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When Attorney General William Barr released special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, he released 448 pages of written research and analysis. He also attached 2,375 footnotes.
Tuesday, May 7th 2019 at 11:08AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
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"A possible remedy through impeachment for abuses of power would not substitute for potential criminal liability after a President leaves office. Impeachment would remove a President from office, but would not address the underlying culpability of the conduct or serve the usual purposes of the criminal law. Indeed, the Impeachment Judgment Clause recognizes that criminal law plays an independent role in addressing an official's conduct, distinct from the political remedy of impeachment. See U.S. CONST. ART. I, § 3, cl. 7. Impeachment is also a drastic and rarely invoked remedy, and Congress is not restricted to relying only on impeachment, rather than making criminal law applicable to a former President, as OLC has recognized. A Sitting President's Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution, 24 Op. O.L.C. at 255 ('Recognizing an immunity from prosecution for a sitting President would not preclude such prosecution once the President's term is over or he is otherwise removed from office by resignation or impeachment.')."
Tuesday, May 7th 2019 at 11:14AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
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You got to read this evidence
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1. Those tapes: Footnote 112 (Volume II pg 27-28) describes conversations between Trump associates about rumored video recordings of the candidate in a Russian hotel room with prostitutes:
2. Dossier diss: Footnote 117 (Volume II pg 28) describes Former FBI Director James Comey and Former Director of National Security James Clapper exchanging emails in 2017 about Trump's request that they discredit the Steele Dossier:
3. Congressional choices: Footnote 1091 (Volume II pg 178) suggests Congress can either craft new rules to stop a president from trying to thwart an investigation, or pursue impeachment as a drastic measure:
4. Considering charges: Footnote 1278 (Volume I pg 176) describes how the office of the special counsel considered whether to bring charges on the grounds that the dissemination of stolen Democratic National Conventions emails could constitute trafficking in or the receipt of stolen property.
5. Early warning: Footnote 155 (Volume II pg 32) suggests Former National Security Adviser Flynn was on "thin ice" even before he began to take criticism for his calls to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak report broke. This is largely because of a guidance that then President-Elect Trump got from President Obama:
I will stop right here for a moment, WOW!!!! This is a very interesting report.
Wednesday, May 8th 2019 at 8:34PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
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6. Paragons of loyalty: Footnote 297 (Volume II pg 51) shows Trump pointed to Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy for how he felt an AG should act:
The president regularly made public statements criticizing former Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe.
Part of the reason for this criticism, according to the footnotes, stems from the role Trump believed an attorney general should play to protect the president.
The footnote states that Trump, according to former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, pointed to Kennedy and Holder as attorney generals who protected their presidents.
Trump pointed to Holder's willingness to take a contempt of Congress charge for President Barack Obama during the fast and furious controversy.
"McGahn 12/12/17 302, at 3. Bannon said the President saw Robert Kennedy and Eric Holder as Attorneys General who protected the presidents they served. The President thought Holder always stood up for President Obama and even took a contempt charge for him, and Robert Kennedy always had his brother's back. Bannon 2/ 14/18 302, at 5. Priebus recalled that the President said he had been told his entire life he needed to have a great lawyer, a "bulldog," and added that Holder had been willing to take a contempt-of-Congress charge for President Obama. Priebus 4/3/18 302, at 5."
7. An alternative theory: In Footnote 500 (Volume II pg 77) the special counsel explores whether Trump might have fired Comey to protect other conduct that could come to light because of the probe, including Michael Cohen's campaign finance violations:
The report states that "the evidence does not establish that the termination of Comey was designed to cover up a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russia," but the footnotes show that the special counsel looked into other reasons why the president might have had an interest in terminating Comey.
One such reason the special counsel explored was that the Russia investigation might reveal other incriminating matters, such as Cohen's campaign finance violations that he later plead guilty to in the Southern District of New York, but did not establish that this was a motive.
In addition to whether the President had a motive related to Russia-related matters that an FBI investigation could uncover, we considered whether the President's intent in firing Comey was connected to other conduct that could come to light as a result of the FBT's Russian-interference investigation. In particular, Michael Cohen was a potential subject of investigation because of his pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project and involvement in other activities. And facts uncovered in the Russia investigation, which our Office referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, ultimately led to the conviction of Cohen in the Southern District of New York for campaign-finance offenses related to payments he said he made at the direction of the President. See Volume II, Section II.K.5, infra. The investigation, however, did not establish that when the President fired Comey, he was considering the possibility that the FBT's investigation would uncover these payments or that the President's intent in firing Comey was otherwise connected to a concern about these matters coming to light."
(MORE: Michael Cohen sentenced to 3 years in prison, blames President Trump for his 'path of darkness')
8. Russian visas: Footnote 363 (Volume I pg 76) describes Cohen texts discussing plans to send Trump's passport information to a Russian associate. The information was never sent, but the texts show Cohen's travel plans forming.
Ongoing discussions between Cohen and Russian associates about a possible Trump Tower Moscow deal were the focus of a great deal of the Mueller report, largely due to lies Cohen told about when conversations related to the potential business deal concluded.
Cohen had been in conversations with Russian businessman Felix Sater about taking a potential trip to Russia, both independently and potentially with Trump, to discuss the business dealings further.
The footnotes give new details about conversations between Sater and Cohen related to the trip. In one such text exchange, Sater asks Cohen for Trump's passport information. Cohen doesn't appear to give it and instead tells Sater he'll wait until he visits Moscow first.
"On December 21, 2015, Sater sent Cohen a text message that read, "They need a copy of DJT passport," to which Cohen responded, "After I return from Moscow with you with a date for him." FS00004 (12/21/15 Text Messages, Cohen & Sater)"
I will stop here for a moment.
Tuesday, May 28th 2019 at 8:31PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
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