Mueller report: locked behind Barr

Attorney General’s withholding denies Americans answers, prevents government accountability

Ali Ulin / Asst. Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

For three years, the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election has been questioned by the media, American voters, and the FBI. For almost two of those years, Special Counsel Robert Mueller led a team of FBI investigators looking into the possibility of election collusion between all those involved in Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian intelligence and espionage. On March 22, Mueller completed and delivered the nearly 400-page report of his investigation to Attorney General William Barr. Barr’s meager four-page summary claimed that there was no evidence that the Trump campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” In a statement to the press, Barr claimed “the evidence developed is not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” Furthermore, Barr has committed to releasing a redacted copy of the report to the public in mid-April, but has so far refused to ever release an un-redacted version. When Mueller’s report first reached Barr, Trump seemed willing to grant the public full access to the report, saying, “Let it come out. Let people see it.” As Democratic cries for the report’s release grew louder, the president’s confidence faded into defensiveness. On Tuesday, Trump called releasing the full report a “waste of time” and a “disgrace.” Whether the president likes it or not, Mueller’s investigation is complete and the report is here. What matters now are the findings published in the report and the consequences they may hold. 

When former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified in front of Congress in February of this year, suspicions of Trump’s collusion with Russia regarding the election spiked after Cohen’s suggestion that Trump at least coordinated with Russian forces. This was similarly controversial to the release of the Mueller report as Cohen claimed he did not know of any incriminating or direct evidence pointing to campaign collusion with Russia though he felt that there was a high chance that Trump if not actively sought out help, at least knew of the Russian conspiracy. He also declared that multiple accusations against Trump and the Trump campaign were blatantly false, namely that Trump had visited Prague to meet Russian officials to pay off Russian hackers and that Trump directly told Cohen to lie to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow. Amidst all this controversy, Mueller’s report offers the best chance to clearly establish what did and did not occur surrounding the 2016 election. 

While some argue that the romance between Trump and Russia is a fantasy constructed by spiteful Democrats and a delusional media, the possibility of collusion and conspiracy is anything but fiction. The narrative from the executive branch has long been tales of building a campaign, election, and presidency on the backs of the American public’s honest desire, sometimes referred to as a need, to “drain the swamp.” However, the relationship between Russian espionage and the U.S. election results have been proven to be real. Six of Trump’s cabinet members, campaign advisors, or personal confidantes have been indicted during the investigation due to their unethical and illegal conduct throughout Trump’s campaign. Jeff Sessions, the former U.S. Attorney General, chose to recuse himself from the federal investigation into Russian interference. Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, testified against the president, exposing his unethical conduct and further weakening the president’s already debilitated credibility. Former Trump advisors Michael Flynn and George Papadopulos both pled guilty to lying to the FBI during the course of the investigation. In total, Mueller and his team brought charges of over 200 individual criminal acts against a total of 34 people over the course of their investigation. While parts of Mueller’s report that have been made public seem to undermine the narrative of a close relationship existing between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, there is a wealth of information that is yet to be released. The story of the investigation is far from over. 

Alongside the personal implications of guilt regarding Russian involvement throughout the election, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has strong evidence of Russian hackers compromising their computers and service to attain classified and private information, especially regarding Hillary Clinton. A month before the 2016 election, Elaine Duke, who would go on to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security under Trump, asserted that not only were cyber-attacks made against the DNC by Russian agents, but that those attacks were meant to influence the presidential election. To put this into context, at a July 2016 press conference, Trump begged Russians to attack and expose Hillary Clinton’s private emails, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” said Trump. While Trump publicists insist that this was only meant to be a joke, a line needs to be drawn on when a coincidence turns into a conspiracy. Beyond revealing sensitive information, Russians used all sorts of tactics to confuse American voters and brainwash voters to support Trump over Clinton. For example, Russians fabricated news stories, slamming the Clinton campaign and spreading false information about Clinton. To say that leaked emails and fake news stories did not affect the outcome of the election would simply be naïve and ignorant of undeniable facts.

The Mueller report stands as an extensive record of whether Trump was personally involved in an attempt to cover up the Russian involvement in his election, his assistance of Russian officials or backed forces to intervene in American politics, and/or his involvement in any type of scheme with Russian forces to ensure his presidency. Much, if not all, of the journalism that covered this scandal has royally failed the American public. Inaccuracy polluted the broadcast networks and online sources daily with incomplete, unfounded, and untrue implications made of the president, the Democratic response, and the investigation. News stories desperately lacked evidence, contained false accusations, and were undeniably skewed or even outright biased. Americans have been misled and given a false narrative to the unfolding of this saga, but certain events are assured. To act as a fact-check and guideline to the ongoing speculation into Trump’s relationship with Russia, the Mueller report needs to be released in full to the American public and legislators to give America much-needed closure and bring necessary consequences for the despicable actions that betrayed Americans’ trust and confidence in our elected officials.

Beyond the basic ideals of transparency, honesty, and integrity that are being violated and undermined by the withholding of the documents, the disrespect to the democratic system, especially popular opinion, entering a new campaign cycle will prevent voters from being aware of information integral to their decision-making process.

Not only does physical evidence suggest a correlation between Russian actions and Trump’s election, but for the amount of interpersonal, professional, familial, and social ties that the Trump family and the Trump Organization have to Russia and Russian officials to be a coincidence is simply unbelievable. Campaign advisors, presidential advisors, business partners, children: the list goes on for how many connections Donald Trump has to the Russian elite. To expect Mueller’s report to fully determine the extent of the affair between Russia and the Trump campaign is to put a great deal of faith in Russia, a country known to falsify information and cover up their international misdeeds. No matter what, only the full report can even come close to fully explaining the closeness of all campaign members to Russian actions, including the president himself.

Regardless, the American people deserve the chance to judge the report’s contents for themselves, a chance they can only have with the release of the full, unedited, un-redacted report. A president’s conduct, regardless of whether it is against the law, should be known to the public. After all, it is a founding principle of democracy that the power of the government comes from the consent of the governed. Currently, no one outside of the Attorney General’s office and the special counsel grand jury know what is held in Mueller’s report. For the sake of transparency, for the sake of citizens, and most importantly the sake of our country, release the report.