>> NARRATOR: Tonight... >> President Trump invoking executive privilege to block demands... >> NARRATOR: A growing constitutional crisis... >> ...voted to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress... >> NARRATOR: Sparked by an investigation of the President... >> ...former federal prosecutors saying Trump would be hit with felony charges if he was not President... >> Tonight on FRONTLINE...

The dramatic events that led the country to this moment.

>> It was a hoax.

It was a witch hunt.

>> He is everyday demonstrating more obstruction of justice.

>> NARRATOR: “The Mueller Investigation.” >> Robert Mueller has submitted his report on the Russia investigation.

>> Bob Mueller has submitted his report to the attorney general, period.

>> NARRATOR: The road to the Mueller report goes back to the 2016 presidential campaign and to Russia.

>> Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find... >> NARRATOR: Evidence of Russian interference had sparked a secret FBI investigation that followed Trump into the White House.

>> The very inauguration of President Trump, you know, poses challenges to the FBI, because they have investigations on Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman; Carter Page, foreign policy adviser to the president's campaign; George Papadopoulos, the foreign policy adviser to the campaign; and Michael Flynn, the national security adviser.

So, I mean, these are four people in the national security space who are all under FBI investigation.

>> NARRATOR: Within the first week of Trump's presidency, FBI director James Comey received a phone call.

>> Surprise call from the president.

"Want to come over for dinner, Jim?"

And Comey says, "Uh... Yeah, sure, Mr.

President."

>> NARRATOR: When he arrived at the White House for dinner, Comey discovered the table had been set for two.

>> Two.

Nobody else is going to be there.

He and the president.

>> NARRATOR: Suspicious of the president's motives for the meeting, Comey would type a record of the conversation.

>> We sat facing each other at a small oval table set for two and placed in the center of the room.

>> Comey says the president had very nice words for him.

And so it's this pleasant conversation.

And then the president says, "Can I expect loyalty from you?"

>> He needed loyalty and expected loyalty.

I did not reply, or even nod, or change my facial expression... >> NARRATOR: The president would ask for Comey's loyalty several times during the dinner.

>> It's a remarkable moment.

A president demanding loyalty of an FBI director.

>> He then returned to loyalty, saying, "I need loyalty."

I replied that he would always get honesty from me.

>> In the eyes of the White House, President Trump was feeling out Comey about where the investigation stood, how he was going to handle it.

Comey saw it as intimidation, possible obstruction of justice.

This is the moment where things really start to split.

>> Russia has come up again and again in this... >> NARRATOR: At the FBI, one of its investigations into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was picking up speed.

Intelligence agencies had intercepted a phone call between Flynn and the Russian ambassador.

And then Flynn had lied to the FBI about it.

>> He dissembles.

He suggests that he did not have such conversations with the Russian ambassador.

>> NARRATOR: Court documents detail what happened.

>> Flynn falsely stated that he did not ask Russia's ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions.

>> 25 days on the job, embattled National Security Adviser... >> NARRATOR: Flynn was forced to resign.

>> Shake-up for the Trump administration... >> A tumultuous first month in office... >> NARRATOR: But he was still in jeopardy from the investigation.

>> ...the first major departure of President Trump's senior team... >> NARRATOR: Now the president took an extraordinary step.

>> On Valentine's Day 2017, there was a meeting in the Oval Office between the attorney general and the director of the FBI, Jim Comey.

>> NARRATOR: As the meeting ended, the president wanted to speak to the FBI director alone.

>> He finally gets the two of them, just the two of them in the room.

And then proceeds to get to work on the Michael Flynn issue.

>> He began by saying he wanted to "talk about Mike Flynn."

>> Saying, "Can you just kind of ease up on him?

He's a really good guy."

>> "I hope you can let this go."

I replied by saying, "I agree he is a good guy," but said no more.

>> Is the president asking the FBI director to stop looking at Russian interactions with the campaign?

Is he trying to shut down a counterintelligence probe that began in July of 2016?

>> Trump's talking to the director of the FBI about an ongoing investigation by the FBI.

And at that point, he's really, from Comey's perspective, crossed the line.

>> It's really in direct contravention of policies that have been in place ever since Watergate to not have that type of interference by the White House in investigations undertaken by the department or the bureau.

>> Jim called me shortly after he left the White House.

And I remember just listening to the details of that meeting and really being in a state of shock, that’s when I realized that this was not simply a lack of sophistication or a lack of understanding about how we do our work.

>> It was an active effort to influence what we were doing.

>> NARRATOR: Once again Comey typed his notes of the meeting on his laptop.

>> Comey begins opening his laptop and typing down words, the phrases that he can remember the President said because he's that scared of what this is that has just happened.

>> There's an old adage in the organization that, "If it happened and you didn't write it down, it didn't happen."

And so I think that he was thinking, at that time, that, you know, "The president is at least walking himself down this trail to an investigation where he could become subject to investigation, and I need to be able to document what has happened."

>> For the first time, FBI director James Comey will reveal... >> NARRATOR: But Comey didn't back down.

>> Comey will be appearing before a House Intelligence Committee... >> NARRATOR: In fact, he went public in testimony before Congress.

>> ...and tell you what he knows-- it's all public, on live television, no filter.

>> Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Schiff, members of the committee, thank you for including me in today's hearing.

I'm honored to be here representing the people of the FBI.

