User:Onetwothreeip/Donald Trump

{{Main|Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church}}

File:President Trump Visits St. John's Episcopal Church (49964153176).jpg

On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.{{cite news|last1=Leonnig|first1=Carol D.|author-link1=Carol D. Leonnig|last2=Zapotosky|first2=Matt|last3=Dawsey|first3=Josh|author-link3=Josh Dawsey|last4=Tan|first4=Rebecca|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barr-personally-ordered-removal-of-protesters-near-white-house-leading-to-use-of-force-against-largely-peaceful-crowd/2020/06/02/0ca2417c-a4d5-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html|title=Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 2, 2020|access-date=June 3, 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Bump|first=Philip|date=June 2, 2020|title=Timeline: The clearing of Lafayette Square|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/02/timeline-clearing-lafayette-square/|access-date=June 6, 2020}} Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.{{cite web|last1=Gittleson|first1=Ben|last2=Phelps|first2=Jordyn|title=Police use munitions to forcibly push back peaceful protesters for Trump church visit|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/national-guard-troops-deployed-white-house-trump-calls/story?id=71004151 |access-date=June 29, 2021|work=ABC News|date=June 3, 2020}} Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".{{cite web|last1=Shear|first1=Michael D.|authorlink1=Michael D. Shear|last2=Rogers|first2=Katie|title=Trump and Aides Try to Change the Narrative of the White House Protests|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/politics/trump-protests.html|work=The New York Times|date=June 3, 2020 |access-date=June 29, 2021}}

Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.{{cite web|last1=Stableford|first1=Dylan|last2=Wilson|first2=Christopher|title=Religious leaders condemn teargassing protesters to clear street for Trump|url=https://news.yahoo.com/religious-leaders-condemn-gassing-protesters-to-clear-street-for-trump-192800782.html|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=Yahoo! News|date=June 3, 2020}} Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.{{cite web|title=Scores of retired military leaders publicly denounce Trump|url=https://apnews.com/article/252914f8a989a740544be6d4992d044c|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=AP News|date=June 6, 2020}}

{{See also|Links between Trump associates and Russian officials|Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia|Operation Crossfire Hurricane}}

File:Robert Mueller, 2012.jpg

American intelligence sources found the Russian government attempted to intervene in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump,{{cite news|title=U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Ellen|last=Nakashima|date=October 7, 2016|access-date=January 25, 2017|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-government-officially-accuses-russia-of-hacking-campaign-to-influence-elections/2016/10/07/4e0b9654-8cbf-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html}} and that members of Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian government officials both before and after the election.{{cite news|last1=Schmidt|first1=Michael S.|author1-link=Michael S. Schmidt|last2=Mazzetti|first2=Mark|author2-link=Mark Mazzetti|last3=Apuzzo|first3=Matt|author3-link=Matt Apuzzo|title=Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html |access-date=November 13, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 14, 2017}} In May 2017, the Department of Justice appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate coordination between the Russian government and Trump's presidential election campaign.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/politics/document-Robert-Mueller-Special-Counsel-Russia.html|title=Rod Rosenstein's Letter Appointing Mueller Special Counsel|last=Rosenstein|first=Rod|author-link=Rod Rosenstein|date=May 17, 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|url-status=live|access-date=May 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518015032/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/politics/document-Robert-Mueller-Special-Counsel-Russia.html|archive-date=May 18, 2017}}

During his January 2017 confirmation hearings as the attorney general nominee before the Senate, then-Senator Jeff Sessions omitted two meetings he had in 2016 with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, when asked if he had meetings involving the 2016 election with Russian government officials. Sessions later amended his testimony saying he "never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign" and recused himself from any investigation regarding connections between Trump and Russia.{{cite news|last=Jarrett|first=Laura|title=Sessions recusal: What's next?|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/politics/special-counsel-jeff-sessions-recusal/|access-date=March 7, 2017|work=CNN|date=March 3, 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Entous |first1=Adam |last2=Nakashima |first2=Ellen |last3=Miller |first3=Greg |date=March 1, 2017 |title=Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign-justice-officials-say/2017/03/01/77205eda-feac-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html |access-date=March 7, 2017}}

In May 2017, Trump revealed classified intelligence in an Oval Office meeting with the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak, providing details that could expose the source of the information and how it was collected.{{cite news|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Matthew|last2=Schmitt|first2=Eric|title=Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally, Officials Say|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/politics/trump-russia-classified-information-isis.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=May 15, 2017|date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515224247/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/politics/trump-russia-classified-information-isis.html|url-status=dead}}

