[Ground-station] Ten White (well, maybe slightly soiled) Hats
Tom Clark
tom.k3io at gmail.com
Sat Apr 20 02:58:48 PDT 2019
POLITICS <https://www.npr.org/sections/politics/>
Meet The People In Trump's Orbit Who The Mueller Report Says Ignored
His Orders
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April 19, 20195:00 AM ET
Jessica Taylor at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., July 25, 2018.
(photo by Allison Shelley) (Square)
<https://www.npr.org/people/404496424/jessica-taylor>
JESSICA TAYLOR <https://www.npr.org/people/404496424/jessica-taylor>
Twitter <https://www.twitter.com/@JessicaTaylor>
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (left), former deputy
national security adviser designate Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland and
former White House counsel Don McGahn were named in Robert Mueller's
report as people who did not carry out President Trump's asks.
Tasos Katopodis; Chris Kleponis/AFP; Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Attorney General William Barr said there would be no obstruction of
justice charges against the president stemming from the report by
special counsel Robert Mueller, whichwas released in redacted form on
Thursday
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708965026/highlights-from-the-mueller-report>.
Highlights From The Mueller Report, Annotated
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708965026/highlights-from-the-mueller-report>
ANALYSIS <https://www.npr.org/sections/analysis/>
Highlights From The Mueller Report, Annotated
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708965026/highlights-from-the-mueller-report>
But the threshold for charging the president might have been breached,
had staffers not resisted his directives to engage in actions that would
have impeded the investigation.
Themore-than-400-page report
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708850903/read-the-full-mueller-report-with-redactions>names**10
onetime close aides or other government officials who refused to carry
out requests Trump made that may have violated the law.
"The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly
unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the
President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,"
Mueller wrote on Page 158 of the report.
Some of the resistance came from people Trump loathed, such as FBI
Director James Comey, whom the president would controversially fire
(thus launching Mueller's investigation in the first place). But other
close members of his team also rebuffed the president, including his
former chief of staff, campaign manager and White House counsel.
READ: The Mueller Report, With Redactions
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708850903/read-the-full-mueller-report-with-redactions>
POLITICS <https://www.npr.org/sections/politics/>
READ: The Mueller Report, With Redactions
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708850903/read-the-full-mueller-report-with-redactions>
Here is a list of those who acted as essentially legal guardrails for
the president and may have also kept themselves out of legal peril.
*White House counsel Don McGahn*
Enlarge this image
Former White House counsel Don McGahn, who resisted efforts to fire
special counsel Robert Mueller.
Melina Mara/AFP/Getty Images
Trump tried to stop the special counsel's investigation before it began
in earnest. On Page 4 of Mueller's report, he writes that the president
tried to get White House counsel Don McGahn to pressure Deputy Attorney
General Rod Rosenstein to relieve Mueller of his duties:
"On June 17, 2017, the President called McGahn at home and directed
him to call the Acting Attorney General and say that the Special
Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed. McGahn did
not carry out the direction, however, deciding that he would resign
rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night
Massacre."
McGahn feared a comparison to President Richard Nixon's purging of legal
officials from the Justice Department during the Watergate scandal.
When the episode was later reported in the press, the president
pressured McGahn to deny the reports. "McGahn refused to back away from
what he remembered happening and perceived the President to be testing
his mettle," the report says.
McGahn left the White House in October 2018.
Enlarge this image
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions resisted Trump's efforts to get
him to unrecuse himself from supervising the Mueller investigation.
Zach Gibson/Getty Images
*Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions*
Sessions haddecided in March 2017 to recuse himself
<https://www.npr.org/2017/03/02/518198749/attorney-general-sessions-to-recuse-himself-from-any-trump-campaign-investigatio>from
any investigations into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia because
of meetings he had with the Russian ambassador in 2016.
Trump pressured Sessions to rethink his recusal from the Russia
investigation as another one way to gain control over the Mueller probe.
On Page 5, Mueller writes:
See How Much Of The Mueller Report Is Redacted
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/713974980/see-how-much-of-the-mueller-report-is-redacted>
NATIONAL SECURITY <https://www.npr.org/sections/national-security/>
See How Much Of The Mueller Report Is Redacted
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/713974980/see-how-much-of-the-mueller-report-is-redacted>
In early summer 2017, the President called Sessions at home and
again asked him to reverse his recusal from the Russia
investigation. Sessions did not reverse his recusal. In October
2017, the President met privately with Sessions in the Oval Office
and asked him to "take [a] look" at investigating Clinton. In
December 2017, shortly after Flynn pleaded guilty pursuant to a
cooperation agreement, the President met with Sessions in the Oval
Office and suggested, according to notes taken by a senior advisor,
that if Sessions unrecused and took back supervision of the Russia
investigation, he would be a "hero." The President told Sessions,
"I'm not going to do anything or direct you to do anything. I just
want to be treated fairly." In response, Sessions volunteered that
he had never seen anything "improper" on the campaign and told the
President there was a "whole new leadership team" in place. He did
not unrecuse.
