Opinion: The Mueller report shows that Trump tried to undermine the Russia investigation, and William Barr tried to obscure it
For nearly a month, the American public has been under the impression, thanks to a four-page "summary" by Attorney General William Barr, that Robert Mueller could not decide whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice because of “difficult questions of law and fact.” Barr suggested that the special counsel, after 22 months of investigation, simply couldn’t make up his mind and left it to his boss to decide.
Though Mueller determined there was no “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, he makes clear that proving obstruction does not require the existence of such an underlying crime. There are many reasons, including fear of personal embarrassment, to explain why the president might have tried to impede the special counsel’s investigation.
In fact, Mueller concluded that Congress has the authority to remove Trump from office, noting that his “conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the President's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.” Mueller appears to believe that it is the role of Congress to ensure Trump is not above the law.What they do with it is in large part a political question.
But Trump will almost certainly never face a jury, due in part to the highly questionable efforts of his lawyers, who appear to need lawyers of their own. Their greatest achievement was convincing Mueller not to interview Trump, even though Mueller concluded he “had the authority and legal justification” to force Trump to testify.
That is not the only time Barr deliberately misled the American people. His letter from March is full of half-truths and highly misleading statements. For example, Barr quoted the following passage from the report: “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
More alarming, Barr stonewalled the House of Representatives, which has a constitutional duty to investigate criminal activity by the president. Despite repeated requests, Barr did not disclose the report to the House prior to its public release and has still refused to provide the full report to congressional leadership, leading House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York to state that he will issue a subpoena for the report.
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