Evening summary
Have a good night, everybody. Here are the evening’s biggest takeaways:
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a motion to make the Mueller report public.
- Six Democratic House committee chairs wrote a letter to attorney general William Barr requesting to see the report in full by 2 April.
- In even more Mueller news, Felix Sater’s testimony on Capitol Hill has been postponed because of the “need to understand Special Counsel Mueller’s areas of inquiry and evidence his office uncovered”.
Updated
House Dems calling to see full Mueller report by next week
Six Democratic House Committee chairs have sent a letter to attorney general William Barr requesting that he send them the full Mueller report by 2 April.
NEW: @NBCNews has learned six House Dem Committee chairs - Nadler, Cummings, Schiff, Waters, Neal, Engel - sent a letter today to AG Barr requesting he submit the full Mueller report by Tuesday, April 2nd. They also want the underlying evidence and materials. pic.twitter.com/OOk073AbUc
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) March 25, 2019
Lauren Gambino has some more details on Beto O’Rourke’s new campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon:
Jen O’Malley Dillon is a big hire for Beto O’Rourke’s fledgling campaign, which has so far been run by a handful of close aides and staffers.
O’Malley Dillon, a former top aide to Barack Obama, with whom O’Rourke has been compared, announced on Monday that she is leaving her consulting firm to move to El Paso to run the Texan’s campaign.
On a personal note, it's still too rare for a mom of young kids to do this job. Everything I do is to help make a better world for them & *every* child. I’m proud my daughters & my son will watch mom go to work in this role, and of a candidate & campaign who value & support that.
— Jen O'Malley Dillon (@jomalleydillon) March 25, 2019
O’Rourke said in a statement: “We’re excited that Jen O’Malley Dillon has joined our team. Her leadership, experience and creativity will be a great addition to a campaign that is already doing so much to bring people together to overcome the greatest set of challenges this country has ever faced.”
The announcement followed the conclusion of O’Rourke’s a 10-day, multi-state tour of early and swing states after launching his campaign in a video with his wife. The Texas Democrat, who rose to national prominence after a near-miss running to unseat incumbent Republican senator Ted Cruz, will formally launch his campaign with a series of rallies in Texas this weekend.
Felix Sater, the Moscow-born businessman at the center of the Trump Tower discussions in Russia, will be appearing on Capitol Hill later than originally scheduled because of the Mueller report.
House Intel Cmte Spokesperson:
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) March 25, 2019
Felix Sater's testimony is being postponed due to "our need to understand Special Counsel Mueller’s areas of inquiry and evidence his office uncovered... With the focus on those efforts this week, we are postponing Mr. Sater’s open interview."
McConnell blocks motion to make Mueller report public
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked a non-binding resolution put forth by Senator Chuck Schumer calling for the Mueller report to be made public.
JUST NOW: McConnell blocks Schumer measure calling for Mueller report to be made public
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) March 25, 2019
It is in the public interest for the Mueller report to be released to the American people.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 25, 2019
They simply want the truth.
They can read the report for themselves and draw their own conclusions. https://t.co/81mocRxXtW
MCCONNELL on Barr summary of Mueller conclusions: "In any sane political moment all of this would be very welcome news to all Americans, in a normal time, but we know that amazingly the reaction in some corners of the far left has seemed not to be celebration, but disappointment"
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) March 25, 2019
Updated
Hey all, Vivian Ho taking over for Ben Jacobs. Let’s see where the day takes us, shall we?
Summary
- Lawyer Michael Avenatti was indicted in both New York and California on charges including fraud and extortion. Avenatti rose to fame representing Stormy Daniels and briefly becoming a liberal hero before a domestic violence incident and discredited rape allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
- Trump officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights at a White House ceremony with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
- New Mexico Senator Tom Udall announced his retirement today. The former congressman and two-term Democratic senator will not run for re-election in 2020.
Updated
O’Rourke taps ex-Obama operative as campaign manager
Beto O’Rourke has tapped Jen O’Malley Dillon to be his campaign manager.
O’Malley Dillon is a veteran Democratic operative who worked on both Obama presidential campaigns as well as for John Edwards in 2008.
A big get for @BetoORourke: @jomalleydillon tells me she’s going to take leave from her firm, move to El Paso and run his campaign.
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) March 25, 2019
She was one of most sought-after operatives of cycle and her hiring suggests Beto knows he can’t DIY a presidential https://t.co/dy5nXdcYYr
Updated
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a foreign owned company that was fighting to a subpoena from special counsel Robert Mueller.
A lower court had previously ruled that the company had to comply with the subpoena
CNN has ended its contract with Mark Geragos, the celebrity lawyer who allegedly conspired with Michael Avenatti on his scheme to extort Nike. Geragos opined on legal issues for the network.
