CNN’s approach to analyzing the statements was this: Every time Mueller documented a questionable claim– even if it was the same potential falsehood told again and again—we counted it. This includes lies to investigators and to Congress, who represent the public. CNN did not include efforts on the part of the White House to get other administration officials to lie, of which Mueller notes several instances.
Sometimes, Mueller lays it out cold, saying a person asserted something “falsely.” At other times, Mueller describes a cascade of assertions — often by the President, only to pull back later to say that “substantial evidence” contradicts the statements. On a few occasions, Mueller couldn’t determine the truth — but outlines how at least one person among a group must have been, as they gave contradictory retellings of events. In its analysis, CNN counted instances where Mueller noted multiple people giving different versions of events as one false assertion each.
Others were lies of omission, or involved wrong information given initially to investigators and then corrected, sometimes with consequence, sometimes without.
In all, Mueller’s effort may be the first comprehensive finding by a federal investigator to document the lies and false assertions to the American public told by the Trump campaign and administration.
There are 77 in all, CNN found.
Comey firing and fallout (1-13)
#1
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In May 2017 Trump wrongly claimed in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt that former FBI Director James Comey requested a dinner meeting in January 2017 to ask about keeping his job.
What the report said:
“The President also indicated that he had not invited Comey to dinner, telling a reporter that he thought Comey had ‘asked for the dinner’ because ‘he wanted to stay on.’ But substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account of the dinner invitation and the request for loyalty. The President’s Daily Diary confirms that the President ‘extend[ed] a dinner invitation’ to Comey on January 27.”
#2-3
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In a July 19, 2017, interview with The New York Times, President Donald Trump falsely denied pushing then-FBI Director James Comey into a one-on-one conversation and said he didn’t remember having a one-on-one conversation with Comey.
The Times asked him, “Did you shoo other people out of the room when you talked to Comey?
“No, no,” Trump said.
“Did you actually have a one-on-one with Comey then?”
Trump responded, “Not much. Not even that I remember.”
What the report said:
“After Comey’s account of the President’s request to ‘let[] Flynn go’ became public, the President publicly disputed several aspects of the story. The President told The New York Times that he did not “shoo other people out of the room” when he talked to Comey and that he did not remember having a one-on-one conversation with Comey.” … “Despite those denials, substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account.”
#4
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
Trump denied he had asked for Comey’s loyalty when he spoke to the media at the White House on June 9, 2017. Yet he had.
What the report said:
Mueller quoted Trump at a press conference: “I hardly know the man. I’m not going to say ‘I want you to pledge allegiance.’ Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath?'”
Mueller then wrote: “Comey’s memory of the details of the dinner, including that the President requested loyalty, has remained consistent throughout.”
In a footnote, Mueller added: “There also is evidence that corroborates other aspects of the memoranda Comey wrote documenting his interactions with the President.”
Source: Volume II, page 35 and 36
#5-6
The White House
What The White House said:
Mueller notes how Trump denied both asking for Comey’s loyalty and asking for him to drop the Flynn investigation, citing three stories in The New York Times from May 2017 that include statements from the White House.
What the report said:
“McGahn told the President that his ‘biggest exposure’ was not his act of firing Comey but his ‘other contacts’ and ‘calls,’ and his ‘ask re: Flynn.’ By the time McGahn provided this advice to the President, there had been widespread reporting on the President’s request for Comey’s loyalty, which the President publicly denied; his request that Comey ‘let[] Flynn go,’ which the President also denied; and the President’s statement to the Russian Foreign Minister that the termination of Comey had relieved ‘great pressure’ related to Russia, which the President did not deny.”
Separately, Mueller notes “In a statement on May 16, 2017, the White House said: “While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. . . . This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.” … “Despite those denials, substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account.”
#7
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
Mueller cited how Trump tweeted, falsely, on December 3, 2017, that he “never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn.”
What the report said:
“The President also publicly denied that he had asked Comey to ‘let[] Flynn go’ or otherwise communicated that Comey should drop the investigation of Flynn.”
Mueller cited Trump’s December 3, 2017, tweet: “I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn. Just more Fake News covering another Comey lie!”
Mueller then wrote: “Despite those denials, substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account.”
#8
Marc Kasowitz
What Marc Kasowitz said:
The President’s then-personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz said at a press conference on June 8, 2017, that Trump “never told Mr. Comey, ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty'” from Trump.
What the report said:
Mueller cited a June 8, 2017, NBC story about Kasowitz’s press conference, quoting the President’s personal counsel as saying, “The president also never told Mr. Comey, ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,’ in form or substance.” But Mueller said that “substantial evidence corroborates Comey’s account of the dinner invitation and the request for loyalty.”
Source: Volume II, page 35
#9-11
Sarah Sanders
What Sarah Sanders said:
Sarah Sanders made three false assertions about James Comey’s relationship with the FBI at a White House press conference in May 2017 in the wake of Comey’s firing. She said the FBI had “lost confidence” in Comey and “countless members” of the FBI did not support him. She later admitted to Mueller these comments were not “founded on anything,”
Mueller wrote. She also, wrongly, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to Trump “on his own” on May 8 with concerns about Comey. In fact, Trump himself told his close advisers days earlier he wanted to fire Comey.
