Nassau and Suffolk counties have always been desirable and diverse places to live, covering the gamut of demographic groups. But, in recent years, Long Island has been seeing a steady growth in adults over the age of fifty. And we’re not alone. Neighboring NYC predicts that by 2030, the 65+ population will surpass the school-age population for the very first time. And don’t forget the Veterans. Suffolk county boasts one of the largest populations of military veterans in the state.
On Long Island, the gray market comprises 1.1 million residents, and according to the LI Index, is poised to grow by two percent each year. Nearly a third of LI voters are 50+ and forty-six percent of seniors still work full-time. Fifty percent have been caregivers themselves. But the noteworthy statistic, when it comes to Long Island seniors, is their spending power: over $43 billion on Long Island alone.
So, if you don’t have your eye on the burgeoning gray market, get your granny glasses on now! These are not your grandmother’s grandmothers. This is a market that can move market share and make your quarter—but only if you speak their language—and do so in media they trust.
Living. Doing. Spending.
Marketers from home care to home security are seeing the value in advertising to these active agers. Many of Long Island’s seniors are active well into their 80s. In fact, the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) reports that if a senior reaches the age of 80, they are likely to live another 8 to 10 years on average. Plus, for Long Island marketers, an increasing number of those aged 50+ are choosing to ‘age in place.’ And, those who opt to move are setting their sights on low or no maintenance senior living communities or continuing care retirement homes that are more country club initially than care facility.
According to a 2018 report from the Age of Majority, adults aged 55+ date, care about fitness, attend music concerts, embrace smart tech and streaming, and support cannabis legislation more than some Millennials! These are avid travelers, diners & entertainers, and investors. Not surprising to us at Newsday, The Age of Majority report also found that local newspapers were among the top 3 sources of information about products and services (behind family and friends and TV).
A Strategic Approach to an Elusive Target
Ironically, as plentiful as 50+ Long Islanders are, they can also be elusive. Reaching them requires the right message and the right media. As we’ve noted, newspapers are a leading source of information, and so too are mature market publications, coupon mailers, social media and live events that cater to the demographic. Seniors also appreciate the personal touch. Where possible, personalizing, customizing and segmenting by area or interest can help stimulate engagement and boost response.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when marketing to mature adults:
Use simple and relatable language to describe how your product or service will improve the quality of their lives. Steer clear of slang and social media acronyms.
Use bold design and type. Color provides contrast and larger fonts make it easier to read. On mobile, make sure buttons are big and add a close caption option to any video.
One size does not fit all. Don’t make the mistake of using the same message for your 20-year-olds as you do for your 50+ prospects. Reinforce what your product or service can do for them. Benefits selling is always about thinking “Why?” and those benefits differ at different age brackets such as 50-64 and 64-on.
Target on and offline. Multichannel is your mantra when it comes to mature marketing. Utilizing a combination of print, direct mail, digital, social and events covers all the major consumer touchpoints and can forward your message fluidly across platforms.
Sources: AARP, Pew Research, NY Population Projections Report, CDC, The Age of Majority
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The news and editorial staff of Newsday had no role in the creation of this content
ADvantage
ARTICLE 1
Email is Among Your Best Marketing Tactics Today
ARTICLE 2
Gray Is the New Black: Getting Your Share of LI’s Lucrative Mature Market
The news and editorial staff of Newsday had no role in the creation of this content
Email is Among Your Best Marketing Tactics Today
Although today’s digital marketplace is constantly evolving, time-honored tactics — like email marketing — remain a go-to strategy for any Long Island business. According to Salesforce, for every $1 invested in email, the average return is $38 — making it one of the most lucrative channels to nurture leads and close sales. There are businesses who still utilize traditional direct mailings, which can range in price from 30 cents to $10 per piece. With email marketing, businesses can target a specific “mailbox” for pennies on the dollar! Realizing those rewards, however, calls for having the right email strategy in place for your business.
Here are some of the trends Newsday is exploring in our own email marketing strategies that may help you, too:
Messaging
Content is king across every medium today. So, be sure that the email content you deploy offers not only helpful information, but as aggressive a call-to-action, or offer, as possible! When you keep your content relevant to the recipient and focused on a few actions, customers will have more reasons to turn to your brand. Great visuals and infographics too, can help illustrate your message, but make sure they are mobile friendly. And above all, don’t forget the human connection. Even if your email process is automated, your recipient is not.
Mobile
Research has shown that mobile email accounts for 50-75 percent of email opens (depending on your target audience), and that 80 percent of users will delete an email if it is not optimized for mobile. That’s why we strongly suggest a mobile-first approach when it comes to email marketing.
Tom Napoli, Sales Manager, Digital Marketing at Newsday says, “Public email accounts have been around for decades, so some small business owners might think ‘been there, done that.’ But in that time, where and how personal email accounts are accessed has changed. Today, smart devices have rendered emails an app and tap away.” He adds, “The difference between checking personal email on a desktop/laptop, compared to doing the same on a mobile device, is that mobile access is simply more convenient and provides a more intimate experience between the email user and the business sending the marketing message.”
Quick tips to maximize your mobile email marketing:
- Shorten your subject lines so they don’t get cut off when viewed on mobile
- Understand the importance of “from” (it’s always bolder) and opt for brand names over sender names
- Make your Call-To-Action buttons bigger for the smaller screen
- And finally, make sure that your website is responsive so that the hard work your email does pays off in on-site conversions
Personalization
Sometimes it can be a balance between the ease of an automated email send and your campaign coming off as robotic. To create an authentic connection to your brand, personalize or hyper-personalize your message. When browsing the internet, personal email users provide everything from broad to specific information about themselves. This data allows businesses to get their emails in front of users that have a high likelihood of converting. Newsday’s Sales Manager, Digital Marketing Tom Napoli agrees: “Working with the right marketing company to target your email marketing strategy in the correct manner, is KEY!”
Go beyond recipient name to tailor emails by location, past purchase, predictive behavior or other customer data you may have. This way, your prospects and clients get messages that they can directly relate and respond to.
