1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:10,699 [MUSIC] As I said 2 00:00:10,750 --> 00:00:17,480 during my Senate confirmation hearing and since, I'm committed to ensuring the 3 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:25,519 greatest degree possible of transparency concerning the special counsel's... 4 00:00:26,109 --> 00:00:34,039 transparency concerning the special counsel's investigation consistent with the law. 5 00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:38,119 I'd like to make a few comments today on the report. 6 00:00:38,130 --> 00:00:45,310 As you know, one of the primary purposes of the special counsel's investigation was to... 7 00:00:45,310 --> 00:00:51,950 whether President Trump's campaign, or any individual associated with it, conspired o... 8 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:58,500 with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Volume 9 00:00:58,539 --> 00:01:04,510 one of the special counsel's report describes the results of that investigation. 10 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:11,060 As you will see, the special counsel's report states that his, quote, "investigation did... 11 00:01:11,060 --> 00:01:17,689 members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in... 12 00:01:17,829 --> 00:01:25,790 election interference activities." As the special counsel report makes clear, 13 00:01:25,790 --> 00:01:32,609 the Russian government sought to interfere in our election process. But thanks to the... 14 00:01:32,609 --> 00:01:39,329 's thorough investigation, we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated the... 15 00:01:39,329 --> 00:01:46,189 not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign, or the knowing 16 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:52,780 assistance of any other American for that matter. The special counsel report 17 00:01:52,780 --> 00:01:58,549 outlines two main efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. 18 00:01:58,549 --> 00:02:05,140 First, the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company 19 00:02:05,140 --> 00:02:11,689 with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters... 20 00:02:11,689 --> 00:02:18,840 information and social media operations. But the special counsel found no 21 00:02:19,300 --> 00:02:25,939 evidence that any American, including anyone associated with the Trump campaign, conspi... 22 00:02:26,349 --> 00:02:31,949 coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in this illegal scheme. 23 00:02:31,949 --> 00:02:37,599 Indeed, as the report states, quote, "The investigation did not identify evidence th... 24 00:02:37,659 --> 00:02:44,960 S. person, knowingly or intentionally coordinated with the IRA's interference... 25 00:02:45,129 --> 00:02:52,960 In another way, the special counsel found no collusion by any Americans in IRA's illega... 26 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:59,669 Second, the report details efforts by the Russian military officials associated with... 27 00:02:59,669 --> 00:03:06,289 GRU, the Russian military intelligence organization, to hack into computers and... 28 00:03:06,509 --> 00:03:13,960 documents and emails from individuals associated with the Democratic Party and... 29 00:03:15,580 --> 00:03:25,689 campaign for the purpose of eventually publicizing 30 00:03:25,689 --> 00:03:32,360 these documents. But again, the special counsel's report did not find 31 00:03:32,460 --> 00:03:39,810 any evidence that members of the Trump campaign or anyone associated with the... 32 00:03:39,810 --> 00:03:46,400 with the Russian government in these hacking operations. In other words, there was no... 33 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,960 the Trump campaign collusion with the Russian government's hacking. 34 00:03:51,280 --> 00:04:01,800 The Special Counsel's investigation also examined Russian efforts to publish stolen 35 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:09,770 emails and documents on the Internet. The special counsel found that 36 00:04:09,889 --> 00:04:16,439 after the GRU disseminated some of the stolen documents to entities that it 37 00:04:16,439 --> 00:04:23,790 controlled, DC leaks and Goose for two, the GRU transferred some of the stolen 38 00:04:23,790 --> 00:04:31,319 materials to WikiLeaks for publication. 39 00:04:31,569 --> 00:04:34,910 WikiLeaks then made a series of document dumps. 40 00:04:35,149 --> 00:04:41,779 The special counsel also investigated whether any member or affiliate of the Trump campaign 41 00:04:42,290 --> 00:04:47,579 encouraged or otherwise played a role in these dissemination efforts. 42 00:04:47,879 --> 00:04:55,019 Under applicable law, publication of these types of material would not be criminal... 43 00:04:55,019 --> 00:05:01,709 also participated in the underlying hacking conspiracy. Here too, the special 44 00:05:01,709 --> 00:05:08,420 counsel's report did not find that any person associated with the Trump campaign illegal... 45 00:05:08,420 --> 00:05:15,170 in the dissemination of the materials. Finally, the special counsel investigated 46 00:05:15,170 --> 00:05:21,850 a number of links or contacts between the Trump campaign officials and individuals... 47 00:05:21,850 --> 00:05:29,870 Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. After reviewing the... 48 00:05:29,870 --> 00:05:34,100 , the special counsel did not find any conspiracy to violate U. 49 00:05:34,110 --> 00:05:41,699 S. law involving Russian-linked persons and any persons associated with the Trump... 50 00:05:41,899 --> 00:05:48,550 So that's the bottom line. After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of... 51 00:05:48,550 --> 00:05:55,379 rants, and witness interviews, the special counsel confirmed that the Russian governm... 52 00:05:55,379 --> 00:06:02,170 efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election, but did not find 53 00:06:02,170 --> 00:06:09,500 that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those efforts. 54 00:06:09,810 --> 00:06:16,370 After finding no underlying collusion with Russia, the special counsel's report goes ... 55 00:06:16,370 --> 00:06:23,980 whether certain actions of the president could amount to obstruction of the special... 