What’s really in the Mueller report?

I find it hard to believe that Mueller would say that the Trump Tower meeting, the lies, Manafort giving polling data to a Russian, etc. are alright. This could be like the Clinton emails – he did something wrong but it wasn’t criminal.

Barr now says that his 4-page letter last weekend wasn't really a "summary" of Mueller's report and he never intended to summarize 400 pages because that wouldn't have been in the "public interest." The technical legal term for this is "walking back your story." https://t.co/4ZeUkWTnTB
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) March 29, 2019

Barr realizes that he and Trump carried the nothing to see, just move along WAY too soon and must craft a narrative to defend himself from the legitimate complaint that he inserted himself and tried to exonerate Trump politically. I wonder if Mueller threatened to go public
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) March 29, 2019

With the narrative now almost entirely set that Mueller produced a nothingburger on collusion, is Barr’s language laying the groundwork for a walk back? I suspect we’ll see that Mueller agreed with @AdamSchiff that Team Trump’s actions were far from “ok,” although not chargeable. https://t.co/mlFAWNcdWs
— Ned Price (@nedprice) March 29, 2019

Crucial point here: https://t.co/MwFCSEHhpZ
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) March 29, 2019

Nadler not satisfied. He says the April 2 deadline "still stands." He says he and Barr should work to request a court order to obtain grand jury info, saying there is "ample precedent" for doing so. And he says Barr should testify sooner than May 2 https://t.co/g8RuRooiiv
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 29, 2019

As I’ve been saying, it was unsustainable. Barr walks some of it back today. It’s do over Friday! @OutFrontCNN @CNNTonight later. (I’m most taken by Barr bypassing WH privilege objections, relying on Trump public statements as justification and putting burden on them to raise.) https://t.co/COWvZmtM3e
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) March 29, 2019

1. Fascinating new letter on the Mueller report from Barr

One thing that sticks out to me: Barr asserts that his initial letter is NOT A SUMMARY of the report

Seems to be trying to preempt criticism of the report diverging significantly from the tone of his letter https://t.co/2FYf40PLNK
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 29, 2019

"What Barr decides to redact and why… Certain to become the subject of scrutiny… Amid calls from the Democrats for maximum transparency… [He] addressed concerns that Trump and his attorneys will use executive privilege to conceal damaging information…" – @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/GpTBYDROgM
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) March 29, 2019

It is inconceivable that the Trump Administration will legally get away with withholding any portion of the Mueller report from the House, given its constitutional role in impeachment. Barr is just stalling for time, and it’s working. https://t.co/Eljufa4wem
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 29, 2019

Ex-CIA officer: "There is a gray area between 'no collusion' and 'Trump is a foreign agent.' https://t.co/Nlr0N71o0J @alexzfinley @Publici @voxdotcom pic.twitter.com/RIjQKCIVw8
— David Beard (@dabeard) March 29, 2019

At least two area of redactions bound to concern Ds. 1) Information that would "unduly infringe" third parties; 2) Grand jury info. "Congress is entitled to the grand jury material," D aide said, pointing to Watergate as precedent. https://t.co/zESO75G1CN https://t.co/g1S8kV7aaU
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 29, 2019

Yes, you’re absolutely right. But given Barr’s insinuation that he made that call based on Trump’s public comment without further consultation, who knows where they’ll land on exec privilege if Trump gets mad. But, Barr can’t assert it for him. It would have to come from POTUS.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) March 29, 2019

Electoral college tweets (updated 3/29/19)

Half of voters say the national popular vote should be used for presidential elections, a new poll shows https://t.co/MN7Xvdfjrd
— POLITICO (@politico) March 27, 2019

The degradation of conservative discourse (re e.g., Electoral College):
From: We should respect the Constitution and established forms and be wary of proposals for change (see e.g. Fed #49).
To: YOU CAN'T EVEN QUESTION ANY CURRENT ARRANGEMENT EVEN IF IT'S NOT WORKING AS INTENDED.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 23, 2019

The 12th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 22nd, 23d, and 26th amendments to the Constitution each previously altered the system for selecting presidents https://t.co/Fqz9LNK6QI
— David Frum (@davidfrum) March 23, 2019

1/3
“Hmm, I wonder how maps work?” a mini reminder for the day.