Text-only Emails
When it comes to email marketing, sometimes simple is better. We are seeing a resurgence of interest in text-only emails. Prospects and customers appreciate it when the message more closely resembles a personal message from a friend or family member than a slick commercial message.
Interactive Emails
The other side of the coin is the popularity of interactive content. Emails that educate and entertain with galleries, quizzes and GIFs can increase engagement. Plus, they have the added benefit of training your recipient to look forward to—and open—anything that comes from you. At the simplest level, make sure any emails contain links back to your site and/or social media networks. After all, engagement is the name of the game in email marketing.
Video
We include video here because it is one of email’s hottest trends. According to the Martech Advisor, adding videos to your email efforts can increase click rates by over 300 percent. Not surprisingly, when you consider the wide acceptance and usage of video on social media. Even big companies, like Newsday, are still exploring how to make the most of the video experience in email messaging.
Rocking Your List
In the end, your email marketing efforts will be only as good as your lists. With increased standards from the major Internet Service Providers and LAX data management on your part, your email can all too easily be rendered undeliverable or as SPAM. Take the time to clean your lists and then schedule the time to do so on a regular basis. Also try and change your thinking from quantity of sends to quality of recipients, to further impact the inbox. That means making sure you are servicing your own clean email lists and working with a qualified email marketer to develop email creative and distribution that targets new email users on your behalf.
Make 2019 the year you ratchet up your email efforts by embracing the industry’s best practices. Newsday can help. Our email marketing programs are designed for small businesses to make a big impact.
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The news and editorial staff of Newsday had no role in the creation of this content
The Politics of Corruption: Gerard Terry
Ex-North Hempstead Town Democratic Leader Gerard Terry
Convicted of: Felony tax fraud (state), tax evasion (federal)
Charges: Tax fraud (state); tax evasion (federal)
Gerard Terry, the former North Hempstead Democratic Party leader, was charged in April and August 2016 with tax fraud after Nassau prosecutors said he compiled more than $1.4 million in tax debts while receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in government work. He also was charged federally in February 2017 and pleaded not guilty. He resigned or was terminated from multiple public positions. In September 2017, Terry pleaded guilty in Nassau County to fourth-degree felony tax fraud. Terry pleaded guilty in October 2017 in federal court to tax evasion. He was sentenced on May 29, 2018, to serve three years in prison on the federal charges. On June 4, 2018, he was sentenced to 6 months in the state case. Terry was released from prison to home confinement on April 29 as part of efforts to decrease the population of the federal prison system to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, sources said.
The latest on the Terry case
March 22, 2019: Ex-party chairman loses appeal of tax conviction June 4, 2018: Gerard Terry sentenced in state court to 6 months June 2, 2018: Stay tuned. More corruption trials on Long Island are to come June 1, 2018: Pols, clergy, civil rights leader wrote judge in Gerard Terry case June 1, 2018: Pols, clergy, civil rights leader wrote judge in Gerard Terry case May 29, 2018: Gerard Terry sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion May 15, 2018: Gerard Terry, former N. Hempstead Democratic chairman, jailed March 31, 2018: Gerard Terry supporters urge leniency March 21, 2018: Gerard Terry should get 54-month prison term, prosecutors say Nov. 29, 2017: Gerard Terry’s sentencing on state tax fraud charges postponed Oct. 18, 2017: North Hempstead candidates cite ethics concerns at election debate Oct. 14, 2017: Over 100 Nassau politicians also have family in government Oct. 12, 2017: Gerard Terry pleads guilty to tax evasion Sept. 25, 2017: Gerard Terry, ex-town Dem leader, pleads guilty to tax fraud Sept. 25, 2017: Brown: Nassau towns suddenly embrace ethics reform Aug. 15, 2017: Gerard Terry makes court appearance on tax evasion charges May 28, 2017: 9 North Hempstead employees miss disclosure deadline April 17: 2017: Feds and defense say talks ongoing to resolve Gerard Terry tax case April 1: 2017: Several investigations of Long Island public officials underway March 1: 2017: North Hempstead officials OK revisions to town’s ethics policy Feb. 6: 2017: Did Terry get help to hide his taxes? Feb. 2, 2017: Agency releases ex-party chair after tax evasion arrest Jan. 31, 2017: Gerard Terry charged by Feds with tax evasion, officials say Sept. 27, 2016: Gerard Terry, ex-Dem leader, indicted on tax fraud charges June 7, 2016: Concetta Terry leaves job as deputy North Hempstead town clerk May 13, 2016: North Hempstead Ethics Board cites the town’s deputy clerk April 27, 2016: Gerard Terry’s tax fraud case put off April 27, 2016: North Hempstead mulls banning workers from supervising relatives April 13, 2016: Gerard Terry arraignment leads to Nassau Sheriff’s investigation April 13, 2016: Brown: Gerard Terry tax case reaches beyond his own issues April 12, 2016: Gerard Terry, ex-North Hempstead Dem leader, arrested, DA says March 28, 2016: North Hempstead Town plugs ethics holes March 23, 2016: North Hempstead passes broad ethics reforms, promises more Feb. 28, 2016: North Hempstead seeks new zoning attorney to replace Gerard Terry Sept. 27, 2016: Gerard Terry, ex-Dem leader, indicted on tax fraud charges Feb. 27, 2016: Gerard Terry case leads N. Hempstead to enforce 25-year-old law Feb. 18, 2016: Concetta Terry, deputy town clerk, under review by ethics board Feb. 15, 2016: Letter: A tale of two town scandals Feb. 9, 2016: North Hempstead Democrats back replacement for Gerard Terry Feb. 8, 2016: Brown: Gerard Terry case shows intersection politics and patronage Feb. 4, 2016: Gerard Terry’s contract with Roosevelt Library terminated Feb. 2, 2016: Gerard Terry, embattled town Dem chairman, quits Board of Elections post Feb. 1, 2016: Gerard Terry to resign as North Hempstead Democratic leader Jan. 31, 2016: Dem chair has 6 government jobs, $1.4M tax debt
Valedictorian/Salutatorian Submission
As part of Newsday’s special section on the Class of 2024, we will publish a photo and the biographical information of each valedictorian and salutatorian on Long Island in Newsday and on newsday.com.
