memeorandum: Why was Trump so afraid of the Mueller investigation? We may never know. (Anne Applebaum/Washington Post)

10:45 AM ET, April 20, 2019

Top Items:

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Trump approval drops 3 points to 2019 low after release of Mueller report: Reuters/Ipsos poll — NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of Americans who approve of President Donald Trump dropped by 3 percentage points to the lowest level of the year following the release of a special counsel report …

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:

How a legal dispute between Mueller and Barr drove the end of the special counsel's probe — For nearly two years, the public, Congress and the White House waited to learn if special counsel Robert S. Mueller III would find that President Trump had committed crimes.

Discussion: Daily Kos, What The Fuck … and The Moderate Voice

New York Times:

A Darker Portrait Emerges of Trump's Attacks on the Justice Department — WASHINGTON — Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, praised President Trump last spring for backing the rule of law and commended the Constitution and American culture for protecting lawfulness.

Anna Dubenko / New York Times:

A Reader's Guide to the Journalism Behind the Mueller Report — If some of the revelations in Robert S. Mueller III's long-awaited report sound familiar, it's because many of them were previously published by The New York Times and other news outlets. — Times Insider explains …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Giuliani Attacks McGahn's Account to Mueller — WASHINGTON — President Trump's lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, attacked the credibility of a former White House counsel on Friday, saying his account of how Mr. Trump told him to remove the special counsel was inaccurate.

Discussion: Axios, Politico, The Hill, Washington Press and Joe.My.God.

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump campaign punishes Don McGahn's law firm — The Trump campaign has hired its own in-house attorney for its 2020 reelection bid — shifting future business away from Jones Day, the law firm, that has represented Trump since his first run for president. — Campaign officials and advisers cast …

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Axios and Law & Crime

Barbara McQuade / The Daily Beast:

Forget Roy Cohn, Future Presidents Would Ask 'Where's My Bill Barr?' — Trump wanted an attorney general who would protect him, and he got one who defended him and misrepresented Mueller's report. — He lost me at “no collusion.” — I have been withholding judgment of Attorney General William Barr …

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

From ‘total exoneration’ to ‘total bullsh**’: Trump lingers on damning report — Washington (CNN)By the time President Donald Trump had passed through the prime rib buffet at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to sit for dinner with family and a top aide, the damning picture Robert Mueller's report painted of his presidency had become clear.

Discussion: The Root, KTLA and Daily Wire

Adi Robertson / The Verge: The PDF Association thinks the Mueller report sucks

Washington Post:
Trump blames McGahn after Mueller paints damning portrait with notes from White House aides

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Carlos Lozada / Washington Post:
The Mueller report isn't just a legal document. It's also the best book on the Trump White House so far.

more at Mediagazer »

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Collins: Mueller report includes ‘an unflattering portrayal’ of Trump

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Law & Crime

Allan Smith / NBC News: GOP Sen. Richard Burr apparently briefed White House on FBI's Russia probe, Mueller report says

PDF Association:
A Technical and Cultural Assessment of the Mueller Report PDF

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Katie Galioto / Politico:
Romney says he is ‘sickened’ by Mueller report

Discussion: ABC News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Fox News, What The Fuck … and Axios

Mark Penn / The Hill:
Mueller's done, and Dems should be too — because Trump is no Nixon

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review: The Mueller Report Vindicates Bill Barr

Bloomberg:
Trump's Post-Mueller Euphoria Gives Way to Anger and Recrimination

Discussion: Raw Story

Ronald A. Klain / Washington Post: Robert Mueller failed to do his duty

Sohrab Ahmari / New York Post:

Top 10 things the media got wrong about ‘collusion’ and ‘obstruction’ — The prestige press has some explaining to do — for subjecting the nation to a long, cruel ordeal named “collusion” and “obstruction.” Almost two years and millions of column inches later, special counsel Robert Mueller …

Discussion: The Federalist, Washington Post and McClatchy Washington Bureau

New York Times:

Mueller Report Likely to Renew Scrutiny of Steele Dossier — WASHINGTON — The 35-page dossier, spiced up with tales of prostitutes and spies, sketched out a hair-raising story more than two years ago. Russian intelligence had used bribery and blackmail to try to turn Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: Althouse

David French / TIME:

Donald Trump Is Weak and Afraid. The Mueller Report Proves It — French is a TIME columnist. A lawyer and senior fellow at the National Review Institute, he is a best-selling author whose next book will be The Great American Divorce. — We now know for sure what kind of man Donald Trump is.

Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
Why was Trump so afraid of the Mueller investigation? We may never know.

Discussion: Snopes.com

Washington Post: Congressional Democrats examine Erik's Prince statements on 2017 Seychelles meeting for possible perjury

Asha Rangappa / New York Times:
How Barr and Trump Use a Russian Disinformation Tactic

Discussion: Raw Story and FactCheck.org

New York Times:
The Mueller Report and the Danger Facing American Democracy

Discussion: Press Herald and Raw Story

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
In a Functional Country, We Would Be on the Road to Impeachment

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic and Shareblue Media

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
The counterintelligence investigation of the Trump team and Russia hasn't stopped

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Monthly and New York Times

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Mueller: Michael Flynn was under FBI investigation before transition calls

Scott Jennings / CNN:
Mueller's report looks bad for Obama

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, NB Blog, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Conservative Tribune and USA Today

New York Times:

Sanders's ‘Slip of the Tongue’ Would Be a Problem in Some White Houses. Not Trump's. — PALM BEACH, Fla. — After admitting to investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that she delivered a false statement from the White House podium, Sarah Huckabee Sanders …

Discussion: Raw Story

Bonchie / RedState:
CNN's April Ryan Says Sarah Sanders' Head Should Be “Lopped Off”

Discussion: Raw Story, Breitbart, Contemptor, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, TheBlaze, IJR, TIME and NB Blog

Kyle Peterson / Wall Street Journal:

After 40 Years, C-Span's Founder Signs Off — Brian Lamb, the man who put Congress on live television, reflects on the results and explains why the Supreme Court ought to be next. — Washington — 'Lying is the word that I would use to describe this town," says Brian Lamb, in his usual Midwestern deadpan. "

Peter Baker / New York Times:

‘I Do Not Remember’: Trump Gave a Familiar Reply to the Special Counsel's Queries — WASHINGTON — President Trump has boasted at various points that he has “one of the great memories of all time” or even “the world's greatest memory.” — But the world's greatest memory failed him repeatedly …

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Mueller's report proves why Trump loves Fox News — and why he needs it now more than ever — It's no secret that Fox News and the Trump administration are deeply entwined with each other: They are the conjoined twins of misinformation. — So it hardly raised an eyebrow when the president took …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Slate

Mark Hemingway / New York Post:

New York Times hits new low with mortifying Notre Dame correction — Just in time for Easter, The New York Times has been forced to run yet another correction that speaks to the paper's profound ignorance regarding the basic beliefs of Christianity. — In a Thursday report on the fire at Notre Dame …

Discussion: NPR, New York Times, GetReligion, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Conservative Tribune

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:

The Legal Strategy That Paid Off for the President — Trump lawyers sought to limit his contact with Robert Mueller but cooperate elsewhere — WASHINGTON—When President Trump's lawyers met with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team last April to negotiate the terms of a possible interview …