I have been authorized by the Department of Justice... >> And he says, "I have been authorized by the Department of Justice," you know, "to confirm," and, and, kind of all heads turn to the television in every newsroom in America.

And, and we're saying, "Is, is Comey going to confirm on the record that they're investigating the Trump campaign?"

>> ...that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.

>> He confirms this in front of these lawmakers.

And that's kind of a big moment.

Suddenly we're off to the races.

This is now, to Trump's mind, a direct and public threat to his presidency.

>> I just want to make sure we get this on the record.

Uh, do you have any evidence that any current Trump White House or administration official coordinated with the Russian intelligence services?

>> Not a question I can answer.

>> That was the death knell, at least as we understand the, the president's thinking.

Once he heard and saw that, because apparently he was watching, that was, at least in his mind, that was the end of Jim Comey.

>> The head of the FBI dropped two bombshells landing at the White House doorstep.

>> Comey publicly confirming for the first time that the FBI... >> NARRATOR: As the headlines got worse, and under pressure from Comey, Trump left Washington.

He headed for his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

>> It's a sort of rainy weekend in Bedminster.

So Donald Trump is supposed to be out golfing.

He's stuck inside.

He's in a sort of foul mood anyway.

>> The president was frustrated.

His family was frustrated.

They felt like they were being swept into this riptide of an investigation.

And they thought if they could just pluck Comey out, that maybe the investigation could end.

>> Also new whirlwind developments reported in... >> NARRATOR: In Bedminster, on that rainy weekend, without any of his most senior staff members present, Donald Trump would make the most consequential decision of his first year in office.

>> Trump comes to the conclusion that, "I can't put up with this anymore, I'm going to fire Jim Comey."

There's no consultation.

There's just gut instinct and raw anger.

>> NARRATOR: Trump dictated a letter to Comey.

>> It is a rant, the original draft.

Nobody's original draft is that great, but this draft is Donald Trump unloading all of the reasons that, uh, Comey has failed him.

>> NARRATOR: On Sunday, Donald Trump returned to Washington with the letter, determined to carry out his plan to stop Jim Comey once and for all.

>> Comey has been indicating that he knows so much more than he's letting on and he's not... >> Comey opens up another investigation into Trump... >> Comey isn't backing down, he's said he wouldn't do anything... >> ...an active part of an FBI investigation, was there collusion between Trump associates... >> NARRATOR: The next morning in the West Wing, the word was out: Trump was preparing to take the fateful step of sending the letter.

>> Word gets back to Don McGahn, the White House counsel, that this document has been prepared.

And he freaks out.

>> Our understanding is that Don McGahn reads that and says, "Yeah, you, you don't want to send that."

>> NARRATOR: Even Trump's abrasive adviser Steve Bannon was stunned.

>> Of all people, Steve Bannon is the one in the room who's saying, "You can't get rid of this guy Jim Comey.

This would be a terrible, terrible mistake.

It's going to cause a firestorm."

>> Just play it out.

If you do this, it’s going to create a firestorm.

The FBI, institutionally, has to bleed you out.

You're just, they’re not going to allow somebody to fire and humiliate the head of the FBI.

And we’re going to get a special counsel on top of it.

>> NARRATOR: The White House counsel had a plan that might soften the blow.

>> McGahn had separately learned that Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, also had concerns with Jim Comey.

And he brokers this deal.

So he basically says to the president, you know, "Mr. President, you don't need to send that.

You should really talk to Rod Rosenstein."

>> NARRATOR: They set up a meeting between Rosenstein, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the president.

>> The president lets them know he wants to fire James Comey.

That's clear.

And the directive for Sessions and Rosenstein is to draw up the rationale, to write memos explaining why they believe Comey had made mistakes on the job and deserved to be fired.

>> NARRATOR: They had their orders.

Rosenstein would build a case against Jim Comey's handling of the FBI.

>> Rod Rosenstein, this guy who's served 27 years in the Justice Department, a Boy Scout, he looks like a Boy Scout.

And he thinks that Comey has violated the Justice Department norms by talking too much about Hillary Clinton during the election.

>> NARRATOR: The president wanted the memo as soon as possible.

It was a rush job.

Rosenstein delivered it the next day.

>> Rod Rosenstein's memo echoed what a lot of the Hillary Clinton campaign people had been saying for months, that Comey had inserted himself into the election, he'd made himself too public, he had taken on a role that did not really belong to him.

>> The director ignored another long-standing principle: We do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation.

>> Trump doesn't care about what Comey did to hurt Hillary Clinton.

But it becomes the excuse, or at least the initial excuse, the White House uses to explain why they were firing the FBI director.

>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump had fired hundreds of people face-to-face on "The Apprentice."

This time, as president, it would be different.

>> He just decides to do it.

Trump isn't going to deliver the message himself.

He sends his longtime bodyguard in a White House car with the pink slip over to the FBI to deliver the bad news.

>> Keith Schiller, the president's body man, can't get into the FBI.

The FBI is not a place you can just walk in and be, like, "I have a note for Comey, I'm from the White House."

"Great, you're from the White House, super.

You can't come in here."

>> NARRATOR: He dropped off the letter and left.

>> Breaking news, James Comey has been removed from heading the FBI... >> The attorney general looked at me and said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard but we’ve had to fire the director of the FBI.

It was completely disorienting, kind of in the blink of an eye, I immediately sensed that everything had changed.

