unbelievable. It tells you the inner heart, you gotta read it."[1] Similar statements from then-Candidate Trump continued over the following weeks. As the Special Counsel testified before House Committees, to call these statements "problematic" would be an "understatement" because they gave "hope or some boost to what is and should be illegal activity."[2]
During this period, senior members of the Trump Campaign were maintaining significant contacts with Russian nationals and seeking damaging information on candidate Hillary Clinton.[3] Among other evidence of such contacts, the Special Counsel's Report notes that President Trump somehow knew in advance about upcoming releases of stolen emails;[4] that the Trump Campaign's foreign policy adviser met repeatedly with Russian officials who claimed to have "dirt" on Clinton "in the form of thousands of emails";[5] and that Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort caused internal campaign polling data to be shared with a Russian national.[6] There is no indication that anyone from the Trump Campaign, including the candidate, reported any of these contacts or offers of foreign assistance to U.S. law enforcement.[7]
A redacted version of the Special Counsel's Report was released to the public on April 18, 2019. The evidence obtained by the Special Counsel relating to this conduct, including Russia's attack on our elections, resulted in the criminal indictment of more than a dozen defendants.[8] It also indicated that the President had sought to thwart rather than advance the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian interference. When this Committee conducted its own investigation, President Trump similarly sought to thwart rather than advance those fact-finding efforts.
Since the release of the Special Counsel's report, President Trump has confirmed his willingness to welcome and invite foreign interference in our elections. For example, two months after the report was released and while President Trump was under congressional investigation, he admitted on live television that he would still welcome foreign interference. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, President Trump disputed the idea that if a foreign government provided information on a political opponent—as Russia had done in 2016—it would be considered interference in our elections: "[I]t's not an interference, they have information—I think I'd take it if I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI—if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, 'oh let's call the FBI.'
- ↑ Id. at 48-49.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Mueller Report, Vol. I at 5-7, 66-144.
- ↑ Id. at 54.
- ↑ Id. at 5-6. This individual—George Papadopoulos has since been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential race. See Mark Mazzetti & Sharon LaFraniere, George Papadopoulos, Ex-Trump Adviser, Is Sentenced to 14 Days in Jail, N.Y. Times, Sept. 7, 2018.
- ↑ Mueller Report, Vol. I at 129. Mr. Manafort has since been sentenced to over 7 years in prison for various federal crimes, including conspiracy against the United States and obstruction of justice. See id., Vol I at 129 n.838.
- ↑ See HPSCI Mueller Hearing Tr. at 29.
- ↑ Mueller Report, Vol. I at 14 n.4; see also id., Vol. I at 174-75.
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