Category: National News

Donald Trump – who in public has always swaggeringly denied either colluding with Russia or obstructing justice – believed he was "f***ed" after the appointment of a special investigator.As the president told an audience at the White House he was having a good day, "It was called no collusion, no obstruction" – the publication of Robert Mueller's report revealed Mr Trump has not always been so confident. Indeed, he believed Mr Mueller's appointment marked the end of his presidency and tried to have him fired, or else the probe halted, something White House lawyers pushed back on.The report also confirmed that while Mr Mueller found no evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, despite it being aware Moscow was likely trying to help the reality television star’s candidacy, it did not not exonerate him on the question of whether he obstructed the efforts of justice.“The evidence we obtained about the president's actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” he wrote.Attorney general William Barr told a press conference on Thursday that he and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, had taken the decision that Mr Mueller’s did not constitute an obstruction of justice.Yet, Mr Mueller’s report contains 10 instances that he and his team examined as possible breaches either of protocol of legality. He provided evidence to find both for and against such a finding.For instance, the report noted, in June 2017, Mr Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to tell the then-acting attorney general, Jeff Sessions, that Mr Mueller had conflicts of interest and must be removed, Reuters noted.It also said there was “substantial evidence” the president fired James Comey as FBI director in 2017 due to his “unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation”.It also said there was some “some evidence” suggesting Mr Trump knew about former national security adviser Michael Flynn's controversial calls with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, but evidence was “inconclusive” and could not be used to establish intent to obstruct.The report said Nr Trump directed former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to ask Mr Sessions to reconsider the decision to recuse himself from the probe and say the Russia investigation was “very unfair”.Indeed, large chunks of Mr Mueller’s report detail the president’s efforts to halt the investigation into Russia’s alleged election interference and possible collusion.When Mr Sessions told the president about his appointment in the spring of 2017, an appointment made following Mr Trump’s firing of Mr Comey, he was said to have slumped into his chair and declared: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f***ed.”He then turned to the one time Alabama senator who had joined his cabinet as chief law enforcement and legal officer, and blamed him. “How could you let this happen, Jeff,” he said. “You were supposed to protect me.” He added: “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won' t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”Such was the president’s determination to halt the process, he telephoned Mr McGahn, who left the White House in October 2018, and asked him to intervene. Mr McGahn told Mr Mueller’s team he was told by the president: “Call Rod, tell Rod that Mueller has conflicts and can’t be special counsel.“Mueller has to go” and: “Call me back when you do it.”Mr Mueller concluded that while there was no evidence that members of the president's 2016 campaign team actively colluded with Russia, it found that both group shared a common goal in securing Mr Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton.The report said: “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.”

KIEV (Reuters) – Comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series, has kept his lead in Ukraine's presidential election race, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday. The poll by research body Reiting showed Zelenskiy on 57.9 percent of votes and incumbent Petro Poroshenko on 21.7 percent. Reiting polled 3,000 voters in all regions, except annexed Crimea, from April 12 to 16. The previous poll made by Reiting in April 5-10 gave Zelenskiy 61 percent of votes while Poroshenko received 24 percent. …