What the report said:
“In the afternoon of May 10, 2017, deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders spoke to the President about his decision to fire Comey and then spoke to reporters in a televised press conference. Sanders told reporters that the President, the Department of Justice, and bipartisan members of Congress had lost confidence in Comey, ‘[a]nd most importantly, the rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director. Accordingly, the President accepted the recommendation of his Deputy Attorney General to remove James Comey from his position.’ In response to questions from reporters, Sanders said that Rosenstein decided ‘on his own’ to review Comey’s performance and that Rosenstein decided ‘on his own’ to come to the President on Monday, May 8, to express his concerns about Comey. When a reporter indicated that the ‘vast majority’ of FBI agents supported Comey, Sanders said, ‘Look, we’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that say very different things.’ Following the press conference, Sanders spoke to the President, who told her she did a good job and did not point out any inaccuracies in her comments. Sanders told this Office that her reference to hearing from ‘countless members of the FBI’ was a ‘slip of the tongue.’
She also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made ‘in the heat of the moment’ that was not founded on anything.”
#12
Sarah Sanders
What Sarah Sanders said:
Sarah Sanders falsely told The New York Times on May 11, 2017, that Trump hadn’t asked for Comey’s loyalty. He had, Mueller found.
What the report said:
“After Comey’s account of the dinner became public, the President and his advisors disputed that he had asked for Comey’s loyalty.” Mueller then notes a New York Times story “quoting Sarah Sanders as saying, ‘[The President] would never even suggest the expectation of personal loyalty.'” Then, Mueller writes, “Comey’s memory of the details of the dinner, including that the President requested loyalty, has remained consistent throughout.”
#13
Sean Spicer
What Sean Spicer said:
Prompted by others in the White House, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at a press conference on May 9, 2017, that Rosenstein had decided to fire Comey. “No one from the White House. It was a DOJ decision,” he said. But in fact, Trump had made the call and directed Rosenstein to write the justification firing Comey.
What the report said:
“That night, the White House Press Office called the Department of Justice and said the White House wanted to put out a statement saying that it was Rosenstein ‘s idea to fire Comey. Rosenstein told other DOJ officials that he would not participate in putting out a ‘false story.’ The President then called Rosenstein directly and said he was watching Fox News, that the coverage had been great, and that he wanted Rosenstein to do a press conference. Rosenstein responded that this was not a good idea because if the press asked him, he would tell the truth that Corney’s firing was not his idea.” … “In an unplanned press conference late in the evening of May 9, 2017, Spicer told reporters, ‘It was all [Rosenstein]. No one from the White House. It was a DOJ decision.'”
Source: Volume II, page 70
Attempts to fire Mueller (14-15)
#14
The White House
What The White House said:
In June 2017, Trump dictated a statement for then-Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders to provide to the press, saying Trump had “no intention” to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. Yet that same day, his attorneys contacted Mueller’s office to flag their concerns about ethics, and shortly after, Trump told his White House counsel to remove Mueller from his duties.
What the report said:
“On June 13, 2017, Sanders asked the President for guidance on how to respond to press inquiries about the possible firing of the Special Counsel. The President dictated an answer, which Sanders delivered, saying that ‘[w]hile the president has every right to’ fire the Special Counsel, ‘he has no intention to do so. “Also on June 13, 2017, the President’s personal counsel contacted the Special Counsel’s Office and raised concerns about possible conflicts.'” … “A threshold question is whether the President in fact directed McGahn to have the special counsel removed. After news organizations reported that in June 2017 the President had ordered McGahn to have the Special Counsel removed, the President publicly disputed these accounts … “Substantial evidence, however, supports the conclusion that the President went further and in fact directed McGahn to call Rosenstein to have the Special Counsel removed.”
Source: Volume II, page 83 and 88
#15
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In January of 2018, The New York Times reported that Trump had told McGahn to have the DOJ fire Mueller. Responding to the report, Trump said that it was “fake news” despite the fact that McGahn’s attorney told Trump’s counsel that the reporting was accurate.
What the report said:
“On January 25, 2018, The New York Times reported that in June 2017, the President had ordered McGahn to have the Department of Justice fire the Special Counsel. …After the article was published, the President dismissed the story when asked about it by reporters, saying, ‘Fake news, folks. Fake news. A typical New York Times fake story.'” … “McGahn’s attorney informed the President’s personal counsel that the Times story was accurate in reporting that the President wanted the Special Counsel removed.”
Source: Volume II, page 113 & 114
Flynn’s calls with Kislyak (16-22)
#16-17
Michael Flynn
What Michael Flynn said:
On January 24, 2017, Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn lied during an interview with FBI agents about his calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In the interview, Flynn denied asking Kislyak to hold back from strongly retaliating against new US sanctions.
He also “falsely stated,” Mueller said, that he did not remember a follow-up conversation with Kislyak about the same topic. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017.
What the report said:
“On January 24, 2017, Flynn agreed to be interviewed by agents from the FBI. During the interview, which took place at the White House, Flynn falsely stated that he did not ask Kislyak to refrain from escalating the situation in response to the sanctions on Russia imposed by the Obama Administration.
Flynn also falsely stated that he did not remember a follow-up conversation in which Kislyak stated that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of Flynn’s request.”
DOJ
#18
KT McFarland
What KT McFarland said:
Michael Flynn’s deputy, KT McFarland, provided false information to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius about Flynn’s calls with Sergey Kislyak. She claimed the calls took place before the new sanctions were announced and that sanctions didn’t come up. McFarland wasn’t personally quoted in the subsequent article but appeared as an unnamed “Trump official,” according to Mueller’s report.
What the report said:
“Flynn directed McFarland to call the Washington Post columnist and inform him that no discussion of sanctions had occurred. McFarland recalled that Flynn said words to the effect of, ‘I want to kill the story.’ McFarland made the call as Flynn had requested although she knew she was providing false information.”
