Mueller submits final Russia report

FAN Editor
CBSN

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report on his findings of the over two-year long investigation into any ties between the Russian government and Trump campaign associates, as well as any matters that arose from the investigation, has been submitted to the attorney general, William Barr.

Barr will now summarize it for lawmakers, in accordance with the law governing the special counsel. It is not clear whether the report or any part of it will be made public — that’s left to Barr’s discretion.

Follow along for live updates:

Trump says report should be made public

Trump: Mueller report should be released to public

President Trump has said he looks forward to the release of Mueller’s findings, and opined that they should be made public upon their release.

“Let it come out, let people see it… and we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday.

The president previously said it is “totally up to” Attorney General William Barr whether and when the special counsel’s report is released.

Attorneys depart Mueller’s team in advance of report dropping

Multiple prosecutors on Mueller’s team of attorneys in the special counsel’s office have been announcing their departures in recent weeks, signaling that the investigation was winding down.

Special counsel spokesperson Peter Carr confirmed to CBS News this week that Zainab Ahmad, a top terrorism prosecutor, concluded her detail with the special counsel’s office. Lead special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann’s departure from the team was also reported by CBS to be imminent.

Here’s a look at Mueller’s team of prosecutors

House voted for public release of report, Senate blocked it

The House of Representatives voted to pass a non-binding resolution in mid-March, calling for the public release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report into the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, blocked the vote in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, of New York, called for a unanimous consent on the resolution, which had passed the House in a 420-0 vote. However, Graham objected after Schumer refused to amend the resolution to include a provision on appointing a special counsel to investigate misconduct at the Justice Department related to the FISA warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page.

“Was there two systems of justice in 2016? One for the Democratic candidate and one for the Republican candidate?” Graham asked on the Senate floor.

Reporting by Emily Tillett and Grace Segers

Who’s been charged so far?

Paul Manafort faces more prison time and a new indictment

Currently, Mueller’s probe has yielded seven guilty pleas and 99.5 months in prison served, and 34 individuals and three separate companies have been charged.

President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was one of the first Trump associates to serve time in prison as part of Mueller’s probe. Manafort was indicted on a total of 25 counts in two jurisdictions. The charges ranged from conspiracy to launder money to acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal.

Here’s a look at who else has been charged.

Reporting by Clare Hymes and Emily Tillett

A brief timeline of the investigation

Mueller’s probe has spanned multiple jurisdictions and Trump associates over the past two years.

Here are some key dates from the Mueller probe:

2013: The FBI conducts interviews of Trump associates Paul Manafort and Carter Page as it relates to conducting business with foreign actors.

2014: The Internet Research Agency (IRA) leads Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S political system, including the 2016 presidential election.

July 2015: The FBI opens investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server while she was secretary of state.

September 2015: The FBI becomes aware of Russian hack into DNC tries to inform DNC

June 9, 2016: Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. meet at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer who promised “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. The meeting was arranged by Trump Jr. and Rob Goldstone, the publicist for pop star Emin Algarov. Goldstone told Trump Jr. that the information comes from the Kremlin

October 7 2016: WikiLeaks releases messages stolen from the personal email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.

January 6, 2017: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a declassified version of a highly sensitive report accusing the Kremlin of organizing a sophisticated influence campaign “to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton.” Both President Obama and President-elect Trump are briefed on the report. They are both also briefed on a 35-page dossier compiled by former British spy, Christopher Steele, that alleges the Kremlin had compromising information on President-elect Trump.

January 20, 2017: Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th president. CBS News reports investigators are looking at business ties between Trump associates and Russia and are tracking finances of some of the hackers linked to attacks on U.S. political organizations. Manafort’s name surfaces

February 14, 2017: In a private meeting in the Oval Office, President Trump asks FBI Director Comey to end the investigation into Flynn. Comey documented the meeting in a memo. Trump said to Comey in the meeting, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.” He adds, “He is a good guy, I hope you can let this go.” Comey responds and agrees that Flynn “is a good guy.”

March 20, 2017: Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James Comey confirmed the existence of a federal investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

May 9, 2017: President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.

May 17 , 2017: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to oversee a “full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.” He also authorizes Mueller to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” and “any other matters” within the scope of the special counsel law.

October 30, 2017: Former Trump aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are indicted on various charges, including conspiracy and money laundering. On the same day, George Papadopoulos pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI and agrees to cooperate with federal investigators.

December 1, 2017 : Michael Flynn pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI and agrees to cooperate with the special counsel.

February 16, 2018: The Justice Department announces charges against 13 Russian nationals and three companies for operating a sophisticated network designed to meddle in the 2016 American election and aid the candidacy of Donald Trump.

February 23, 2018: Rick Gates pleads guilty to lying and conspiracy against the U.S.

April 4, 2018: Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, of Skadden Arps, is sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for making false statements to investigators about work he had done for Ukraine.

August 21, 2018: Federal jury finds Manafort guilty of eight criminal counts, including tax fraud. The court declares a mistrial on 10 other counts faced by Manafort

August 21, 2018: Michael Cohen pleads guilty to violating campaign finance laws and other charges. He says the president instructed him to make payments to two women during the presidential campaign to prevent them from publicly discussing affairs they claim to have had with Mr. Trump

September 7, 2018: George Papadopoulos is sentenced to serve two weeks in prison and pay nearly $10,000 for lying to federal investigators.

March 13, 2019: Manafort receives final sentence from District of Columbia federal court. He’ll serve over seven years in prison combined for convictions in Virginia and the District of Columbia.

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