So I just looked at the Attorney General and I said, “No, sir, I hadn’t heard that.” >> NARRATOR: As the news broke a political firestorm erupted in Washington.

>> Amid mounting outrage on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers are questioning the country’s very foundation... >> It comes off the heels of what many saw as devastating testimony.

>> NARRATOR: Inside the White House: Crisis.

>> Hope Hicks bursts in the door and says, “The President is watching TV.

He’s watching the coverage of the Comey firing.

And there’s no one out there to defend him.

You guys aren’t doing anything to fix this.

>> The White house is not interested in getting to the bottom of this though.

>> NARRATOR: At first the white house’s response was to point to deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

>> Deputy Attorney General is a gentleman by the name of Rod Rosenstein, Rosenstein.

He made a determination that the FBI director had lost his confidence... >> The message from the White House is, "We fired Comey because he botched the Hillary Clinton investigation, period."

>> You know, to those who say, "Why now, why fire James Comey now?

", what do you say?

>> Well, I would point them to the three letters that were received today, Anderson.

The letter by President Donald Trump, the letter by Attorney General Sessions, and really the underlying report by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who the FBI director reports to.

>> All of the people spinning on behalf of the White House told the press that the Comey firing was based on a memo from Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, which had to do with Comey's performance in the Hillary Clinton investigation.

Well, the press wasn't buying that.

>> Right, but a lot of this... >> Mr. Rosenstein goes on to say... >> Most of this letter focuses on Hillary Clinton's emails.

This is stuff that, as a candidate, Donald Trump praised James Comey for.

>> Many questioning if Comey was fired because the White House feared... >> NARRATOR: The next morning, the president would celebrate Comey’s firing behind closed doors with the two unlikely White House guests.

>> Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

>> Just ahead today’s meeting with the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov... >> Oye.

>> President will meet with Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office... >> That meeting.

>> He is the highest ranking Russian official that the President has met so far... >> In a way it’s like a play; you can’t believe it really happened.

But the president is essentially celebrating with the Russian diplomats.

>> One day after firing the man heading that probe into the Trump campaign ties to Russia, the President... >> No U.S. based reporters, no American White House reporters are in the room.

>> Russians came in with a photographer from their state media agency TASS, who took photos of this event, photos that were used, to some effect, in Russia, as propaganda.

>> Terrible optics.

Terrible optics that just you couldn’t have scripted it worse.

>> Trump says, ‘We’re going to have a great relationship.

There’s this investigation.

It’s just become a total irritant for me.

And he says, "Comey’s firing, lifted a great weight for me.

The guy was a nut job."

>> James Comey... First the firing, now the fallout.

>> NARRATOR: The crisis kept building.

>> Some are comparing Comey's firing to Richard Nixon's 1973 Saturday Night Massacre.

>> President Trump now facing outrage after firing Comey.

>> It is hard to overstate... >> NARRATOR: Then the president decided to speak out himself, on his old network.

>> This is "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt."

>> Tonight, stunning revelations from President Trump in our NBC News exclusive interview.

Tonight our wide-ranging... Monday, you met with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosen... Rosenstein... >> Right.

>> Did you ask for a recommendation?

>> What I did is, I was going to fire Comey.

My decision; it was not... >> You had made the decision before they came into the room.

>> I, I was going to fire Comey.

>> It is a dramatic moment to see the president come out and not only completely undermine the case that his White House had been making, as spurious a case and as odd... transparent as a case it was, it still had been the official line.

The president comes out and demolishes that case immediately.

>> So you had already made the decision.

>> Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation.

>> I think there's a level on which President Trump doesn't want to be portrayed as just doing the bidding of some aides who write a memo.

He's the decider, to coin a phrase.

>> In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, "You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won."

>> You know, the thing with Donald Trump is, he often says what he believes.

And if you just wait long enough, he'll, he'll tell you the truth.

I mean, he'll say it.

>> It is the interview that will likely dominate... >> NARRATOR: The interview backfired.

>> The President’s comments contradict the White House previous statements.

>> The president admitting Russia was on his mind.

>> At the FBI, acting director Andrew McCabe was concerned that the president had fired Comey to shut down the Russia investigation.

>> One possibility would be that the President did not want that issue investigated by the FBI was in fact in league with, or influenced by the Russian government.

And that is an unbelievably significant concern.

>> NARRATOR: McCabe informed Rosenstein that the FBI wanted to investigate the president of the United States.

>> I alerted Rod to the fact that my investigators had recommended opening a case on the President of the United States for both possibility of obstruction of justice and the possibility of national security threat.

>> NARRATOR: Rosenstein made a decision to appoint a special counsel to oversee the investigation.

>> Rosenstein said, "I need someone to not only stabilize the investigation, I need to stabilize the Department of Justice."

It had been under siege from President Trump, from public scrutiny.

>> NARRATOR: He named one of the nation's legendary prosecutors: former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III.

Mueller had a lifetime of preparation for this moment.

>> He volunteered to serve in Vietnam as a United States Marine, highly decorated, wounded in action.

>> NARRATOR: In the '90s, Mueller had tried his hand in the private sector at a prestigious law firm.

He hated it.

>> $400,000 a year, he felt like he wasn't doing the Lord's work.

He quit.

>> NARRATOR: He took a substantial pay cut to become a line prosecutor.

He worked homicide in Washington, DC.

>> His great joy was putting away bad guys and answering his phone, "Mueller, Homicide."