Source: Volume II, page 29
#19-21
Mike Pence, Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer
What Mike Pence, Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer said:
Mike Pence, Reince Preibus and Sean Spicer had been misled by Michael Flynn regarding his contact with the ambassador, and passed along his lies to the American public three separate times.
Mike Pence incorrectly said during an interview with Face the Nation on January 15, 2017 that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador.
Sean Spicer falsely told The New York Times on January 13, 2017, that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador.
Reince Priebus wrongly said during an interview with Meet the Press on January 15, 2017, that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador.
What the report said:
Mueller found that “in subsequent media interviews in mid-January, Pence, Priebus, and Spicer denied that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions, basing those denials on their conversations with Flynn.” … Administration “officials were concerned that Flynn had lied to his colleagues–who in turn had unwittingly misled the American public–creating a compromise situation for Flynn because the Department of Justice assessed that the Russian government could prove Flynn lied.”
Source: Volume II, pages 29 and 30; CNN
#22
Sean Spicer
What Sean Spicer said:
Once again, an administration official had unwittingly passed on Flynn’s lie to the American public. After speaking with Flynn, Sean Spicer falsely said during a press conference on January 23, 2017 that Flynn’s conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak were unrelated to sanctions.
What the report said:
“On January 23, 2017, Spicer delivered his first press briefing and stated that he had spoken with Flynn the night before, who confirmed that the calls with Kislyak were about topics unrelated to sanctions. Spicer’s statements added to the Department of Justice’s concerns that Russia had leverage over Flynn based on his lies and could use that derogatory information to compromise him.”
Source: Volume II, page 30
Payments to women (23)
#23
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Michael Cohen said in a media interview that President Donald Trump did not know about payments to women alleging they’d had affairs with Trump before the 2016 election. (Trump has denied the affairs.) In later congressional testimony after Cohen pleaded guilty, Cohen corrected his previous story, saying he discussed what to say about those payments with the President.
What the report said:
“In congressional testimony on February 27, 2019, Cohen testified that he had discussed what to say about the payment with the President and that the President had directed Cohen to say that the President ‘was not knowledgeable… of [Cohen’s] actions,’ in making the payment.”
Source: Volume II, page 145
Carter Page and the campaign (24)
Additional contacts with Russians (25-33)
#25-27
Michael Caputo and Henry Greenberg
What Michael Caputo and Henry Greenberg said:
Mueller’s report outlined contrary recollections about a meeting regarding derogatory information a Russian said he had on Hillary Clinton. They didn’t say which account they believed. Michael Caputo and the Florida-based Russian, Henry Greenberg, ultimately gave Mueller contradictory information on three topics about Greenberg and Roger Stone’s May 2016 meeting: whether Caputo attended the meeting, knew about the information, and if Caputo knew Greenberg sought payment in exchange for information.
What the report said:
“In the spring of 2016, Trump Campaign advisor Michael Caputo learned through a Florida-based Russian business partner that another Florida-based Russian, Henry Oknyansky (who also went by the name Henry Greenberg), claimed to have information pertaining to Hillary Clinton. Caputo notified Roger Stone and brokered communication between Stone and Oknyansky. Oknyansky and Stone set up a May 2016 in-person meeting.” … “In their statements to investigators, Oknyansky and Caputo had contradictory recollections about the meeting.” Greenberg told investigators on July 13, 2018 that “Caputo accompanied Stone to the meeting and provided an introduction.” However, during a May, 2 2018, interview with the special counsel’s office, Caputo “did not tell us that he attended and claimed that he was never told what information Oknyansky offered. Caputo also stated that he was unaware Oknyansky sought to be paid for the information until Stone informed him after the fact.” … “The Office otherwise was unable to determine the content and origin of the information [another meeting attendee, Alexei Rasin] purportedly offered to Stone. Finally, the investigation did not identify evidence of a connection between the outreach or the meeting and Russian interference efforts.”
Source: Volume I, pages 61 and 62
#28
Steve Bannon and Erik Prince
What Steve Bannon and Erik Prince said:
Trump transition official Steve Bannon and Trump associate Erik Prince provided conflicting accounts to the special counsel about whether Bannon knew about a meeting in Seychelles between Prince and Kirill Dmitriev — who runs Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Prince claimed that he told Bannon about the meeting with Dmitriev in January 2017, but Bannon denied such a conversation ever took place. The special counsel could not determine who gave correct information.
What the report said:
“Prince said that he met Bannon at Bannon’s home after returning to the United States in mid-January and briefed him about several topics, including his meeting with Dmitriev. … According to Prince, Bannon instructed Prince not to follow up with Dmitriev.”
“Bannon, by contrast, told the Office that he never discussed with Prince anything regarding Dmitriev, RDIF, or any meetings with Russian individuals or people associated with Putin.” … “The conflicting accounts provided by Bannon and Prince could not be independently clarified by reviewing their communications, because neither one was able to produce any of the messages they exchanged in the time period surrounding the Seychelles meeting.
Prince’s phone contained no text messages prior to March 2017, though provider records indicate that he and Bannon exchanged dozens of messages. Prince denied deleting any messages but claimed he did not know why there were no messages on his device before March 2017. Bannon’s devices similarly contained no messages in the relevant time period, and Bannon also stated he did not know why messages did not appear on his device.”
Source: Volume I, page 155 and 156
#29
Jared Kushner
What Jared Kushner said:
Jared Kushner and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov provided conflicting accounts about the nature of a December 13, 2016, one-on-one meeting. Kushner claimed to investigators the meeting was for diplomatic reasons, while Vnesheconombank (VEB), the bank Gorkov worked for, provided a statement to ABC News in 2017 that described it as part of a series of meetings with “representatives of major US banks and business circles, including the CEO of Kushner Companies Mr. Jared Kushner.”