The New York Times reported in June 2021 that in 2017 and 2018 the Justice Department subpoenaed metadata from the iCloud accounts of at least a dozen individuals associated with the House Intelligence Committee, to investigate leaks to the press about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Records of the inquiry did not implicate anyone associated with the committee, but upon becoming attorney general Bill Barr revived the effort, including by appointing a federal prosecutor and about six others in February 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/us/politics/justice-department-leaks-trump-administration.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/us/politics/justice-department-leaks-trump-administration.html |archive-date=2021-12-28 |url-access=limited |access-date=November 13, 2021 |title=Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress|first1=Katie|last1=Benner|first2=Nicholas|last2=Fandos|first3=Michael S.|last3=Schmidt|first4=Adam|last4=Goldman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 11, 2021}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-donald-trump-5b6f6bf0daf8bccf106a90d2ff52686c |access-date=November 13, 2021 |first1=Mary Clare |last1=Jalonick |first2=Michael |last2=Balsamo |title=Trump DOJ seized data from House Democrats in leaks probe|website=Associated Press|date=June 11, 2021}}

{{Main|Mueller Report}}In July 2018, the special counsel indicted twelve Russian intelligence operatives and accused them of conspiring to interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections, by hacking servers and emails of the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.{{cite web|title=Read: Mueller indictment against twelve Russian spies for DNC hack|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17568806/mueller-russia-intelligence-indictment-full-text |first=Alex |last=Ward |access-date=July 28, 2018|website=Vox|date=July 13, 2018}} Six of Trump's campaign advisors and staff were indicted by the special counsel's office; five of them (Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos) pleaded guilty, while one has pleaded not guilty (Roger Stone).{{cite web |last1=Yourish |first1=Karen |last2=Buchanan |first2=Larry |last3=Parlapiano |first3=Alicia |date=March 13, 2019 |title=Everyone Who's Been Charged in Investigations Related to the 2016 Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/21/us/mueller-trump-charges.html |access-date=March 23, 2019 |work=The New York Times}} As of December 2020, Stone, Papadopoulos, Manafort, and Flynn have been pardoned by Trump, but not Cohen or Gates.{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Pamela |date=December 24, 2020 |title=Trump issues 26 new pardons, including for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner |website=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/23/politics/trump-pardons-stone-manafort-kushner/index.html |access-date=December 28, 2020}}

File:Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.pdf version of the Mueller report was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019.]]

On March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted the final report to Attorney General William Barr. Two days later, Barr sent Congress a four-page letter, describing what he said were the special counsel's principal conclusions in the Mueller Report. Barr added that since the special counsel "did not draw a conclusion" on obstruction,{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mueller-told-barr-weeks-ago-he-wouldnt-reach-conclusion-on-obstruction-charge-11553548191|title=Mueller Told Barr Weeks Ago He Wouldn't Reach Conclusion on Obstruction Charge|last=Gurman|first=Sadie|date=March 25, 2019|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0099-9660}} this "leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime".{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/24/us/politics/barr-letter-mueller-report.html|title=Read Attorney General William Barr's Summary of the Mueller Report|date=March 24, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 22, 2019|issn=0362-4331}} Barr continued: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/attorney-general-william-barr-will-hold-a-press-conference-to-discuss-mueller-report-at-930-am-et-thursday.html|title=Attorney General William Barr will hold a press conference to discuss Mueller report at 9:30 am ET Thursday|last1=Calia|first1=Mike|last2=El-Bawab|first2=Nadine|date=April 17, 2019|access-date=April 18, 2019|website=CNBC}}{{cite web|url=https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2019/03/mueller-concludes-investigation/ |date=March 2019 |title=Mueller finds no collusion with Russia, leaves obstruction question open|website=American Bar Association|access-date=April 18, 2019}}