Just received this from a CNN spokeswoman on Mark Geragos, who is Michael Avenatti's alleged co-conspirator:
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 25, 2019
"Mark Geragos is no longer CNN contributor."
A formal complaint has been filed against Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh over her failure to disclose income from selling children’s books to a hospital system where she served the board.
James Cabezas, a former investigator for the prosecutor’s office, wrote in his complaint that Pugh must have known she was required to report the children’s book company because she disclosed two other businesses in forms filed with the State Ethics Commission.
Omitting information on mandatory disclosure forms can result in perjury charges, if prosecutors can prove that government employees or elected officials knew they were required to report business interests and did not, Cabezas stated in his complaint.
Pugh sold 100,000 books to the University of Maryland Hospital System for five dollars a piece. The only entity to ever purchase the books was the hospital. Pugh has since refunded $100,000 to the hospital.
Neither Trump nor his lawyers have read the Mueller Report.
Senior White House official says White House lawyers and Trump have not seen the full Mueller report and have not been briefed on its contents -- past a briefing of the summary just before it came out yesterday afternoon.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 25, 2019
Barr to face Congress in April
Attorney general William Barr is set to testify before Congress on 9 April:
MARK CALENDARS: Attny Gen. Barr is set to testify before Dem-controlled House committee *April 9*.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 25, 2019
House Appropriations confirms that is the scheduled date for his agency budget hearing.
(Though anyone can ask anything.)
Updated
Stephen Moore, the pundit nominated to the board of the Federal Reserve by Donald Trump, has admitted he doesn’t know a lot about the organization in an interview.
“I’m kind of new to this game, frankly, so I’m going to be on a steep learning curve myself about how the Fed operates, how the Federal Reserve makes its decisions,” he told Bloomberg.
Moore’s nomination has drawn fierce criticism including from Greg Mankiw, the former chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under George W. Bush, who said “He does not have the intellectual gravitas for this important job.”
With the Stanley Cup in the Oval Office, Trump announced that he is both a fan of hockey as well as a fan of the Washington Capitals in specific.
Stanley Cup on the Resolute Desk. In the Oval Office, Pres Trump congratulates the 2018 Stanley Cup Champion Washington @Capitals. "I'm a hockey fan and I'm a Capitals fan," said the president. pic.twitter.com/WBjJN91HQg
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 25, 2019
The Trump campaign has sent a memo to television producers urging scrutiny of notable Democrats for their past statements on air about the Mueller investigation.
The memo targets Senator Richard Blumenthal, Congressmen Jerry Nadler, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, DNC chair Tom Perez and former CIA director John Brennan.
The Trump campaign is sending this memo to TV producers: pic.twitter.com/yhr03LAI7N
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) March 25, 2019
Trump’s Washington hotel had a distinguished guest this weekend.
Viorica Dancila, the prime minister of Romania, stayed at the hotel while in the United States to speak at AIPAC.
Legal concerns have been raised that by his business taking money from foreign officials, Trump is violating the constitutional prohibition against “emoluments” from foreign governments.
Trump’s personal lawyers are in the Oval Office with him as he hosts the Stanley Cup winning Washington Capitols at the White House today.
Both Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani are there less than 24 hours after William Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report was released.
Standing at the back of the Oval Office as the president celebrates the Capitols... pic.twitter.com/Dx1I5is76W
— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) March 25, 2019
Updated
The retirement of Tom Udall from the Senate has led to speculation that Ben Ray Lujan might run for the seat.
A congressman first elected in 2008, Lujan is currently the assistant Speaker and one of only two Democrats in leadership under the age of 70. With Nancy Pelosi’s time as Democratic leader dwindling, the question is whether Lujan will seek elevation to the Senate or try to wait in the House in effort to see the top position there.
Tom Udall’s retirement raises the question: Will Ben Ray Lujan leave House leadership for a shot at the Senate? He'd likely be the frontrunner... but would he walk away from a shot at becoming Speaker? https://t.co/s9psCE7p20
— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) March 25, 2019
The American Enterprise Institute, a major conservative thinktank, just released the list of attendees at its retreat last month in Georgia.
It includes a number of Republican elected officials as well as New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, former Vice President Dick Cheney and John Delaney, a former Democratic congressman running for President.
AEI declined to say who was going to its retreat in Sea Island, Ga., earlier this month.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 25, 2019
Here is the list of expected speakers, as filed by lawmakers with the House Ethics Committee. pic.twitter.com/Rn9t7t0aMJ
The Wall Street Journal reports that celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos is the unnamed conspirator with Avenatti.
