Trump is reportedly furious about the White House 'notetakers' who spoke with Mueller on his orders
If you ignore President Trump's Twitter rants, his public reaction to last week's release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report has looked like a "no collusion, no obstruction" victory lap. But "backstage, Trump realizes the damage the report has done, and has taken a much darker view of the post-Mueller landscape," Gabriel Sherman reports at Vanity Fair.
Specifically, Sherman says, "Trump is lashing out at former West Wing officials whom he blames for providing the lion's share of damaging information in Mueller's 448-page report," a group "known as 'the notetakers' that includes former White House Counsel Don McGahn, McGahn's deputy Annie Donaldson, and staff secretary Rob Porter." McGahn, who is cited 157 times in Mueller's report, "is receiving the brunt of Trump's post-Mueller rage," Sherman notes — a fact Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has acknowledged publicly to The New York Times.
"The thing that pisses him off is the note-taking," a former West Wing official who spoke with Mueller told Sherman. "Trump thinks they could have cooperated with Mueller without all the note-taking." Other officials who spoke to Mueller "are angry that Trump is blaming them for the contents of the report when Trump's legal team told them to cooperate," Sherman reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Giuliani, meanwhile, insisted that Trump's "mood is good" and his angry tweetstorms are "all very deliberate," designed "to undermine the blind adherence to what's said in the report. The report is only the prosecutors' version of what happened." Giuliani and Trump's other lawyers released their own rebuttal to Mueller's report, but people don't seem to have found it quite as compelling a read.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Does Nepal have too many tigers?
Under the Radar Wild tiger numbers have tripled in a decade but conservation success comes with rise in human fatalities
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - January 19, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - moving to Canada, billionaire bootlickers, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 inflammatory cartoons on the L.A. wildfires
Cartoons Artists take on climate change denial, the blame game, and more
By The Week US Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Pam Bondi downplays politics at confirmation hearing
Speed Read Trump's pick for attorney general claimed her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden warns of oligarchy in farewell address
Speed Read The president issued a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grilling
Speed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklist
Speed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
South Korea arrests impeached president
speed read Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained, making him the first sitting president to be arrested in the country's history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
House GOP unveils bill for Trump to buy Greenland
Speed Read The bill would allow the U.S. to purchase the Danish territory — or procure it through economic or military force
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ releases Trump Jan. 6 special counsel report
Speed Read Jack Smith's report details the president-elect's "criminal efforts to retain power" amid the 2020 election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published