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THREAD: Reeling after Mueller's press conference where he refused to exonerate Trump, the President unleashed an avalanche of lies and falsehoods about the Russia investigation. We tracked everything he said. Here are Trump's 21 false claims and lies. cnn.com/2019/05/30/pol…
COST OF THE INVESTIGATION: Trump said it cost $40 million or higher. It's unclear where Trump is getting those numbers. The DOJ has not put out that number. They've only said Mueller-specific expenses were $12 million through September, obviously the final price tag will be more. 
COOPERATION WITH MUELLER: Trump said Mueller had "unlimited. .. cooperation." But that's wrong. Trump repeatedly refused a sit-down interview, Some Trump campaign associates deleted critical communications. Others flat-out lied and were charged with obstruction offenses.
MUELLER'S ALLEGED CONFLICTS: Trump said Mueller was "highly conflicted." That's false and Trump knows it. The DOJ cleared Mueller of any conflicts when he took the job. Trump's top aides told him that these "conflicts" were "ridiculous" and were not considered true conflicts.
MUELLER'S LEGAL CONSTRAINTS: Trump tweeted that "Mueller would have brought charges, if he had ANYTHING, but there were no charges to bring!" This is the opposite of the truth. Mueller's hands were tied by longstanding DOJ guidelines against indicting a sitting POTUS.
FAIRNESS OF THE INVESTIGATION: Trump called the probe an unfair "witch hunt." Here's the truth: If this was a witch hunt, it wasn't a very good one. Mueller followed the facts and cleared Trump of collusion. He didn't play hardball with a subpoena for Trump's testimony, either.
CONCERNS ABOUT RUSSIA: Trump said "Russia has disappeared" from the public debate because there wasn't collusion. Not true. The he topic of Russian interference is still at the forefront of national politics. Just ask 2020 candidates, Trump's intel chiefs, and lawmakers.
TRUMP'S ROLE IN RUSSIAN MEDDLING: Trump said, "I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected." This totally ignores his role in promoting the fruits of Russian hacks during the 2016 campaign, which he embraced and amplified at his rallies and on social media.
MUELLER'S FINDINGS ON OBSTRUCTION: Trump falsely claimed, "Mueller didn't find Obstruction." This is patently false. Mueller did uncover substantial evidence of obstruction by Trump and the report detailed how Trump's actions crossed the legal threshold on several key episodes.
MORE ON OBSTRUCTION: Trump said "there's no obstruction." It's inaccurate for Trump to say there was "no obstruction" when the report clearly identifies obstructive acts. (But, after Mueller submitted his report, AG William Barr concluded that Trump did not break the law.)
MUELLER'S ALLEGED CONFLICTS: Trump repeated his lies about Mueller's alleged conflicts. He said Mueller was "totally conflicted" and raised concerns about a "business dispute." Trump said this even through Bannon, Priebus, McGahn told him in 2017 that these aren't real conflicts.
MUELLER'S RELATIONSHIP WITH COMEY: Trump said many times that Mueller was "best friends" with Comey, but there isn't any evidence to support that. They crossed paths at the FBI and DOJ for many years, but Comey has said in congressional testimony that they are not friends.
INTERVIEWING MUELLER FOR FBI JOB: Trump said Mueller "wanted very badly" to be FBI director and "requested" to be appointed after Trump fired Comey in 2017. These false comments are belied by the Mueller report, which cites testimony from Bannon that contradicts Trump's claims.
COMEY'S SUPPOSED 'LIES': Trump mentoined Comey's "lies" and asked, "Why didn't Comey come clean?" This is hypocritical. Trump's version of his conversations with Comey was largely dismissed by Mueller, yet he is accusing Comey of being a liar. Mueller said Comey told the truth.
THE 'INSURANCE POLICY': Trump repeated the conspiracy about the deep state "insurance policy." The participants (Strzok & Page) have been publicly disgraced by their anti-Trump texts and their extramarital affair, but their explanation of the text is more reasonable than Trump's.
RUSSIA'S SUPPORT FOR TRUMP: He said "Russia didn't help me at all" and said Russia wanted Clinton to win. Trump stands alone in this belief. Obama's appointees and Trump's appointees at the FBI, CIA, NSA, DNI have all said Russia preferred Trump and tried to help him win.
TRUMP-RUSSIA TIES: Trump said Clinton "had more to do in the campaign with Russia than I did." This is a lie, plain and simple. It's provably false. No ties have emerged between Clinton's campaign and Russian officials. But 200 pages in Mueller's report detail Trump-Russia ties.
OBAMA'S EFFORTS TO COUNTER RUSSIA: Trump said Obama "did nothing" to stop Russian meddling in 2016. False. Obama warned Putin to his face, and the Obama admin. warned US voters that Russia was hacking Dems and meddling in the election. (Though many say this was not enough.)
TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO COUNTER RUSSIA: Trump claimed, "Nobody has been tougher on Russia than me." The Trump admin. has taken some unprecedented steps. But Trump's words have been more Russia-friendly than any prez in modern history. (meddling, NATO, Crimea, Syria, Putin's election.)
'NO COLLUSION' MANTRA: Trump claimed Mueller found "no collusion." Mueller's report does not say "no collusion" or "no evidence" of collusion. The conclusions were nuanced. As Mueller explained, the investigation found "insufficient evidence" to charge a conspiracy with Russia.
PROVING INNOCENCE: Trump said "no charges... means you're innocent." That's not how the system works, and Mueller specifically said the opposite during his news conference and several times in his report. If Mueller believed Trump was innocent, he would have said so. He declined.
PRESIDENTIAL POWERS: Trump said Article II of the Constitution "gives the President powers that you wouldn't believe" to fight back against an investigation.Mueller rejected this argument when Trump's lawyers made it. Experts say Article II does not give Trump unlimited powers.
That's the end. Thanks for reading. Please check out the full article. cnn.com/2019/05/30/pol…
