[Ground-station] Ten White (well, maybe slightly soiled) Hats

[Michelle Thompson]

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-Michelle W5NYV



On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 3:03 AM Tom Clark via Ground-Station
<ground-station at lists.openresearch.institute> wrote:

>
> POLITICS <https://www.npr.org/sections/politics/>
> Meet The People In Trump's Orbit Who The Mueller Report Says Ignored His
> Orders
>
>    - *Facebook*
>    - *Twitter*
>    - *Flipboard*
>    - *Email*
>
> April 19, 20195:00 AM ET
> [image: 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, which was released in redacted form on Thursday
> <https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708965026/highlights-from-the-mueller-report>
> .
> [image: 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.
>
> The more-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.
> [image: 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 had decided 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:
> [image: 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.
> [image: 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 would later 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.
> [image: 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 would later 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.
>
>    - *Facebook*
>    - *Twitter*
>    - *Flipboard*
>    - *Email*
>
>
>
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