NEW: We report that alleged co-conspirator with @michaelavenatti in federally charged extortion scheme is celebrity attorney Mark Geragos @markgeragos Avenatti was recorded by lawyers at Boies Schiller @bsfllp with @rebeccadobrien
— Michael Rothfeld (@mrothfeld) March 25, 2019
https://t.co/ZDJttHitNP via @WSJ
The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump is adamantly against further aid to Puerto Rico, which is still suffering 18 months after the island was devastated by hurricanes.
But at an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 22, Trump asked top advisers for ways to limit federal support from going to Puerto Rico, believing it is taking money that should be going to the mainland, according to senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the presidents’ private remarks.
The meeting — an afternoon session focused on Housing and Urban Development grants — ended abruptly, and Trump has continued to ask aides how much money the island will get. Then, Trump said he wanted the money to only fortify the electric grid there.
Trump has also privately signaled he will not approve any additional help for Puerto Rico beyond the food stamp money, setting up a congressional showdown with Democrats who have pushed for more expansive help for the island.
A senior administration official with direct knowledge of the meeting described Trump’s stance: “He doesn’t want another single dollar going to the island.”
Updated
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has tweeted a chart that they are using to lay out the case against Avenatti.
#MichaelAvenatti charged with engaging in a scheme to extort Nike pic.twitter.com/zxS6vSyavu
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 25, 2019
Stormy Daniels has tweeted a statement about her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti.
My statement regarding my former attorney Mr. Avenatti.. pic.twitter.com/9aKYCPNN6y
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 25, 2019
Updated
Fred Malek, a longtime Republican activist and fundraiser died today at the age of 85.
The death was announced by the American Action Network, the Republican 501 (c)(4) he founded. Malek worked in both the Nixon and George H.W. Bush administrations. He gained notoriety after it was revealed that he counted the number of Jews working in the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the request of Nixon.
Statements from AAN Chairman Norm Coleman and President Dan Conston on the passing of AAN Founder Fred Malekhttps://t.co/7yLPvc7DQr
— American Action Network (@AAN) March 25, 2019
Updated
Senator Susan Collins of Maine will face a primary challenge to her right in 2020.
The moderate Republican will face Derek Levasseur, a conservative blogger upset with her vote to overturn Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. However, Levasseur has some baggage, being arrested in 2012 for assaulting four people, including his daughter at his own wedding reception.
Updated
Hillary Clinton has endorsed a candidate in the open race to be the next mayor of Dallas, Texas.
The former secretary of state endorsed Regina Montoya ahead of the city’s nonpartisan primary on May 4.
Montoya, a lawyer, was a staffer in the Clinton White House and a major donor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign
Updated
Nancy Pelosi defended House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff after Donald Trump aides called for his resignation.
“Chairman Schiff has done an outstanding job and that’s the reason why he’s subject to these ridiculous attacks,” Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne told the Hill.
“Democrats aren’t going to be intimidated by the White House or Congressional Republicans, we’re not going to be distracted from securing the release of the full Mueller report and the underlying evidence, and we will continue to pursue legitimate oversight because that’s what the Constitution requires,” she said. “The days of Congress ignoring the mountain of legal and ethical misconduct by this President and Administration are over.”
Updated
Attorney General William Barr is likely to testify before the House Appropriations Committee next month, the Washington Post reports.
The committee has tentatively scheduled a budget hearing for April 9 on the Justice Department’s budget. The attorney general typically testifies at such hearings.
Here’s the criminal complaint against Michael Avenatti in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors allege he “embezzled a client’s money in order to pay his own expenses and debts — as well as those of his coffee business and law firm — and also defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans.”
From DOJ:
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in this case, Avenatti negotiated a settlement which called for $1.6 million in settlement money to be paid on January 10, 2018, but then gave the client a bogus settlement agreement with a false payment date of March 10, 2018. The affidavit states that Avenatti misappropriated his client’s settlement money and used it to pay expenses for his coffee business, Global Baristas US LLC, which operated Tully’s Coffee stores in California and Washington state, as well as for his own expenses. When the fake March 2018 deadline passed and the client asked where the money was, Avenatti continued to conceal that the payment had already been received, court documents said.
Avenatti also allegedly defrauded a bank in Mississippi by submitting to the lender false tax returns in order to obtain three loans totaling $4.1 million for his law firm and coffee business in 2014. According to the affidavit, Avenatti obtained the loans by submitting fabricated individual income tax returns (Forms 1040) for 2011, 2012, and 2013, reporting substantial income even though he had never filed any such returns with the Internal Revenue Service.
Updated
Donald Trump Jr. is already taunting Michael Avenatti.
Good news for my friend @MichaelAvenatti, if you plead fast enough, you might just get to share a cell with Michael Cohen! #basta
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 25, 2019
Michael Avenatti faces a separate set of charges in Los Angeles, where prosecutors allege “he embezzled a client’s money in order to pay his own expenses and debts — as well as those of his coffee business & law firm — and also defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars,” per NPR.