First, the map below, presented in the way you see. https://t.co/Zg3Wt4mtSC
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) March 23, 2019

This is stupid to the point of being vulgar. I am up for real debate about this issue and virtually any other, but I have had my fill of the intellectually dishonest. If you want to act like acres of land vote and not people, then you probably shouldn’t be taken very seriously. https://t.co/CwxItCRhMb
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) March 22, 2019

Great column by @henryolsenEPPC on why conservatives should be open to doing away with the Electoral College — and more broadly, why they should be open to compromises on voting access issues:https://t.co/WvhsJure4G
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) March 22, 2019

Clinton would have won the Electoral College if these were the 50 states pic.twitter.com/d3GGgU7nCi
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 22, 2019

Since I've made fun of a lot of bad arguments for the Electoral College, here's what I'd consider a decent defense of it to be. This is somewhat devil's advocate-y—overall, I'd prefer to eliminate the EC and federalize the presidential election—but IMO this is a reasonable case. pic.twitter.com/yr36TFSb4i
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 22, 2019

As someone who is *not* super anti-Electoral College, I'm just going to repeat what I said earlier this week, which is that most people trying to defend the Electoral College would be better off saying nothing because their arguments have been really dumb. https://t.co/W4W1pOqlRB
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 22, 2019

The number of tweets/words devoted to the Electoral College's small state bias is way out of line. It's just not the main reason why the system produces countermajoritarian outcomes https://t.co/bMzgktwdze
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 22, 2019

As long as we're rethinking how we elect presidents, here's why ranked-choice voting would be best. https://t.co/L6VU4RnRFZ
— Lee Drutman (@leedrutman) March 21, 2019

It's always a tell that Alaska isn't shown to scale in these maps. https://t.co/mxT320lJdo
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 22, 2019

Reupping some ?s: we’ve had 2x pop vote loser won EC since 00 after just 3x in > 2 centuries. Is there a # of divergences when it becomes a problem, or fine as routine? Also what if EC winner loses pop vote by 6/7 million or more? Is there a size of split that’s ever concerning? https://t.co/Sr9fL47zoC
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) March 21, 2019

Of all the @YouTube videos, I've made in the last 6 months, this one we just dropped on the Electoral College might be my favoritehttps://t.co/zOMzxx2Zng
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) March 21, 2019

NEW: Abolish the Electoral College. Kill the filibuster. Expand the Supreme Court. Make DC a state.

The 2020 Democratic debate is moving beyond policy to a battle over fundamentally restructuring a system progressives believe is unfair.https://t.co/plF6uQryBz
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 21, 2019

Republicans attack AOC

She’s their new Hillary Clinton on Nancy Pelosi. Notice how they attack women. Their chant last night is frightening.

I think she’s very smart and have been impressed by her public remarks and questions at hearings. I don’t agree on everything but she knows the issues and background.

"AOC sucks!": Donald Trump Jr. points his father’s followers to a new villain, and a new rallying cry https://t.co/iwdWt7MXSr
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 29, 2019

The GOP's terrifying tale of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezhttps://t.co/YBw6RP5YR3 pic.twitter.com/5mgNa3GE1S
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) March 29, 2019

"Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid."
— A. Lincoln, Aug. 24, 1855. https://t.co/UOvEob5e99
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 29, 2019

It’s almost as though there is a directed + concerted far-right propaganda machine with a whole cable news channel, and a dark-money internet operation propped up by the Mercers et al dedicated to maligning me & stoking nat’l division, reported on by @JaneMayerNYer or something https://t.co/HChBp04c8W
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 29, 2019

.@AOC says a GOP member of Congress confronted her on the House floor, accusing her of pocketing $10 million from Netflix. Quite an imagination! https://t.co/W8hyrMV7YW
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) March 22, 2019

The reason FOX News + Breitbart attack @AOC, @IlhanMN, @RashidaTlaib so much is because Rupert Murdoch and Robert Mercer want older, white voters to feel they have nothing in common with black & brown people who want to tax billionaires like them and provide health care to all.
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) March 21, 2019

TIME’s new cover: “Change is closer than we think.” Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s unlikely rise https://t.co/qV0hB6qDRd pic.twitter.com/L0RUIvuC3U
— TIME (@TIME) March 21, 2019

In order to understand @aoc, you have to look at what she experienced— and what she didn’t. Red Scare, Reaganomics & prosperous 90s were all before her time. Her adulthood was defined by financial crisis, debt & climate change. No wonder she and her peers are moving left
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) March 21, 2019

You know what’s amusing about this whole thing?

Our leg staff (who help w Qs) *also* worked in restaurants, grew up in Appalachian trailer parks, and come from immigrant families.

