, Trump-Haters”.
Meanwhile, Trump backed away from his previous statement that the report should be released. Asked by his outlet Fox and Friends Weekend about calls for publication, he said, “It’s really up to the attorney general, whatever he wants to do.”
Barr missed an April 2 deadline, set by the House Judiciary Committee, for release of Mueller’s findings and evidence. He says he will provide legislators with copies by mid-April, but only with redactions of information.
