memeorandum: Full transcript: Robert Mueller's statement on the Russia investigation (Caitlin Oprysko/Politico)

2:30 PM ET, May 29, 2019

Top Items:

As he exits, Mueller suggests only Congress can ‘formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing’ — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III reiterated Wednesday that his office could not clear President Trump of obstructing justice, asserting in his first public remarks about his investigation …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Power Line, Associated Press, Axios, Breitbart, Reuters, CANNONFIRE, Splinter, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

Full transcript: Robert Mueller's statement on the Russia investigation — Special counsel Robert Mueller's remarks to reporters on Wednesday at the Department of Justice: — Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here. Two years ago, the acting attorney general asked me to serve …

Discussion: Washington Post, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Breitbart

Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:

Robert Mueller to Make Statement on Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, will speak about the Russia investigation at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, his first public comments since he took over the inquiry two years ago, the Justice Department announced.

Discussion: Fox News, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Commentary, Vanity Fair, Slate, Liberty Unyielding, Political Wire, VICE News, Althouse, The Week and New York Post

CNN:

Mueller: ‘If we had confidence the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so’ — Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller said in a rare and remarkable public statement Wednesday that charging President Donald Trump was not an option his office could consider.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Media Matters for America, KTLA, KFOR-TV, IJR, The Colorado Sun, Sara A. Carter and The Root

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:

Robert Mueller Was Telling Nancy Pelosi to Begin Impeachment Proceedings — Special counsel Robert Mueller issued a final statement on Wednesday before resigning from the Department of Justice, which clearly appeared aimed at one person: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Discussion: Reason, New York Times and Associated Press

Alexander Mallin / ABC News:

Robert Mueller breaks silence, does not want to testify, says charging Trump ‘not an option’ — Special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday broke more than two years of silence about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice …

Discussion: Vox, NBC News, Mother Jones, Politico, CNN, Washington Post, Raw Story, Conservative News Today and The Week

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Mueller: “We would have said” if confident Trump did not commit a crime

Discussion: The Week

Katelyn Polantz / CNN: Roger Stone associate agrees to testify before Mueller grand jury

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Robert Mueller to make public statement about Russia probe on Wednesday

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Washington Post, The Week and Politico

Politico:
Mueller statement emboldens some Dems on impeachment

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic and BuzzFeed News

U.S. Department of Justice:
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III Makes Statement on Investigation into Russian Interference …

Discussion: Quartz, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Breitbart and UPI

Andrew Clark / Indianapolis Star:
Pete Buttigieg on Mueller statement: ‘As close to an impeachment referral as you could get’

Discussion: Politico, Conservative Review, The Federalist and The Daily Caller

David Frum / The Atlantic:
What the Mueller Report Actually Said

Discussion: Quartz

Grace Segers / CBS News:
Mueller: If it was clear president committed no crime, “we would have said so”

Discussion: CBS Boston, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Josh Campbell / CNN:
Why Mueller needs to get in the hot seat

Discussion: Washington Times

Ted Barrett / CNN:

In reversal from 2016, McConnell says he would fill a potential Supreme Court vacancy in 2020 — (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year's presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by President Donald Trump.

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

McConnell Hasn't Reversed Himself — The Washington Post joins a host of media outlets this morning in contending that Mitch McConnell has “reversed” his position on considering Supreme Court appointments in presidential election years. McConnell said last night that he would “fill” any Supreme Court vacancy that arose next year.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post and Instapundit

Daniel Victor / New York Times:
McConnell Says Republicans Would Fill a Supreme Court Vacancy in 2020, Drawing Claims of Hypocrisy

Discussion: Shareblue Media, VICE News, Wall Street Journal and Rolling Stone

NBC News:
Not for Obama, but OK for Trump. McConnell says he'd confirm Supreme Court justice in election year

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, Conservative News Today, RedState, Politico and The Week

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

Bannon described Trump Organization as ‘criminal enterprise’, Michael Wolff book claims — Former White House adviser says financial investigations will take down president in sequel to Fire and Fury — The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization …

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Raw Story, Contemptor, TheBlaze and National Review

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Biden: America is less divided now than it was in the early 1970s

Discussion: Splinter, Washington Post, NBC News and The Week

Renae Merle / Washington Post:
House subpoenas for Trump's bank records put on hold while president appeals

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Axios:
Trump muses about Protestant Supreme Court picks in Michael Wolff's new book

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

Mark Landler / New York Times:
White House Insider Account Has Feel of an Outside View, and Prompts a Mueller Denial

