The Justice Department posts online a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election online; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.
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President Donald Trump pushed for obtaining Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s private emails and his campaign was in touch with allies who were pursuing them, according to the redacted special counsel’s report released Thursday.
On July 27, 2016, Trump famously said at a campaign rally, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” referring to emails that Clinton said she had deleted from her private server. She had used a private account during her tenure as secretary of state.

Attorney General William Barr and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein hold a press conference on the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller said he lacked confidence to clear Donald Trump of obstruction of justice but suggested Congress could take action on at least 10 instances where the president sought to interfere with the probe.
“We concluded that Congress has authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice,” he said in the report sent to Congress on Thursday.
Mueller said acts of possible obstruction include “discouragement of cooperation with the government and suggestions of possible future pardons.” The 448-page report cited actions including Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey and efforts to have former Attorney General Jeff Sessions take control of the investigation.

Attorney General William Barr spoke to reporters in advance of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which was submitted last month. A lightly redacted version of the report will be released publicly on Thursday.
Here are Barr’s remarks as prepared for delivery.
Good morning. Thank you all for being here today.
On March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation of matters related to Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and submitted his confidential report to me pursuant to Department of Justice regulations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Tuesday, as the freshman legislator continued to face accusations of antisemitism led by President Donald Trump.
“I don’t think the congresswoman is antisemitic,” Pelosi said during an interview with CNN‘s Cristiane Amanpour.
Last weekend, Trump published a tweet featuring a video of Omar saying that Muslims had been treated as second-class citizens because “some people did something,” on September 11, 2001 — when the Al Qaeda terror group carried out attack that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.

Israeli startups raised a total of $1.55 billion in the first quarter of 2019 across 128 deals, according to a new report published Tuesday by Tel Aviv-based market research firm IVC Research Center Ltd. and law firm Zysman Aharoni Gayer & Co. (ZAG/S&W). The sum represents a 28 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2018, spread across 15 percent more deals. Venture capital players accounted for 71 deals and $1.3 billion of the total sum raised.

Police arrested a 37-year-old New Jersey man for trying to enter St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City with 2 gasoline cans and lighter fluid Wednesday — 2 days after fire devastated Notre Dame.
“His basic story was that he was cutting through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue, that his car had run out of gas. We took a look at the vehicle. It was not out of gas, and at that point he was taken into custody,” NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.
No fire was started in the cathedral, which was built in 1878. The incident takes place just  days after a fire tore through the centuries old cathedral at Notre Dame.

Nine Months to the Siyum HaShas
Lomdei Daf Yomi are celebrating the completion of Maseches Chulin, inching their way closer to the 13th Global Siyum Hashas of Daf Yomi, slated for January 1, 2020 at Metlife Stadium.
The study of this 142-blatt masechta began on November 29, 2018, and concluded on April 18, the day before Erev Pesach 5779, a period of almost five months.
Daf Yomi has now commenced Maseches Bechoros, the first of the final six masechtos in the cycle.