That’s in addition to the case in New York, where he’s charged with attempting to extort millions out of Nike.
Avenatti is charged separately in Los Angeles, on allegations “he embezzled a client’s money in order to pay his own expenses and debts — as well as those of his coffee business & law firm — and also defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars.” https://t.co/MqjmbT19ZN
— Carrie Johnson (@johnson_carrie) March 25, 2019
Updated
Michael Avenatti has been arrested in New York, per AP.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors charge Trump critic Michael Avenatti with extortion and bank and wire fraud; place him under arrest.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) March 25, 2019
The Justice Department has published the full criminal complaint against celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti.
A press conference is planned at 2:30 pm to discuss the charges, which accuse Avenatti of attempting to extract more than $20 million in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.
The company has been identified as Nike by several news outlets, and Avenatti posted a tweet threatening Nike with a scandal shortly before the charges emerged.
Less than an hour before news emerged that he had been indicted, lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted that he would be holding a press conference to discuss a “major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike.”
Avenatti is charged with a $20 million extortion against Nike, CNBC reported.
Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019
Avenatti allegedly “devised a scheme to extort a company by means of an interstate communication by threatening to damage the company’s reputation if the company did not agree to make multi-million dollar payments to Avenatti and [co-conspirator], and further agree to pay an additional $1.5 million to a client of Avenatti’s,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNBC.
Avenatti spoke on the phone with lawyers for Nike and “stated, with respect to his demands for payment of milions of dollars, that if those demands were not met ‘I’ll go take ten billion dollars off your client’s market cap ... I’m not f---ing around,’ ” the complaint says.
Senator Lindsey Graham said Monday that he encouraged John McCain to turn over a dossier full of disparaging claims about Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia to the FBI.
McCain’s alleged role in handling the so-called Steele dossier has angered Trump, prompting days of attacks on the deceased senator. The unverified document, prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele who was paid by a Democratic group, alleged that the Russians had compromising information about Trump.
Graham said he told Trump this weekend that McCain was not behind spreading the document, CNN reported.
“I told the President it was not John McCain. I know because John McCain showed me the dossier. And I told him the only thing I knew to do with it - it could be a bunch of garbage, it could be true, who knows? Turn it over to somebody who’s job it is to find these things out. And John McCain acted appropriately,” he said.
Graham said he believed that some of McCain’s associates, but not McCain himself, did attempt to use the dossier to damage Trump.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti indicted
Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer for Stormy Daniels, has been indicted on extortion charges.
He was charged by federal prosecutors in New York with attempting to extort millions of dollars out of Nike by threatening to release damaging information about the company, which did not meet his demands, Bloomberg News reported.
He’s been charged with wire and bank fraud, according to CNBC.
Updated
More from Donald Trump on the Mueller probe:
Trump said, "I'm saying, 'why haven't they been looked at?' They lied to Congress, and many of them you know who they are. They've done so many evil things...I will tell you I love this country, I love this country as much as I can love anything: my family, my country, my God."
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 25, 2019
Trump: It 'wouldn't bother me at all' to release Mueller report
Donald Trump said it “wouldn’t bother me at all” to have special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report released.
“Up to the attorney general, but it wouldn’t bother me at all,” he said, in response to a shouted question at his White House event with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Updated
New York Rep. Jose Serrano says he will not seek re-election next year. He said he has Parkinson’s disease, NY1 reported.
“Today, I am announcing that I am living with Parkinson’s disease. After my diagnosis, I initially planned to continue my work representing the people of the South Bronx far into the future- a responsibility that brings me great joy," - @RepJoseSerrano announces
— Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) March 25, 2019
The Bronx congressman had faced a likely primary challenge from City Councilman Ritchie Torres, one of several New York pols looking to repeat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s feat of knocking off a longtime incumbent.
JUST IN: Chair of House Appropriations subcommittee that funds #2020Census, @RepJoseSerrano (D-NY), says he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, won’t seek re-election next year & will keep “fighting” for an “accurate” 2020 census during the rest of his time in Congress👇 pic.twitter.com/a8Bj0efZuf
— Hansi Lo Wang (@hansilowang) March 25, 2019
Updated
Donald Trump was asked if special counsel Robert Mueller acted honorably, per the Washington Post. “Yes, he did,” he responded, as he departed his White House event with the Israeli prime minister.
Trump was just asked if he thinks Robert Mueller acted honorably and the president replied, "Yes he did."
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) March 25, 2019
That is of course in contrast with Trump’s repeated comments slamming Mueller’s investigation as a witch hunt.