>> Bob Mueller cares about one thing, and one thing only: um, indicting bad guys and putting them in prison.

>> NARRATOR: A Republican, he'd run the FBI for both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Pulled out of private practice, Robert Mueller was back at the center of the action.

>> We begin with breaking news.

The White House in crisis.

The Justice Department appointed a special counsel to... >> This is a guy who has no problem with holding people accountable, being direct and driven to get the answer.

That he's going to do it right, you know, in accordance with the rule of law.

That's all that matters.

>> Justice Department tonight naming special counsel to take over the investigation.

>> He was announced as special counsel.

And I just go, “Oh my god, this is gonna be a grind.” Because this is a guy that doesn’t leave any stone unturned.

I mean now we’ve bought it.

>> ...and Mueller could expand the probe to include... >> NARRATOR: At the White House, the president happened to be meeting with Attorney General Jeff Sessions when Rosenstein called to announce Mueller's appointment.

>> President Trump doesn't like to get bad news, and this was bad news.

It was more than bad news, it was terrible news.

>> And now you see him really unleash all his anger on Jeff Sessions and plainly tells Jeff Sessions that, "You are the reason why all of this is happening."

>> NARRATOR: Sessions-- Trump's hand-picked attorney general-- had recused himself from the Russia investigation.

And now Sessions was powerless to stop Mueller.

>> Trump was furious and took it out on Sessions and humiliated him.

Trump obviously felt himself endangered by a special counsel, and, uh... lost his temper.

>> There are things that Jeff Sessions apparently won't do for Donald Trump, and Donald Trump won't forgive him for that.

>> NARRATOR: Sessions had had enough of the president's anger.

>> Sessions just ends up bolting out of the White House, rushing out to his car.

He said, "You want me to quit?

I'm going to quit."

>> He's resigning as, as attorney general.

He's distraught, and he's had it.

He's at the end of his rope.

He's been insulted by Trump.

He's, he's decided that that's it.

>> NARRATOR: In the West Wing, all hell broke loose.

>> Don McGahn, the legal counsel, bursts into Reince Priebus's office and says, "We've got trouble.

Not only do we have a special counsel appointed, but Jeff Sessions has just resigned."

Priebus says, "You're kidding me."

Priebus goes running down the staircase into the West Wing parking lot.

>> ...finds Sessions in his car preparing to leave.

And he bangs on the door.

"You got to come out.

You got to come back in.

You can't leave this way.

You can't just blow up like this."

>> And Priebus essentially almost has to drag him back up into the West Wing, where Vice President Pence and Steve Bannon then come in and join Priebus and, and talk Sessions off the ledge.

♪ ♪ >> I said, “Is there any doubt in your mind that this was divine providence that put us here?” He says, “no doubt.” I said, “And you’re never gonna quit?” And he says, “I will never quit.” I go, “no matter how bad it gets?” He goes, “I’ll never quit.” And that’s why I knew he was gonna hang in there.

And he had some very very very tough days.

>> It's clear that the Mueller investigation is just getting started.

We're going to head to Washington... >> NARRATOR: Across town, in an undisclosed secure location... >> ...continues to build something of a dream team... >> NARRATOR: The new special counsel, Robert Mueller, was just getting started.

>> When you become a special prosecutor, they give you a piece of paper with a mandate.

At that moment, you don't have anything else.

You don't have a staff.

You don't have agents.

You don't have prosecutors.

You don't even have a legal pad and a paper clip and a pen.

>> Mueller has quietly gathered a team of more than three dozen attorneys, investigators... >> NARRATOR: From his offices, Mueller built a formidable team.

>> ...I believe his term was "ninja assassins"... >> This is like this moment at the beginning of "The Avengers" movies, where all the superheroes are, are kind of spread across the globe, and Bob Mueller calls them all, and they all reassemble together in Washington to take on this new mission.

>> And the team Mueller has assembled may be the A team of prosecutors for an entire generation.

>> Aaron Zebley, who was a, an FBI agent before becoming a prosecutor.

>> Michael Dreeben, who is one of the smartest people I know, who's argued over a hundred Supreme Court cases.

>> Jeannie Rhee, who was a highly respected prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office.

>> Andrew Weissmann-- he has a reputation for being a scorched-earth prosecutor.

>> Mueller put Greg Andres on his team, who was an experienced mob prosecutor in New York.

>> I mean, that was the first sort of warning sign for the Trump White House, because, "They're killers," Steve Bannon calls them.

>> NARRATOR: Mueller's team had broad authority to investigate Russian interference, the Trump campaign, and, in the wake of the Comey firing, possible obstruction of justice by the president himself.

Trump was under siege.

In anger, he launched a counterattack.

>> This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history.

(tweet sends) There is no collusion and no obstruction.

I should be given apology!

(tweet sends) You are witnessing the single greatest witch hunt in American political history, led by some very bad and conflicted people.

>> The president definitely seized on that term "witch hunt."

He used it again and again.

He used it in tweets.

He used it when he was at a microphone.

It's something that he felt was working to undermine the Mueller investigation.

>> After seven months of investigations and "collusion with the Russians," nobody has been able to show any proof.

Sad!

(tweet sends) >> President Trump calling the Mueller investigation a witch hunt has an impact in Washington, in that the people who want to be loyal to President Trump can use that same language.

>> "Fox and Friends" starts right now.

