Thread by @saletan

“My son was totally exonerated by Mueller," Trump declared today.

Really?

Here's what Mueller actually reported about Trump and his son. I'll give you the page numbers. You can follow along at nyti.ms/2JaiWuZ. /1

June 3, 2016: Don Jr. gets an email that says “the Crown prosecutor of Russia” wants “to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary … and would be very useful to your father.” (Mueller report, Vol. 1, page 113) /2

The email says the offer is “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” Literally. Those are the words.

Don Jr. writes back: “If it’s what you say I love it ... Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?" (Mueller report, Vol. 1, page 113) /3

June 9, 2016: Don Jr. meets with the Russians. According to Mueller's report, Don Jr. asks how the dirt they're offering "could be tied specifically" to Clinton. They say they can't tie it to her. So Don Jr loses interest. The meeting ends with no deal. (Vol. 1, pages 118-120) /4

July 8, 2017: At Trump's direction, Don Jr. tells reporters the meeting was "about the adoption of Russian children... it was not a campaign issue." According to Mueller, Trump spiked a draft that would have mentioned "information helpful to the campaign.” (Vol 2, pages 102-3) /5

July 19, 2017: Trump privately instructs Corey Lewandowski to tell Jeff Sessions to abort the Russia investigation. According to Mueller's report, if Sessions didn't agree to meet with Lewandowski, Trump's instructions were to "tell Sessions he was fired.” (Vol. 2, pages 92-3) /6

Bottom line:

1) Don Jr. colluded with Russians to seek election help.
2) Trump and Don Jr. tried to cover up that attempt.
3) Trump, knowing of the attempt, tried to abort the investigation of what the Russians had done.

Mueller didn't exonerate Trump or Don Jr. He nailed them.