Mueller Submits Trump-Russia Report. Pelosi Says Make It Public
While Trump is currently facing more than a dozen investigations in different courts of America for his and his family members’ alleged crimes, the findings in the Mueller report may lead to his impeachment.
By Rakesh Raman
After almost 2 years of investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller – who was leading a judicial team to assess the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election – released the report of his findings on Friday (March 22).
As President Donald Trump was accused of taking Russia’s help to win the presidential race fraudulently, he has been blaming rival Democrats and Mueller for starting the probe against him, often calling it a “witch hunt.”
While the Mueller report is expected to frame specific charges against Trump and his close associates including his family members, Trump has indicated that he and his supporters will not accept the report’s findings.
Earlier, Trump had fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions who was not willing to stop Mueller probe against Trump. On December 7, 2018, President Trump had announced William P. Barr’s nomination for Attorney General to succeed Jeff Sessions.
Barr – who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 14 – is known for his unconditional loyalty to Trump. He has openly criticized Mueller investigation, and in June 2018, he had sent an unsolicited 20-page memo to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Mueller probe.
In his memo titled “Mueller’s Obstruction Theory,” Barr raised questions about special counsel’s approach to potential obstruction of justice by Trump and opined that it was “fatally misconceived” and Trump’s actions were within his presidential authority.
Now it is largely believed that Barr will not release the original report submitted by Mueller and will show only a modified version of the report in order to protect Trump surreptitiously.
Therefore, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer have urged Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress.
“Attorney General Barr must not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any ‘sneak preview’ of special counsel Mueller’s findings or evidence, and the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public,” Pelosi and Schumer said in their statement released Friday.
The statement added that the special counsel’s investigation focused on questions that go to the integrity of American democracy: whether foreign powers corruptly interfered in the elections, and whether unlawful means were used to hinder that investigation.
“The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency,” the statement argued.
While Trump is currently facing more than a dozen investigations in different courts of America for his and his family members’ alleged crimes, the findings in the Mueller report may lead to his impeachment.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications on different subjects.