What the report said:
Mueller couldn’t determine which of the two men gave the correct story. Mueller found that the accounts from the two men “differ as to whether the meeting was diplomatic or business in nature.”
“The investigation did not resolve the apparent conflict in the accounts of Kushner and Gorkov or determine whether the meeting was diplomatic in nature (as Kushner stated), focused on business (as VEB’s public statement indicated), or whether it involved some combination of those matters or other matters.”
Source: Volume I, page 162 & 163
#30
Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz
What Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz said:
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is now a senior White House adviser, met with a prominent Russian government banker in December 2016. When Mueller’s investigators asked about that encounter, Kushner claimed nobody on the transition team prepared for the meeting.
What the report said:
“Kushner stated in an interview that he did not engage in any preparation for the meeting and that no one on the Transition Team even did a Google search for Gorkov’s name… (Kushner’s personal assistant Avi) Berkowitz, by contrast, stated to the Office that he had googled Gorkov’s name and told Kushner that Gorkov appeared to be a banker.”
Source: Volume II, page 162
#31
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Michael Cohen omitted from his congressional testimony, submitted on August 28, 2017, that he had been in touch with Russians about organizing a meeting between the President and Putin during the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.
What the report said:
“Cohen also recalled that in drafting his statement for Congress, he spoke with the President’s personal counsel about a different issue that connected candidate Trump to Russia: Cohen’s efforts to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin in New York during the 2015 United Nations General Assembly,” Mueller wrote. The report adds that Cohen told investigators that he contacted a Russian official about the meeting, but that the official eventually told him it would not follow proper protocol for Putin and Trump to meet.
Source: Volume II, page 142
#32-33
Hope Hicks
What Hope Hicks said:
Soon after the election, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks incorrectly denied statements made by Russian officials that they had maintained contact with members of Trump’s circle during the campaign. “It never happened,” she told the AP on November 10, 2016. “There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.” She separately gave The New York Times a similar denial, Mueller noted. Even if Hicks believed what she said was true at the time, Mueller found extensive evidence that her public assertions were false. Mueller doesn’t accuse Hicks of lying.
What the report said:
Volume I of Mueller’s report completely undercuts Hicks’ public assertions. In his report, Mueller found extensive contact between the Trump campaign and foreign entities, specifically Russia.
“On November 8, 2016, Trump was elected President. Two days later, Russian officials told the press that the Russian government had maintained contacts with Trump’s ‘immediate entourage’ during the campaign. In response, Hope Hicks, who had been the Trump Campaign spokesperson, said, ‘We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when Mr. Trump spoke with many world leaders.’ Hicks gave an additional statement denying any contacts between the Campaign and Russia: ‘It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.'”
In a footnote, Mueller notes: “Hicks recalled that after she made that statement, she spoke with Campaign advisors Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, Jason Miller, and probably Kushner and Bannon to ensure it was accurate, and there was no hesitation or pushback from any of them.”
Presidential pardons (34-35)
#34
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
Speaking to reporters at the White House on June 8, 2018, Trump said he wasn’t considering pardons for anyone related to the Russia investigation. “I haven’t even thought about it,” he said, “I haven’t thought about any of it. It certainly is far too early to be thinking about that.” Yet Mueller documents how Cohen was given the opposite impression in multiple conversations with lawyers around the President.
What the report said:
The report does not say outright what the President’s awareness was of these conversations, yet Mueller lays out a succession of evidence detailing the ways that Cohen got the impression that a pardon was possible. Mueller notes that Cohen “recalled speaking with the President’s personal counsel about pardons after the searches of his home and office had occurred” in April 2018, two months before Trump’s comments.
Mueller adds: “Cohen understood based on this conversation and previous conversations about pardons with the President’s personal counsel that as long as he stayed on message, he would be taken care of by the President, either through a pardon or through the investigation being shut down.”
Source: Volume II, page 147 & 148; Volume II, page 154
#35
Sarah Sanders
What Sarah Sanders said:
The White House press secretary said at a briefing on April 23, 2018, that “it’s hard to close the door on something that hasn’t taken place,” when asked whether the President had “closed the door” on pardoning Michael Cohen. Cohen had not yet been charged with a crime, but was clearly the target of a federal investigation after FBI raids of his living and work spaces. Mueller notes Sanders’ statement in contrast to Cohen recalling he had spoken with the President’s attorney about pardons after the raids earlier that month.
Mueller separately in the report endorses the information Michael Cohen gave them as credible, regarding potential pardon discussions.
What the report said:
“Cohen also recalled speaking with the President’s personal counsel about pardons after the searches of his home and office had occurred, at a time when the media had reported that pardon discussions were occurring at the White House.”
Mueller appends this footnote to that fact: “At a White House press briefing on April 23, 2018, in response to a question about whether the White House had ‘close[d] the door one way or the other on the President pardoning Michael Cohen,’ Sanders said, ‘It’s hard to close the door on something that hasn’t taken place. I don’t like to discuss or comment on hypothetical situations that may or may not ever happen. I would refer you to personal attorneys to comment on anything specific regarding that case, but we don’t have anything at this point.'”
Source: Volume II, page 147
Russian hacks and WikiLeaks (36-37)
#36
Jerome Corsi
What Jerome Corsi said:
Jerome Corsi provided bad information to the special counsel’s office in a series of interviews when he spoke to them about the events of October 7, 2016. Mueller couldn’t corroborate Corsi’s assertions, despite taking several investigative steps to do so.
