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

10:30 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

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

Washington Post:

Trump blames McGahn after Mueller paints damning portrait with notes from White House aides — President Trump seethed Friday over the special counsel's damning portrayal of his protracted campaign to thwart the Russia investigation and directed much of his ire at former White House counsel Donald McGahn …

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

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.

New York Times:
Giuliani Attacks McGahn's Account to Mueller

Discussion: Axios, Politico, The Hill and Washington Press

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

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 »

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

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Law & Crime

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

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

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

Discussion: Raw Story

Nikki Schwab / New York Post:
Trump campaign rakes in $1 million after Mueller report release

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation and Townhall

Yuval Levin / National Review:
Another Warning Sign

Discussion: Mother Jones

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
The Mueller Report Could Alienate the Voters Republicans Need

Discussion: Raw Story

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

Discussion: Quartz

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:
Screaming Mark Levin Leaves Fox & Friends Speechless with 8 AM Mueller Rant: ‘Ed, You Have No Idea!’

Discussion: Vanity Fair and Washington Times

Michael Daly / The Daily Beast: Robert Mueller Made One Mistake: He Trusted Bill Barr

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

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

Discussion: Press Herald and Raw Story

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

Discussion: Raw Story and FactCheck.org

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

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic and Shareblue Media

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

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

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

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

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.

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: What The Fuck …, Snopes.com and The Moderate Voice

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

The PDF Association thinks the Mueller report sucks — It's ‘really kind of sad’ — When Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his report on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election yesterday and political wonks across the internet rushed to download it …

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

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

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

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, The Gateway Pundit, Contemptor, 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. "

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 …

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 …

Discussion: Washington Post

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

Washington Post:

Congressional Democrats examine Erik's Prince statements on 2017 Seychelles meeting for possible perjury — Nine days before Donald Trump took the oath of office, Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the private military contractor Blackwater and a Trump ally, met in the Seychelles islands …

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

White House and Congress Set to Spar Over Kushner Security Clearance — The White House would like to be in the room when Congressional investigators grill Carl Kline, the official who green-lit Jared Kushner's security clearance. — Betsy Woodruff — The White House would like to be in the room …

Discussion: Raw Story

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

Elizabeth Warren Calls for Impeachment Process Against Trump — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday called for the Democratic-led House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump, making her the most prominent Democrat to move toward ousting the president …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones and ThinkProgress