On April 18, 2019, a two-volume redacted version of the Special Counsel's report was released to Congress and to the public.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/mueller-report-recounts-10-episodes-involving-trump-and-questions-of-obstruction.html|title=Mueller report recounts 10 episodes involving Trump and questions of obstruction|last=Pramuk|first=Jacob|date=April 18, 2019|work=CNBC|access-date=April 18, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/sco|title=Special Counsel's Office|date=October 16, 2017|publisher=United States Department of Justice|access-date=April 18, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/mueller-report-release-latest-news/card/1555613011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418230152/https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/mueller-report-release-latest-news/card/1555613011 |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-date=April 18, 2019 |url-status=dead |title=The Mueller Report by the Numbers |work=The Wall Street Journal|date=April 18, 2019}} Volume I discusses Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, concluding that the Internet Research Agency, a Russian government-linked internet troll farm, campaigned on social media to favor presidential candidate Donald Trump and disparage his opponent, Hillary Clinton,{{cite news|title=Main points of Mueller report|url=https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/main-points-mueller-report-doc-1fr5vv1|agency=Agence France-Presse|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420143436/https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/main-points-mueller-report-doc-1fr5vv1|archive-date=April 20, 2019}} and to "provoke and amplify political and social discord in the United States".{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Shane |last2=Nakashima |first2=Ellen |last3=Timberg |first3=Craig |title=Through email leaks and propaganda, Russians sought to elect Trump, Mueller finds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/through-email-leaks-and-propaganda-russians-sought-to-elect-trump-mueller-finds/2019/04/18/109ddf74-571b-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_storyy.html|date=April 18, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506074701/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/through-email-leaks-and-propaganda-russians-sought-to-elect-trump-mueller-finds/2019/04/18/109ddf74-571b-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_storyy.html |url-status=dead}} The report also described how the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, performed computer hacking and strategic releasing of damaging material from the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations.{{cite web|last1=Mackey|first1=Robert|last2=Risen|first2=James|last3=Aaronson|first3=Trevor|title=Annotating special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report|url=https://theintercept.com/2019/04/18/annotating-special-counsel-robert-muellers-redacted-report/|work=The Intercept|date=April 18, 2019|access-date=April 23, 2019}} The investigation "identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", and found that Russia had "perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency" and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign "expected it would benefit electorally" from Russian hacking efforts.

Ultimately, "the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."{{cite web|last1=Ostriker|first1=Rebecca|last2=Puzzanghera|first2=Jim|last3=Finucane|first3=Martin|last4=Datar|first4=Saurabh|last5=Uraizee|first5=Irfan|last6=Garvin|first6=Patrick|title=What the Mueller report says about Trump and more|url=https://apps.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/graphics/2019/03/mueller-report/ |date=April 18, 2019 |website=The Boston Globe|access-date=April 22, 2019}}{{cite magazine|last=Law|first=Tara|title=Here Are the Biggest Takeaways From the Mueller Report|url=https://time.com/5567077/mueller-report-release/ |date=April 19, 2019 |magazine=Time|access-date=April 22, 2019}} This may have been due to some associates of Trump campaign providing either false or incomplete testimony, declined to testify; or deleting, not saving or using encrypted communications. As such, the Mueller Report "cannot rule out the possibility" that information then unavailable to investigators would have presented different findings.{{cite web|last=Yen|first=Hope|title=AP Fact Check: Trump, Barr distort Mueller report findings|url=https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-lindsey-graham-politics-russia-f9c0ab20229140f18ea34e1f15a9f597 |date=May 1, 2019 |website=Associated Press |access-date=May 2, 2019}}