Wait until they find out I actually PAY them to do their jobs, coach them myself,& offer feedback. https://t.co/sd888Uxx0M
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2019

Critics of @AOC focus on silly things and it always backfires. Here Kilmeade is saying someone is writing her questions for her (which means he thinks they're good questions). I have a hard time believing he would say this about a man…and yes, staff help their members prepare! https://t.co/t66k991FjE
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 21, 2019

Paul Waldman is right that the right-wing hate machine will be turned on any Democrat. But I do think there's something special about AOC: she plays into their deepest insecurities, even more than Obama did 1/ https://t.co/pVER1mmYGR
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) March 15, 2019

That’s okay – I’ll fight for their right to healthcare anyway. https://t.co/xvp76xoPVT
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 29, 2019

Mueller findings should have been referred to Congress, not Barr

Look at the history here.

This history is VERY important. https://t.co/dzPwD8jLfR
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 25, 2019

Blues guitar instrumentals from the 1950s

These were classified as blues but I think you can call them R&B too. They feature three of the best guitarists of the era playing loud.

“Canton Mississippi Breakdown” (1954) has Elmore James and Ike Turner on guitar.

“Boogie Uproar” (1953) is by Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. “Space Guitar” (1954) is by Johnny “Guitar” Watson.

The sax solos look back to the 1940s but the guitar solos are headed into the future.

The Federal Reserve should be independent but Trump makes everything political

Trump and his appointees should shut up about the Federal Reserve.

White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow called on the Federal Reserve to “immediately” cut interest rates by a half percentage point https://t.co/fXMDUnjVJ7
— Bloomberg (@business) March 29, 2019

Gotta love the tension between "the Trump economic agenda will create untold prosperity" vs. "if the Fed raises rates above 2% the whole thing will be wrecked" https://t.co/tkUaG2aELe
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) March 29, 2019

Baltimore Colts moved 35 years ago today

Bob Irsay moved the team in the middle of the night. When I moved to Baltimore in 1976, the Colts games sold out. By the early 1980s, the team stunk and attendance was low. I saw a few games then. In one game, the only Colts touchdown was on a broken play when the running back (Joe Washington) threw a TD to a receiver (Mike Siani).

The Blu-ray of ESPN’s 30 for 30 on the Colts marching band has a supplement featuring Irsay’s apparently drunken press conference at the airport. He said he wasn’t going to move the team.

#OnThisDay in 1984, Bob Irsay, owner of the once-mighty Baltimore @Colts, moves the team to Indianapolis in the middle of the night, while the city of Baltimore slept.https://t.co/lanBVOASdg https://t.co/059zsTUCfY https://t.co/o1TwXUAc2H #NFL @JimIrsay pic.twitter.com/RTJpqfeSZ1
— Ben Bryan (@Ben_Bryan) March 28, 2019

Baltimore Colts were stolen away in the middle of the night 35 years ago https://t.co/HaGIoMIU5N
— BaltPostExam (@BaltPostExam) March 28, 2019

The midnight move in March of 1984 came as a shock. https://t.co/bynSyM691w
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) December 2, 2022

Trump reverses plan to eliminate funding for Special Olympics

DeVos lied – she defended Trump.

Keep in mind, she went and defended this cut on behalf of the administration in Congress this morning — for the second time this week — even though she didn't personally order it. Hours later her boss is like, "sike.." https://t.co/OdiXUrht3w
— Erica L. Green (@EricaLG) March 28, 2019

It's sort of amazing how many stupid, unforced errors the White House makes, a lot of which seem almost contemptuous toward people outside of Trump's base, which is not large enough to get him reelected by itself. https://t.co/olYuFEJ3Jd
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 28, 2019

Trump only cares about his base. He is counting on them to vote in order to win re-election.

Look, I’m not perfect but at least my obituary won’t say, “and in 2019, he defunded the Special Olympics.”
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 28, 2019

I see Betsy DeVos and the GOP are doubling down on their Anti-Everybody agenda by working to cut Fed funding for *the Special Olympics.*

The good news? You elected a House Dem majority, so we can halt it.

Now: who are your favorite disability advocates to follow? Share below ⬇️ https://t.co/8LSl5RSed7
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 28, 2019

In 2011, the opening ceremony of the Special OlympicsWorld Games was held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The Greek Army Chief invited me & I remember him saying: “This event shows why the US is the leader of the world…you care about all people.” I’ll never forget that.
— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) March 28, 2019

“I still can’t understand why you would go after disabled children in your budget,” Representative Barbara Lee, a Democrat of California, told Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday. “You zero that out. It’s appalling.” https://t.co/7O587CwGz1
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) March 28, 2019

I don’t trust Barr

He is not objective. He is a Trump employee. The Mueller report should be reviewed by a bipartisan panel. Otherwise, I won’t believed we’re getting the whole story. I am skeptical about the comprehensiveness of the four page summary. The report is over 300 pages long. Hiding it makes it look like you have something to hide.