Moments ago at the White House, President Trump was asked:
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 25, 2019
“Do you think Robert Mueller acted honorably?”
“Yes, he did."
With that, he walked out of the Diplomatic Reception Room with the Israeli Prime Minister without answering further questions about the Russia investigation.
Trump, asked if Mueller acted honorably, says: "Yes, he did."
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) March 25, 2019
Trump has spent the last two years referring to the investigation as a "witch hunt" and a hoax and suggesting that Mueller was politically motivated. https://t.co/NeBJsnS07s
Just yesterday, he called the investigation an “illegal takedown that failed.”
Updated
Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams compares the attorney general’s brief summary of the Mueller report to “having your brother summarize your report card.”
.@StaceyAbrams says Barr’s summary of the Mueller report is like ‘having your brother summarize your report card to your parents’ pic.twitter.com/YJ5dY3Hf7c
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 25, 2019
Donald Trump officially recognizes Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights
Donald Trump signed a declaration to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Trump was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House as he signed the presidential proclamation.
“The US recognizes Israel’s absolute right to defend itself,” Trump said. “Today I am taking historic action to promote Israel’s ability to defend itself and really to have a very powerful, very strong national security, which they are entitled to have.”
Trump said the move should have taken place “many decades ago” and gave the pen he used to sign it to Netanyahu.
Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war.
Both leaders condemned a rocket attack from Gaza, which struck a home north of Tel Aviv and injured seven people. Netanyahu planned to meet with Trump privately after the signing, and then return to Israel ahead of schedule because of the attack.
“Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this,” Netanyahu said.
“As we speak Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression,” he said. “We will do whatever we must do to defend our people.”
Netanyahu, a close ally of Trump who is up for re-election next month, said Israel has never had a better friend in the White House.
Updated
Robert Mueller’s investigators informed Attorney General Bill Barr three weeks ago that they were not going to reach a conclusion on whether Donald Trump obstructed justice, CNN reports.
New from @LauraAJarrett: ~3 weeks ago, special counsel’s team came to brief AG Bill Barr & Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein on the investigation & told the top DOJ officials that Mueller would not be reaching a conclusion on obstruction of justice, per source familiar with the meeting
— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) March 25, 2019
New Mexico Senator Tom Udall will not run for re-election next year, he said Monday.
“The worst thing anyone in public office can do is believe the office belongs to them, rather than to the people they represent. That’s why I’m announcing today that I won’t be seeking re-election next year,” the Democrat said, according to Politico.
Wow
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 25, 2019
New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall announces he is retiring after 2020
Updated
Vice President Mike Pence criticized Democratic presidential candidates for skipping the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“Anyone who aspires to the highest office in the land should not be afraid stand with the strongest supporters of Israel in America,” Pence said in his own remarks at AIPAC, the Hill reported.
“It is wrong to boycott Israel, and it is wrong to boycott AIPAC,” he said.
Candidates including Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke said they would not attend the event, after liberal group MoveOn called on them to boycott the conference. (The stance is mostly symbolic, since it’s traditional for presidential candidates to address the event in election years but not in off years. It’s unclear if the candidates were in fact invited.)
“I think the public sort of knows what they’re getting with Donald Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said.
He compared Trump to former President Bill Clinton, whose impeachment for lying about a sexual relationship he was involved with. The public knew also knew what they were getting with Clinton, known for his sex scandals, Graham said. He predicted Democrats who continued to go after Trump over Russia would suffer politically, as Republicans did for pursuing Clinton’s impeachment.
“If you keep going after Mueller smoke, people are going to think you’re just out to get him,” Graham said. “You’ll probably suffer the same fate we did, as having gone too far.”
“Pursue what you think is important to the public, but if you keep pursing after Mueller spoke, then people are going to think you are just out to get him.”
— Nicholas Fandos (@npfandos) March 25, 2019
Updated
Senator Lindsey Graham said it was appropriate for Attorney General William Barr to reach the conclusion that Donald Trump did not obstruct justice.
“Somebody has to decide, and the attorney general is not conflicted,” he said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Robert Mueller in his report said he was neither accusing Trump of a crime nor exonerating him. His report, not yet public, laid out evidence on both sides of the question of whether Trump committed obstruction of justice.
The big question, Graham said, was “Did Trump work with the Russians?”
“The answer is no,” he said.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham said he will speak with Attorney General William Barr today at noon, and hopes to have him testify before the committee, per CNN and McClatchy.
Lindsey Graham has a noon call with Barr, he expects Barr to come before his committee and that as much of the report will be released as possible
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 25, 2019
.@LindseyGrahamSC says at press conference he's speaking to Barr at noon, hopes he will come to testify at Senate Judiciary Committee
— Emma Dumain (@Emma_Dumain) March 25, 2019
He said he hopes to see as much of the Mueller report released as possible, per Talking Points Memo.
