When the long-awaited report from Special Counsel Rober Mueller was reportedly turned over to Attorney General Barr on Friday, the collective of the entire DC political beast sat awaiting details until today. Following nearly two years of investigation, the report reportedly found no evidence of Russian collusion between the Trump campaign or the President himself.
Some details from Reuters on what the report summary, provided by the Attorney General, contained today:
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election did not find that President Donald Trump committed a crime but also does not exonerate him, according to a summary of Mueller’s findings released on Sunday.
Mueller, who spent nearly two years investigating allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump defeat his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, also found no evidence that any member of Trump’s election campaign conspired with Russia during the election. “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” Attorney General William Barr quoted Mueller as writing in his report on the issue of possible obstruction of justice.
Mueller said he would leave it to the attorney general to decide whether a crime was committed.
Barr’s summary said Mueller found no evidence that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia, despite multiple offers from individuals associated with Russia.
While Mueller rendered an opinion on the question of Russian collusion, he rendered no opinion on the question of obstruction of justice, instead leaving that question up to the Attorney General. As you can imagine, this move by Mueller has created the question of political interference since Attorney General Barr stated today that the President will not be charged with obstruction. Barr was appointed by the President to his position so Democrats are using that connection as a means to call the obstruction finding into question.
What about the 2020 Democratic candidates? They have a lot of to say, and most of them have already released lengthy statements calling for the full Mueller report to be released to the public as soon as possible. Here’s a collection of reactions from the 2020 Democratic field:
Cory Booker released a tweet saying that the public deserves the full report and urged for the complete findings to be release beyond just the summary provided by the Attorney General.
The American public deserves the full report and findings from the Mueller investigation immediately—not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official. https://t.co/8Lj0O881Cw
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 24, 2019
Julian Castro tweeted saying that the Attorney General shouldn’t be the one who decides how much the American people can and can not see of the Mueller report and believes the report must be released in entirety.
A politically appointed Attorney General shouldn’t decide how much of the Special Counsel report Congress can read. The full report should be released and Robert Mueller should testify to its findings. https://t.co/4rNtqD19ko
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) March 24, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard, speaking at an event in New Hampshire, said, “It’s important to make sure that this full report is released so that the American people can read what the contents are.”
Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted saying the Mueller report must be made public and implied that the Attorney General has too much of a conflict of interest, having been appointed by the President, to be trusted with selectively releasing a summary or bits and pieces of the report. Gillibrand also implied that she doesn’t believe the report exonerates the President by stating that “he is not above the law.”
The Mueller report must be made public. Not just a letter from someone appointed by Trump to protect himself—all of it. The President works for the people, and he is not above the law. https://t.co/XH5NqzLJAb
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) March 24, 2019
Kamala Harris also tweeted saying that a summary from a “hand-picked” Trump appointee is not sufficient to make a final conclusion on what the Mueller report says. Harris also called for the “underlying investigative materials” to be released so that Americans can see how Mueller came to certain conclusions.
The Mueller report needs to be made public, the underlying investigative materials should be handed over to Congress, and Barr must testify. That is what transparency looks like. A short letter from Trump's hand-picked Attorney General is not sufficient.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 24, 2019
John Hickenlooper, speaking to reporters, said he hopes that as much of the Mueller report is released as the law allows.
John Hickenlooper on Mueller report: "Hopefully, they'll allow as much as possible to be released to the public." pic.twitter.com/QWkpNtl96w
— The Hill (@thehill) March 24, 2019
Jay Inslee tweeted saying that the American people deserve the opportunity to read the report in full and not simply accept a “sanitized” version from President Trump’s Attorney General. Inslee also said the administration cannot be trusted and used the #releasethereport hashtag.
The American people deserve the opportunity to read the full Mueller report, not a sanitized summary from Donald Trump’s hand-picked AG. The Trump administration has proven it can’t be trusted. It’s time to #releasethereport.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 24, 2019
Amy Klobuchar released several tweets this afternoon addressing the Mueller report, including a video of her standing outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, DC. In Klobuchar’s latest tweet on the subject, she said that the content of the summary from the Attorney General illustrates the reason why the entire Mueller report must be made public, especially all information pertaining to Russia’s attempts to interfere in the U.S. elections.
AG Barr's summary 4-pg letter of Special Counsel Mueller's investigation underscores that the ENTIRE report & documentation-including all information re Russia’s attempts to influence our election-need to be made public. The public deserves answers now-our democracy depends on it
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 24, 2019
Beto O’Rourke put out a short tweet on the subject calling for the full report to be released for transparency and accountability.
Release the full Mueller report to the American people and their representatives. There must be transparency and accountability.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 24, 2019
Bernie Sanders was speaking at a rally in San Francisco and reacted during his speech to address the Mueller Report, saying, “Well, I don’t want a summary of the report. I want the whole damn report, because nobody, especially this president, is above the law.”
Elizabeth Warren tweeted about the report pointing out that Congress voted unanimously to release the full report to the American public.
Congress voted 420-0 to release the full Mueller report. Not a "summary" from his handpicked Attorney General. AG Barr, make the full report public. Immediately.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 24, 2019
President Trump tweeted today that, in his opinion, the Mueller report “totally exonerates” him of questions concerning Russian collusion or obstruction of justice.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1109918388133023744
We searched for other candidates, including Andrew Yang and Pete Buttigieg, but couldn’t find any comments from them at press time.
If we find more comments on the Mueller report from other 2020 candidates we will update this story.
Exit question: What does this mean for Hillary Clinton in relation to 2020?