Corsi claimed that during a conference call he told employees at the website WND to contact Assange before the Access Hollywood video was published and stolen emails from John Podesta were released on October 7, 2016. Corsi also told the special counsel that he had informed them that the Access Hollywood tape was coming. However, the special counsel could find no evidence that this was true.
What the report said:
“The Office investigated Corsi’s allegations about the events of October 7, 2016 but found little corroboration for his allegations about the day. …the Office has not identified any conference call participant, or anyone who spoke to Corsi that day, who says that they received non-public information about the tapes from Corsi or acknowledged having contacted a member of WikiLeaks on October 7, 2016 after a conversation with Corsi.”
Source: Volume I, page 58 & 59
#37
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In an interview with Fox News on December 11, 2016, Trump falsely claimed that US intelligence agencies didn’t know who was responsible for the election related hacks against Democrats. He said: “They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. I mean, they have no idea.” Trump said this even though the US intelligence community had already publicly blamed the Russian government for the hacks.
What the report said:
On October 7, 2016, “the federal government announced that ‘the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions.’ Several months later, in December of 2016, Trump claimed “that no one really knew who was responsible for the hacking, suggesting that the intelligence community had ‘no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody.'”
Source: Volume II, page 21 & 22
Trump Tower meeting (38-46)
#38
Michael Cohen and Donald Trump Jr.
What Michael Cohen and Donald Trump Jr. said:
Mueller could not determine if Michael Cohen or Donald Trump Jr. was correct about whether then-candidate Donald Trump knew about the campaign’s Trump Tower meeting with Russians before it happened. They told conflicting stories.
What the report said:
“Michael Cohen recalled being in Donald J. Trump’s office on June 6 or 7 when Trump Jr. told his father that a meeting to obtain adverse information about Clinton was going forward. Cohen did not recall Trump Jr. stating that the meeting was connected to Russia. From the tenor of the conversation, Cohen believed that Trump Jr. had previously discussed the meeting with his father, although Cohen was not involved in any such conversation.
In an interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, Trump Jr. stated that he did not inform his father about the emails or the upcoming meeting. Similarly, neither Manafort nor Kushner recalled anyone informing candidate Trump of the meeting, including Trump Jr. President Trump has stated to this Office, in written answers to questions, that he has ‘no recollection of learning at the time’ that his son, Manafort, or ‘Kushner was considering participating in a meeting in June 2016 concerning potentially negative information about Hillary Clinton.'”
Source: Volume II, pages 115 to 116
#39
Hope Hicks
What Hope Hicks said:
Hope Hicks told investigators she had no memory of part of a conversation with then-Trump legal spokesman Mark Corallo, who separately told the FBI he took notes about their conversation and what she said. They contradicted each other. Hicks, in the phone call, asserted that emails involving Donald Trump Jr. about the Trump Tower meeting would never be made public, Mueller found, citing Corallo. Hicks later told investigators she had always thought the emails would eventually leak.
What the report said:
“[Mark] Corallo recalled that when he referred to the ‘document’ on the call with the President, Hicks responded that only a few people had access to it and said ‘it will never get out.’ Corallo took contemporaneous notes of the call that say: ‘Also mention existence of doc. Hope says ‘ only a few people have it. It will never get out.’ Hicks later told investigators that she had no memory of making that comment and had always believed the emails would eventually be leaked, but she might have been channeling the President on the phone call because it was clear to her throughout her conversations with the President that he did not think the emails would leak.
Source: Volume II, page 104
#40
Donald Trump Jr., Hope Hicks and Donald Trump
What Donald Trump Jr., Hope Hicks and Donald Trump said:
Donald Trump Jr. provided a statement about the Trump Tower meeting to The New York Times, which was drafted by Hope Hicks at the behest of his father. It falsely claimed that the primary topic of the Trump Tower meeting was Russian adoptions.
What the report said:
“The full statement provided to the Times stated: It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up. I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand.
“The statement did not mention the offer of derogatory information about Clinton or any discussion of the Magnitsky Act or U.S. sanctions, which were the principal subjects of the meeting”
Source: Volume II, page 103
#41-43
Trump’s attorney
What Trump’s attorney said:
Donald Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow in July 2017 denied on Good Morning America, Meet the Press and to CNN that the President was involved in writing the statement from Donald Trump Jr. about the Trump Tower meeting- even though Trump had dictated the statement that his son issued.
What the report said:
Mueller notes Sekulow told the same lie three times, in three separate interviews. After the statement was released, “The President’s personal counsel repeatedly and inaccurately denied that the President played any role in drafting Trump Jr.’s statement,” Mueller wrote. Trump’s legal team, which included Sekulow, reversed what they told the press when they discussed what happened with the special counsel’s office.
“Several months later, the President’s personal counsel stated in a private communication to the Special Counsel’s Office that ‘the President dictated a short but accurate response to The New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.’ The President later told the press that it was ‘irrelevant’ whether he dictated the statement and said, ‘It’s a statement to The New York Times …. That’s not a statement to a high tribunal of judges.'”
Source: Volume II, pages 104 and 105
#44-45
Mark Corallo
What Mark Corallo said:
Mark Corallo, former spokesperson for Trump’s personal legal team, incorrectly suggested on two occasions that the Trump Tower meeting on June 9, 2016 was a set up by Democrats. In a statement to The New York Times published on July 8, 2017, Corallo said the meeting may have been orchestrated by people who worked with the same company that produced the Steele dossier. He also questioned if Democrats had arranged the meeting in an article published by Circa News an hour later.
