HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

The end of the beginning. Democrats want as much of the report — and its underlying evidence — made public as soon as possible. Anything less, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler declared on Fox News Sunday, would amount to a “cover-up.” But much of the counterintelligence portion of the investigation will be classified, and Trump’s White House might try to put more aspects of it off-limits, citing executive privilege.

The wrangling over how much to make public could take some time, as Barr notes there are Department of Justice rules against revealing grand jury information. We may yet see Mueller testify before Congress — the cable news event to end all cable news events.

2020 vision. Trump immediately declared victory, and his campaign pushed out a video entitled “COLLUSION HOAX.” The report is likely to further galvanize the president’s base against the news media and Democrats while removing a potentially powerful arrow from the quiver of Trump’s foes as the re-election campaign accelerates. Trump has another of his signature MAGA rallies scheduled for Thursday in Michigan.

No need to impeach? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pictured) has so far resisted calls from her party’s base to impeach Trump, and most Democrats were awaiting Mueller’s findings. Now that the results are in — and largely in Trump’s favor, at first blush — it will strengthen the case against impeachment. Expect the i-word talk from the left flank to continue, with an intense focus on any fresh Mueller-derived evidence of obstruction of justice. But party leaders are likely to hold off on pulling the trigger, as they see impeachment as bad politics.

Investigation nation. In all, there are roughly 17 investigations around Trump and Russia. Mueller was conducting seven of them, but Congress and local prosecutors will keep the others going for months, looking into areas far beyond Mueller’s narrow focus of the 2016 election and Russia.

With investigations into Trump’s administration, inauguration and business, Democrats hope to unearth more damaging information heading into the 2020 campaign. Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing for more investigations into the FBI’s conduct and how the probe into Trump’s campaign started under the Obama administration. “This was an illegal takedown that failed, and hopefully somebody is going to be looking at their other side,” Trump told reporters Sunday.

WHAT TO READ

It's Official: Russiagate Is This Generation's WMD by Matt Taibbi in an excerpt from the book Hate Inc.
We broke every written and unwritten rule in pursuit of this story, starting with the prohibition on reporting things we can’t confirm.

The Question the Mueller Report Has Not Answered by David Frum in The Atlantic
The prize of a Trump presidency must have glittered alluringly, indeed, to Putin and his associates. Why?

WHAT TO WATCH