The explosive, and much-anticipated, release of the Mueller report has come.
Just after attorney general William Barr stood behind a podium and largely seemed to defend Donald Trump, the damaging report was released, showing that Mr Trump attempted to fire Robert Mueller multiple times and that he said he thought his presidency was "f****d" after the special counsel was appointed.
Mr Barr has declined to prosecute Mr Trump for obstruction, a decision he announced last year. But, the special counsel investigation highlights an incredible amount of damaging nuance to that decision.
And, Democrats were quick to challenge the assumption that Mr Trump did not commit a crime, or that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Instead, the 400 page document detailed dozens of interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian officials seeking to flip members of the Trump team.
In addition, the report detailed a shocking propensity for White House officials to disregard the president when it comes to the Russia investigation — and that willingness to ignore the president could be a saving grace for Mr Trump.
According to the report, Mr Trump attempted repeatedly to get his staff to force Mr Mueller's firing. Those staff members just ignored him, though.
There's a lot to unpack — and we've done most of that work for you below.
Please read along for the updates we posted throughout the day — from Mr Barr's press conference, to the shocking revelations of the report, to the reaction as Washington transitioned into its next phase of the Trump presidency:
You can read the full Mueller report right here.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the long-awaited Mueller report release. William Barr, the US attorney general, has announced a press conference at 9.30am eastern time, after which a redacted version of the report is set to be delivered to Congress.
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On Wednesday evening, Mr Trump said "a lot of strong things" would come out today, and suggested he may hold a press conference of his own - a sign the White House intends to go on the attack from the outset.
“You’ll see a lot of strong things come out tomorrow,” Mr Trump told Washington’s WMAL radio. “Attorney general Barr is going to be doing a press conference. Maybe I’ll do one after that, we’ll see”.
Donald Trump has in recent days ramped up his attacks on those involved in the probe, in a likely sign the president is concerned over what the report reveals to the public about his alleged obstruction, and his campaign's links to Russia.
On Wednesday evening, Mr Trump said "a lot of strong things" would come out today, and suggested he may hold a press conference of his own - a sign the White House intends to go on the attack from the outset.
“You’ll see a lot of strong things come out tomorrow,” Mr Trump told Washington’s WMAL radio. “Attorney general Barr is going to be doing a press conference. Maybe I’ll do one after that, we’ll see”.
The New York Times reports the Justice Department has had a number of conversations with White House lawyers about the conclusions made by Robert Mueller. The discussions have reportedly helped the president's legal team prepare a rebuttal of the report.
The newspaper says "paranoia" was taking hold among some Trump aides, with a number fearing more a backlash by the president than the findings themselves.
Similarly, White House officials are reportedly suffering “breakdown-level” anxiety over whether the Mueller report will expose them as a source of damaging information about Donald Trump.
More than a dozen current and former administration personnel cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia, according to NBC News.
Jerry Nadler, chair of the House judiciary committee, has hit out at the Justice Department's decision to brief the White House on the findings of the Mueller report ahead of its release, and the fact the report will not be released until after the attorney general has held a press conference.
Five senior House Democrats are calling on William Barr to cancel his press conference ahead of the release of the Mueller report.
This is what they said in a statement:
“The Department of Justice announced today that the Attorney General will hold a press conference tomorrow morning before Congress has even seen Special Counsel Mueller’s report. This press conference, which apparently will not include Special Counsel Mueller, is unnecessary and inappropriate, and appears designed to shape public perceptions of the report before anyone can read it.
“In addition, we understand from press reports that the Department of Justice has had ‘numerous conversations’ with lawyers from the White House about the report, which ‘have aided the President’s legal team as it prepares a rebuttal to the report.’ There is no legitimate reason for the Department to brief the White House prior to providing Congress a copy of the report.
“These new actions by the Attorney General reinforce our concern that he is acting to protect President Trump. The Attorney General previously stated, ‘I do not believe it would be in the public’s interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion.’ We agree.
“He should let the full report speak for itself. The Attorney General should cancel the press conference and provide the full report to Congress, as we have requested. With the Special Counsel’s fact-gathering work concluded, it is now Congress’ responsibility to assess the findings and evidence and proceed accordingly.”
Donald Trump has suggested he may hold a press conference of his own in a bid to shape the narrative of the Mueller report's release.
He said last night “a lot of strong things” would come out today. “Attorney general Barr is going to be doing a press conference. Maybe I’ll do one after that, we’ll see," he told WMAL radio.
