Seth AbramsonVerified account

28/ Secret DOJ-Trump coordination (similar to what we saw in October 2016, in the form of secret FBI-Trump coordination) is just as bad as the FBI-Clinton coordination Trump has alleged without evidence for years. And that's what's been revealed *tonight*.https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1118677783922794496 …

29/ I tweeted this... five hours ago. And now... here we are.https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1118611818052771842 …

30/ Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) is speaking out again:https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1118693683329675264 …

31/ We all thought this thing would go off the rails tomorrow. Turns out it's going off the rails *tonight*. Hence this live thread. Please consider retweeting my pinned tweet so that people can follow along and stay informed on this historic (and historically upsetting) night.

32/ The most-asked question in all my in-boxes: "How do we know Barr didn't shut down the Mueller investigation prematurely?" The simple answer, though it will satisfy *no one*, is DOJ regs required Barr to certify to Congress that he denied Mueller nothing and Barr so certified.

33/ In case you missed it, a federal judge has *already* said *publicly* that Barr is *seriously* harming Americans' confidence in the Mueller Report-release process:https://twitter.com/politico/status/1118559776089280513 …

35/ DOJ will drop *two* Mueller Reports today: one for general consumption—given to Congress at 11AM and posted on the Special Counsel's website at noon—and one for a select group of Congresspeople that has *slightly* less of it redacted. That will be shown in a special location.

36/ A re-reading of yesterday's odd Washington Post story alleging DOJ redactions will be "light"—especially on obstruction—suggests it did indeed come from either Trump's DOJ or Trump's legal team, as at one point the article attributes that view to one or both of those groups.

37/ Remember: "light redactions" on obstruction means *nothing*—we've already been told most of the obstruction material is public record. What will be telling is if the *conspiracy* portion of the Report—far more likely to contain new and troubling evidence—is heavily redacted.

38/ So I fear that the Post inadvertently revealing at least the *general* sphere from which its information on redactions came—Trump's DOJ or Trump's legal team—is yet another attempt by those two entities (who we now know have worked in tandem) to frame today's narrative early.

39/ This should produce some concurrent concern as to the *other* big scoop from yesterday: the idea Mueller struggled to figure out Trump's intent on obstruction despite him... uh... broadcasting his intent nationally on multiple occasions. That might've been "pre-framing," too.

40/ We're ten minutes from Barr's presser—at which, tellingly, *no one* from Mueller's team will be, but Rosenstein (a witness in the obstruction case who also made the final call on that case) will. I hope you'll retweet my pinned tweet to spread the word about this live thread.

41/ That Trump is tweeting now about Barr's presser, and declared its existence on WMAL *before the DOJ did*, and that Pompeo was seen at DOJ—which he never is—right before the announcement of it, tells you *exactly* what this press conference will be: a Trump marketing tool.

42/ Trump has now tweeted a domestic disinformation video that says wrongly but repeatedly—while weaponizing misreporting on the subject as well—that the Mueller report resolves the *collusion* question rather than just a narrow "conspiracy" question. The two *aren't* synonymous.

43/ Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have now publicly called for Mueller and his team to testify before Congress ASAP. AG Barr is just seconds away from coming to the lectern, if he stays on schedule this morning. Everyone should understand this is a *Trump PR event*. That's all.

44/ What Barr has done is make it very hard to cover his presser. If Barr lies about the Report, or misrepresents it, or leaves out critical information, there's...not much I can do about it in trying to get the truth out to readers. Because I haven't seen the Report. No one has.

45/ When you see Rod Rosenstein on the stage with Barr, remember that DOJ regulations required that he recuse himself from this case the moment he learned he was a *major* witness in the obstruction investigation. I called for his recusal. He didn't recuse... and now here we are.

46/ Barr is here. Here we go.

47/ "I'd like to make a few comments on the report," Barr says. He thanks Rosenstein for his help and is pumping him up now, a critical strategic decision given that Rosenstein backed Barr up on saying Trump wouldn't be indictable for obstruction. (Rosenstein should've recused.)

48/ "Volume 1" of the Mueller Report is about conspiracy. Barr repeats the Report "did not establish [beyond a reasonable doubt]" finding. Barr says Russians "did not have the cooperation or knowing assistance" of anyone from the Trump campaign or any American.

49/ Barr says Mueller focused on the actions of the Internet Research Agency and the GRU—confirming my prior claims that Mueller looked at the conspiracy question in a narrow way, investigating whether Trump or his team conspired with the IRA or GRU (which *no one* ever alleged).

50/ Barr has just deliberately used the misleading Trumpian phrase "no collusion"—confirming he has coordinated his rhetoric with the White House. Barr was *careful*, though, and said no collusion *with the IRA*—again, *not something anyone ever alleged*.

51/ Barr is vindicating Trump on what Trump has always claimed he was innocent of—but *not* what he has been accused of. So Barr is again saying Trump's people didn't participate in the "dissemination" of hacked materials.

52/ The third conspiracy-related item Mueller looked at—per Barr—was if Trump or his campaign conspired with individuals *related* to the Russian government. This is the crux of the actual allegations against Trump, which is perhaps why Barr was so vague about what Mueller found.

53/ The obstruction issue will go to Congress. Barr/Rosenstein's views are *immaterial*. It's almost not worth publishing Barr's defense of Trump here—which is what Barr's giving right now. It's just Trump PR. All that's going to matter here is the *third* conspiracy allegation.

54/ Barr is providing *exactly* the full-throated obstruction defense of Trump that his lawyers would give. This is embarrassing. This is a dark day for the DOJ.

55/ Barr is explaining the 4 categories of redaction. I'm telling you, nearly all the redactions will relate to the third of three conspiracy topics—Trump and his team's contacts with Russians who may not have worked in the Russian government. That's the ballgame for this Report.

56/ Anyone reading the Mueller Report today should go *straight* to the third part of "Volume 1" of the Report, which deals with "conspiracy" with nongovernmental Russian nationals. Barr was most euphemistic on this topic—most vague—likely because *this* is the *real* allegation.

57/ Barr's presentation today is... if you're not watching, watch it later. Barr sounds like a Trump spokesman. He's *praising* Trump for not invoking executive privilege. This is so embarrassing for law enforcement. Trump was the *target* of the probe Barr is now the face of.