This form can be used to submit information for both valedictorians and salutatorians. Please submit one form per student. If your school has more than one valedictorian or salutatorian, simply submit another form. You will receive a confirmation email upon completion of each individual student’s submission.
For changes, questions or comments, please call Dorothy Levin, Newsday’s deputy assistant managing editor-data team, at 631-843-2334.
Before you submit, please read the following:
- Forms for all students must be completed and received by Monday, May 6, 2024.
- You should confirm all the information for this form with each student or their parents before submitting.
- If your students are awarded a title other than valedictorian or salutatorian (honor speaker, etc.), you may write that title in below.
- All entries must be filled out in their entirety at the time of submission. You will not be able to save the information.
- Once the form is submitted we will not accept changes unless it involves the student’s college or projected major. If you do not have the college and projected major by the May 6 deadline, please contact Dorothy Levin as soon as possible and we will update our information. Do not submit another form for corrections.
- This form can also be accessed anytime at newsday.com/valsalform. Links to all graduation forms and event information, including Extraordinary Seniors, can also be found at newsday.com/gradforms.
Thank you for your help at a busy time of year.
Submission form
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GET STARTEDA timeline of Mueller’s Russia investigation
Special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into whether President Donald Trump and his campaign coordinated with Russia to help him win the 2016 presidential election — and also whether Trump tried to obstruct that investigation. But the story did not end with the delivery of the report to Attorney General William Barr.
Over the past two years, the complex investigation led to charges, guilty pleas, cooperation deals and prison sentences, while dominating political headlines worldwide. Since the delivery of the report and its release to the public, Democrats and Republicans have debated what it means and fought over a variety of ongoing investigations into Trump and his associates.
Here is a look at some of the key events and developments before, during and after Mueller’s investigation.
2006: Manafort and Gates begin work for a pro-Russian political party
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates begin work as consultants for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Photo credit: Getty
February 2010: Yanukovych elected president of Ukraine
Viktor Yanukovych is elected president of Ukraine. Photo credit: Getty
February 2014: Yanukovych flees Ukraine
After violent clashes between protesters and police, Yanukovych flees Ukraine and enters exile in Russia. The U.S. government later opens an investigation into Manafort’s foreign lobbying and political work. Photo credit: Getty
June 2015: Trump announces candidacy
Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president as a Republican. Photo credit: Getty
September 2015: FBI warns DNC about Russian hackers
The FBI contacts the Democratic National Committee’s IT help desk, cautioning that at least one computer has been compromised by Russian hackers. A technician scans the system but fails to find evidence of the intrusion.
March 2016: Papadopoulos meets with associates of Russian government
Manafort joins Trump campaign as a volunteer consultant. George Papadopoulos is named one of five foreign policy advisers to the campaign and meets with people associated with the Russian government amid discussions to set up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
April 2016: Papadopoulos meets with Russian national offering ‘dirt’ on Clinton
Papadopoulos meets with a Russian national who he says offered “dirt” on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, including “thousands of emails. Papadopoulos emails other members of Trump campaign about the Russian offer of dirt on Clinton and the offer for Trump to meet with Putin. The Democratic National Committee becomes aware of the scope of the monthslong intrusion into its email systems by hackers who U.S. intelligence agencies later linked to the Russian government. Photo credit: Getty
May 2016: Manafort promoted
Manafort is promoted to campaign chairman and chief strategist.
June 2016: Meeting at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer
Manafort attends a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan with a Russian lawyer named Natalia Veselnitskaya, who promised to provide the Trump campaign damaging information about Clinton. Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner are also in the meeting. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says his website will publish a batch of Clinton emails. Photo credit: Getty
July 2016: Trump gets GOP nomination
Trump becomes the Republican nominee for president. In a speech the following week, Trump encourages Russians to release hacked Clinton emails. The FBI opens an investigation into the Russian government’s attempt to influence the election, including whether members of Trump’s campaign are involved. Photo credit: Getty
August 2016: NYT reports that Manafort’s name is on secret list
The New York Times reports that Manafort’s name appears on a secret list of payments made by the Yanukovych regime. Manafort resigns from the Trump campaign the day after The Associated Press reports he failed to register as a foreign agent after arranging a covert lobbying campaign in the United States on behalf of the Ukrainian party.
November 2016: Trump elected president
Donald Trump wins the presidential election. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 6, 2017: Comey briefs Trump on dossier
FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, briefs Trump on contents of unverified dossier that contains salacious allegations about him and his campaign.
Jan. 13, 2017: Senate launches probe
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence launches an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and possible links between Russia and political campaigns. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 20, 2017: Trump’s inauguration
Trump is inaugurated as 45th president of the United States. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 25, 2017: House announces its investigation
The House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence announces its own investigation.
Jan. 27, 2017: Papadopoulos interviewed by FBI
Papadopoulos is interviewed by the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
May 2017: Comey out, Mueller in
Trump fires Comey. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is appointed as special counsel to take over the probe. Photo credit: Getty
June 2017: Manafort files paperwork with DOJ
Manafort files paperwork with the Justice Department retroactively disclosing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that his firm received more than $17 million working for the government of Ukraine between 2012 and 2014. The Washington Post reports that Mueller is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.
July 2017: FBI conducts raid at Manafort’s home
FBI agents conduct a raid at former Trump campaign chairman Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Virginia. Papadopoulos is arrested by the FBI at Dulles International Airport. Photo credit: Getty
August 2017: Mueller impanels grand jury
Mueller impanels a criminal grand jury in Washington, D.C.
