Daniel Dale

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Everyone should be skeptical of everything, but the ITC does its research independently of the governing administration, and I've seen no suggestion from anyone that the Trump team interfered here. https://t.co/wUTGOfdrty — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Early take on the report: - Gives supporters of the deal some ammunition (positive impact!) - Does little to add pressure to deal skeptics (impact is small!) - Rejects Trump's claims that the deal will is a massive departure from NAFTA and will bring back auto plants en masse — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Notably: Trump's most frequent talking point about the new NAFTA is that it'd bring car production back to the U.S. The Commission finds that there'd actually be a job *loss* of 1,500 in automobile production -- though a gain of about 30,000 in auto-parts production. — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates that the new NAFTA would, six years after it came into force, increase US GDP by 0.35% ($68.2 billion) and increase employment by 0.12% (176,000 jobs). So: a positive impact, but small. https://t.co/woi0rWIbD8 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

RT @BySteveReilly: The Special Counsel's Office made 14 referrals of evidence of potential criminal activity to outside offices. Only two a… — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

RT @DoreyScheimer: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told investigators she lied to the press after Comey firing https://t.co/JNN9O… — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller went into detail about his reasoning for not laying charges over the Trump Tower meeting. He considered them under a law that prohibits foreign campaign contributions and forbids Americans to "solicit, accept, or receive" from them any money or "thing of value." — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: Though phone provider records show that Steve Bannon and Erik Prince "exchanged dozens" of text messages around the time of the Seychelles meeting, there were no messages available for investigators to read on their phones. Both men said they didn't know why that was. https://t.co/jCVDKBkIIB — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: Manafort said it was Viktor Yanukovych, not Oleg Deripaska, who was "the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar"...and that there was an actual big black jar of caviar. Lots of media reports assumed this was a reference to Deripaska. https://t.co/7t4qFzXC3R — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller also says Manafort "also twice met Kilimnik in the United States during the campaign and conveyed campaign information." The second meeting, in Aug. 2016, was to get Manafort a message from former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych about his "peace plan." https://t.co/Q9Hcq6kfXV — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller says Manafort had Gates provide internal campaign polling to Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime employee the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. Mueller says he "could not reliably determine Manafort's purpose" in doing so. — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller says the sponsor of the platform resolution re Russia said Trump advisor Gordon told her he was on the phone with Trump at the time Gordon requested that the resolution be weakened -- but the investigation "did not establish" that Gordon spoke to or was directed by Trump. https://t.co/nC8winQSeR — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller says Kushner texted "waste of time" during the Trump Tower meeting, then asked his assistants to call him as an excuse to leave; Don Jr. said nothing could be done about the Magnitsky Act while Trump was a mere candidate but that they could revisit the issue if Trump won. https://t.co/Pxqjs3Bo44 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

In Trump's submission, he said his request for Russia to obtain Clinton emails was "in jest and sarcastically, as was apparent to any objective observer"...yet Mueller reports that Trump repeatedly asked people affiliated with his own campaign to find the emails, and they tried. https://t.co/e1bz9p9252 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller says he found "no documentary evidence" showing that Trump was told in advance of the Trump Tower meeting or its connection to Russia. https://t.co/4tloF0NiWB — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: It appears that any conversation between Sessions and the Russian ambassador at the Mayflower Hotel was "a brief one conducted in public view"; no evidence of a private conversation involving either Trump or Sessions. https://t.co/5yEkQYfSAS — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: Carter Page came to the Trump campaign with prior relationships with Russian intelligence operatives, but "the investigation did not establish that Page coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election." https://t.co/fwmdHVuPFK — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller says Papadopoulos informed the Greek foreign minister and another government (Australia) that Russia had dirt on Clinton, but he says he didn't tell anyone on the Trump campaign itself, and campaign officials say they don't think he did. https://t.co/et6O6nQj5p — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Here's a fuller quote on the conspiracy issue: "The investigation examined whether these contacts involved or resulted in coordination or a conspiracy with the Trump Campaign and Russia...Based on the available information, the investigation did not establish such coordination." https://t.co/vipJ1QUHY9 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

A lot of redactions in the Contacts with the Campaign about WikiLeaks section. It does say Gates said, after WikiLeaks began releasing docs, Trump told him there was more coming, and the campaign planned a "communications campaign" around possible releases of Clinton emails. https://t.co/7NBoXCkzx1 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

These are some highlights from the obstruction section. I haven't read the other sections yet. More soon! — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

https://t.co/dRo0XW35M1 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

After all the Media Reckoning talk after the Barr summary, the Mueller report corroborates a lot of reporting from big news outlets. — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller's obstruction conclusion: "...if we had confidence...that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment." https://t.co/LhtK0YGQHt — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

The Mueller report includes a lengthy analysis on this question, which Mueller acknowledges has not been "definitively resolved." https://t.co/9siNjGyBJr — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller rejected the Trump team's argument that a president cannot possibly illegally obstruct a DOJ investigation: "Article II of the Constitution does not categorically and permanently immunize the President from potential liability for the conduct that we investigated." — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: "The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests." https://t.co/oy8OdQU1C5 — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: There doesn't need to be an underlying crime for there to be obstruction of justice. "The injury to the integrity of the justice system is the same regardless of whether a person committed an underlying wrong." https://t.co/P7br8xEXmK — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Starting to think William Barr is not a great summarizer. — PolitiTweet.org

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Mueller: Manafort told Gates that Trump's personal lawyer told him that "we'll be taken care of," though the lawyer didn't specifically use the word pardon, and that it'd therefore be stupid to plead guilty. https://t.co/bGb441dJUx — PolitiTweet.org