Updated at 2:00 p.m. ET
Special counsel Robert Mueller's doorstop report about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election thumped to Earth on Thursday following an explanation by the attorney general as to why President Trump isn't facing criminal charges.
The 448-page document, released after a nearly two-year long inquiry, says Mueller's investigation did not establish the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with the Russian interference effort, which was described as "sweeping and systematic."
But it does contain dramatic revelations of happenings inside the Oval Office, including an account quoting the president worrying the investigation could spell "the end of my presidency. I'm f***ed." And it cites instances of Trump aides stopping his attempts to impede the investigation.
Mueller detailed 10 "episodes" involving actions by Trump that might have constituted obstruction of justice, Attorney General William Barr said — but the Justice Department has concluded they did not amount violations of the law.
Barr unveiled a redacted copy of Mueller's report later Thursday morning.
READ: The redacted Mueller report
Barr said he is satisfied that Trump had "non-corrupt motives," prompting the attorney general to decide not to prosecute the president for obstruction.
In the report, investigators wrote:
The Mueller report says the case was complicated because the president has some inherent authority and because "unlike cases in which a subject engages in obstruction of justice to cover up a crime, the evidence we obtained did not establish that the president was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference."
The report observes two phases of Trump's actions that reflect "a possible shift in the president's motives." Things may have changed after the president became aware that his own conduct was under investigation.
For example, the report cites notes from a DOJ aide on Page 78 of Volume II stating that when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump that a special counsel had been appointed, the president "slumped back in his chair and said, 'Oh my God. This is terrible`. This is the end of my presidency. I'm f***ed.' "
There are also instances of Trump aides not carrying out his directives, including a request to then-White House counsel Don McGahn to tell the Justice Department that Mueller had a conflict of interest and must be removed.
Several other such instances include Trump instructing his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to deliver a message to then-Attorney General Sessions to limit Mueller's probe.
And in early summer 2017, the president called Sessions at home and asked him to reverse his recusal from the investigation.
What the campaign knew
Here's what Mueller's office wrote about the Trump campaign's knowledge of the Russian interference in the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as it was taking place in 2016:
Trump, in written answers to questions from the special counsel's office, said he had no recollection of learning at the time what was taking place beyond things that had been reported publicly.
Trump specifically told investigators that he had no recollection of learning at the time that his son, Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort planned to meet with the Russian delegation they hosted at Trump Tower in June 2016.
No one has faced criminal charges in connection with that meeting, although Manafort was sentenced to prison following other conspiracy and fraud charges. The special counsel's office concluded there wasn't enough evidence to charge the participants in the Trump Tower meeting either with an alleged conspiracy with Russia or with violating U.S. campaign finance laws that bar contributions from foreigners.
Barr's reasoning
Because investigators did not find a conspiracy between Trump's campaign and the Russian interference, that suggested Trump wasn't trying to cover anything up, Barr said during the Thursday press conference before the report's release.
And notwithstanding Trump's frequent public outrage about the matter, the president cooperated with Mueller's inquiry, Barr said.
"There is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents and fueled by illegal leaks," Barr said.
Continued Barr: "Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the special counsel's investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely and asserting no privilege claims."
The attorney general told reporters he considered it his prerogative to decide what actions to take or not take and what charges to pursue or not pursue, following the completion of the special counsel report.
Mueller did not "indicate" that he considered his mandate to leave decisions about whether to punish the president up to Congress, Barr said.
"We don't convene grand juries and conduct investigations for that purpose," he said.
Mueller's assignment was to file a confidential report to the attorney general, Barr said — not necessarily intended for Congress or the public, Barr added.
That gave him the authority to decide what to do and he is the one who has reached a decision about charges as well as the decision, based on his own discretion, to release it publicly in redacted form, Barr said.
Throughout the press conference, Barr struck a familiar refrain from Trump's many tweets and public comments in the past two years, repeating several times that the special counsel found "no collusion" with the Russian social media agitation in 2016 or the theft and the dumping of emails from political targets in the United States.
Trump welcomed Barr's briefing with a post on Twitter that included an image of himself in a "Game of Thrones" motif with the legend: "Game over."
And he talked about the released report at a White House ceremony Thursday morning for veterans taking part in an bike ride sponsored by the Wounded Warriors Project.
"They're having a good day, I'm having a good day too. It's called no collusion, no obstruction," the Trump said to applause and cheers.
"This should never happen to another president again, this hoax. It should never happen to another president again," he also said.
Democrats angered
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement following the release that the report contains "substantial evidence" that the president attempted to stop the investigation.
"Even in its incomplete form, the Mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct," he wrote.
Earlier, leading Democrats on Capitol Hill complained about Barr's handling of the report. They objected to the early preview for the White House and to Barr convening a press conference before the Mueller report was public.
Nadler called for Mueller to speak for himself about his work, in public, to Congress, in a hearing by May 23.
Congress' two top Democrats agreed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said before the press conference that Barr's "regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report ... [has] resulted in a crisis of confidence in his independence and impartiality."
Pelosi and Schumer added that "the only way to begin restoring public trust in the handling" of the Mueller investigation is for Mueller himself to testify publicly before the House and Senate "as soon as possible."
The possibility of Mueller testifying before Congress is one that Nadler has raised before. The Judiciary Committee chairman and and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., its ranking member, agree on a desire to have Mueller testify.
Barr said on Thursday that he didn't object, although no hearing is now scheduled. Barr himself is expected to appear before the House and Senate judiciary committees in a few weeks.
The redactions
Barr explained to Congress on April 9 why his office was excising material from Mueller's report. He said it would fall into four categories:
— those involving grand jury material, which is kept secret by law;
— those involving foreign intelligence, which is sensitive when it reveals the sources or methods by which it was obtained;
— those that implicate ongoing cases, including the investigations or prosecutions that have spun out of Mueller's investigation;
— and those that would violate the privacy of people whom Barr called peripheral players to the main story.
Barr told lawmakers that the document would include explanations for each area that had been redacted. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
