Are you feeling a little overwhelmed with news right now?
Did you watch the press conference by Attorney General Barr yesterday morning?
I did, and it was abundantly clear what he was doing was defending the President. I didn't need to hear pundits expounding on that later.
Did you download the text of the redacted Special Counsel report? With every intention to really plow into it. Right away.
(By the way, if you would like to have a copy of the report, you can download it here.)
Well, I did start reading the report. I skimmed the Table of Contents and got a couple of pages into the Introduction and . . .
Maybe like me you are finding this all so very overwhelming--not just the size of the document but mostly the enormity of the issue. And maybe like me, you would would like to know how to talk about this; how to understand the most salient points of the report.
Just a few minutes ago, I received an email with a copy of a press release prepared by the Office of the Speaker and Majority Staff on the
Judiciary, Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, Foreign Affairs,
Financial Services, and Ways and Means Committees. And I am going to quote that in its entirety.
The report does not exonerate the President.
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The report concludes the Trump team was aware and openly supportive of
Russian attempts to interfere in the election because they “expected it
would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through
Russian efforts.”
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The report lays out multiple instances in which the President tried to obstruct the investigation,
stating, “our investigation found multiple acts by the President that
were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement
investigations, including
the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations.”
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The Special Counsel determined that he would not make a traditional charging decision on obstruction of justice not because of lack of evidence, but because of the Department of Justice policy that a sitting President cannot be indicted.
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The voluminous evidence collected by the Special Counsel “indicate[s]
that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the
campaign and the President personally that the President could have
understood to be crimes or that would have risen to
personal and political concerns.”
Attorney General Barr deliberately distorted significant portions of Special Counsel Mueller’s report.There are at least four significant ways that Barr has misled the public on the contents of the Mueller report.
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The Special Counsel did not reach a charging decision in large part
because of the Department’s policy on not indicting a sitting president;
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That there is no “evidence of collusion,” when the report outlines
numerous illicit and improper contacts between Russians and Trump
campaign officials;
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The President’s “overall pattern of conduct … to protect himself from
investigations into his campaign,” including by firing the FBI Director,
pressuring senior officials to lie, refusing to be interviewed, and
attempting to fire the Special Counsel himself;
and
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The conclusion that the Trump team was aware and openly supportive of Russian attempts to interfere in the election.
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Contrary to the Attorney General’s assertion, the report “found multiple
acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence
over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference
and obstruction investigations. The incidents
were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the
President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels.”
The President demonstrated a pattern of unacceptable and
unpatriotic conduct in an effort to obstruct the Special Counsel’s
investigation.
- There
was an extensive and troubling pattern of calculated efforts by Trump
to interfere with and obstruct the Special Counsel’s investigation, and
subsequent repeated attempts to
cover it up through lies.
- In some cases, Trump tried to get his aides and associates to do his dirty work for him, placing them in legal jeopardy.
- Trump directed White House officials and aides to lie and suppress evidence, and then lied about it.
- Trump tried to interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation, and then lied about it.
- Trump and his personal attorneys tried to intimidate witnesses, particularly those cooperating with the Government.
- Just
because Trump’s aides and associates refused his orders, or failed to
follow through, does not make Trump’s actions ethical or remotely ok.
They are wrong, immoral, unethical,
corrupt and unpatriotic.
Congress has a constitutional responsibility to continue its investigations.
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Special Counsel Mueller’s report paints a disturbing picture of a
president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper
behavior and acting as if the law doesn’t apply to him.
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The report rejects the outlandish legal claims offered by President Trump’s defense lawyers. The Report explains that, “Congress
has authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in
order to protect the integrity of the administration
of justice,” which “accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”
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The report also states that key officials associated with the Trump campaign “materially impaired”
the Special Counsel’s investigation, that gaps in information exist,
and that there is the “possibility that the unavailable would shed
additional light
on (or cast in a new light) the events described in the report.” In
addition, the Special Counsel “learned that some of the individuals we
interviewed or whose conduct we investigated-including some associated
with the Trump Campaign---deleted relevant communications
or communicated during the relevant period.”
Mueller must testify before Congress.
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Attorney General Barr’s regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report, including his slanted March 24th
summary letter, his irresponsible testimony before Congress last week,
and his indefensible plan to spin the report in a press conference
later this morning — hours before he allowed the public or Congress to
see it — have resulted in a crisis of confidence in his independence and
impartiality.
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We believe the only way to begin restoring public trust in the handling
of the Special Counsel’s investigation is for Special Counsel Mueller
himself to provide public testimony in the House and Senate as soon as
possible. The American people deserve to hear
the truth.
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It is imperative that the rest of the report and the underlying
documents be made available to Congress and that Special Counsel Mueller
testify before both chambers as soon as possible.
The integrity of our very democracy is at stake.
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The report explicitly states that “the Russian government interfered
in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.” The Trump Campaign not only welcomed the assistance, but once President Trump was in office, he repeatedly tried
to dismantle the investigation through a pattern of bullying and deceit.
So the question is, what are we going to do about this? What MUST we do about this? I'd love to hear your comments.