>> NARRATOR: And at Fox News, that's just what happened.

>> The president is really mad.

>> He tweeted this out: "As the phony Russian witch hunt continues..." >> This is a very dangerous witch hunt.

>> Only because I think this is a witch hunt.

>> ...and put an end to the political witch hunt against President Trump.

>> NARRATOR: At the "New York Times," they had a lead on what would become the biggest story yet.

They had discovered another meeting between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

>> My colleagues and I had been doing some reporting on this, the idea that there was another Russian meeting that we didn't totally understand that had been undisclosed during the campaign.

>> NARRATOR: They learned Donald Trump, Jr., had hosted the meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Also in the room: Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The "Times" wanted a comment from the president, who was traveling on Air Force One.

>> My phone rings, and it's the Air Force One operator, you know, "Can you please hold?"

And it's, "I know we were supposed to have a call, I, I know we're, we're late.

Can you just give us a little more time?

We're working on this."

And of course we now know that at the front of Air Force One, Hope Hicks and President Trump are kind of working on this statement.

>> NARRATOR: The president had taken charge of writing the response.

>> He is at the center of it and driving it.

You have the president physically dictating a message that he's going to put in the name of his son, Donald Trump, Jr. >> The lawyers for the president are losing their minds.

They are not on Air Force One, but they are hearing secondhand that a statement is about to be issued to the "New York Times."

>> To write a statement, just...

I mean, that's just amateur hour.

But in fairness to these lawyers, I mean, I...

They couldn't control their client.

They still can't control their client.

>> The White House response to a report in the "New York Times" that claims Donald Trump, Jr., met with a Russian... >> NARRATOR: Trump's statement-- written for his son-- said the meeting was about adoption of Russian orphans.

>> It was a short introductory meeting.

I asked Jared and Paul to stop by.

We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children.

>> NARRATOR: But there was a reason for the meeting that the president's statement did not mention.

>> Last night, the "New York Times" published details about a meeting during the campaign involving a Kremlin-linked lawyer... >> NARRATOR: As the president returned to Washington, it didn't take long for the truth to come out.

>> The explosive news about President Trump and Russia.

It involves Donald Trump, Jr.

Breaking in the last... >> It only takes about 24 hours for that statement to completely blow up.

>> ...potential bombshell from the president's own son, Donald Trump, Jr.... >> NARRATOR: In the days that followed, the "New York Times" discovered a series of emails setting up the meeting.

>> Another day, another installment in the Russian election... >> The next day we reported that what had actually happened is that Don Jr. had been promised dirt on Hillary Clinton by this Russian lawyer.

>> The crown prosecutor of Russia offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia, and would be very useful to your father.

>> In the email setting up the meeting, Don Jr. was told that this meeting was part of the Russian government's efforts to support now-President Trump.

>> This is obviously very high-level and sensitive information, but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.

>> I mean, I remember saying, "Oh, my God.

It says it, it says it in an email?

'This is part of the Russian government's efforts to support Donald Trump'?"

>> And what does Don Jr. write back in an email?

"If it's what you say, I love it."

>> I love it, especially later in the summer.

>> Coming on top of everything else that had come out about all these Russian contacts with the campaign, the Trump Tower email trail was incredibly damning.

>> NARRATOR: For his part, the president would downplay the importance of the meeting.

>> Nothing happened from the meeting, zero happened from the meeting.

And honestly, I think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people would do.

>> Now we’ve got another email >> NARRATOR: But special counsel Robert Mueller was paying close attention.

>> The laws in this country are very clear.

It is absolutely forbidden from a foreign, for a foreign government or a foreign person for taking part in a domestic campaign.

So I can understand entirely why the Mueller team is focused on that meeting.

>> We’ve now learned there could have been at least eight people in the room.

>> NARRATOR: Another question for Mueller’s team —was there anything illegal about the president’s misleading statement?

>> The president's lawyers, they're intensely concerned that the president has essentially now added to an obstruction case.

>> NARRATOR: Mueller would look into the writing of that statement on Air Force One.

>> If the president's up there, and he's deliberately crafting a lie to cover the purpose of the meeting, is that another step in, in the obstruction investigation?

Is it also another step in terms of the conspiracy/collusion investigation?

>> It shows that the Trump team was willing to engage with the Russians... >> What is it that special counsel Robert Mueller knows?

>> NARRATOR: And before long, Mueller's investigation started to produce results.

>> Now there's this new reporting from the "Wall Street Journal," reporting that special counsel Robert Mueller... >> That special counsel Robert Mueller has issued subpoenas... >> This morning, unsealing a guilty plea... >> NARRATOR: Trump campaign foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos pled guilty to lying about Russian contacts.

>> ...former Trump aide George Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to making false statements... >> NARRATOR: Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his deputy, Rick Gates, were indicted on numerous charges ranging from conspiracy to money laundering.

>> ...Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates were told to surrender to federal authorities this morning.

>> NARRATOR: Michael Flynn pled guilty to that charge of lying to the FBI.

>> White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying... >> NARRATOR: And then the FBI dramatically escalated the showdown.

>> Breaking news tonight, and it's a bombshell.

The FBI raids the office of President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

>> NARRATOR: The president, as he watched the raid on television, was furious.

>> Trump erupted-- he was very upset.

He was consumed by this news all day.

Uh, it was very troubling for him and scary for him.