Sessions' decision to recuse himself was seen as the ultimate betrayal
by Trump. Although Sessions was the first sitting senator to endorse
Trump, the relationship between the two soured as Trump repeatedly
bashed and criticized him in public and on social media.Sessions was
finally forced
<https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/539109386/jeff-sessions-out-as-attorney-general-after-steady-drumbeat-of-criticism-from-tr>out
the day after the November 2018 midterms, when Republicans lost control
of the House of Representatives.
*Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and senior White House
official Rick Dearborn*
Enlarge this image
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski tried to get someone
else to fire Jeff Sessions.
Olivier Douliery /AFP/Getty Images
When both McGahn and Sessions wouldn't follow directives to fire or
limit Mueller's powers, Trump turned to a loyalist who didn't work in
the White House, his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
According to the report, Trump pressured Lewandowski to ask Sessions to
give a speech to walk back his recusal.
Mueller Report: Trump Tried To Stop Investigation Fearing His Presidency
Was Over
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/709051040/watch-live-attorney-general-barr-briefs-reporters-about-the-mueller-report>
NATIONAL SECURITY <https://www.npr.org/sections/national-security/>
Mueller Report: Trump Tried To Stop Investigation Fearing His
Presidency Was Over
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/709051040/watch-live-attorney-general-barr-briefs-reporters-about-the-mueller-report>
Mueller later writes that Trump again pressured Lewandowski a month
later when the message had still not been transmitted to Sessions:
One month later, in another private meeting with Lewandowski on July
19, 2017, the President asked about the status of his message for
Sessions to limit the Special Counsel investigation to future
election interference. Lewandowski told the President that the
message would be delivered soon. Hours after that meeting, the
President publicly criticized Sessions in an interview with the New
York Times, and then issued a series of tweets making it clear that
Sessions's job was in jeopardy.//
Despite his apparent promise to the president, Lewandowski dragged his
feet. Instead, he "asked senior White House official Rick Dearborn to
deliver it to Sessions" because he "believed Dearborn would be a better
messenger because he had a longstanding relationship with Sessions." But
"Dearborn was uncomfortable with the task and did not follow through."
*White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus*
Enlarge this image
Then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in 2017. Priebus also
resisted orders to fire Jeff Sessions.
Aude Guerrucci/Getty Images
Trump continued to fume over Sessions' continued role as attorney
general and hoped to find yet another way to remove him in order to curb
Mueller's investigation. In July 2017, Trump "told Priebus that he had
to get Sessions to resign immediately" because "the country had lost
confidence in Sessions and the negative publicity was not tolerable."
"Priebus replied that if they fired Sessions, they would never get a new
Attorney General confirmed and that the Department of Justice and
Congress would turn their backs on the President," Mueller writes, but
Trump suggested a recess appointment instead. However, Priebus still saw
Trump's request was problematic, and called McGahn to help stop it.
Priebus and McGahn discussed both resigning to stop Trump from firing
Sessions. Still, Trump continued to push his then-chief of staff about
the directive:
Even though Priebus did not intend to carry out the President's
directive, he told the President he would get Sessions to resign.
Later in the day, Priebus called the President and explained that it
would be a calamity if Sessions resigned because Priebus expected
that Rosenstein and Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand would
also resign and the President would be unable to get anyone else
confirmed. The President agreed to hold off on demanding Sessions's
resignation until after the Sunday shows the next day, to prevent
the shows from focusing on the firing. By the end of that weekend,
Priebus recalled that the President relented and agreed not to ask
Sessions to resign.//
*Staff Secretary Rob Porter*
Before Trump had pressured Priebus to fire Sessions, Trump considered
defanging the Mueller investigation by having Associate Attorney General
Rachel Brand take it over. He reached out to Rob Porter about Brand's
loyalties because he knew her, and "asked him to sound her out about
taking responsibility for the investigation and being Attorney General."
Trump would bring it up to Porter a few more times, but Porter was
unwilling to do so:
Later, the President asked Porter a few times in passing whether he
had spoken to Brand, but Porter did not reach out to her because he
was uncomfortable with the task. In asking him to reach out to
Brand, Porter understood the President to want to find someone to
end the Russia investigation or fire the Special Counsel, although
the President never said so explicitly. Porter did not contact Brand
because he was sensitive to the implications of that action and did
not want to be involved in a chain of events associated with an
effort to end the investigation or fire the Special Counsel.
Porter wouldlater resign in February 2018 amid allegations over domestic
abuse
<https://www.npr.org/2018/02/14/585617976/4-big-questions-raised-by-the-latest-white-house-scandal>,
which he denied.
Will Democrats 'Follow The Mueller Report To Where It Leads'?
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/19/714865550/will-democrats-follow-the-mueller-report-to-where-it-leads>
ANALYSIS <https://www.npr.org/sections/analysis/>
Will Democrats 'Follow The Mueller Report To Where It Leads'?
