An invaluable recording of an important source

I'm very grateful to the producers for making this reading of the report available for free to the public. I know I most likely wouldn't have read the report in text, so it's very good to have an accessible audio version. The narration here is standard and probably could be considered dry, but you can't really expect much better from what amounts to a minimally-edited legal document.

As regarding the report itself, I think we got no more than what we could have expected from Robert Mueller. Mueller has a history of sticking very closely to his brief, even when doing so surprises and/or disappoints his audience (see the reaction to his investigation for the NFL of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident) so it's really not surprising at all that his investigation of the president fell short of the expectations of some. Mueller stayed very precisely within the guidelines of the Justice Department regarding the indictability of a sitting president, and that caused the strange tightrope-walk of the report, officially declining to make a prosecution decision regarding the president but also not exonerating him. It is a very unusual decision that runs counter to a lot of traditionally-understood prosecutorial responsibilities, but this situation is also a very unusual one, exposing a tangle of unresolved, untested constitutional issues regarding the president's responsibilities and liabilities, and the separation of powers between the three branches of government. America has a lot of reckoning to do over the coming years about the role it wants its chief executive to play, and if this report won't fully resolve its current predicament, it will at least be an invaluable document to guide the efforts of future reformers.

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2 people found this helpful

drain the swamp now the septic tank

Donald Trump was going to drain the swamp please turn it into a septic tank I thought the guy was a little bit unusual he is a sociopath psychopath habitual liar egomaniac

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Doesn't end well

a bit like Game of Thrones.. power, loyalty, mistrust, duty, corruption, with (some) interesting characters
but I expected more after waiting 2 years for this and ends on a cliffhanger- Can't wait to read about what happens next.

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7 people found this helpful

The straight arrow hit it fair and square.

It took me a while to listen to every word of this report, introductions, references, glossary and everything. I limited my listening to the commute to/from work, and I'm glad I did. It gave me a chance to really digest the smallish nuggets of info I heard each time. A few things are crystal clear from this report:

1. Robert Mueller is 100% straight arrow. I know we've all heard it being said by press, democrats and republicans alike (well, until the republicans decided to turn on Mueller late last year. The report shows that Mueller took great care to stay away from issues like "following the money" etc. I can see why. Firstly, it isn't needed. The limited scope of the investigation he was tasked with by Rod Rosenstein is more than enough to show over a 100 unnaturally close connections between the Trump Campaign (plus family, friends and business acquaintances) and the Russian oligarch system. Secondly, following the money could give the appearance of "fishing", or deliberately discomforting the Trumps just for the sake of it. It's obvious from how the report is written that Mueller is not a fisherman (in the investigative sense), nor is he willing to backfill a preconceived conclusion. A lot can be gleaned about the man behind this report by the report itself.

2. As the previous point states, the degree of Russian involvement in the Trump campaign, family activities, friendships and business interests is really quite unusual. Unless there is a similar closeness between the Trump campaign et. al and Italy, Cuba or Norway, it simply isn't sufficient to conclude that something fishy WASN'T going on.

3. The obstruction of justice section is relatively brief compared to the Russian interference section. Mueller writes like a storyteller, and that makes the events contained in this section very easy to understand. I would recommend readers or listeners find the obstruction section first (somewhere around Chapter 158 I think) and digest this section first. It really is all you need to know about Donald Trump the man (and President). This section paints a striking picture of a man who isn't really interested in serving his country, "making America great" or seeking retribution on behalf of the forgotten man. He is solely interested in his own wellbeing, his profits, his safety, his public image, his wishes and wants. If push came to shove, I would not be surprised after digesting this report, if Donald Trump were to turn on even his beloved eldest daughter if it made his life a bit easier. Mueller spells out for all of us to see that America is in big trouble with Trump in charge. Although, to be frank I'm not convinced that Trump is in charge. The report appears to describe a man who is consumed with himself, while others manoeuvre around him to implement the America they want. Even scarier.

I'm glad I took the time to listen to this audio of the report. I think I got more out of it than I would have if I tried to read the paper version. I highly recommend every American make a genuine effort to find out what Mueller wrote, and if nothing else, make a point of knowing what Mueller wrote about Obstruction.

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4 people found this helpful