The release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to Attorney General Bill Barr may have concluded a 22-month probe, but the debate is far from over. Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation demanding the Department of Justice release details regarding the obstruction of justice investigation of President Donald Trump, indicating that questions still abound.
Mueller’s report detailed the results of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Barr received the report on Friday and then released a summary of it on Sunday. Barr’s report stated that the investigation “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
Barr’s report also summarized the special counsel’s investigation into obstruction of justice concerns surrounding Trump. Here, Mueller did not come to a definite conclusion, instead outlining cases for and against bringing charges.
Barr stated in the report that the evidence presented “is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” That said, Barr did note that while Mueller’s report did not conclude that Trump committed a crime, it didn’t exonerate him, either.
Trump and his supporters hailed the report as a victory, saying it brought an end to what he had repeatedly deemed a witch hunt.
“The Mueller report was great,” he said to reporters on Tuesday. “It could not have been better. It said no obstruction, no collusion. It could not have been better.”
Democrats, particularly those who had claimed that Trump had conspired with the Kremlin, faced heavy criticism. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that the president was not fully exonerated by the report and joined six other committee chairs in calling for the full release of Mueller’s report.
Others said they were moving on to other areas such as the gender pay gap and health care.
“At this point the ball is in the court of the attorney general,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said. “House Democrats are focused on kitchen-table, pocketbook issues.”
By: Ellen Siefke | Editor-in-Chief