.@LindseyGrahamSC: “I hope soon to have as much of the report released as possible."
— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) March 25, 2019
Updated
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke at the AIPAC conference today, an event several Democratic presidential candidates opted to skip. De Blasio has flirted with the possibility of a presidential run.
“The vast majority of Democrats support the State of Israel. The vast majority of Progressives support the State of Israel. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he said in his remarks, according to a tweet from AIPAC.
.@NYCMayor Bill de Blasio at #AIPAC2019: "The vast majority of Democrats support the State of Israel. The vast majority of Progressives support the State of Israel. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) March 24, 2019
Updated
Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at AIPAC, said yesterday’s release of a summary of the investigation was a “great day” for Americans, CBS News reports.
“This was a total vindication,” he said.
Addressing @AIPAC, @VP calls yesterday "a great day" for the US and every American who cherishes the truth. Says after 2 years of investigation and "reckless accusations," Mueller report found no collusion and no obstruction of justice. "This was a total vindication," says Pence. pic.twitter.com/Xs3uxFmNU9
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 25, 2019
Donald Trump will formally recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights at his meeting today with Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Mike Pence told the AIPAC conference.
CBS News reports that Pence also said today’s rocket attack on Israel shows that Hamas cannot be part of the Middle East peace process.
VP Pence announces to @AIPAC that Pres Trump today, in meeting with @netanyahu, will formally recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Pence says it's in the best interests of the US and of peace. pic.twitter.com/lRJ3qA24sf
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 25, 2019
.@VP says today's rocket attack on Israel shows Hamas is not a partner for peace and the US will never negotiate "with terrorist Hamas."
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 25, 2019
Updated
Donald Trump’s campaign has sent out an email to fundraise off the Mueller investigation, per Newsday. In one line the note simultaneously blasts the investigation as a witch hunt and touts its conclusion that there was no conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Campaign fundraising email, all-caps subject line. (But no exclamation point?) pic.twitter.com/xFsiBna0dE
— Emily Ngo (@epngo) March 25, 2019
Updated
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says there’s no current discussion of pardons for Donald Trump’s various indicted and convicted associates.
NEW: Asked whether Pres. Trump is considering pardoning any of his former aides, press sec. Sarah Sanders says "there's no discussion of that taking place at this point." https://t.co/ARZVyJJdzu pic.twitter.com/s3ECvq1M7Y
— ABC News (@ABC) March 25, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cutting his US trip short in light of a rocket attack from Gaza, according to NBC News.
He still plans to meet with Donald Trump at the White House, but will not speak at the AIPAC conference and will return to Israel instead.
Israeli Prime Minister #Netanyahu says he’s cutting his US trip short in light of rocket attack from Gaza that injured 7 in Israel. He’ll now return just after Trump meeting today. He’ll no longer appear in person tomorrow at @AIPAC
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) March 25, 2019
Updated
Robert Mueller is still at work. He showed up at his office this morning, per CNN.
Our #cnnstakeout team still at work spotted Mueller reporting to work this morning.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) March 25, 2019
Updated
Senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar pushed for the release of the full Mueller report.
“Without seeing the facts, without seeing the entire report, it is very hard to assess any of this,” she said on CBS This Morning. “And Barr during the nominee hearing and now as attorney general, has pledged he wants to make everything he can public and we’re going to call him on that. We want to see this report.”
“Without seeing the facts, without seeing the entire report, it is very hard to assess any of this and Barr during the nominee hearing and now as attorney general, has pledged he wants everything public and we’re going to call him on that.” -- Sen. @AmyKlobuchar pic.twitter.com/rPVcikwoj9
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 25, 2019
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Representative Lucy McBath expects a rematch with former representative Karen Handel, the Republican she defeated last year.
McBath is a gun control activist whose son Jordan Davis was shot to death at a gas station in 2012. She narrowly defeated the Republican incumbent for the Georgia congressional seat. Handel announced this morning she would run again in 2020.
🚨 NEWS ALERT 🚨
— Lucy McBath (@lucymcbath) March 25, 2019
@karenhandel just announced she is running against me AGAIN. A true career politician, Handel has run for office over and over for the last 17 years.
Help show Handel that she won't take this seat back. CHIP IN $17.17 or more today? >> https://t.co/VJsVNu52Pj https://t.co/AFA6q3W7Pe
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The supreme court declined to hear a case related to the Mueller investigation from an unnamed corporation, CNN reports.
The company, owned by a foreign government, will have to turn over information related to the Mueller probe to federal prosecutors or continue to rack up fines. The company appealed the order that it turn over the information, but the supreme court without comment turned down the case.