<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/19/714865550/will-democrats-follow-the-mueller-report-to-where-it-leads>
*FBI Director James Comey*
Enlarge this image
Former FBI Director James Comey resisted Trump's efforts to shut down
the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Carsten Koall/Getty Images
It was Comey's firing by Trump that triggered Mueller's appointment.
Comey alleged that Trump had asked the FBI director to go easy on an
investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn,
over misleading the FBI and Vice President Pence about his contact with
Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Trump denied asking Comey about the
Flynn matter, but Mueller finds that "substantial evidence corroborates
Comey's account."
When the President met with Comey the day after Flynn's termination
— shortly after being told by [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie that
firing Flynn would not end the Russia investigation — the President
cleared the room, even excluding the Attorney General, so that he
could again speak to Comey alone. The President's decision to meet
one-on-one with Comey contravened the advice of the White House
Counsel that the President should not communicate directly with the
Department of Justice to avoid any appearance of interfering in law
enforcement activities. And the President later denied that he
cleared the room and asked Comey to "let Flynn go" — a denial that
would have been unnecessary if he believed his request was a proper
exercise of prosecutorial discretion.//
One reason Trump was sensitive about any investigation into Russian
influence is that he thought, Mueller says, any suggestion Russia had
intervened in the 2016 election on his behalf would undermine the
legitimacy of his presidency.
*Deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland*
Enlarge this image
Former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
McFarland was Flynn's deputy for the brief time he was national security
adviser. Trump asked Priebus to have McFarland "draft an internal email
that would confirm that the President did not direct Flynn to call the
Russian Ambassador about sanctions. Priebus said he told the President
he would only direct McFarland to write such a letter if she were
comfortable with it."
But McFarland didn't know if that were the case, and she worried it
would look like a quid pro quo in order for an ambassadorship to
Singapore she was being considered for. Mueller goes on to write:
The evidence does not establish that the President was trying to
have McFarland lie. The President's request, however, was
sufficiently irregular that McFarland — who did not know the full
extent of Flynn's communications with the President and thus could
not make the representation the President wanted — felt the need to
draft an internal memorandum documenting the President's request ...
*Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein*
Enlarge this image
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein resisted multiple efforts to curb
the Mueller investigation.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
When Trump was trying to make a case for firing Comey, he turned to
Sessions and Rosenstein for their recommendations. Rosenstein expressed
concern over Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary
Clinton's email server at the State Department, but Trump told him:
... to include in his recommendation the fact that Comey had refused
to confirm that the President was not personally under
investigation. According to notes taken by a senior DOJ official of
Rosenstein's description of his meeting with the President, the
President said, 'Put the Russia stuff in the memo.' Rosenstein
responded that the Russia investigation was not the basis of his
recommendation, so he did not think Russia should be mentioned. The
President told Rosenstein he would appreciate it if Rosenstein put
it in his letter anyway. When Rosenstein left the meeting, he knew
that Comey would be terminated, and he told DOJ colleagues that his
own reasons for replacing Comey were 'not [the President's] reasons.'
When press coverage turned against Trump following Comey's firing, the
White House called the Department of Justice and said they:
... wanted to put out a statement saying that it was Rosenstein's
idea to fire Comey. Rosenstein told other DOJ officials that he
would not participate in putting out a 'false story.' The President
then called Rosenstein directly and said he was watching Fox News,
that the coverage had been great, and that he wanted Rosenstein to
do a press conference. Rosenstein responded that this was not a good
idea because if the press asked him, he would tell the truth that
Comey's firing was not his idea. Sessions also informed the White
House Counsel's Office that evening that Rosenstein was upset that
his memorandum was being portrayed as the reason for Comey's
termination.
*Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe*
Enlarge this image
Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Trump summoned McCabe to the White House in the wake of Comey's firing, and:
... asked McCabe whether many people in the FBI disliked Comey and
whether McCabe was part of the 'resistance' that had disagreed with
Comey's decisions in the Clinton investigation. McCabe told the
President that he knew Comey had told the President he was not under
investigation, that most people in the FBI felt positively about
Comey, and that McCabe worked 'very closely' with Comey and was part
of all the decisions that had been made in the Clinton investigation.
Trump met with McCabe again later, and Trump "without prompting, told
McCabe that people in the FBI loved the President, estimated that at
least 80% of the FBI had voted for him, and asked McCabe who he had
voted for in the 2016 presidential election."
Ultimately, Trump chose McCabe as the temporary acting FBI director but
was suspicious of him because his wife had run for the Virginia state
legislature as a Democrat. McCabe wouldlater tell CBS News
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mccabe-says-he-quickly-opened-fbi-investigation-of-trump-for-fear-of-being-fired/2019/02/14/262dd7b0-3054-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html?utm_term=.db2200b34651>that
he authorized an investigation into Trump's ties to Russia because he
feared that if he were "removed quickly or reassigned or fired, that the
case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace." Trump
fired McCabe from the FBI just 26 hours before his retirement was set to
take effect, denying him his full pension.
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