Everyone has an opinion on the Mueller report. I waited a bit to share mine since I wanted to seriously consider the content.
I did think it important to actually read the report. Not the Attorney General’s summary. Not pundit takes on any side. The report itself. It’s a long, hard read and it has significant redactions. But it is fascinating. Congress absolutely needs to see the unredacted version, but even what we have seems to make a few things abundantly clear:
- Mueller was extremely conservative in his approach, but he did his job.
- AG Barr’s “summary” of the Mueller report wasn’t just misleading. It was wrong. I fully expected Barr to spin things as best he could. He’s a conservative Republican in the Trump administration. However, I would have never expected him to be so patently partisan. His previously solid reputation took a huge hit.
- While the report found no legal basis for charges of criminal conspiracy against Trump, Mueller absolutely found evidence of corruption and collusion with Russia. It’s just that none of what he found (beyond the numerous indictments already made) rose to the legal level of criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt. However, Mueller did lay out the case for further investigations based on the lesser standards required for impeachment or, more importantly, in the realm of public opinion. Despite constant denials of Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Trump campaign was aware of such interference, saw no problem with it, and gladly accepted it. Those actions may not have met the legal definition of criminal activity but that doesn’t mean it was acceptable behavior in a democracy.
- Most importantly, the report did NOT clear Trump of obstruction of justice charges. On the contrary, the only reason Mueller didn’t indict Trump for obstruction was Mueller’s strict adherence to a questionable DOJ policy that a sitting President can’t be indicted. Mueller explicitly laid out the cases, though, for possible immediate action by Congress and/or for possible post-Presidency charges against Trump. Nowhere did Mueller say or imply that he was deferring to the AG to make the call.
Trump now seems intent on denying Congress any access to members of his administration for the continued scrutiny outlined by Mueller. However, since Trump’s folks already cooperated with Mueller, there is zero basis for claiming executive privilege at this point. Trump is only forcing House Democrats to begin impeachment hearings.
While I’d personally prefer Congressional hearings short of impeachment, Democrats will have little choice if Trump persists in his obstruction. I have to believe that even a conservative Supreme Court will have to unanimously support the explicit Constitutional power of the House to conduct impeachment proceedings. In no case, however, should House Democrats allow the proceedings to move to a Senate trial prior to the 2020 elections. The current Senate will never vote to remove Trump from office and Democrats are much better off with the optics of drawn-out House hearings.
It’s also a much better political strategy for Trump to be defeated in an election rather than being removed from office. It would not only be better for our democracy; it would be infinitely more satisfying.