CNN: An unnamed foreign government-owned corporation will have to turn over information related to the Mueller probe to federal prosecutors or continue to accrue escalating fines after the Supreme Court without comment denied the company’s request to hear its appeal on Monday
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 25, 2019
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Senator Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee, will host an 11am press conference to discuss the Mueller report.
! HEADS UP !
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 25, 2019
Holding a press conference today at 11:00 am in the Senate Radio-TV Gallery to discuss the Mueller Report.
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Donald Trump Jr posted a video of various Democrats who have said there was evidence that Trump associates colluded with Russia, saying they have “disgraced their offices and should step down”.
It’s time to hold the conspiracy caucus in Congress accountable. These Democrat Truthers spent the last 2 years knowingly lying to the American people about collusion. They’ve disgraced their offices and should step down. #CollusionTruthers pic.twitter.com/YlgWyYQIel
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 25, 2019
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Representative Ro Khanna said that Congress, not the attorney general, should be making the call on whether Donald Trump obstructed justice.
“The only person who thinks it’s Bill Barr’s decision is Bill Barr,” the California Democrat said on CNN.
Special counsel Robert Mueller in his report made no conclusion about obstruction of justice, declining to either accuse Trump of a crime or exonerate him.
“He intended for Congress to debate that and Congress to make that judgment,” Khanna said. “The person who I think is in the wrong here is Bill Barr, who gave himself the authority to make a determination.”
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Representative David Cicilline called it “alarming” and “completely inappropriate” for the attorney general, William Barr, to have concluded Donald Trump did not obstruct justice.
“This is the most disturbing development in my view,” he said on CNN.
Mueller’s report made no conclusion about whether Trump was guilty of obstruction. It laid out the evidence on both sides, which has not been made public. Barr, in a memo to Congress, presented his own judgment that Trump was not guilty of obstruction.
“This has been an issue that’s been examined by the special counsel for 22 month. He lays out the evidence of obstruction, he doesn’t make a conclusion, but he goes out of his way to say the president is not exonerated in this regard. And Mr. Barr in 48 hours turns that around and says, ‘Oh, no, I’ve looked at it. He’s exonerated. He hasn’t committed this offense,” said Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat.
"It's a really impossible determination to make without actually reading the report, reading the conclusions of Mr. Mueller, reading the evidence that he gathered." On collusion, Rep. @davidcicilline says it's unfair to "write it off completely." https://t.co/ZL0U84Cc1J pic.twitter.com/87XB75hNhn
— New Day (@NewDay) March 25, 2019
He noted that Barr, before being chosen as AG, drafted a memo arguing that a US president by virtue of his powers cannot legally commit obstruction of justice.
“I think it’s completely inappropriate. It really does underscore the importance of seeing what Mr. Mueller concluded,” he said.
“It’s alarming because this was a decision that the special counsel was supposed to make, because he’s independent from the president. We don’t want this determination being made by the attorney general, whose appointed by this president, and some could argue he was appointed specifically because of his view of the expansive power of the executive.”
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Conway calls for Schiff's resignation
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called Monday for representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, to resign.
“He ought to resign today. He’s been on every TV show 50 times for practically the last two years promising Americans that this president would either be impeached or indicted,” she said on “Fox and Friends,” citing Schiff’s past statements that there was evidence pointing to collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Conway came out swinging after special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation - which Donald Trump has continued to attack, but Conway called a professional and credible investigation - found no evidence of involvement by Trump associated in the Russian election interference effort.
“Those who let this lie fly for two years, haranguing and harassing and trying to embarrass and worse those of us connected to the 2016 campaign, beginning with the president and his own family, really do owe people, owe America an apology,” she said, singling out Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez as well as Schiff.
“Adam Schiff should resign. He has no right as someone who has been peddling a lie day after day, unchallenged,” she said. “Somebody should have put him under oath and said you have evidence, where is it? Because Bob Mueller already ran the fair and full investigation and any partisan, politicized investigation from here on in will never have the credibility of the Mueller investigation.”
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The Russian embassy in the UK weighs in, tweeting, “That awkward moment when another anti-Russian fake crumbles to dust.”
That awkward moment when another anti-Russian fake crumbles to dust.
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) March 25, 2019
Excuses, anyone? pic.twitter.com/dcQePEVAmD
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Report 'does not exonerate' Trump
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report made no conclusion about whether Donald Trump obstructed justice. “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” says one of the few direct quotes from the report in a summary released by attorney general William Barr.
Barr went on to conclude on his own that Trump was not guilty of obstruction. What’s not clear yet is whether Mueller asked Barr to make that call, or if he intended to leave it an open question and Barr took it upon himself to weigh in.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was unable to answer that question Monday morning:
“That’s a question you’ll have to ask Robert Mueller,” she said on CNN. “They didn’t make that determination and the legal process then goes to the Attorney General and the deputy attorney general.”
