Key takeaways from Robert Mueller's Russia report

President Donald Trump may not have obstructed justice, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Robert Mueller's 448-page report takes the American public inside the room with Trump as he expressed fear that the special counsel would end his presidency and made several attempts to get the people around him to curtail the probe into his campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Ultimately, Mueller found Trump's inner circle saved him from himself. They refused to carry out orders that could have crossed the line into obstructing justice.

FILE - In this June 21, 2017 file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. (AP PhotoAndrew Harnik, File)

Some key takeaways from the report:

TRUMP TRIED TO INFLUENCE THE RUSSIA PROBE

Mueller details several occasions.

Some occurred in public. Others behind closed doors. Trump ordered his White House counsel to try to have Mueller removed. He directed his former campaign manager to deliver a message to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make a public statement calling the investigation "very unfair." He also wanted Sessions to announce that Trump had done "nothing wrong" and to say that the investigation's scope had been limited.

Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O'Callaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference, Thursday, April 18, 2019, at the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP PhotoPatrick Semansky)

But people around Trump either refused or quietly allowed the matters to drop.

"The president's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests," the special counsel wrote.

NO COLLUSION, BUT NO EXONERATION

Special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as released on Thursday, April 18, 2019, is photographed in Washington. The section discusses Russia related communications with the Trump campaign. (AP PhotoJon Elswick)

Barr was generally right weeks ago when he released Mueller's key findings.

The special counsel did not find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. He did not recommend charging any Trump associates as agents of the Russian government or with campaign finance violations.

But on the question of obstruction, Mueller said there was evidence on both sides of the question. He said some of Trump's actions related to potential "garden variety" obstruction.

A sign for the Department of Justice hangs in the press briefing room Thursday, April 18, 2019, in Washington, at the Justice Department. Attorney General William Barr was to speak about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference, (AP PhotoPatrick Semansky)

"If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment," Mueller wrote.

IS THE REPORT GOOD OR BAD FOR TRUMP?

It depends on who you ask.

Trump's legal team claimed "complete vindication" by the report, and Barr emphasized at his news conference that there was no evidence of collusion.

Trump even tweeted out a Game of Thrones themed meme, saying "For the haters and the radical left Democrats — Game Over."

But the report describes in detail a president driven to interfere in the probe out of fear that it would "call into question the legitimacy of his election" and his own uncertainty that his family or associates may have violated the law.

Mueller wrote that on multiple occasions Trump did things that were "capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations." Some of that was in private, one-on-one encounters that witnesses relayed to the special counsel.

But the president's public acts also raised questions that they could have led witnesses to feel intimidated or alter their testimony, moves that Mueller said were equally threatening to the "justice system's integrity."

IGNORANCE OF THE LAW WAS A DEFENSE

That was the case for Donald Trump Jr. and a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer.

In June 2016, Trump Jr. agreed to take the meeting despite it being described in emails as part of a Russian government effort to help his father. Trump Jr. was looking for dirt that could be used against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The meeting raised questions about whether Trump Jr. and others violated the federal ban on foreign contributions to American political campaigns.

But Mueller, who interviewed many of the participants in the meeting, said he didn't find that he could bring a case.

The special counsel wrote that it was unlikely the government could prove that Trump, Jr. and others in the meeting "had general knowledge that their conduct was unlawful."

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

For complete coverage of the Mueller report, go to https://www.apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.

“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.

The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.

“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.

The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.

They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.

Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.

Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”

In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”

The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)

Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)