The irony is that this may turn out like the Clinton email server. Trump did things that were wrong but not crimes.

If a future Democratic Attorney disagrees with Barr’s conclusion that Trump didn’t obstruct charges, I hope they indict Trump. He will be a private citizen by then.

In the last 24 hours:

-Barr refused to commit to making the Mueller report public

-Mitch McConnell blocked a vote to release the full report

-We learned the report is 300 pages

-A poll found 88% of Americans believe the full report should be releasedhttps://t.co/V8Zquj2QZ9
— Nate Lerner (@NathanLerner) March 28, 2019

Barr is entitled to a presumption of good faith—at least as an initial matter. The public is also entitled to push him to see the full report, or as much of it as possible. https://t.co/JOH5g3l5R3
— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) March 28, 2019

We’ll see

84% of U.S. Voters Want to See #MuellerReport, Poll Finds; Dems Divided on Support for Israelis or Palestinians https://t.co/7404ESmN33
— Quinnipiac University Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) March 26, 2019

I continue to be confused as to why republicans are working so hard to suppress the contents of a report that exonerates Trump and utterly discredits Dems + the media. https://t.co/ms6NGPf3hq
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 28, 2019

Whoops, here is the correct link. https://t.co/6LqQOSDro9
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 28, 2019

Since the release of the Barr letter, Fox's prime time ratings have popped while CNN and MSNBC's #'s have been below average. That makes sense: On the right, the letter is being celebrated like a sequel to election night… https://t.co/OscY6Q32jT
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 28, 2019

BREAKING NEWS: Cliff Notes is bringing a defamation lawsuit against all the people who have called the 4-page Barr summary of the Mueller report a "cliff notes version" of the Report.
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) March 28, 2019

This piece by @NatashaBertrand is a must-read and ought to be a key point in media coverage https://t.co/NCxYuJUeL4
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) March 27, 2019

You might notice no Republican or Russiagate skeptic is asking what were the findings of Mueller's counterintelligence investigation, which looked at whether Russia was manipulating or influencing Trump or people within his circle. This is different than collusion but important.
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) March 28, 2019

Revising my prior on "Barr substantially misrepresented the Mueller Report" from "unlikely but not unthinkable" to "not the modal outcome but well within the thick part of the probability distribution". https://t.co/yztamRfaCG
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 28, 2019

The Mueller report is more than 300 pages long.

Compare that to Ken Starr's 445-page report and the 567-page report on the 9/11 attackshttps://t.co/0cySL7mNSb
— Axios (@axios) March 28, 2019

2,800 Subpoenas

500 Search Warrants

500 Witness Interviews

230 Communication Records

40 FBI Agents

19 Attorneys

300+ Pages of Report.

We got 4 pages and 3 days of press coverage. #ReleaseTheFullMuellerReportNOW
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 28, 2019

Why didn’t the Attorney General want anyone to know the Mueller Report was over 300 pages during the 2 days when he read it and shared his own view of the obstruction evidence that went beyond Mueller’s findings?
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 28, 2019

Here’s the thing, it explicitly didn’t exonerate him. The best you can say is Mueller decided not to indict him. Why keep lying? Because Mueller clearly tee’d the issue up for Congress & the GOP seems to think best defense is a weak offense? https://t.co/5VMLm9n5Ws
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) March 28, 2019

It's simply amazing that news orgs are reporting with a straight face that Trump and Republicans are "on offense" over the Mueller report's findings — even as Republicans are blocking those findings from getting released.

Our discourse is a disaster.https://t.co/GTW4u1ULF2
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) March 27, 2019

On today's Daily: the entire point of having a special counsel is that an independent investigator comes to independent conclusions. So why did Robert Mueller punt to a political figure, Bill Barr, on obstruction? @nytmike explains: https://t.co/ZoJtY3mOSi
— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) March 26, 2019

House Intel chair Rep. Adam Schiff doubles down, saying "there is ample evidence of collusion in plain sight."

"There's a difference between there being evidence of collusion and proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime," he says of the Barr summary. https://t.co/F57dY62XXE pic.twitter.com/GHiC5YY4Hq
— CNN (@CNN) March 28, 2019

Mueller report: Majorities across party lines want full report released (CBS News) details: https://t.co/SVINttJXxH pic.twitter.com/FBKP4GjOX7
— OpinionToday.com (@OpinionToday) March 28, 2019

“Other information”? This is just unreal. https://t.co/W3EoP6yJvN
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) March 27, 2019

Secret authorizations to sell nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia

Oh. https://t.co/SreQhWfvi0
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 28, 2019