October 2017: Papadopoulos pleads guilty
Papadopoulos pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI, as part of apparent agreement to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation. Mueller files 12-count criminal indictments against Manafort and Gates. Photo credit: Getty
Oct. 30, 2017: Manafort, Gates charged
Manafort and Gates plead not guilty after their arrest on charges related to conspiracy against the United States and other felonies. The charges are the first from the special counsel investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. Photo credit: Getty
Dec. 1, 2017: Flynn pleads guilty
Michael Flynn, the retired general who vigorously campaigned at Trump’s side and then served as his first national security adviser, pleads guilty to lying to the FBI about reaching out to the Russians on Trump’s behalf and says members of the president’s inner circle were intimately involved with — and at times directing — his contacts. He agrees to cooperate with the special counsel’s office. Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 20, 2018: Prominent attorney pleads guilty
Mueller charges a prominent attorney with lying to authorities about his work with two of Trump’s former campaign aides. Alex van der Zwaan, 33, a Dutch national, pleads guilty in federal court to charges that he lied to investigators about his conversations with Gates. Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 23, 2018: Gates pleads guilty
Gates pleads guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges. With his cooperation, Gates gives Mueller a witness willing to provide information on Manafort’s finances and political consulting work in Ukraine — and someone who had access at the highest levels of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
April 3, 2018: First punishment handed down
Alex van der Zwaan is sentenced to 30 days in prison in the first punishment handed down in the investigation. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. Photo credit: Getty
July 13, 2018: 12 Russian officers charged with hacking
A Mueller indictment charges 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking into the Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic Party and releasing tens of thousands of private communications in a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 election. The indictment represents Mueller’s first charges against Russian government officials.
July 16, 2018: Trump meets with Putin
Trump meets with Putin in Helsinki, Finland. Trump says Putin made an “incredible offer” to help American investigators in their prosecution of the 12 Russian intelligence officers. Photo credit: Getty
Aug. 21, 2018: Manafort found guilty
Manafort is found guilty of eight financial crimes in the first trial victory of the special counsel investigation into the president’s associates. A judge declares a mistrial on 10 other counts the jury could not agree on. Photo credit: Getty
Sept. 14, 2018: Manafort agrees to cooperate
Manafort agrees to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation as he pleads guilty to federal crimes and avoids a second trial that could have exposed him to more time in prison. Manafort pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy in relation to his lobbying work with pro-Russian groups in Ukraine.
Oct. 10, 2018: California man sentenced to prison
Richard Pinedo, a California man who pleaded guilty in February 2018 to unwittingly helping the Russian election disruption efforts by trading in stolen identifications and bank account numbers, is sentenced to 6 months in prison.
Nov. 6, 2018: Democrats retake the House
Democrats retake the House of Representatives in midterm elections, gaining control of key investigatory committes. Photo credit: Getty
Nov. 7, 2018: Sessions resigns
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns as the country’s chief law enforcement officer at Trump’s request. Sessions announced his plan to resign in a letter to the White House, the day after the midterm election. Trump announces in a tweet that Sessions’ chief of staff Matt Whitaker would become the new acting attorney general with authority to oversee the remainder of Mueller’s investigation. Photo credit: Getty
Nov. 16, 2018: Trump cooperates with the investigation
Trump says he has finished his answers to questions posed by Mueller. He says four days later that he has provided them to the special counsel, the first time he has directly cooperated.
Nov. 23, 2018: Corsi reportedly in plea talks with Mueller’s team
Jerome Corsi, a conservative writer and associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone, tells The Associated Press that he is in plea talks with Mueller’s team. Mueller’s team questioned Corsi as part of an investigation into Stone’s connections with WikiLeaks.
Nov. 26, 2018: Mueller accuses Manafort of violating plea agreement
Mueller accuses Manafort of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, an extraordinary allegation that could expose him to a lengthier prison sentence and potentially more criminal charges. Papadopoulos begins serving his 2-week prison sentence after a judge rejects his last-minute bid to remain free.Corsi tells The Associated Press that he is rejecting a plea offer in Mueller’s investigation.
Nov. 29, 2018: Cohen confesses
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, confesses in an unexpected guilty plea that he lied to Congress in 2017 out of “loyalty” to Trump about a project his company tried to develop in Moscow in 2016 as he ran for president. Cohen says he falsely claimed that talks about the project ended in January 2016, when they in fact continued until that June. Photo credit: Getty
Dec. 3, 2018: Trump weighs in on Cohen
Trump calls for a “full and complete” sentence for Cohen. Photo credit: Twitter
Dec. 4, 2018: Prosecutors speak out on Flynn’s cooperation
Prosecutors say Flynn provided so much information to the investigation that he shouldn’t do any prison time.
Dec. 7, 2018: Court filings reveal contact between Trump associates, Russian intermediaries
Federal prosecutors urge a “substantial” prison term for Cohen. Court filings from New York prosecutors and Mueller’s office reveal for the first time contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries, with Cohen described as being in touch with a Russian offering “political synergy” as far back as 2015. In describing how Manafort breached a plea agreement, Mueller says Manafort told “multiple discernible lies” to prosecutors about his contacts with the Trump administration and an associate with alleged ties to Russian intelligence. Papadopolous is released from jail after serving a two-week sentence.
Dec. 12, 2018: Cohen sentenced to prison
Cohen is sentenced to 3 years in prison in federal court in Manhattan for crimes that included efforts to hide the president’s Russia business dealings and alleged extramarital affairs with a porn star and a model. U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III’s sentence dashed Cohen’s bid to avoid prison by aiding federal prosecutors and Mueller. Cohen accused Trump of directing hush-money payments to the two women that violated election laws. Cohen also pleaded guilty to tax and bank fraud charges and lying to Congress.
“While Mr. Cohen has taken steps to mitigate his criminal conduct … that does not wipe the slate clean,” said Pauley, blasting Cohen’s “greed and ambition” and the “insidious harm” he inflicted on democratic institutions. The judge also ordered a $100,000 fine and a March 6 surrender.
Cohen, in an emotional statement before the judge sentenced him, apologized to his family and denounced Trump for inspiring “blind loyalty” that led down a “path of darkness over light.” Photo credit: Getty
Dec. 18, 2018: Flynn’s sentencing delayed
A federal judge sharply rebukes Flynn and unexpectedly delays sentencing him after warning he could go to prison for lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Prosecutors from Mueller’s team had recommended leniency.