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Russia responds to Mueller report
Here’s the view from Russia on Mueller’s report from the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth:
“The long-awaited Mueller report has proved what we in Russia knew long ago: there was no conspiracy between Trump or any member of his team and the Kremlin,” wrote Konstantin Kosachev the chair of the Federation Council’s committee on foreign affairs.
He and other senior officials said they did not expect relations with the US to improve as a result, and indeed were bracing for additional sanctions. Mueller’s report concluded that Russian government actors were responsible for hacking and releasing Democratic emails during the 2016 election, as well as conducting an online disinformation campaign.
“We in Russia have nothing to celebrate, the [meddling] accusations against us remain,” Kosachev wrote, saying he expected US officials to argue: “Yes, there was no collusion, but sanctions against Russia still need to be strengthened.”
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Trump tweets response to Mueller report findings
Donald Trump seems to be spending the early morning watching TV coverage of the Mueller report’s findings, and tweeting along.
“No matter your ideologies or your loyalties, this is a good day for America. No American conspired to cooperate with Russia in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 election, according to Robert Mueller, and that is good.” @BretBaier @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019
“The Special Counsel did not find that the Trump Campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian Government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump Campaign.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019
“Breaking News: Mueller Report Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy.” @MSNBC
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019
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Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has surged to third place in a new poll.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, won the backing of 11% of likely Iowa Democratic caucus voters in an Emerson poll released on Sunday, trailing only Joe Biden with 25% and Bernie Sanders with 24%.
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Former US attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired early on in the Trump administration, said on Monday morning that special counsel Robert Mueller has abdicated responsibility by not coming to a definite conclusion in his report about whether the president obstructed justice.
“It’s an abdication of responsibility,” he said on ABC’s Good Morning America. “He punts to Congress, then Bill Barr runs onto the field and runs it in for a touchdown.”
Bharara said he accepted the report’s conclusion that there was no collusion between the Russian government or its operatives and Trump or his election campaign team.
“On collusion, the case is closed,” he said. “On obstruction, we are sort of not done.”
The former US attorney for the Southern District of New York also warned that, while he was “pretty confident” that the full report would be given to Congress and ultimately made public, the process might take so long that the points in the summary submitted on Sunday by attorney general William Barr might be the main elements that lodge in the public’s consciousness.
“And there might be a big disconnect between the two,” he said.
WATCH: Former U.S. attorney @PreetBharara talks about Mueller report findings and what it means for Pres. Trump with other potential legal cases and investigations: "On collusion, the case is closed...on the issue of obstruction, we're sort of not done." https://t.co/uRKsEY3aXi pic.twitter.com/dX2isieJXg
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 25, 2019
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Sarah Sanders: Trump 'more than happy' for release of Mueller report
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says President Donald Trump will let the attorney general decide whether the special counsel’s Russia report should be publicly released, saying that “he’s more than happy for any of this stuff to come out.” Via the Associated Press:
Sanders spoke to NBC’s Today show Monday as White House aides and allies blanketed television news broadcasts to trumpet a summary of the report that said that Robert Mueller did not find evidence that Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Asked last week about publicly releasing the report, Trump said: “Let it come out. Let people see it. That’s up to the attorney general.”
Asked whether Trump would support release of the report, Sanders told NBC, “I don’t think the president has any problem with it,” but stressed the decision was up to attorney general William Barr.
Barr issued a four page summary of Mueller’s findings Sunday. Democrats are demanding the full report.
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Opening summary
Washington is still reeling from the release on Sunday of a summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which found no evidence that anyone connected to the Donald Trump campaign conspired with the Russians to interfere with the election. The report did not exonerate Trump on allegations of obstruction of justice, drawing no conclusion one way or the other on whether he committed that offense.
There were increasingly bipartisan calls to make the full report public. Trump declared the investigation “an illegal take-down that failed.”
Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow, appearing on CNN’s New Day Monday morning, said he would not release Trump’s written answers to questions posed by Mueller.
“I would fight very aggressively for that information to not be released. I think any lawyer would,” he said, calling the answers “confidential communications that took place between the president of the United States and the Department of Justice.”
“As a lawyer, you don’t waive privileges,” he said. “It’s not a simple just wave your hand and we release the document. I think that would be very inappropriate.”
"As a lawyer, you don't wave privileges ... I think that would be very inappropriate."
— New Day (@NewDay) March 25, 2019
President Trump's attorney @JaySekulow tells Alisyn Camerota he has no plans to release the President's written answers as submitted to the special counsel. https://t.co/5df99pT6mm pic.twitter.com/Amaevht86r
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