In adjacent - but utterly astonishing - news, Ivanka Trump has revealed her father asked her to head up the World Bank. She says she turned it down because she is “happy with the work” she’s doing.
Donald Trump was curiously quiet on Twitter on Wednesday evening. He only tweeted once, sharing an article by far right news outlet Breitbart which highlighted a poll in which 38% of respondents believed the FBI spied on the Trump campaign.
Jerry Nadler, the House judiciary chairman, hastily convened a press conference last night to accuse the attorney general of taking "unprecedented" steps to spin Robert Mueller's report in favour of Donald Trump.
"The attorney general appears to be waging a media campaign on behalf of President Trump," Mr Nadler told reporters in New York.
"Rather than letting the facts of the report speak for themselves, the attorney general has taken unprecedented steps to spin Mueller's nearly two-year investigation."
The New York Times, which cited people with knowledge of the discussions, said the conversations had helped the president's legal team prepare for the release of the report and strategise for the public relations and political battles that are certain to follow.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the New York Times report. Trump lawyers Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When Mueller's report is released, close attention will be given not only to potential new details on the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia and the question of whether the Republican president acted to impede the inquiry, but also on how much Mr Barr elects to withhold.
Here's more footage of Ivanka Trump's interview with the Associated Press, in which she addresses the release of the Mueller report.
"I knew there was not collusion, I knew there was no obstruction, and this was affirmed in the Mueller report," Ms Trump said, wrongly. In fact, the Mueller report does not clear her father of obstruction.
"I have no cause to be concerned, I never did," she added.
One of Donald Trump's bigger mistruths occurred last night. He claimed the US economy was not the biggest in the world before he became president. The US has in fact has the largest economy every year in more than a century.
Trump just took credit for something that’s been happening since the 1920s
Donald Trump is the master of hyberbole and no embellishment or boast is too big the current president of the United States of America.OPINION: Later today, William Barr, the US Attorney General, will release a redacted version of the Mueller Report. “Redacted”, of course, is a fancy word that means “censored for public viewing.” Because the nature of Barr’s redactions will not be known until the full report is released to Congress, what will appear today is akin to a film adaption of a novel that no one but the director has read.
We’ve been down this road before. On 24 March, Barr released a “summary” of the Mueller Report which contained this dependent clause: “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” For all we know, the beginning of that sentence is the single word “although.” This did not stop the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and many other outlets from running with some variation of the misleading headline “Mueller finds no conspiracy” (Trump himself did one better, claiming “complete and total EXONERATION” on Twitter.)
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The two most senior Democrats in Congress have also spoken out against William Barr's planned press conference later today. Critics of the process say the attorney general is attempting to craft the narrative of the Mueller report before its actual release.
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said Mr Barr had "thrown out his credibility and the DOJ's independence with his single-minded effort to protect" Donald Trump.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said: "The process is poisoned before the report is even released. Barr shouldn't be spinning the report at all, but it's doubly outrageous he's doing it before America is given a chance to read it."
Here's analysis of the soon-to-be-released Mueller report by our diplomatic correspondent Kim Sengupta.
"The ongoing Democrat-led congressional investigations into Donald Trump are determined to unravel the conspiracy behind the stealing of Hillary Clinton campaign emails and the alleged part played in that incident by WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, according to diplomatic sources.
"The inquiry by the US House of Representatives intelligence committee is said to be particularly focused on how the emails, as well as those of the Democratic National Committee, were hacked and made public, gravely damaging Hillary Clinton’s campaign and helping Donald Trump to the White House.
Read more...
After the long-awaited Mueller report release, what comes next for Trump?
Analysis: Release of redacted report will not put an end to Democrat-led investigations into Trump, writes Kim SenguptaChris Hayes, a prominent journalist at MSNBC, sums up what many fear about the Justice Department's planned press conference ahead of the report's release.
The Independent's Clark Mindock has outlined what to expect when the Mueller report is released later today:
Mueller report 'contains 'blow-by-blow' account of Trump's conduct'
From the Trump Tower meeting to James Comey's firing, the report could shed light on quite a lotA Kremlin spokesman says a US presidential adviser has traveled to Russia for talks.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Fiona Hill, special assistant to Donald Trump, held talks in Moscow on Wednesday with several Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser.
A US embassy official who asked to be unnamed because the statements about Ms Hill's visits should be made by the National Security Council confirmed the visit to the Associated Press.
Mr Peskov said Ms Hill and Russian officials discussed bilateral issues but did not discuss a potential meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump.
Here's footage of House judiciary committee chair Jerry Nadler's comments on William Barr's upcoming press conference.
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