Dec. 20, 2018: Whitaker chose not to recuse himself from probe, AP reports
A senior official tells The Associated Press that Whitaker chose not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation even though a top Justice Department ethics official advised him to step aside out of an “abundance of caution.” Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 4, 2019: Grand jury’s term extended
The chief federal judge in Washington extends the term of the grand jury used by Mueller, a sign that the probe will continue for at least several months.
Jan. 8, 2019: Filing reveals Manafort shared polling data
A defense filing inadvertently reveals that Manafort shared polling data during the 2016 presidential campaign with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian business associate accused of having ties to Russian intelligence, and prosecutors say he lied to them about it. It is the first time that prosecutors with Mueller’s office have accused Trump’s chief campaign aide of sharing election-related information with his Russian contacts. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 9, 2019: Rosenstein expected to leave, AP reports
A person familiar with the plans tells The Associated Press that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his position soon after William Barr, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, is confirmed. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 10, 2019: Cohen says he will testify before House committee
Cohen says he will testify publicly before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, newly led by Democrats, on Feb. 7.
Jan. 11, 2019: NYT reports FBI began investigating Trump
The New York Times reports that FBI officials began investigating whether Trump “had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests” after he fired Comey. Mueller took over the investigation, and it is unclear whether Mueller is still investigating that, The Times reported.
Jan. 12, 2019: Washington Post reports Trump concealed details of Putin talks
The Washington Post reports that Trump concealed details of his conversations with Putin, including taking the notes of an interpreter.
Jan. 15, 2019: Barr’s confirmation hearing
Barr appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing. He says he doesn’t believe Mueller “would be involved in a witch hunt.” Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 18, 2019: Mueller’s office responds to BuzzFeed News report
Mueller’s office issues a rare public statement disputing the accuracy of a BuzzFeed News report that said Cohen told Mueller that the president directed him to lie to Congress.
BuzzFeed, citing two unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about a Moscow real estate project and that Cohen told Mueller the president personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the deal. The report said Mueller’s investigators learned about Trump’s directive “through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”
Mueller’s office does not cite specific errors, but the special counsel’s spokesman, Peter Carr, says, “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate.”
Jan. 23, 2019: Cohen postpones testimony to Congress
Michael Cohen postpones his testimony to Congress,”due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump and Giuliani,” Cohen’s spokesman says.
Jan. 25, 2019: FBI arrests Roger Stone
Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, is arrested by the FBI in a predawn raid at his Florida home on several criminal charges stemming from Mueller’s investigation. Stone is charged in a seven-count indictment with witness tampering, obstruction and false statements about his interactions related to the release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails during the 2016 presidential election. Some of those false statements were made to the House intelligence committee, according to the indictment. Stone had said for months that he was prepared to be charged, though he denied any wrongdoing. Photo credit: Getty
Jan. 28, 2019: The investigation is ‘close to being completed’
Whitaker says of Mueller’s probe, “The investigation is, I think, close to being completed,” at an unrelated news conference. He says he has been “fully briefed,” but does not elaborate or give any timetable. Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 5, 2019: Trump’s State of the Union
In his State of the Union address, Trump takes aim at Mueller’s Russia probe and a series of other investigations House Democrats have promised, labeling them “ridiculous partisan investigations.” Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 8, 2019: National Enquirer secretly assisted Trump’s campaign
Two people tell The Associated Press that federal prosecutors are looking into the National Enquirer’s handling of a story about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ extramarital affair to see if the tabloid’s publisher violated a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. The tabloid acknowledged secretly assisting Trump’s White House campaign by paying $150,000 to Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. The company then buried the story until after the 2016 election. Cohen pleaded guilty to charges that included helping to broker that transaction. Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 11, 2019: Cohen delays testimony
Cohen again delays his testimony.
Feb. 13, 2019: Judge rules Manafort intentionally lied
A district judge rules that Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the Mueller investigation. The four-page ruling hurts Manafort’s chance of receiving a reduced sentence. The ruling was largely a rejection of Manafort’s attorneys’ argument that he hadn’t intentionally misled investigators about his interactions with Kilimnik but rather forgot some details until his memory was refreshed.
Feb. 14, 2019: Barr sworn in as attorney general
Barr is sworn in for his second stint as the nation’s attorney general, taking the helm of the Justice Department and overseeing Mueller’s investigation. The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Barr, who also served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 during President George H.W. Bush’s administration. Barr had promised to be as transparent as possible but said he takes seriously the Justice Department regulations that dictate Mueller’s report should be treated as confidential. “I don’t know what, at the end of the day, what will be releasable. I don’t know what Bob Mueller is writing,” Barr said at the hearing.
Feb. 17, 2019: A ‘crime may have been committed,’ ex-FBI official says
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says in an interview that a “crime may have been committed” when Trump fired Comey and tried to publicly undermine an investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. McCabe also says in the interview with “60 Minutes” that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a possible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of Comey. Photo credit: Getty
Feb. 22, 2019: NY prosecutors pursue case, Bloomberg reports
Bloomberg News reports that New York prosecutors have put together a criminal case against Manafort that they could file quickly if he receives a presidential pardon. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is said to be ready to file an array of tax and other charges against Manafort, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Feb. 23, 2019: Mueller’s office weighs in on Manafort crimes
In a sentencing memo, Mueller’s office says Manafort committed crimes that cut to “the heart of the criminal justice system” and over the years deceived everyone from bookkeepers and banks to federal prosecutors and his own lawyers. Prosecutors do not yet take a position on how much prison time he should serve or whether to stack the punishment on top of a separate sentence he will soon receive in a Virginia prosecution. “For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law,” prosecutors wrote. “His crimes continued up through the time he was first indicted in October 2017 and remarkably went unabated even after indictment.”
March 7, 2019: Manafort sentenced to 47 months
Manafort is sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, a break from sentencing guidelines that called for a 20-year prison term. The sentence caps the only jury trial after indictments from Mueller’s investigation.