>> ...FBI raiding his office, his home, and a hotel room... >> White House advisers are saying, "Can we turn off the televisions?"

All the president is doing, they say, is getting himself agitated.

Click over to Fox... >> This is a Fox News alert.

There's some breaking news today... >> He watches CNN.

>> As the FBI raids the office of President Trump's personal lawyer... >> He'll go to MSNBC.

>> "New York Times" breaking the news in the last few minutes that the FBI has raided... >> He'll go back to CNN.

>> ...also seized emails, tax documents, and business records... >> And he'll just keep seeing those two words on the chyron, "Michael Cohen."

And it sends him into a rage.

>> The no-knock raids by FBI agents were the result of a referral by special counsel Robert Mueller... >> NARRATOR: To the president, it was a personal assault, from the FBI, the Department of Justice, and Robert Mueller.

>> A lawyer is just like a priest, a doctor, and a wife, in terms of privilege.

So I don't blame President Trump for being a little upset that somebody was looking into what he may have told his lawyers.

>> NARRATOR: The Cohen raid was a sign Trump's personal life in New York was colliding with his presidency in Washington.

>> Cohen brings it right back to Trump Tower, to how Trump really operated for decades, having someone like Michael Cohen-- not just a lawyer, but a fixer-- at his side.

>> NARRATOR: Cohen was infamous for his role in the Stormy Daniels story: orchestrating a hush-money payment to the adult film star who threatened to reveal a sexual encounter with Trump.

>> He cleans up messes.

And an accusation about an affair, a demand for some kind of compensation to keep quiet, that's exactly the kind of problem that Cohen would like to try to solve for Donald Trump.

>> Michael is very good at killing stories.

He's gotten Trump out of a lot of issues, I would, I would say.

And that was his job, and he's done a good job out of it.

>> NARRATOR: Now Cohen was the target of a federal investigation, one which could expose the work he did for the president.

>> There is a ton that he could tell prosecutors.

>> A very real possibility that he's going to cooperate.

>> ...reportedly is connected to the Stormy Daniels story... >> If he overstepped the line... >> NARRATOR: The day of the Cohen raid, the White House insisted it was business as usual.

They invited the press into a national security meeting.

But Trump wanted to go on the attack.

>> Come on in, folks, come, come in.

So I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys-- good man.

And it's a disgraceful situation.

It's a total witch hunt.

>> The president is so enraged and obsessed with what's just happened that he can't keep himself from talking about it.

At a public briefing, he repeatedly uses the words, "disgrace," "a disgrace."

>> And it's a disgrace.

It's, frankly, a real disgrace.

It's a... an attack on our country, in a true sense.

>> Something clearly happens with the president after Michael Cohen comes under scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

The president views that very much as a threat to him.

>> These people have the biggest conflicts of interest I've ever seen.

And I have this witch hunt constantly going on for over 12 months now.

>> The investigation of Michael Cohen has to feel, to the president, like an arrow pointed directly at his chest.

It has to feel that this is aimed precisely at uncovering the president's own history, both before he took office and since he took office, in ways that perhaps might be the most deeply sensitive to him.

>> This is a pure and simple witch hunt.

Thank you very much, thank you.

(reporters clamoring) >> It's a whole other avenue of potential exposure, criminal exposure, to the president.

>> Thank you all very much.

>> This was clearly someone who was a very close adviser and attorney to the president.

And he was especially involved in what might be seen as the president's shady business.

(reporters clamoring) >> NARRATOR: The raid on Cohen; Mueller's continuing investigation; there was even talk of impeachment.

The president was determined to escalate.

He brought in a new lawyer.

>> The president has done nothing wrong.

Read my lips, nothing wrong.

>> He hires Rudy Giuliani, and he really hires a pit bull.

He hires someone who is really going to be launching an offensive strategy.

>> There's been too much government misconduct.

The crimes now have all been committed by the government and their agents.

>> Trump wants to be in warrior mode; Giuliani agrees.

It goes from a private negotiation to a public war.

And that's a turning point.

>> NARRATOR: Trump and Giuliani initiated an unfettered attack against Mueller's investigation and any move toward impeachment.

>> Rudy Giuliani was going to change the strategy.

He said, "Let's really make this into a political confrontation.

Let's make it into a blue-red, uh, debate and, and conflict."

>> So our jury is, as it should be, is the American people.

And the American people, yes, are-- Republicans, largely, independents, pretty substantially, and even some Democrats now question the legitimacy of it.

>> What Giuliani is saying is, "Impeachment will never get off the ground unless the public is behind it."

>> This is a Fox News alert.

President Trump is getting set to leave the White House... >> NARRATOR: In order to protect himself... >> ...new strategy to take his message to the voters... >> NARRATOR:...the president worked to undermine public confidence in the Justice Department and the FBI.

>> In a campaign-style rally, a defiant President Trump... >> When you look at what was going on at the top of the FBI, it is a disgrace, and everybody in this room understands it.

>> One thing we know about this president, he doesn't care about collateral damage.

And he doesn't care about collateral damage on his associates.

And he doesn't care about collateral damage on American institutions.

And so the stakes could not be higher.

>> It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!

Witch hunt!

(tweet sends) I have the absolute right to pardon myself.

(tweet sends) >> Look at what's happened.

Look at how these politicians have fallen for this junk.

Russian collusion.

Give me a break.

>> As long as the country is sort of divided, and he has his defenders, he can undermine those who are attacking him.