At the same time, Mueller says the statement angered the President, noting that Corallo in his statements had drawn a connection between the Steele dossier, the Trump Tower meeting and the idea of improper contacts between Russia and Trump’s family. There was nothing to Corallo’s suggestion, because the meeting was arranged by one of Donald Trump’s Russian business partners.
What the report said:
“Before the President’s flight home from the G20 landed, The New York Times published its story about the June 9, 2016 meeting. In addition to the statement from Trump Jr., the Times story also quoted a statement from Corallo on behalf of the President’s legal team suggesting that the meeting might have been a setup by individuals working with the firm that produced the Steele reporting. Corallo also worked with Circa News on a story published an hour later that questioned whether Democratic operatives had arranged the June 9 meeting to create the appearance of improper connections between Russia and Trump family members. Hicks was upset about Corallo’s public statement and called him that evening to say the President had not approved the statement. The next day, July 9, 2017, Hicks and the President called Corallo together and the President criticized Corallo for the statement he had released. Corallo told the President the statement had been authorized and further observed that Trump Jr. ‘s statement was inaccurate and that a document existed that would contradict it.”
Mueller also documented in his report that the Trump Tower meeting was “proposed to Donald Trump Jr. in an email from Robert Goldstone, at the request of his then-client Emin Agalarov.”.
Source: Volume II, page 103 & 104; Volume I, page 110
#46
Sarah Sanders
What Sarah Sanders said:
In a press briefing, Sarah Sanders told the media that Trump “certainly didn’t dictate” the statement given to The New York Times regarding the infamous Trump Tower meeting. “He weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would,” Sanders concluded.
What the report said:
“After consulting with the President on the issue, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told the media that the President ‘certainly didn’t dictate’ the statement, but that ‘he weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would do.’ Several months later, the President’s personal counsel stated in a private communication to the Special Counsel’s Office that ‘the President dictated a short but accurate response to The New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.'”
Source: Volume 2, pages 105
Trump Tower Moscow (47-77)
#47-48
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Michael Cohen lied in a statement to Congress about when the Trump Organization was considering a Trump Tower Moscow proposal and working on it. He said the Trump Organization only worked on the project from September 2015 until the end of January 2016, yet the Trump Organization continued to pursue the project until at least June 2016. He pleaded guilty to a lying charge brought by the special counsel’s office in late November 2018.
This is counted as two false assertions by Cohen, because Mueller notes that Cohen provided his written statement to two separate congressional committees investigating Russia and the election — the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
What the report said:
“In August 2017, Cohen began drafting a statement about Trump Tower Moscow to submit to Congress along with his document production. The final version of the statement contained several false statements about the project. First, although the Trump Organization continued to pursue the project until at least June 2016, the statement said, ‘The proposal was under consideration at the Trump Organization from September 2015 until the end of January 2016. By the end of January 2016, I determined that the proposal was not feasible for a variety of business reasons and should not be pursued further.'”
“In late August 2017, in advance of his testimony, Cohen caused a two-page statement to be sent to SSCI and HPSCI addressing Trump Tower Moscow … Cohen stated that the Trump Moscow project had ended in January 2016 and that he had briefed candidate Trump on the project only three times before making the unilateral decision to terminate it.”
Source: Volume II, page 140; Volume I, page 195
#49-50
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Cohen lied in a statement to Congress about how he and Trump considered traveling to Russia for the project. Cohen said in a statement they were not planning to travel to Russia, when evidence presented by the special counsel shows that Cohen was communicating with officials in Russia about a potential work trip regarding the project. He pleaded guilty to a lying charge brought by the special counsel’s office in late November 2018.
This is counted as two false assertions by Cohen, because Mueller notes that Cohen provided his written statement to two separate congressional committees investigating Russia and the election — the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
What the report said:
“In August 2017, Cohen began drafting a statement about Trump Tower Moscow to submit to Congress along with his document production. The final version of the statement contained several false statements about the project … Second, although Cohen and candidate Trump had discussed possible travel to Russia by Trump to pursue the venture, the statement said, ‘Despite overtures by Mr. Sater, I never considered asking Mr. Trump to travel to Russia in connection with this proposal. I told Mr. Sater that Mr. Trump would not travel to Russia unless there was a definitive agreement in place.’
“In late August 2017, in advance of his testimony, Cohen caused a two-page statement to be sent to SSCI and HPSCI addressing Trump Tower Moscow … Cohen represented that he never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the project and never considered asking Trump to travel for the project.”
Source: Volume II, page 140; Volume I, page 195
#51-52
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Cohen lied in a statement to Congress about President Trump’s involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow project. Cohen downplayed the amount of times he discussed the project with Trump. He pleaded guilty to a lying charge brought by the special counsel’s office in late November 2018.
This is counted as two false assertions by Cohen, because Mueller notes that Cohen provided his written statement to two separate congressional committees investigating Russia and the election — the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
What the report said:
“In an attempt to minimize the President’s connection to Russia, Cohen submitted a letter to Congress falsely stating that he only briefed Trump on the Trump Tower Moscow project three times … although Cohen had regularly briefed Trump on the status of the project and had numerous conversations about it, the statement said, ‘Mr. Trump was never in contact with anyone about this proposal other than me on three occasions, including signing a non-binding letter of intent in 2015.'”
“In late August 2017, in advance of his testimony, Cohen caused a two-page statement to be sent to SSCI and HPSCI addressing Trump Tower Moscow … Cohen stated that the Trump Moscow project had ended in January 2016 and that he had briefed candidate Trump on the project only three times before making the unilateral decision to terminate it.”
