No Collusion, but Why were they Dancing with the Russians?
If I take William Barr’s summary for face value, there was no collusion between Trump or his campaign and the Russian government. As collusion is not a legal term, Barr’s summary letter states that “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”Washington Post The Mueller report, as told by Barr, goes on to cite two cases of Russian interference in the US elections. WIthout the full report, we do no know what contact occurred between Trump and his campaign and the Russians trying to influence the election. There are many potential circumstances that would fall short of a coordinated conspiracy but still be highly inappropriate. The American people have a right to know about all the transactions that occurred with the Russians. The fact that so many of Trump’s associates lied about their contact with the Russians suggests something unusual was going on. Perhaps it was all about a real estate deal. I still have a right to know.
Can’t exonerate Trump on Obstruction of Justice
The Barr letter says that Mueller “considered whether to evaluate the [obstruction] conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment.” Barr goes on to write that the report “leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as difficult issues of law and fact concerning whether the President’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction.”Lawfareblog Barr then chose to make the judgement that the evidence in the report did not rise to level needed to prove obstruction of justice. Again, I find myself wanting to be able to read the full report. I cannot judge the legal issues, but as a voter I am asked to judge the behavior of Trump in terms of his fitness for office, his ethics, and his moral character.
Release the Full UNredacted Mueller Report
Without a release of the full, unredacted report, a cloud will remain over the Trump presidency. People will continue to wonder what the evidence was on obstruction and what actions the President took. If Trump truly wants to be exonerated, the full report must be made public.