Volume II covered obstruction of justice. The report described ten episodes where Trump may have obstructed justice as president, plus one instance before he was elected.{{Cite web|url=https://www.factcheck.org/2019/04/what-the-mueller-report-says-about-obstruction/|title=What the Mueller Report Says About Obstruction|last1=Farley|first1=Robert|last2=Robertson|first2=Lori|last3=Gore|first3=D'Angelo|last4=Spencer|first4=Saranac Hale|last5=Fichera|first5=Angelo|last6=McDonald|first6=Jessica|date=April 19, 2019|website=FactCheck.org|access-date=April 22, 2019}}{{cite web|last=Desjardins|first=Lisa|title=11 moments Mueller investigated for obstruction of justice|date=April 18, 2019|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/11-moments-mueller-investigated-for-obstruction-of-justice |work=PBS|access-date=April 22, 2019}} The report said that in addition to Trump's public attacks on the investigation and its subjects, he had also privately tried to "control the investigation" in multiple ways, but mostly failed to influence it because his subordinates or associates refused to carry out his instructions.{{cite news|last1=Schmidt|first1=Michael|last2=Savage|first2=Charlie|title=Mueller Rejects View That Presidents Can't Obstruct Justice|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/us/politics/special-counsel-trump-obstruction.html |date=April 18, 2019 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/trump-barely-disrupted-russia-investigation-mueller-report-says.html |access-date=November 11, 2021 |title=Trump barely disrupted Russia investigation, Mueller report says|first=Jacob|last=Pramuk|date=April 18, 2019 |work=CNBC}} For that reason, no charges against the Trump's aides and associates were recommended "beyond those already filed". The Special Counsel could not charge Trump himself once investigators decided to abide by an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial,{{cite news|last1=Day|first1=Chad|last2=Gresko|first2=Jessica|title=How Mueller made his no-call on Trump and obstruction|url=https://www.apnews.com/d7830de6911b44d2afb3b180a6b54ad2|date=April 19, 2019|work=Associated Press|access-date=April 19, 2019}}{{cite news|last=Gajanan|first=Mahita|title=Despite Evidence, Robert Mueller Would Not Say Whether Trump Obstructed Justice. Here's Why|url=https://time.com/5573289/robert-mueller-trump-obstruction-charges/ |date=April 18, 2019 |magazine=Time|access-date=April 20, 2019}} and they feared charges would affect Trump's governing and possibly preempt his impeachment.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mueller-s-report-trump-sections-blacked-out-released-public-n990191|date=April 18, 2019|title=Mueller report found Trump directed White House lawyer to 'do crazy s|work=NBC News|access-date=April 19, 2019|first1=Dareh|last1=Gregorian|first2=Julia|last2=Ainsley}} In addition, investigators felt it would be unfair to accuse Trump of a crime without charges and without a trial in which he could clear his name, hence investigators "determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes".{{cite news|last1=Barrett|first1=Devlin|last2=Zapotosky|first2=Matt|title=Mueller report lays out obstruction evidence against the president|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/attorney-general-to-provide-overview-of-mueller-report-at-news-conference-before-its-release/2019/04/17/8dcc9440-54b9-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 17, 2019|access-date=April 20, 2019 }}{{cite news |last=Mascaro |first=Lisa |title=Mueller drops obstruction dilemma on Congress |date=April 19, 2019|url=https://www.apnews.com/35829a2b010248f193d1efd00c4de7e5 |work=Associated Press|access-date=April 20, 2019}}

Since the Special Counsel's office had decided "not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether to "initiate or decline a prosecution", they "did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct". The report "does not conclude that the president committed a crime",{{cite news|last=Neuhauser|first=Alan|title=The Mueller Report: Obstruction or Exoneration?|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-04-18/the-mueller-report-obstruction-or-exoneration|access-date=May 6, 2019|work=US News|date=April 18, 2019}} but specifically did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice.{{cite news|last=Blake|first=Aaron|title=The 10 Trump actions Mueller spotlighted for potential obstruction|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/18/trump-actions-mueller-spotlighted-potential-obstruction/|date=April 18, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418205553/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/18/trump-actions-mueller-spotlighted-potential-obstruction/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|date=April 18, 2019|title=Mueller report: Eight things we only just learned|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47983775|work=BBC News|access-date=April 18, 2019}} The report concluded "that Congress has authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice" and "that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law".

Upon announcing the formal closure of the investigation and his resignation from the Justice Department on May 29, Mueller said, "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, decide as to whether the president did commit a crime."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/mueller-special-counsel.html |access-date=November 11, 2021 |title=Mueller, in First Comments on Russia Inquiry, Declines to Clear Trump |first1=Sharon |last1=LaFraniere |first2=Eileen |last2=Sullivan |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 29, 2019 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126135207/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/mueller-special-counsel.html |url-status=dead }}

Amid accusations by Trump and his supporters that he had been subjected to an illegitimate investigation, in May 2019 attorney general Bill Barr appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to review the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/us/politics/russia-investigation-justice-department-review.html |title=Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry |first1=Adam |last1=Goldman |first2=Charlie |last2=Savage |first3=Michael S. |last3=Schmidt |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 13, 2019 |access-date=November 13, 2019 }} By September 2020, Durham's inquiry had expanded to include the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 campaign.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/us/politics/durham-clinton-foundation-investigation.html |access-date=November 13, 2021 |title=In Politically Charged Inquiry, Durham Sought Details About Scrutiny of Clintons|first1=Adam|last1=Goldman|first2=William K.|last2=Rashbaum|first3=Nicole|last3=Hong|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 24, 2020}} A previous two-year review of earlier Clinton investigations by another Trump Justice Department federal prosecutor, John Huber, was wound-down in January 2020 after finding no improper activity.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/09/trump-fumes-when-told-durham-probe-findings-might-not-come-out-before-election-day.html|title=Trump gets angry when told that findings from Durham probe might not come out before election|last1=Breuninger|first1=Kevin|last2=Mangan|first2=Dan|date=October 9, 2020|work=CNBC|access-date=October 10, 2020}}

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