Mueller Report

About

The Mueller Report refers to the results of a Special Counsel investigation which examined the Russian government interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Starting in mid-May 2017, the investigation led by former FBI director Robert Mueller concluded in late March 2019.

Background

In January 2017, the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement that the Russian government led an "influence campaign" favoring Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. On May 17th, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that former FBI director Rob Mueller had been appointed as special counsel for the probe into Russian interference in the election.

Findings

On March 14th, 2019, the House of Representatives voted for the Mueller report to be made public with the exception of classified information. The bill was subsequently blocked in the Senate by Senator Lindsey Graham for not containing a clause for investigation of the Clinton campaign. The following day, Trump tweeted "there should be no Mueller Report" (shown below).

On March 20th, Trump told the press that he did not "mind" if the Mueller report was released to the public (shown below).

On March 22nd, 2019, the Special Counsel submitted a final report of the investigation to Attorney General William Barr. On March 24th, Barr delivered a summary^[3] of the report to Congress, stating:

"The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election."

Additionally, the summary stated, "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

Developments

On March 22nd, 2019, a document titled "Report from the Special Counsel Investigation into Russian Interference During and Before the 2016 Presidential Election" was uploaded to Scribd, which contained lyrics from the 1999 rock song "All Star" by Smash Mouth. The document has since been deleted. Meanwhile, several posts about the report reached the front pages of the /r/politics^[4][5][6] and /r/news^[7] subreddits.

Donald Trump's Response

On March 24th, 2019, Donald Trump tweeted^[2] his reaction to the report, calling it a "complete and total exoneration" (shown below). In the next 24 hours, the tweet received upwards of 349,000 likes and 85,800 retweets.

That day, Twitter^[1] user @pixelatedboat tweeted a fake Donald Trump tweet in which he states that the reported concluded he is "handsome and respected, and my wife loves me" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 3,600 likes and 480 retweets.

James Comey Tweet

Also on March 24th, 2019, James Comey tweeted^[8] a photograph of himself standing in a forest with the message "so many questions." In response to the tweet, many speculated that it was intended to be a reaction to the Mueller report. That day, Senator Lindsey Graham replied^[9] with the message "Could not agree more. See you soon" (shown below, right). On March 25th, The Daily Dot^[10] published an article about the Comey tweet in the context of the Mueller report.

Redacted Report Release

On April 17th, 2019, the chain bookstore company Barnes and Noble began selling pre-orders for the full report (shown below). That day, a Twitter Moments page highlighting reactions to the pre-orders was created.

That evening, the @MeetThePress Twitter feed reported that the Justice Department planned to release a second report with fewer redactions to Congress (shown below).

Leading up to the release of the report, numerous parodies were posted to Twitter, many of which contained humorously redacted paragraphs (shown below).

The following morning, Donald Trump tweeted^[12] a photoshopped Game of Thrones-themed image featuring a picture of himself with the words "Game Over / No Collusion. No Obstruction" (shown below).

That day, the full report was released on the Justice.gov^[11] website, titled "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election." Meanwhile, Barr held a press conference about the final report (shown below).

Also on April 18th, Los Angeles Times reporter Chris Megerian tweeted out several highlights from the report, noting sections stating that the Russian interference was "sweeping and systematic," that the Trump campaign "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and release through Russian efforts" and that sections of the report about the Internet Research Agency were heavily redacted.

Additionally, the report outlined 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice committed by Trump, stating that "the president's actions and intent" created difficulties in "determining that no criminal conduct occurred":

"If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards however we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the president's actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

"Harm to Ongoing Matter" Redaction

Also on April 18th, a heavily redacted page labeled "Harm to Ongoing Matter" was widely circulated online, with many joking that the page resembled an album cover (shown below). That day, a Twitter Moments^[13] page highlighting tweets about the page was created.

Seth Ambramson's Twitter Thread

On April 17th, writer Seth Ambramson launched a Twitter thread titled "Mueller Report Live Thread," which was updated a total of 451 times over the next 48 hours.

On April 18th, Nate Silver tweeted^[14] a reply to the 248th post in the thread, stating that Abramson was "tweeting a pace of 2.45 tweet per page" of the report (shown below).

Meanwhile, Twitter user @KrangTNelson^[16] tweeted that since Ambramson had been posting the tweets from his computer "every 1-2 min," that "we can safely say he hasn't pooped in at least 13 hours" (shown below). On April 18th, Twitter Moments^[15] page titled "Seth Abramson's everlasting Mueller thread takes on a comical life of its own," highlighted various humorous reactions to the Twitter thread.

Mueller's Letter to Barr

On April 30th, 2019, The Washington Post reported that Mueller wrote Barr a letter on March 27th, stating his summary "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance" of the full report.

"The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions. There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations."

That evening, the hashtag #BarrLied^[18] circulated on Twitter among critics of the Trump administration, citing Barr's testimony on April 10th in which he stated: "I don’t know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion" when asked by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen if Mueller had supported his summary.

Barr Testifies

On May 1st, 2019, Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee over the Mueller report (shown below).

Resignation Press Conferences

On May 29th, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered a brief press conference and statement regarding his report and findings. Ahead of the statement, many online joked about what Mueller's voice would sound like, as he had yet to make a public comment (examples below).

That morning, Mueller delivered a 10-minute statement about his findings as well as his resignation from the United States Department of Justice. During the speech, he said that he would be closing the Special Counsel's office and resigning (shown below). He also said, "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime."

Following the statement, President Trump tweeted,^[19] "Nothing changes from the Mueller Report. There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you." The tweet received more than 24,000 retweets and 95,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Members of Congress responded to Mueller's statements by weighing the possibilities of impeachment proceedings. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler wrote,^[20] "Given that Special Counsel Mueller was unable to pursue criminal charges against the President, it falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump – and we will do so." The post received more than 1,600 retweets and 4,100 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Lindsey Graham tweeted,^[21] "Today’s statement by Mr. Mueller reinforces the findings of his report. And as for me, the case is over. Mr. Mueller has decided to move on and let the report speak for itself. Congress should follow his lead." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 5,000 retweets and 18,000 likes (shown below, center).

Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted,^[22] "Mueller’s statement makes clear what those who have read his report know: It is an impeachment referral, and it’s up to Congress to act. They should. Mueller leaves no doubt: 1) He didn't exonerate the president because there is evidence he committed crimes. 2) Justice Department policy prevented him from charging the president with any crimes. 3) The Constitution leaves it up to Congress to act--and that's impeachment." The first tweet received more than 19,000 retweets and 77,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References