Discussion: RedState, New Republic, Washington Post, Vanity Fair and Spectator USA

Zach Montellaro / Politico:

DNC makes it more difficult to qualify for 3rd debate — ABC News, in partnership with Univision, will host the third Democratic presidential debate in September, the Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday, saying it was raising both the polling and fundraising bars for candidates to qualify.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, The Week and Splinter

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
DNC to raise qualifying threshold for third presidential debate

Discussion: Shakesville

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:
Democrats up requirements for 2nd round of primary debates

Discussion: Axios and The Resurgent

Sheena McKenzie / CNN:

Boris Johnson, favorite to be Britain's next PM, to face court for alleged Brexit lies — London (CNN)The leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as British Prime Minister has been ordered to appear in court to face allegations he lied to the public during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.

Discussion: The Week

BBC:

Brexit: Boris Johnson ordered to appear in court over £350m claim — Boris Johnson has been ordered to appear in court over claims he lied by saying the UK gave the EU £350m a week. — The Tory leadership candidate has been accused of misconduct in public office after making …

Discussion: Instapundit and Political Wire

Greg P. / twitchy.com:

CRINGE: Joe Biden gets handsy with young girl, says 'I'll bet you're as bright as you are good-looking' — Just to update you on this story we told you about last night, we now have video of 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden getting handsy with a young girl at an AFT town hall and telling her …

Discussion: YouTube, Summit News, Glamour, Washington Times and Althouse

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

Can Jaime Harrison End the Democrats' Drought in South Carolina? — The Times talked to Mr. Harrison, the first black chairman of the state's Democratic Party, about his bid to unseat Senator Lindsey Graham. — Let's begin with the obvious: No Democrat has won a statewide race in South Carolina since 2006.

Discussion: Shakesville

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Planned Parenthood's false stat: ‘Thousands’ of women died every year before Roe — “We face a real situation where Roe could be overturned. And we know what will happen, which is that women will die. Thousands of women died every year pre-Roe.” — “Before Roe v. Wade …

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, Daily Wire, Students For Life, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse

Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Says Russia Likely Conducting Low-Yield Nuke Tests, Defying Test Ban Treaty — Intelligence assessment marks first time U.S. has said Kremlin failed to observe Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty commitments — Russia has likely been secretly carrying out very low-yield nuclear tests …

Discussion: Fox News and Meduza.io

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Maggie Haberman Reacts to Criticism of Her Reporting: ‘The Tenor Has Gotten Extremely Personal’ — NY Times reporter and CNN contributor Maggie Haberman addressed a recent New York magazine article entitled “Of Course Trump Hates Maggie Haberman. Why Does the Left?” Wednesday morning.

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast and Daily Kos

Pew Research Center:

Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X outvoted older generations in 2018 midterms — Midterm voter turnout reached a modern high in 2018, and Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X accounted for a narrow majority of those voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available Census Bureau data.

Discussion: The Week

Axios:

Trump's 2020 plan to target black, Hispanic and suburban female voters — Trump campaign officials have been discussing a digital campaign to boost President Trump's 2020 support among three key demographic groups: African Americans, Hispanics and suburban women, two sources familiar with the plan tell Axios.

Melanie Zanona / Politico:

GOP impeachment champion gets a hero's welcome back home — GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Rep. Justin Amash is a lonely man in Congress, the sole Republican to back Donald Trump's removal from the Oval Office. But back home on Tuesday night, the Michigan lawmaker got the red-carpet treatment …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Bulwark, Outside the Beltway, Reason, The Resurgent, The Daily Beast, New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Roll Call, NBC News, CNN, IJR, Eschaton and The Week

Eric W. Dolan / Raw Story:

‘Is it that bad?’ Fox Business host stunned as Napolitano explains Mueller has evidence Trump committed a crime — Fox legal analyst Andrew Napolitano. (Screenshot) — Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller had indicated …

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:

Last-Minute Dress Code Left NYT Reporter Wearing Her Wedding Dress to Cover Trump's Dinner at Japan's Imperial Palace — “Here I am, pooling a presidential event in my wedding dress,” reporter Annie Karni tweeted Monday — There is a saying among veteran White House correspondents that theirs is …

Discussion: Japan Times

Yahoo Finance:

China Gears Up to Weaponize Rare Earths in Trade War — (Bloomberg) — Beijing is gearing up to use its dominance of rare earths to hit back in its deepening trade war with Washington. — A flurry of Chinese media reports on Wednesday, including an editorial in the flagship newspaper …

Discussion: Gizmodo and The Week