56 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:32,959 As I addressed in my March 24th letter, the special counsel did not make a traditional... 57 00:06:32,959 --> 00:06:39,490 Instead, the report recounts 10 episodes involving the President and discusses... 58 00:06:39,500 --> 00:06:44,930 theories for connecting those activities to the elements of an obstruction offense. 59 00:06:44,939 --> 00:06:51,600 After carefully reviewing the facts and legal theories outlined in the report and in... 60 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:58,250 the Office of Legal Counsel and other department lawyers. The Deputy Attorney... 61 00:06:58,259 --> 00:07:04,920 that the evidence developed by the special counsel is not sufficient to establish tha... 62 00:07:04,980 --> 00:07:13,120 an obstruction of justice offense. President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. 63 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:19,790 As he entered into office and sought to perform his responsibilities as President,... 64 00:07:19,790 --> 00:07:26,230 scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of h... 65 00:07:26,230 --> 00:07:33,920 At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the... 66 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,699 Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. 67 00:07:38,699 --> 00:07:45,430 And as the special counsel's report acknowledges, there There is substantial... 68 00:07:45,430 --> 00:07:52,180 the President was frustrated and angered by his sincere belief that the investigation ... 69 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:59,399 ining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal... 70 00:07:59,899 --> 00:08:06,410 Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the special counsel's investigation,... 71 00:08:06,410 --> 00:08:14,240 ed access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testi... 72 00:08:14,250 --> 00:08:20,959 And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the special coun... 73 00:08:20,970 --> 00:08:28,029 and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts... 74 00:08:28,029 --> 00:08:34,549 , this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the... 75 00:08:34,549 --> 00:08:41,450 had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation. Consistent with long 76 00:08:41,470 --> 00:08:48,200 standing executive branch practice, the decision whether to assert executive... 77 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,940 over any portion of the report rested with the President of the United States. 78 00:08:52,940 --> 00:08:59,659 Because the White House had voluntarily cooperated with the special counsel,... 79 00:08:59,659 --> 00:09:05,320 contained material over which the President could have asserted privilege. 80 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:12,080 And he would have been well within his rights to do so. Following my March 29th letter, ... 81 00:09:12,139 --> 00:09:18,720 House Council requested the opportunity to review the redacted version of the report ... 82 00:09:18,779 --> 00:09:27,000 advise the President on the potential invocation of privilege, which is consiste... 83 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:33,750 During that review, the President confirmed that in the interests of transparency and... 84 00:09:33,750 --> 00:09:40,710 assert privilege over the special counsel's report. Accordingly, the public report I a... 85 00:09:40,710 --> 00:09:47,370 today contains redactions only for the four categories that I previously outlined, and... 86 00:09:47,370 --> 00:09:54,480 been redacted based on executive privilege. On March 5th, we specifically 87 00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:01,049 asked him about the OLC opinion and whether or not he was taking the position that 88 00:10:01,049 --> 00:10:07,120 he would have found a crime but for the existence of the OLC opinion. 89 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:13,070 And he made it very clear several times that that was not his position. 90 00:10:13,070 --> 00:10:18,500 He was not saying that but for the OLC opinion he would have found a crime. 91 00:10:18,710 --> 00:10:25,500 He made it clear that he had not made the determination that there was a crime. 92 00:10:25,500 --> 00:10:33,649 Yes. The special counsel indicate that he wanted you to make the decision or that it... 93 00:10:33,649 --> 00:10:40,240 And also how do you respond to criticism you're receiving from congressional Democr... 94 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:47,820 more as an attorney for the president rather that as the chief law enforcement officer. 95 00:10:48,110 --> 00:10:52,940 Special counsel Mueller did not indicate that his purpose was to leave the decision to... 96 00:10:52,940 --> 00:10:59,779 I hope that was not his view since we don't convene grand juries and conduct criminal... 97 00:10:59,779 --> 00:11:06,320 purpose. He did not--I didn't talk to him directly about the fact that we were makin... 98 00:11:06,330 --> 00:11:14,059 decision, but I am told that his reaction to that was that it was my prerogative his... 99 00:11:14,059 --> 00:11:24,080 Robert Mueller remains a Justice Department employee as 100 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,980 of this moment. Will you permit him to testify publicly to Congress? 101 00:11:27,980 --> 00:11:36,250 There's a lot of public interest in the absence of the special counsel and members... 102 00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:41,460 Was he invited to join you up on the podium? Why is he not here? This is his report,... 103 00:11:41,690 --> 00:11:48,580 >> No sign. >> The report he did for me as the Attorney General, he is required under... 104 00:11:48,580 --> 00:11:55,649 me with a confidential report. I'm here to discuss my response to that report and my... 105 00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:00,889 discretionary to make it public, since these reports are not supposed to be made public. 106 00:12:01,100 --> 00:12:08,899 That's what I'm here to discuss. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> Propriety for you to come o... 107 00:12:09,399 --> 00:12:13,899 Thank you very much. Thank you.