March 13, 2019: Manafort sentenced in separate case
Manafort is sentenced to an additional 3 1/2 years in prison on conspiracy charges related to his foreign lobbying work and witness tampering. He is also indicted on mortgage fraud, conspiracy and other state charges in New York that could put him outside the president’s power to pardon. Photo credit: Getty
March 14, 2019: House votes to make Mueller report public
The House votes unanimously for a resolution calling for any final report in Mueller’s investigation to be made public, a symbolic action designed to pressure Barr into releasing as much information as possible when the probe is concluded. The Democratic-backed resolution passes 420-0.
March 22, 2019: Mueller delivers report to attorney general
Mueller turned over his long-awaited final report on the Russia investigation to Attorney General William Barr, and officially concluded his probe of Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates, according to the Justice Department. The still confidential report will now be reviewed by Barr, who has said he will write his own account communicating Mueller’s findings to Congress and the American public. Barr said he could release his account to Congress as soon as this weekend.
March 24, 2019: Barr writes letter summarizing report
Mueller found that Trump and his campaign did not coordinate with Russia during his campaign and the report also resulted in no obstruction-of-justice charges against him, Barr writes in a four-page summary to Congress. Those conclusions to the two most significant issues in the investigation were delivered by Barr in a letter that he and Rosenstein wrote.
“The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” Barr’s letter said.
But Mueller reached no decision on whether Trump obstructed the investigation, Barr wrote, quoting Mueller’s submission saying that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Barr wrote that he and Rosenstein decided that the evidence that Mueller had gathered about the president’s actions “is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” Photo credit: Getty
March 25, 2019: Democrats demand release
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) and other top Democrats set a deadline of April 2 for the release of the full Mueller report. The deadline is later missed, and the committee approves giving Nadler permission to issue subpoenas for the report on April 3.
March 29, 2019: Barr sets expectations
Barr says a redacted version of Mueller’s report will be sent to Congress by mid-April and will not be shared with the White House beforehand.
April 10, 2019: Dispute deepens
Barr tells Congress he thinks “spying did occur” against Trump’s presidential campaign, suggesting the origins of the Russia investigation may have been mishandled in remarks that aligned him with the president. In an interview with The Associated Press, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) says, “I don’t trust Barr, I trust Mueller.”
April 11, 2019: Assange arrested
Assange is arrested, accused of conspiring in 2010 to release classified information through WikiLeaks. The charges are not in relation to any role Assange may have had in the release of stolen Democratic emails leading up to the 2016 presidential election, part of Mueller’s investigation. Photo credit: Getty
April 12, 2019: Ex-Obama counsel indicted
Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig is indicted on charges of making false statements and concealing information in a federal foreign lobbying investigation that intersected with the Mueller probe.
April 15, 2019: Justice sets deadline
The Justice Department announces that it expects to release the redacted version of Mueller’s report on April 18. The redacted report would be sent to Congress and also made available to the public.
April 18, 2019: Mueller’s report released
Mueller’s report is released, revealing Trump’s efforts to seize control of the Russia probe and force the special counsel’s removal. The 10 episodes scrutinized by Mueller include Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, the president’s directive to subordinates to have Mueller fired and efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate. The report is two volumes and 448 pages long including attachments. At a news conference before the report’s release, Barr says “no material has been redacted based on executive privilege” and “I have no objection to Bob Mueller personally testifying” to Congress. Barr says he and Rosenstein disagreed with some of Mueller’s “legal theories” pertaining to obstruction of justice, but that didn’t influence their decision that Trump didn’t commit a crime. Nadler writes to Mueller that he wants the former special counsel to testify by May 23. Trump says, “This should never happen to another president again, this hoax.” Photo credit: Getty
April 29, 2019: Rosenstein submits resignation
Rosenstein submits his resignation after a two-year run defined by his appointment of the special counsel. His last day will be May 11.
April 30, 2019: Mueller expressed frustration, Justice says
A Justice Department official says Mueller expressed frustration to Barr in March about how the findings of the Russia investigation were being portrayed. Mueller reportedly said he worried that a letter summarizing the main conclusions of the probe lacked the necessary context and was creating public confusion about his team’s work. Mueller communicated his agitation in a letter to the Justice Department just days after Barr issued the four-page document that summarized the special counsel’s conclusions, showing tensions between them, particularly on the key question of obstruction. Mueller and Barr then had a phone call about the same concerns.
May 1, 2019: Barr speaks to Senate Judiciary Committee
Barr defends his handling of the Mueller report and rejects Mueller’s complaints about his summary of its conclusions. He also criticizes the special counsel for failing to make a judgment on obstruction. “I think that the government did not have a prosecutable case,” Barr tells a sometimes testy Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Barr also dismisses the Mueller letter, saying it is “a bit snitty and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people.” Barr cancels his planned appearance the next day before the House Judiciary Committee after its chairman, Nadler, insists on having the panel’s lawyers question him. Photo credit: Getty
May 2, 2019: Barr skips House hearing
Barr does not attend a House hearing on Mueller’s report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and Trump’s Justice Department. The department misses a committee deadline to provide it with a full, unredacted version of Mueller’s report and its underlying evidence. The moves are likely to prompt a vote on holding Barr in contempt and possibly the issuance of subpoenas.
May 3, 2019: Trump talks to Putin
Trump and Putin discuss what Trump calls the “Russian Hoax” in their first known phone call since the release of Mueller’s report. Putin chuckled about Mueller’s conclusions, Trump said. Trump said that at no point did he warn Putin not to meddle in the next election.
May 6, 2019: Ex-prosecutors sign letter
Hundreds of former federal prosecutors sign onto a letter, released by an advocacy group that is critical of the administration, saying Trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice if he were anyone other than the president.
May 7, 2019: McGahn defies subpoena
The White House orders former White House counsel Don McGahn not to comply with a congressional subpoena for documents, escalating its fight with House Democrats over their post-Mueller report investigations. White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Nadler that cited “executive privilege” in part for its direction to McGahn “not to produce” any records related to special counsel Mueller’s Russia investigation.