>> Take a look at the intelligence agencies.

Honestly, folks, let me tell you, let me tell you, it's a disgrace.

We got to get back down to business.

It's a disgrace.

>> It's basically a kind of divide-and-conquer kind of strategy.

"If we can stay in this kind of divided state, there will never be enough consensus behind the idea of impeachment to actually drive it forward."

>> Top story we're watching this morning, FBI agent Peter Strzok set to testify about... >> ...will defend himself against allegations of bias in a public hearing... >> NARRATOR: On Capitol Hill, House Republicans rallied behind the president and joined in his attack strategy.

>> ...the House Oversight and Judiciary hearing about to begin with the senior FBI agent... >> NARRATOR: The Republicans' target: top FBI agent Peter Strzok.

>> ...testimony that you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

>> NARRATOR: Months before, Mueller had removed Strzok from his team.

>> Pete Strzok is the embodiment of the president's defenders' case that the FBI and the Justice Department are biased against Donald Trump and the people surrounding him.

And this whole investigation is tainted.

>> NARRATOR: The hearing focused on text messages critical of the future president between Strzok and an FBI attorney with whom he was having an affair.

>> You want me to read this?

>> Yes, please.

>> Yes, sir: "OMG, he's an idiot."

>> July 19, 2016.

>> "Hi.

How is Trump other than a douche?

Melania?"

>> July 21, 2016.

>> "Trump is a disaster.

I have no idea how destabilizing his presidency would be."

>> Ms.

Page said, "Not ever going to become president, right?

Right?!"

>> Uh, "No, no, he's not.

We'll stop it."

>> Repeat that again.

>> "No, no, he's not.

We'll stop it."

>> Peter Strzok did and said things that gave them ammunition to say, "Well, you must be biased, therefore, the whole investigation is biased, therefore the whole thing is, uh, discredited."

>> NARRATOR: Strzok said his personal opinions didn't affect his work.

And a D.O.J.

inspector general's report found no evidence that it had.

>> And you have come in here and said, "I have no bias."

And you do it with a straight face.

And I watched you in the, in the private testimony you gave.

And I told some of the other guys, "He is really good.

He's lying.

He knows we know he's lying.

And he could probably pass a polygraph."

It's amazing... >> Mr. Chairman.

>> No, this is my time.

>> Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry, I... point of order.

>> It was an outcry of the Republican base, fed up with the establishment.

A government was at war with itself in that moment, and Louie Gohmert was the congressman who personified that battle.

>> It's my time.

>> That's a disgrace.

>> The gentleman from Rhode Island will suspend.

>> No, the disgrace is what this man has done.

>> The gentleman from Texas will suspend for a moment.

>> There is the disgrace.

And it won't be recaptured anytime soon, because of the damage you've done to the justice system.

And I can't help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife's eye and lie to her about Lisa Page... >> Mr. Chairman, this is outrageous.

>> The credibility of a witness is always an issue and you... >> Mr. Chairman, please.

>> Have you no decency?

>> This is intolerable harassment of the witness.

>> What is wrong with that?

You need your medication?

>> Peter Strzok becomes a perfect exemplar for them.

You know, the symbol of all that they can attach to this, uh, you know, cabal at the top of the FBI.

>> President Trump is kicking off his weeklong trip to Europe.

>> NARRATOR: The day after the Strzok hearing, Donald Trump was on his first presidential visit to the United Kingdom.

>> ...also meeting with the Queen of England.

>> As the highlight of any president's visit to the United Kingdom.

>> NARRATOR: Just then, reporters at the Justice Department were told a surprise announcement was coming.

>> We were sitting in the seventh floor of the Justice Department waiting for this news conference to begin.

The mood in that room was very tense.

There was a lot of excitement, people were wondering what would happen.

And on the screen was CNN footage.

>> Let me just stop you there.

The deputy attorney general is speaking in Washington.

Fascinating, let's listen in.

>> 11 of the defendants are charged with conspiring to hack into computers, steal documents, and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election.

>> Rod Rosenstein came out and said, "We have identified Russian G.R.U.

officers, down to the offices where they sat and their exact names."

>> According to the allegations... >> It was a remarkable moment.

>> ...the defendants work for two units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, known as the G.R.U.

>> It is by far the most extensive evidence laid out publicly, um, that almost makes it irrefutable that Russia did do this.

>> NARRATOR: The indictments were the work of special counsel Robert Mueller.

>> After a year of listening to Trump say, "This is all a witch hunt, this is all fake news, nothing is real, there was no collusion," here's Mueller's answer: "Oh, really?

Look at this.

Look what we have."

>> When we confront foreign interference in American elections, it's important for us to avoid thinking politically as Republicans or Democrats and instead to think patriotically as Americans.

>> Rosenstein, I'm quite sure, enjoyed going out there with an affirmation of Justice Department independence, to be able to announce these indictments about something that Trump says is a witch hunt.

He's been trashing this investigation for over a year.

What a statement of D.O.J.

independence.

>> Well, well, you've been listening to the deputy attorney general with a news conference timed literally as the U.S. president and his wife were walking into Windsor Castle for tea.

>> It was a dramatic scene.

And for President Trump, yet again, the cloud, as he calls it, hangs over his entire presidency.

That he doesn't really understand where it's going, or what's coming next, and if it's coming for him.

