On Contact: Russiagate & Mueller Report with Aaron Mate

Chris Hedges discusses with Nation reporter Aaron Mate how despite the categorical statement in Robert Mueller’s report that Donald Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia, the conspiracy theories by the nation’s mainstream media show little sign of diminishing.

What Does the Mueller Report Mean for President Trump? | Inside Story

U.S President Donald Trump is declaring "total victory" after the release of a censored version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on alleged collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia. But outside Trump's inner circle, many are reacting very differently.

At a news conference shortly before the report's public release, Attorney General William Barr defended Trump, saying Mueller had cleared the president of any wrongdoing. But once the document was made public, many of Barr's assertions appeared, at best, questionable.

For example, Barr told reporters that the president "co-operated fully" with Mueller's investigation, but the report criticised Trump for refusing to agree to an in-person interview with the Special Counsel and for refusing "to provide written answers to questions on obstruction topics or questions on events during the transition".

Barr also said that Trump had done nothing to obstruct the investigation. But according to the report, Trump ordered a top White House official to fire Mueller and then, when that official refused, ordered him to lie about it.

Perhaps most importantly, Barr repeatedly said that the report showed there had been no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But it actually says the Russian government tried to help Trump's campaign and that the campaign "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts".

Congressional Democrats plan to subpoena the full, unedited report along with all of its supporting documentation.

So will the Mueller report change the discussion in Washington? Or has it already become just another partisan talking point?

Richelle Carey reports.

Guests: Joe Watkins, Republican Political Strategist and Former White House Aide to George H. W. Bush; Clyde Wilcox, Professor of Government, Georgetown University; Claire Finkelstein, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Mueller's Report Would Have Signaled the End for Anyone Other Than Trump

THE GUARDIAN: Analysis: activity discovered by Mueller was not, as Trump and his allies falsely insist, standard stuff for a political campaign

For all his bluster about being a master builder, Donald Trump really made his millions through branding. From chewy steaks to failing casinos, Trump has spent decades putting lucrative lipstick on pigs.

So when faced with a sprawling criminal investigation into how Russiaworked to get him elected – and how he then repeatedly tried to obstruct the inquiry – the president devised a brutally effective public relations campaign.

During his two years under investigation by Robert Mueller, Trump repeated his newest slogan ad nauseum: “no collusion”. Some Americans seemed tricked into forgetting that conduct falling short of that bar could be seriously problematic, too.

Mueller’s 448-page report confirms that his investigators did not find any overarching conspiracy between Trump’s team and Russian operatives.

But it also lays out, in damning detail, how senior Trump advisers acquiesced with Russia’s interference, while Trump simultaneously sought the Kremlin’s approval for a property deal in Moscow that could make him millions of dollars. » | Jon Swaine in New York | Thursday, April 18, 2019

Has Mueller Investigation Vindicated Trump? | Inside Story

It's been the biggest question for Donald Trump during his presidency so far – did he conspire with Russians to help get elected?

No he didn't. That's the result of the two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But investigators can't give a definitive answer on whether the President obstructed justice or not.

Trump was quick to tweet: No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT! But leading Democrats say the summary of the report - by Attorney General William Barr - ‘raises as many questions as it answers’. They're demanding full access to what else the report says. But will that report be released?

Presenter: Hazem Sika | Guests: J-D Gordon, National Security Director on Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential Campaign; Jeannie Zaino, professor at Iona College; David Goodfriend, lawyer who previously served as Deputy Staff Secretary to President Bill Clinton

As Mueller Finds No Collusion, Did Press Overhype Russiagate? Glenn Greenwald vs. David Cay Johnston

As congressional Democrats call on the Justice Department to release the full Mueller report, we speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who have closely followed the probes into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election: Glenn Greenwald, a founding editor of The Intercept and a leading critic of the media coverage of alleged Russian collusion, and David Cay Johnston, formerly of The New York Times, now founder and editor of DCReport.org, who has written critically about Donald Trump for decades. His most recent book is “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America.”

Don Lemon: This Is the Biggest Unanswered Question

CNN's Don Lemon breaks down Attorney General William Barr's summary of the Mueller report and states that the public needs to see the full report.

Mueller Report – AG Barr Letter: No Conclusion on Justice Obstruction | ABC News Report

Congress was sent a letter from Attorney General William Barr on special counsel Robert Mueller's report into the Kremlin's interference in the 2016 presidential election, a Department of Justice official tells ABC News.