May 8, 2019: Panel holds Barr in contempt
House Judiciary Committee Democrats vote to hold Barr in contempt of Congress after Trump made his first assertion of executive privilege for the entire Mueller report and underlying evidence. Following more than five hours of contentious debate, the committee votes along party lines, 24-16, to approve a motion to the House to cite Barr for contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over special counsel Mueller’s complete, unredacted report and evidence. “We are now in a constitutional crisis,” Nadler says. Pelosi echoes that wording the next day. Photo credit: Getty
May 13, 2019: Barr opens investigation into probe
Barr appoints John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate,” a person familiar with the matter tells The Associated Press.
May 14, 2019: Panel reaches deal with Trump Jr.
The Senate Intelligence Committee strikes a deal with Trump Jr. to appear for a closed-door interview in June, pulling the two sides back from a confrontation over a subpoena as part of the panel’s Russia investigation. The deal comes after the panel subpoenaed the president’s eldest son to discuss answers he gave the panel’s staff in a 2017 interview. Trump Jr. had backed out of interviews twice, prompting the subpoena, people familiar with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr’s remarks tell The Associated Press.
May 15, 2019: WH rejects House committee’s request
The White House rejects an expansive House Judiciary Committee records request, accusing the Democratic-led committee of attempting a “do-over” of Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in a 12-page letter sent to Nadler, calls on the panel to “discontinue” its investigation and urges it to “narrow the sweeping scope” of its request for a trove of documents related to Trump’s Oval Office dealings, including his communications with McGahn.
May 16, 2019: Flynn described efforts to interfere with cooperation
Flynn told the special counsel’s office that people connected to the Trump administration and Congress sought to influence his cooperation with the Russia investigation, and he provided a voicemail recording of one such communication, prosecutors say in a court filing made public. Meanwhile, the judge in the case orders that portions of Mueller’s report that relate to Flynn be unredacted and made public by the end of the month, the first time a judge is known to have directed the Justice Department to make public any portion of the report that the agency had kept secret.
May 18, 2019: GOP congressman says conduct ‘impeachable’
A Republican congressman from Michigan becomes the first member of Trump’s party on Capitol Hill to accuse him of engaging in “impeachable conduct” stemming from Mueller’s investigation. But Rep. Justin Amash stops short of calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump.
May 20, 2019: Judge sides with Congress
A federal judge rules against Trump in a financial records dispute with Congress and says lawmakers should get the documents they have subpoenaed. Trump calls it a “crazy” decision that his lawyers would appeal. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta comes amid a widespread effort by the White House and Trump’s attorneys to refuse to cooperate with congressional requests for information and records. Earlier, Trump directed McGahn to defy a congressional subpoena that had compelled McGahn to testify before the House Judiciary Committee the next day.
May 21, 2019: McGahn skips hearing
McGahn defies a House Judiciary subpoena for his testimony on orders from the White House. Nadler says the committee would vote to hold McGahn in contempt and take the issue to court. Photo credit: Getty
May 29, 2019: Mueller says his probe did not exonerate Trump
Mueller, while announcing he’s closing his office and returning to private life, says that his report found that a legal opinion barred him from charging a sitting president and that his probe did not exonerate President Trump.
In his first public statement in two years, Mueller defendsed his most controversial decision — to not make a prosecutorial judgment on whether Trump criminally obstructed the investigation — and suggestsed that that determination is now up to Congress. Photo credit: Getty
June 3, 2019: House plans hearings on Mueller’s report
The House Judiciary Committee announces it’s planning a series of hearings on Mueller’s report, starting with an appearance by Nixon White House counsel John Dean on June 10. “Russia attacked our elections to help President Trump win, Trump and his campaign welcomed this help and the president then tried to obstruct the investigation into the attack,” committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York said in a statement. “Mueller confirmed these revelations and has now left Congress to pick up where he left off.” The committee also plans to consider in these hearings “targeted legislative, oversight and constitutional remedies designed to respond to these matters,” according to a statement.
June 4, 2019: White House tells former aides not to cooperate
The White House again directs former employees not to cooperate with a congressional investigation, this time instructing former aides Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson not to provide documents to the House Judiciary Committee. Nadler issued subpoenas for Hicks and Donaldson, who are mentioned frequently in Mueller’s report. Hicks had agreed to turn over documents related to her time on President Trump’s presidential campaign, which are not covered by executive privilege.
Separately, lawyers for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign asked a judge to penalize the Democratic National Committee for alleging in a lawsuit a conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, saying Mueller’s findings revealed the “doomed effort to prove a falsehood.” But lawyers for the Democratic Party responded by saying Mueller’s report confirms and bolsters their claims by detailing the campaign’s repeated suspicious interactions with Russian agents, proving the campaign participated in Russia’s election interference.
June 8, 2019: Clinton says Mueller report shows obstruction occurred
Hillary Clinton says Mueller’s report shows that Russia conducted a sweeping and systemic interference into the 2016 election and that obstruction of justice occurred. “You cannot read the report, chapter and verse, fact after fact, without reaching those conclusions,” Clinton said.
June 10, 2019: Justice Department agrees to hand over evidence
House Democrats reach an agreement with the Justice Department to view underlying documents behind the redacted Mueller report, partially defusing an impasse between Congress and the Trump administration.
June 11, 2019: Chairman says panel will move quickly on McGahn
The House Judiciary Committee chairman says his panel will move “as quickly as possible” to seek court enforcement of a subpoena against former White House Counsel Don McGahn. His remarks came after the House approved a resolution that makes it easier to file lawsuits against witnesses who defy subpoenas. That includes McGahn, who declined to provide documents or testimony at the urging of the White House. McGahn is the most-cited witness in Mueller’s report.
June 12, 2019: Donald Trump Jr. testifies to Senate
Donald Trump Jr. testifies to the Senate intelligence committee for around three hours, following up on a 2017 interview with the same panel as part of its two-year-long Russia investigation. Trump Jr. said after the interview that he was happy to clarify answers from the earlier interview with the panel’s staff, but told reporters, “I don’t think I changed any of what I said because there was nothing to change.”
Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director who also worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, agrees to a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee in its investigation of President Trump. Photo credit: Getty
June 13, 2019: House subpoenas Flynn, Gates
The House Intelligence Committee issues subpoenas to former national security advisoer Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates for documents and testimony, marking the first time House Democrats have tried to compel testimony from people who pleaded guilty during the Russia investigation.
“Both Michael Flynn and Rick Gates were critical witnesses for special counsel Mueller’s investigation, but so far have refused to cooperate fully with Congress. That’s simply unacceptable. The American people, and the Congress, deserve to hear directly from these two critical witnesses,” said a statement from the committee chairman.
June 18, 2019: Trump kicks off re-election bid
President Trump kicks off his re-election campaign. If he wins a second term, Trump would retain the legal protections of the Office of the Presidency. Mueller cited much-discussed 1973 Justice Department guidelines that state that “the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting president would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions” in his final report when explaining his reasons for not suggesting criminal charges against Trump on obstruction of justice.
June 19, 2019: Hicks testifies to Congress
Hicks appears for her closed-door testimony with members and staff of the House Judiciary Committee, but angers Democrats by declining to answer some questions related to her time as senior adviser to Trump. Trump tweets as the questioning went on for hours, “So sad that the Democrats are putting wonderful Hope Hicks through hell, for 3 years now, after total exoneration by Robert Mueller & the Mueller Report.”
Also, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says Russia-born business executive Felix Sater will talk to House intelligence committee staff behind closed doors as part of its investigation into Russian election interference. Sater worked with President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, on a Trump Tower deal in Moscow before the 2016 election. The project was later abandoned. Photo credit: Getty
June 20, 2019: Hicks defends use of hacked emails
A transcript from Hicks’ closed-door testimony shows she defended the Trump campaign’s use of hacked emails released by Russians during the 2016 presidential race, calling them “publicly available information.”
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Roger Stone case say President Trump’s longtime ally violated the terms of his release with posts on social media in recent days targeting Mueller’s investigation. Stone was indicted for lying to Congress and obstructing lawmakers’ probe into the Russian meddling, including its hack into the Democratic National Committee’s servers.
June 24, 2019: Ex-White House aide to answer written questions
The House Judiciary Committee says that former White House aide Annie Donaldson won’t appear for a scheduled deposition because she is in her third trimester of pregnancy but she will instead answer written questions.
The former aide to former White House Counsel Donald McGahn appears frequently in Mueller’s report. She took frequent notes about what was happening in the White House as President Trump reacted to the unfolding Russia probe.
June 26, 2019: Trump comments on Mueller’s upcoming testimony
President Trump describes former special counsel Mueller’s upcoming testimony before two Democratic-led House panels as merely part of a phony probe that “never ends.” “We had no obstruction … no collusion,” he told Fox Business. “It’s hard to have obstruction when you have no crime.”
June 28, 2019: Trump to Putin: ‘Don’t meddle in our election’
Smiling together on a global stage, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin cheerfully dismissed Russian interference in U.S. elections. As the two leaders sat down for their first meeting in nearly a year, a reporter asked Trump if he would warn Putin not to meddle in America’s upcoming 2020 election. “Of course,” the president replied. Then he turned to Putin and facetiously said, “Don’t meddle in the election.” He playfully repeated the request while pointing at Putin, who laughed. Photo credit: Getty
July 8, 2019: Barr says Mueller’s testimony will be ‘public spectacle’
Barr accuses Democrats of trying to create a “public spectacle” by subpoenaing Mueller to testify before Congress about the Russia investigation.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said the Justice Department would support Mueller if he decides he “doesn’t want to subject himself” to congressional testimony. Barr also said the Justice Department would seek to block any attempt by Congress to subpoena members of the special counsel’s team.
Rep. Peter King, in a morning radio interview, says he believes “there was no legal basis” for the FBI to open an investigation into then-candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and its purported ties to Russia.
July 10, 2019: Flynn’s no-prison deal in jeopardy
Prosectuors say that Flynn’s new legal strategy is prompting them to reassess their 2-year-old cooperation agreement. Trump’s former national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI had been expected to testify against his former business partner, Bijan Kian, but Flynn has backed away from his earlier statements to authorities since changing lawyers and retained an attorney harshly critical of Mueller’s investigation. Those changes were widely viewed as a possible attempt to secure a presidential pardon and prosecutors say that Flynn’s role in the Kian case has changed from cooperator to co-conspirator. They asked the judge to delay Flynn’s sentencing until the Kian case is completed. Photo credit: Getty
July 11, 2019: Committee votes on subpoenas
The House Judiciary Committee votes to authorize subpoenas for 12 people mentioned in Mueller’s report, including President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler will make the final decision about issuing the subpoenas and has said they can be avoided if witnesses and the administration cooperate voluntarily. President Trump says the witnesses “have already spent hours with Robert Mueller, and spent a fortune on lawyers in so doing.”
Meanwhile, Flynn’s lawyers say he is still cooperating with investigations by the government and deserves to be treated with leniency when it comes time for his sentencing.
July 12, 2019: Mueller’s testimony postponed
Mueller’s testimony to Congress is delayed until July 24 under an agreement that gives lawmakers more time to question him. Mueller had been scheduled to testify July 17 about the findings of his Russia investigation, but lawmakers in both parties complained that the short length of the hearings would not allow enough time for all members to ask questions.
Under the new arrangement, Mueller will testify for an extended period of time with the House Judiciary and intelligence committees. Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his report.
July 22, 2019: Justice Department to Mueller: Don’t go beyond report
The Justice Department tells former special counsel Robert Mueller not to stray beyond his report on Russian election interference when he testifies to Congress. In a letter sent to Mueller two days before his scheduled testimony, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer said he should not speak about redacted material from his report — including material pertaining to pending criminal prosecutions, “uncharged third-parties” and “executive privilege,” such as “presidential communications privileges.”
The letter is entirely in line with what Mueller has already said — that he doesn’t intend to speak beyond his report’s findings during the hearings before the House Judiciary and intelligence committees. But it gives Mueller a formal directive to point to if he faces questions he does not want to answer.