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Mueller report memes get redacted for your amusement

Try not to black out while reading these faked-up pages from the special counsel's report.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper

The long-awaited report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 election was released Thursday. But even before it became publicly available, Americans were anticipating what the redacted, or blacked out, version would look like.

A tweet from Los Angeles Times journalist Jon Schleuss gave an official answer to that question, showing that plenty of pages of the Mueller report were indeed blacked out. But the content wasn't redacted in the kind of humorous patterns Twitter users created.

Naturally, there was at least one Rickroll.

Some memes got a bit meta, surmising what the social media atmosphere would be like once the report was read.

Sometimes, redaction is everything, as with this tweet showing a completely blacked-out page.

Even actor Rainn Wilson jumped into the fray.

Coded messages hidden in the pages were common.

Shakespeare had his turn, with a jab at the president's complexion.

But there was also other news. Former Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges noted, "I know the redacted Mueller Report is out today, but please don't let that overshadow the news that Jason Momoa shaved his beard."

Originally published 10:06 a.m. PT.
Update, 12:50 p.m. PT: Clarifies that tweet showing all the redactions came from the Los Angeles Times.