juliana_aldous's review against another edition
4.0
A Confederacy of Dunces Goes to Washington, D.C.
jammasterjamie's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not usually a fan of reading huge legal documents, but holy crap what a ride! This book reads like fiction, which is pretty scary considering it's all true and backed up by evidence. For my quick take, and I'm not worried about posting spoilers for this one as this information is all public:
1) There was no 'collusion' or conspiracy to defraud the US election on the part of the Trump Campaign - Not necessarily through lack of trying, but more through incompetence (Cohen thinking the guy he was talking to was a weight-lifter and not a Russian businessman), arrogance (Papadopoulis speaking about his connections openly in the media), whatever you'd call the debacle that was the June 9th Trump Tower meeting where DT Jr, Manafort, and Kushner went expecting some valuable dirt on HRC and were instead met with no information on Hillary whatsoever but rather a talk about sanctions (so, I guess idiocy?), and the seemingly one grown-up in the room (Corey Lewandowski) telling people on the campaign to stop talking to foreign agents about campaign related issues.
2) Russia absolutely, 100% attempted to interfere and influence the 2016 US elections, that interference is ongoing, and steps need to be taken to curtail Russian efforts moving forward.
3) Trump provably attempted to obstruct justice around the Russian investigation (firing Comey, playing games with Sessions's resignation, threatening tweets, etc.). Whether his attempts were successful or impactful is not the question here, but whether the Special Council had it in their purview to pursue criminal charges, which they do not. So, now it goes to the Justice Department and Congress to decide what to do with the information. Mueller made it pretty clear that, although he could not pursue the matter further, that it didn't mean there wasn't more work to do (ie., impeachment investigation, possible criminal trial, censure of the President, whatever), it was simply not within his authority to make that call.
All in all, if you've been watching the news over the last couple of years, this will unbiasedly connect some dots for you and let you know that the asinine shit you've been seeing on the television has actually in fact been as crazy as it seemed to be.
I can't wait for the sequel!
1) There was no 'collusion' or conspiracy to defraud the US election on the part of the Trump Campaign - Not necessarily through lack of trying, but more through incompetence (Cohen thinking the guy he was talking to was a weight-lifter and not a Russian businessman), arrogance (Papadopoulis speaking about his connections openly in the media), whatever you'd call the debacle that was the June 9th Trump Tower meeting where DT Jr, Manafort, and Kushner went expecting some valuable dirt on HRC and were instead met with no information on Hillary whatsoever but rather a talk about sanctions (so, I guess idiocy?), and the seemingly one grown-up in the room (Corey Lewandowski) telling people on the campaign to stop talking to foreign agents about campaign related issues.
2) Russia absolutely, 100% attempted to interfere and influence the 2016 US elections, that interference is ongoing, and steps need to be taken to curtail Russian efforts moving forward.
3) Trump provably attempted to obstruct justice around the Russian investigation (firing Comey, playing games with Sessions's resignation, threatening tweets, etc.). Whether his attempts were successful or impactful is not the question here, but whether the Special Council had it in their purview to pursue criminal charges, which they do not. So, now it goes to the Justice Department and Congress to decide what to do with the information. Mueller made it pretty clear that, although he could not pursue the matter further, that it didn't mean there wasn't more work to do (ie., impeachment investigation, possible criminal trial, censure of the President, whatever), it was simply not within his authority to make that call.
All in all, if you've been watching the news over the last couple of years, this will unbiasedly connect some dots for you and let you know that the asinine shit you've been seeing on the television has actually in fact been as crazy as it seemed to be.
I can't wait for the sequel!
zanderw's review against another edition
3.0
Author refused to make up his mind on important plot points.
dsperling82's review against another edition
4.0
This was not at all a pleasure to read. It was long, dense, and full of footnotes that went on and on about the canons of statutory construction, and also forced me to revisit a shameful moment in modern American history. I read it not because I expected to learn anything new but because I felt it was my duty as an American to read it, like I felt it my duty to read the 9/11 Commission Report and the Justice Department’s report about Ferguson, MO. The one thing I did learn that surprised me was just how sophisticated the Russian hacking and disinformation operation was. It was carried out by Russian military units. The biggest news out of the report is that no, there was no evidence that the Trump team ever colluded with the Russians. But the investigation was not a witch hunt. Given the sophistication of the Russian operation, the operation’s specific goal of benefiting Trump and undermining Clinton, the glee with which the Trump campaign took and used the fruits of the operation, and the level of subterfuge the Trump campaign took to conceal its Russian contacts and to hide the nature of Trump’s Moscow hotel dealings and the nature of various meeting with campaign officials, it would have been malpractice for law enforcement not to investigate possible collusion. The obstruction case, I felt, was quite solid, though I can understand why it didn’t make it into the articles of impeachment. It’s complicated and hard to follow. Not as sexy as ordering and then covering up a break-in on political opponents and not as likely to rile up pearl-clutching conservative family-values voters like lying about a blowjob. Not found anywhere in the report, but what you can gather from penumbras and emanations, is that collusion really doesn’t matter and it’s a far bigger deal for the Republic that you can’t tell whether the administration’s policies vis-à-vis Russia are to benefit the national interest, or are to benefit a personal or financial interest. The Washington Post introduction and commentary were helpful for framing some of the issues that went beyond the scope of the investigation.
mmazelli's review against another edition
I’m privileged to live in a country where the powerful can still be investigated even if there is a law against indicting a sitting President, but we’ll leave that to the side. As such, I felt it was my civic obligation to read this report.
It is a slog of legalese, significant portions of which are highly redacted. Mueller was more than fair to Trump, specifically related to the obstruction of justice counts, giving him the benefit of the doubt where it was questionable to do so. It is up to Congress and future courts to hold Trump accountable, for the good of the Republic.
Spoiler: The report does not exonerate Trump!
It is a slog of legalese, significant portions of which are highly redacted. Mueller was more than fair to Trump, specifically related to the obstruction of justice counts, giving him the benefit of the doubt where it was questionable to do so. It is up to Congress and future courts to hold Trump accountable, for the good of the Republic.
Spoiler: The report does not exonerate Trump!
cjelli's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging and clearly written, except for ██████████████████████.
idrees2022's review against another edition
5.0
A truly extraordinary document. Careful, comprehensive and damning. A real testament to the strength of American institutions. Leaves no doubt about the scope of the Russian interference and the Trump campaign’s criminal culpability.
p3rian's review against another edition
Robert S Mueller did his job. Now, Congress, do yours!!!
America, vote Trump out of office in 2020!
America, vote Trump out of office in 2020!
jackflagg's review against another edition
4.0
Don't worry about the Barr "spoilers". His version is more akin to a fanfic than to an actual summary of the report. Pretty good plot, though I hate the characters and the end seems to never come.