President Trump was angry and distraught when he learned, in 2017, that Robert Mueller had been appointed special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and Trump’s possible obstruction of justice.

“Oh my God, this is terrible,” Trump said. “This is the end of my presidency. I’m f—ed,” according to notes taken by Jody Hunt, chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Mueller’s 448-page report on the investigation of was delivered to Congress today, and released to the public. Both versions of the report contained redactions — blacked-out sections — chosen by Attorney General William Barr, but the one to be seen by certain lawmakers was more complete.

“The detailed document depicts a Trump campaign that expected to ‘benefit electorally’ from information stolen and released by Russia and a president who subsequently engaged in several alarming actions, including seeking the ouster of former officials and ordering a memo that would clear his name,” says the Washington Post.

In one key section, the report states that evidence “about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved” to warrant obstruction of justice charges. The New York Times says it “voluminously” details Trump’s “efforts to thwart the investigation.”

The report says Mueller’s investigators “were not persuaded” that a sitting president “has blanket constitutional immunity to engage in acts that would corruptly obstruct justice.”

“At the same time,” the report says, “if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”

In other words, there’s not enough evidence to prove, or disprove, obstruction by the president or his team.

And, strikingly, it turns out the Mueller team didn’t even consider “collusion.” 

“In an executive summary, Mueller’s team clearly stated that they did not believe ‘collusion’ —which President Trump has incessantly insisted he did not commit — to be a legal term. For that reason, prosecutors did not assess whether Trump’s campaign ‘colluded,’ with Russia,” says the Post.

But Mueller made one thing “abundantly clear: Russia wanted to help the Trump campaign, and the Trump campaign was willing to take it.”

“Investigators identified numerous contacts between campaign advisers and Russians affiliated with the government during the campaign and after the election,” reports the Times. “Some were for business purposes, some for policy reasons. But the special counsel did not establish that the contacts added up to an illegal conspiracy.”

Page 13 of the report, part of its executive summary, lists four key findings:

  • “…the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome through hacking and distributing stolen information.”
  • “The [Trump] campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”
  • “The Russian hacking and social media campaign coincided with a series of contacts between Trump Campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government.”
  • “The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

“One of the biggest questions of the past two years — something that fueled the news coverage, the federal investigation and congressional scrutiny — is why so many people around Mr. Trump lied, misled and changed their stories,” the Times says. “People hoping that Mr. Mueller would resolve those questions will be disappointed. Time and again, Mr. Mueller seems as confused as anyone else about the motives.”

In sharp contrast to his initial reaction to learning that Mueller had been appointed special counsel, Trump appeared exultant within minutes after the report was released on Thursday.

“Trump, projecting a breezy business-as-usual demeanor, told an East Room crowd that was having a ‘good day’ because the report showed ‘no collusion’ and ‘no obstruction,’ two claims he has made for months,” reports Politico.

“If Mueller’s report was a victory for the president, it was an ugly one,” says the Times. “The investigators paint a grim, unflattering portrait of a president who believes the Justice Department and the FBI should answer to his orders, even when it comes to criminal investigations.”

And Trump still has reason for concern.

Trump commented on the report’s contents before it was released, characteristically using Twitter to denounce both Mueller and Democrats, who are demanding that the complete report, unredacted, be made public.

The president has reason for concern, even though Mueller did not find evidence that he or his campaign colluded with Russia, or sufficient evidence to charge him with obstruction of justice.

The report could still “provide the grounds for impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives,” says the Post.

Some White House staffers may also be worried, because they “fear [Trump’s] backlash” over what they may have told Mueller and his investigators, says the Times.

“The report might make clear which of Mr. Trump’s current and former advisers spoke to the special counsel, how much they said and how much damage they did to the president — providing a kind of road map for retaliation,” the newspaper says.

Sifting through the full Mueller report will take some time, and we are going through it. The full report is here. And below are some excerpts of particular interest.

“The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment… At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

“Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”