WASHINGTON—Before the Mueller report became public on April 18, Democrats contended President Donald Trump is unfit for office because he obstructed justice, while Republicans insisted that it’s time to move on from the investigations and allegations.
And after Attorney General William Barr released a lightly redacted version of the Mueller Report?
Democrats still argued that Trump obstructed justice and should be thrown out, while Republicans say they need to leave the Russia collusion scandal behind and get serious about addressing the nation’s grave problems.
“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment.”
“The special counsel made clear that he did not exonerate the president. The responsibility now falls to Congress to hold the president accountable for his actions,” Nadler said.
Nadler added that “because Congress requires this material in order to perform our constitutionally mandated responsibilities, I will issue a subpoena for the full report and the underlying evidence,” in an apparent reference to the impeachment process.
When a reporter asked Nadler, “Does that mean impeachment?” he replied, “That’s one possibility; obviously, there are others. We have to get to the bottom of what happened and take whatever actions seem necessary.”
“As we continue to review the report, one thing is clear: Attorney General Barr presented a conclusion that the president did not obstruct justice, while Mueller’s report appears to undercut that finding.”
‘Move On’
For their part, Republicans boosted Trump, hailed Barr, and urged a new focus on Congress.“Notwithstanding the partisan echo chamber to do otherwise, I fully approve of how Attorney General Barr has balanced legal requirements with the public’s need to know in handling the release of the report,” he said.
Impeachment
The same pattern was seen April 18 among Democratic and Republican political strategists.Due to the Mueller statement cited by Nadler, Jim Manley, a Washington-based Democrat, told The Epoch Times he sees impeachment as a growing possibility.
Jimmy Williams, a former senior economic adviser to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and now a South Carolina-based strategist, told The Epoch Times he has no doubt that the full, un-redacted report should be released to Congress.
“The American people paid for this report. They deserve to see all of it. Period,” Williams said.
Asked if he would include grand jury, intelligence sources and methods, and ongoing investigation materials, Williams said, “Eventually, yes. At some point, all of these state and lower Justice Department investigations have to conclude.”
Republicans expect no letup from the Democrats, despite the Mueller report.
“Democrats will keep making demands. Nothing will ever be enough. They will use the redacted version to attempt to impeach Trump for obstruction, but that will be partisan and pointless,” Texas-based campaign strategist Matt Mackowiak told The Epoch Times.
“Speaker Pelosi has said impeachment must be impeachable. The question now is whether she can hold off her rabid progressive base by holding to that standard,” Mackowiak said.
And while they don’t expect Democrats to change their tune, Republicans told The Epoch Times they expect Barr and Senate Republicans to leave no stone unturned in the investigation of the origins of the Russia collusion probes under President Barack Obama.
“The origin of the Mueller investigation, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses, will now be investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Mackowiak said.
“Hopefully, Attorney General Barr will also fully probe that issue to determine if laws were broken,” he said.
And if that occurs, he predicted, “America is bound to repeat this fiasco one way or another.”
