The Morning Briefing: Mueller Concerned with Media Coverage of Report Summary

Good Wednesday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president meets with members of Congress
The president and first lady participate in a dinner for the National Day of Prayer

Attorney General Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. Read his opening statement here.

Media makes up fake story that Mueller disputed Barr’s description of Mueller report findings

The premier outlets for deep state propaganda kicked into high gear yesterday evening when The Washington Post and The New York Times both published stories advertising a letter that special counsel Robert Mueller sent to Attorney General Bill Barr expressing Mueller’s unhappiness with Barr’s “summary” of his report.

Who leaked the letter? One of the senators on the Senate committee needs to ask Barr if he is investigating who leaked the letter.

As it turns out, the media’s slobbering reports aren’t exactly accurate. Mueller was concerned with the media coverage following Barr’s press conference. After sending a letter, Barr and Mueller had a phone call. From the WaPo:

In that call, Mueller said he was concerned that media coverage of the obstruction investigation was misguided and creating public misunderstandings about the office’s work, according to Justice Department officials. Mueller did not express similar concerns about the public discussion of the investigation of Russia’s election interference, the officials said.

When Barr pressed Mueller on whether he thought Barr’s memo to Congress was inaccurate, Mueller said he did not, but felt that the media coverage of it was misinterpreting the investigation, officials said.

Here’s an excerpt from the Mueller letter:

“The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions,” Mueller wrote. “There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”

Well, Bob, of course Barr’s letter didn’t “fully capture” the report. It was just a summary of the ultimate findings. Does Mueller need to be reminded that this report didn’t need to see the light of day because the statute only requires the special council turn a report over to the attorney general? The AG didn’t have to release it at all. Barr could have announced the report brought “no charges on collusion/conspiracy and no charges on obstruction” and been done with it. So why Mueller is concerned about the “full context” suggests he has another motive: that his report wasn’t playing as planned. Barr’s wise move to announce the findings before the report was released with all the political maneuvering found in the second section on obstruction. He poured some cold water on the plan to garner public support to keep this witch hunt going in Congress.

The special counsel and his team assumed that Rosenstein would be running the show at the DOJ, as they had effectively removed Jeff Sessions from anything to do with the investigation. Rosenstein is far more tractable (and implicated) than Barr, so the new AG really screwed up the big plans to use SC report and the media to continue to harass the president.

Why is Mueller so concerned about the report’s media coverage? Was he concerned when the media spent two years falsely telling the public that Trump was a RUSSIAN asset and that Mueller was going to put him in jail for espionage? No, he wasn’t. And one more thing: did Mueller write this letter knowing it would be leaked to the public? It certainly has a different tone than the phone conversation.

Clown. Jeffrey Toobin: Mueller was pissed

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Just 2 lawmakers have seen less-redacted Mueller report

Schumer: Barr must bring Mueller letter to Senate hearing

Van Hollen calls for Barr to resign

Venezuela’s civil war

Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido called for an uprising yesterday in his socialist garbage country. Venezuela has been run into the ground under tyrant Nicolas Maduro, who is executing a Bernie Sanders-esque socialist regime. The Trump administration recognizes Guiado as the legitimate head of state.

Maduro was ready to GTFO of Venezuela until the RUSSIANS told him to stay put.

“We’ve watched throughout the day, it’s been a long time since anyone’s seen Maduro,” Pompeo said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.”

“He had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning as we understand it and the Russians indicated he should stay.”

“He was headed for Havana,” Pompeo said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told Tucker Carlson last night that the RUSSIANS have nuclear missiles in South America. “Imagine if this regime that now is receiving a lot of international pressure survives? Is it or is it not potentially a green light, an open door for the Russians and for the Chinese and for others to increase their activity against our national security interest right here in our hemisphere, “Diaz-Balart told Carlson.

“Are you saying the Russians will put nuclear missiles in Venezuela?” Carlson asked.

“What I am suggesting is that they are already there,” Diaz-Balart said.

Yikes.

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Shooting at University of North Carolina, Charlotte

A student who transferred to the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, killed two people and injured four on campus yesterday.

Terrell was located by the UNC Charlotte Police on scene and was initially transported to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police headquarters to be interviewed by detectives, the police department said in a statement.

Terrell, who was born in Texas, is a registered voter in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, according to his voter registration records.

Terrell’s grandfather, Paul Rold of Arlington, Texas, told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that Terrell and his father moved to Charlotte from the Dallas area about two years ago after his mother died in 2011.

“This is the worst day in the history of UNC Charlotte,” School Chancellor Philip L. Dubois said Tuesday night.

Officers responded to the scene and were able to get into the building where the suspect was located, disarmed him and took him into custody, officials said. The suspect did not say anything to the officers as he was arrested.

Police said the shooter was “not somebody … on our radar.”

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Expert: Doubling Income Taxes Won’t Even Cover Medicare for All Costs

Rights groups challenge warrantless cellphone searches at U.S. border

Mayor de Blasio’s car was involved in an accident but the NYPD covered it up

Portland Antifa group flooded the office of lawyer representing ICE’s union

Booker reintroduces bill to curb detention of migrants

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