Source: Volume II, pages 134 and 141; Volume I, page 195
#53-54
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
In his statement to Congress, Michael Cohen lied about his attempts to reach Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in hopes of getting government approval for the Trump-branded real estate deal. He pleaded guilty to a lying charge brought by the special counsel’s office in late November 2018.
This is counted as two false assertions by Cohen, because Mueller notes that Cohen provided his written statement to two separate congressional committees investigating Russia and the election — the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
What the report said:
“Fourth, although Cohen’s outreach to Peskov in January 2016 had resulted in a lengthy phone call with a representative from the Kremlin, the statement [to Congress] said that Cohen did ‘not recall any response to my email [to Peskov], nor any other contacts by me with Mr. Peskov or other Russian government officials about the proposal.'”
“In late August 2017, in advance of his testimony, Cohen caused a two-page statement to be sent to SSCI and HPSCI addressing Trump Tower Moscow … Cohen stated that he did not recall any Russian government contact about the project, including any response to an email that he had sent to a Russian government email account.”
Source: Volume II, page 141; Volume I, page 195
#55-56
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
In giving in-person testimony to the Senate and in an interview to the Special Counsel’s Office, Cohen twice repeated the lie about having email communication with the Kremlin in 2016 about the Trump Tower Moscow project, Mueller notes.
What the report said:
“On January 11, 2016, Cohen emailed the office of Dmitry Peskov, the Russian government’s press secretary, indicating that he desired contact with Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff … Cohen testified to Congress, and initially told the Office, that he did not recall receiving a response to this email inquiry and that he decided to terminate any further work on the Trump Moscow project as of January 2016. Cohen later admitted that these statements were false. In fact, Cohen had received (and recalled receiving) a response to his inquiry, and he continued to work on and update candidate Trump on the project through as late as June 2016.”
“Cohen later asked that his two-page statement be incorporated into his testimony’s transcript before SSCI, and he ultimately gave testimony to SSCI that was consistent with that statement.”
Source: Volume I, pages 74-75; Volume I, page 196
#57
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In his written responses to the special counsel, President Donald Trump said he had “few conversations” with Michael Cohen about Trump Tower Moscow, and the conversations were “not memorable,” and left out details regarding his discussions with Cohen. Yet Cohen testified to the special counsel that he kept Trump aware of meetings he had about the project — and Mueller notes in discussing Trump’s answers that Cohen agreed to be truthful in speaking to investigators following his guilty plea.
What the report said:
“On November 20, 2018, the President submitted written responses that did not answer those questions about Trump Tower Moscow directly and did not provide any information about the timing of the candidate’s discussions with Cohen about the project or whether he participated in any discussions about the project being abandoned or no longer pursue.
Instead, the President’s answers stated in relevant part: ‘I had few conversations with Mr. Cohen on the subject. As I recall, they were brief, and they were not memorable. I was not enthused about the proposal, and I do not recall any discussion of travel to Russia in connection with it. I do not remember discussing it with anyone else at the Trump Organization, although it is possible. I do not recall being aware at the time of any communications between Mr. Cohen and Felix Sater and any Russian government official regarding the Letter of Intent.'”
Source: Volume II, pages 149 and 150
#58
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Michael Cohen stated to investigators that he had not considered the political implications of the Trump Tower Moscow project. However, Cohen received an email discussing how the project could benefit Trump politically, and says he discussed the intersection of the project and the campaign with Trump himself.
What the report said:
“On November 3, 2015, the day after the Trump Organization transmitted the [Letter of Intent for the Trump Tower Moscow project], [Felix] Sater emailed Cohen suggesting that the Trump Moscow project could be used to increase Trump’s chances at being elected … According to Cohen, he did not consider the political import of the Trump Moscow project to the 2016 U.S. presidential election at the time. Cohen also did not recall candidate Trump or anyone affiliated with the Trump Campaign discussing the political implications of the Trump Moscow project with him. However, Cohen recalled conversations with Trump in which the candidate suggested that his campaign would be a significant ‘infomercial’ for Trump-branded properties.”
Source: Volume I, page 71
#59-63
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In a July 27, 2016, news conference in Doral, Florida, Trump falsely said “I have nothing to do with Russia” five times.
What the report said:
“During the press conference, Trump repeated ‘I have nothing to do with Russia’ five times. He stated that ‘the closest (he) came to Russia’ was that Russians may have purchased a home or condos from him. …The Trump Organization, however, had been pursuing a building project in Moscow — the Trump Tower Moscow project — from approximately September 2015 through June 2016.”
Source: Volume II, Page 19
#64
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
In summer of 2016, Trump did not disclose that he asked Michael Cohen directly about the status of the Trump Tower Moscow project shortly after denying his interest in Russia in a public speech.
What the report said:
“During the summer of 2016, Cohen recalled that candidate Trump publicly claimed that he had nothing to do with Russia and then shortly afterwards privately checked with Cohen about the status of the Trump Tower Moscow project, which Cohen found ‘interesting.'”
Source: Volume II, page 137
#65-67
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
Trump faced an onslaught of questions about Russia at the only press conference he gave during the presidential transition, on January 11, 2017. Asked about his potential financial ties to Russia, Trump replied, denying it three times: “I have no dealings with Russia. I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away.” This gave the false impression that Trump never pursued any Russian deals, even though he did in 2016.
What the report said:
“The President also denied having any connection to Russia, stating, ‘I have nothing to do with Russia. I told you, I have no deals there. I have no anything.'” … “Although the President publicly stated during and after the election that he had no connection to Russia, the Trump Organization, through Michael Cohen, was pursuing the proposed Trump Tower Moscow project through June 2016 and candidate Trump was repeatedly briefed on the progress of those efforts.”