♪ ♪ >> With tensions between the U.S. and Russia at the highest level since the Cold War... >> President Trump's Helsinki summit with President Vladimir Putin expected... >> NARRATOR: Three days later, in his first one-on-one summit with Vladimir Putin, President Trump showed little concern about the indictment of the Russian officers.

>> President Trump is standing next to the person who intelligence agencies say ordered the hacking and the meddling of our elections.

>> I have just concluded a meeting with President Putin on a wide range of critical issues for both of our countries.

>> The staff has no idea what's going to happen, obviously.

This is a president who doesn't stick to the script, so you never know for sure what, what he's going to say.

>> Mr. President, you tweeted this morning that it's U.S. foolishness, stupidity, and the Mueller probe that is responsible for the decline in U.S. relations with Russia.

>> I do, I hold both countries responsible.

I think that the United States has been foolish.

I think we've all been foolish.

>> He launches into a monologue, um, a rampage, about, "We're, we're to blame.

The Russians might be to blame, but we're also to blame."

>> I think that the, the probe is a disaster for our country.

I think it's kept us apart, it's kept us separated.

There was no collusion at all.

Everybody knows it.

>> President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016.

Every U.S. intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did.

My first question for you, sir, is, who do you believe?

>> "Who do you believe?"

That's the starkest possible way to put that question, question to the president.

>> My people came to me, Dan Coats, came to me, and some others.

They said they think it's Russia.

I have President Putin.

He just said it's not Russia.

I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be.

>> This was somebody who, only days after an indictment against Russian military officials, appeared to be siding with a foreign country as opposed to the conclusions of U.S. intelligence and U.S. law enforcement.

>> I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.

>> But if you listen to his words, he's saying, "Well, my intelligence chief Dan Coats comes to me and says this.

But Putin has told me very strongly that he didn't do it."

When Trump uses the words "very strongly," he's using an adjective, to him, that means almost more than anything.

>> NARRATOR: Just before the president left the stage, he had one final statement to make.

>> And, and I have to say, if anybody watched Peter Strzok testify over the last couple of days, and I was in Brussels watching it, it was a disgrace to the FBI, it was a disgrace to our country.

And you would say, "That was a total witch hunt."

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you.

>> The president of the United States cannot let go that someone is challenging his legitimacy... >> Disgraceful play by the president... >> Extraordinary moment in American history, something I thought I would never see... >> There was an immediate sense that that had gone about as bad as it possibly could.

That all of their efforts to corral him, prepare him for this moment, had failed to protect the administration, to protect the president from his own worst impulses.

>> NARRATOR: In the months that followed... >> We've got breaking news on the Mueller Report... >> NARRATOR: ...Robert Mueller finally completed his investigation.

>> ...the Mueller Report has been delivered... >> NARRATOR: Over 400 pages... >> ...the investigation is now over.

>> NARRATOR: ...the report did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia.

>> It was a complete and total exoneration.

>> NARRATOR: But on obstruction of justice, Mueller laid out extensive evidence that Trump tried to influence the investigation... >> ...the president engaged in public attacks on the investigation... >> NARRATOR: ...from those conflicts with FBI Director Comey... >> ...substantial evidence corroborates Comey's account of the dinner... >> NARRATOR: ...to that struggle with Attorney General Sessions... >> The president became angry and lambasted the attorney general for his decision to recuse.

>> NARRATOR: ...establishing a pattern of obstruction... >> ...the president engaged in a series of targeted efforts to control the investigation... >> NARRATOR: But Mueller stopped short of indicting the president.

>> ...a sitting president is entitled to immunity from indictment... >> Attorney General Barr is expected to release his first summary of the report... >> NARRATOR: Despite Mueller's evidence, Trump's new attorney general quickly cleared the president.

>> The evidence developed by the special counsel is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense.

>> ...Barr accused of trying to put his own spin... >> Lawmakers accused Barr of protecting the president... >> NARRATOR: But in Congress, as Democrats read Mueller's evidence-- outrage... >> Democrats are not happy with the way the attorney general handled this... >> NARRATOR: ...escalating the conflict.

>> Democrats want to see everything.

>> ...issued a subpoena demanding the full report... >> NARRATOR: As he had all along, the president fought back.

>> The White House was taking another step to stymie Democratic-led investigation... >> President Trump invoking executive privilege to block demands for full access... >> NARRATOR: Mueller's investigation has put the government on the verge of a constitutional crisis... >> President Trump appears to be heading toward a constitutional crisis with House Democrats.

>> More than 700 former federal prosecutors saying Trump would be hit with felony charges if he was not president.

>> NARRATOR: ...testing the powers of the presidency... >> ...crucial House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress.

>> Donald Trump Jr. has been subpoenaed to answer more questions about Russian interference.

>> NARRATOR: ...and American democracy.

>> Top Democrats in Congress are raising the possibility of impeachment proceedings against the president.

>> Some lawmakers argue the Mueller Report laid out a road map for impeachment... ♪ ♪ >> I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh... >> NARRATOR: A supreme court face-off... 30 years in the making.

>> You will see a system that has become toxic.

>> When Bork got taken down, they promised never to forgive.

>> It was raw politics and it was war.

>> Mitch McConnell is a tactical genius.

>> We’re not giving a lifetime appointment to this president on the way out the door.

>> Unprecedented.

>> Democrats are outraged.

>> We’re living in the era of the McConnell Court now.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org >> For more on this and other "Frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.

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