For two years, Americans have waited with bated breath for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to conclude his investigation into allegations of collusion by Donald Trump or members of his 2016 campaign team with Russia to interfere with the election. On Friday, Mueller handed his report to Attorney General Bill Barr, and today, Barr released his summary of the report to the American people, in which it stated in no uncertain terms: there was no collusion. Furthermore, AG Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein felt that the gathered evidence of potential obstruction of justice by President Trump did not constitute actual obstruction, and therefore did not warrant prosecution.
The White House and Republicans are understandably taking a victory lap over the reports conclusions, and Democrats have begun shifting the goalposts over the supposed evils that Trump may have committed.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement, saying “The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.”
Aside from clearing President Trump, Mueller’s report found two main efforts by Russia to influence the 2016 election. The first involved the Russian Internet Research Firm (IRA) to spread propaganda and disinformation online in the run up to the election to “sow social discord eventually with the aim of interfering with the election,” according to AG Barr’s summary. The other effort was to conduct hacking operations to gather and disseminate information to influence the election. Mueller also referred several matters to other attorney offices for further action, but did not recommend any new indictments.
In all, Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation spanned 675 days, in which he issued 2800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, identified some 500 witnesses, and made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence. The breadth and depth of the investigation had Democrats believing that Trump would be found guilty of at least some of the charges they had leveled at him, but alas, he is not.
Some reporters have been saying that a sense of panic has begun setting in on Democratic campaign offices across the country as their primary argument to Americans to deny President Trump a second term in office was suddenly destroyed. It is not yet clear how the Democrats will respond, but it is expected that they will attempt to focus on other misdeeds they will allege the President to have committed.
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