“During and after the campaign, the President made repeated statements that he had ‘no business’ in Russia and said that there were ‘no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away. As Cohen knew, and as he recalled communicating to the President during the campaign, Cohen’s pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project cast doubt on the accuracy or completeness of these statements.”
Source: Volume II, pages 42 and Volume I, page 77; Volume II, page 155
#68-71
Donald Trump
What Donald Trump said:
Mueller documents how Trump asserted four times at a press conference on November 29, 2018, that it was his idea to put the stop to the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations because he was running for President. Yet the deal had fizzled without Trump’s definitive action — and later than he had let on, according to Michael Cohen.
What the report said:
“After January 2016, Cohen continued to have conversations with [Felix] Sater about Trump Tower Moscow and continued to keep candidate Trump updated about those discussions and the status of the project. Cohen recalled that he and Trump wanted Trump Tower Moscow to succeed and that Trump never discouraged him from working on the project because of the campaign.”
“And after Cohen’s guilty plea, the President told reporters that he had ultimately decided not to do the project, which supports the inference that he remained aware of his own involvement in the project and the period during the Campaign in which the project was being pursued.”
“Later on November 29, after Cohen’s guilty plea had become public, the President spoke to reporters about the Trump Tower Moscow project, saying: ‘I decided not to do the project … I decided ultimately not to do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it. If I did do it, there would have been nothing wrong. That was my business … It was an option that I decided not to do … I decided not to do it. The primary reason … I was focused on running for President … I was running my business while I was campaigning.'” … “In light of the President’s public statements following Cohen’s guilty plea that he ‘decided not to do the project,’ this Office again sought information from the President about whether he participated in any discussions about the project being abandoned or no longer pursued, including when he ‘decided not to do the project,’ who he spoke to about that decision, and what motivated the decision. The Office also again asked for the timing of the President’s discussions with Cohen about Trump Tower Moscow and asked him to specify ‘what period of the campaign’ he was involved in discussions concerning the project. In response, the President’s personal counsel declined to provide additional information from the President and stated that ‘the President has fully answered the questions at issue.'”
CSPAN
#72-73
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Michael Cohen made two false assertions to the New York Times in February 2017, when he said the Trump Organization only worked on the Trump Tower Moscow project from September 2015 until the end of January 2016. Yet the Trump Organization had continued to pursue the project until at least June 2016. The false assertions in the story were Cohen’s statements about stopping the negotiation for the development because of Trump’s presidential campaign — which had not happened — and that the Trump Organization had decided the project wasn’t “feasible,” Mueller wrote.
What the report said:
“In approximately January 2017, Cohen began receiving inquiries from the media about Trump Tower Moscow, and he recalled speaking to the President-Elect when those inquiries came in. Cohen was concerned that truthful answers about the Trump Tower Moscow project might not be consistent with the ‘message’ that the President-Elect had no relationship with Russia. In an effort to ‘stay on message,’ Cohen told a New York Times reporter that the Trump Tower Moscow deal was not feasible and had ended in January 2016.” … “The article was published on February 19, 2017, and reported that [Felix] Sater and Cohen had been working on plan for a Trump Tower Moscow ‘as recently as the fall of 2015’ but had come to a halt because of the presidential campaign. Consistent with Cohen’s intended party line message, the article stated, ‘Cohen said the Trump Organization had received a letter of intent for a project in Moscow from a Russian real estate developer at that time but determined that the project was not feasible.'”
NYT
#74
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
In an August 2017 interview with The Washington Post, Michael Cohen gave false information about the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow project. He told the Post that the project ended in January 2016, however Trump and Cohen had meetings and discussions about the project up until June 2016.
What the report said:
“At the same time that Cohen finalized his written submission to Congress, he served as a source for a Washington Post story published on August 27, 2017, that reported in depth for the first time that the Trump Organization was ‘pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow’ at the same time as candidate Trump was ‘running for president in late 2015 and early 2016’… Cohen recalled that in speaking to the Post, he held to the false story that negotiations for the deal ceased in January 2016.”
#75-76
Michael Cohen
What Michael Cohen said:
Mueller describes how Trump twice insinuated that Michael Cohen had lied in order to cut his plea deal. Mueller wrote that he “generally assessed [Michael Cohen] to be reliable” in his report, and the special counsel’s prosecutors previously stood behind his statements during cooperation in court. Once, Trump wrote it in a tweet, the other time, in the November 2018 remarks to the press.
What the report said:
“The President tweeted that Manafort, unlike Cohen, refused to ‘break’ and ‘make up stories in order to get a ‘deal” And after Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress, the President said, ‘what [Cohen]’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So he’s lying about a project that everybody knew about.’ But the President also appeared to defend the underlying conduct … As described above, there is evidence that the President knew that Cohen had made false statements about the Trump Tower Moscow project and that Cohen did so to protect the President and minimize the President’s connections to Russia during the campaign.”
#77
Rudy Giuliani
What Rudy Giuliani said:
In an interview with The New York Times, Giuliani said that President Trump asserted that discussions about the Trump Tower Moscow project were “going on from the day I announced to the day I won.” Giuliani later issued a statement saying that his comments about Trump’s knowledge of the Trump Tower Moscow project were “hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the president.”
What the report said:
“In an interview with The New York Times , Giuliani quoted the President as saying that the discussions regarding the Trump Moscow project were ‘going on from the day I announced to the day I won.’ On January 21, 2019, Giuliani issued a statement that said: “My recent statements about discussions during the 2016 campaign between Michael Cohen and candidate Donald Trump about a potential Trump Moscow ‘ project ‘ were hypothetical and not based on conversations I had with the president.”