DOJ releases Mueller's marching orders

Mueller also was tasked with investigating whether former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort likewise colluded with the Russian government, whether he committed crimes related to his work in Ukraine, and whether he committed a crime by taking loans from a bank CEO who was pursuing a job in the Trump administration.

The memo makes the same collusion allegation regarding former Trump campaign volunteer George Papadopolous, and also asks Mueller to look into whether he was an unregistered agent of the government of Israel.

The memo asks Mueller to probe four questions regarding Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who was fired less than a month into the job: whether he committed crimes by talking to Russian government officials during the Trump transition, whether he lied to the FBI about contacts he had with the Russian government, whether he failed to report foreign contacts and income on his background investigation application and whether he properly registered as an agent for the Turkish government.

The scope memo also permitted Mueller to add additional avenues of investigation with approval from Rosenstein's office.

The memo is also the second of three Rosenstein issued to structure Mueller's probe. In his final report, Mueller indicated that the first memo -- issued in May 2017 - simply outlined the overview of his probe to avoid identifying targets. The third memo, issued Oct. 20, 2017, added Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Roger Stone and other individuals to the scope of Mueller's probe.

A section of the memo is completely blacked out, which could indicate that whoever was named was not charged or was connected to an ongoing matter. A DOJ spokesperson did not respond to a request seeking clarification.

President Donald Trump's allies on Capitol Hill have long sought the memo, which until now has remained classified, arguing it will show that Mueller exceeded his authority.

Many of the allegations Rosenstein listed were borne out in what Mueller actually charged, although some were not.

Manafort was convicted of eight counts of fraud related to his foreign business dealings, Papadopolous pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials and Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his dealings with the Russian ambassador, although he's now trying to withdraw his plea.

Page was never charged, and an inspector general's report faulted the FBI for its handling of applications for warrants to allow the bureau to monitor his communications.

Trump has long said that Flynn was mistreated by government prosecutors, and in March, he tweeted that he is "strongly considering a Full Pardon!" While he dodged questions last week about whether he would grant Flynn a pardon, the president said that Flynn "is in the process of being exonerated."