Robert Mueller's final report on the investigations into whether Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia was turned in this past weekend, and on Sunday Attorney General William Barr released his summary findings which revealed no collusion. Trump and the right wing are immediately claiming victory and lashing back at their accusers, but in doing so that are ignoring some key findings from the report. But it also appears the Mueller pulled his punches and deferred to the Attorney General for the final conclusions which could allow Trump to walk away from this with no consequences.
The key conclusion from the report, and the one that Trump has been crowing about the most, is the following:
The fact that Mueller did not call out the actions of Donald Trump Jr. and the others involved in the June 9, 2016 meeting with Russian agents seems like a bad choice considering it is hard to argue they did not cross the line. But perhaps there is more on that in the body of the report with a suggestion that it be dealt with separately, and I expect that the House of Representatives will be looking further at that.
As for the obstruction of justice charge:
The fact that Mueller chose not to make a conclusion on the obstruction charge and that he did not carry out any further indictments is disappointing because it essentially makes this is a toothless report. It has also given the right wing plenty of ammunition and they have immediately moved towards weaponizing what they claim to be Mueller's findings.
Trump's claims that "this was an illegal take down that failed and hopefully somebody’s going to be looking at the other side" certainly sound like a threat and similar declarations have been coming from the right wing media. But there was nothing illegal about this investigation seeing as it was ordered by the Attorney General that was appointed by Trump. The investigation may have taken longer than many expected, but it remained within the bounds of the law. And the report did turn up plenty of illegal activity linked to Trump.
Mueller has basically punted on the issue and it will be up to the Democrats to pull anything positive from this. Hopefully the full report will be made public, and perhaps there is further information that will better justify the effort that went into it. But the Dems must tread lightly now because the public likely does not have much of an appetite for further investigations. And perhaps it's time to put this in the past and focus on which party is best qualified to lead and protect our Democracy while reinforcing our Constitutional government and the rule of law.
You can read the full text of the Attorney General's letter at this link.
The key conclusion from the report, and the one that Trump has been crowing about the most, is the following:
[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.That Trump was not found guilty of collusion should not come as a surprise. In his campaign as in his business dealings, he plays the mafia boss role quite well as he doles out any shady dealings to his underlings while he keeps himself an arm's length away. Considering the criminal activity that was uncovered from this investigation carried out by people working directly for Trump, it is quite clear that he surrounds himself with people of questionable morals and ethics while all the time claiming innocence for himself. This in itself should be concerning to all who are watching.
The fact that Mueller did not call out the actions of Donald Trump Jr. and the others involved in the June 9, 2016 meeting with Russian agents seems like a bad choice considering it is hard to argue they did not cross the line. But perhaps there is more on that in the body of the report with a suggestion that it be dealt with separately, and I expect that the House of Representatives will be looking further at that.
As for the obstruction of justice charge:
The Special Counsel states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."So Trump's claims that the report is "complete and total exoneration" are incorrect. He escaped any charges of collusion, but the final call on obstruction of justice were left to the Attorney General. And sadly, that was a poor choice because Barr has shown a clear bias against the report in the past, and was not the appropriate person to make the decision in this case.
The fact that Mueller chose not to make a conclusion on the obstruction charge and that he did not carry out any further indictments is disappointing because it essentially makes this is a toothless report. It has also given the right wing plenty of ammunition and they have immediately moved towards weaponizing what they claim to be Mueller's findings.
Trump's claims that "this was an illegal take down that failed and hopefully somebody’s going to be looking at the other side" certainly sound like a threat and similar declarations have been coming from the right wing media. But there was nothing illegal about this investigation seeing as it was ordered by the Attorney General that was appointed by Trump. The investigation may have taken longer than many expected, but it remained within the bounds of the law. And the report did turn up plenty of illegal activity linked to Trump.
Mueller has basically punted on the issue and it will be up to the Democrats to pull anything positive from this. Hopefully the full report will be made public, and perhaps there is further information that will better justify the effort that went into it. But the Dems must tread lightly now because the public likely does not have much of an appetite for further investigations. And perhaps it's time to put this in the past and focus on which party is best qualified to lead and protect our Democracy while reinforcing our Constitutional government and the rule of law.
You can read the full text of the Attorney General's letter at this link.
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