William Barr took 48 hours to produce a four page summary of Mueller’s report, which took 22 months to produce. That Barr is one heckuva summarizer! He’d be invaluable to Reader’s Digest, assuming anyone still reads Reader’s Digest (does it even exist?). In those four pages, Barr is widely reported as saying Mueller found no evidence for conclusion or conspiracy with the Russians. He also says that Mueller, while finding evidence that Trump obstructed justice, did not find conclusive evidence for that crime. And so Mueller (incredulously, it seems) decided not to make a recommendation on the question of obstruction. Barr then graciously stepped and in made the hard (and unilateral) decision: Not enough evidence to charge obstruction. Whether this was Barr’s decision to make, or should it have been left to Congress (who, rather than Special Prosecutors, made such determinations when Nixon and Clinton were invesigated) is a question being hotly debated by every news outlet other than Faux News.
So the question before the Democrats and others who oppose Trump and his corrupt administration might now be characterized as: Is it time to fold our tents and drop this whole issue of campaign malfeasance by Trump and his associates?
Certainly there are political considerations that argue for dropping the fight. Democrats will likely not be able to leverage the 2016 campaign brouhaha in the 2020 election, and indeed, continuing to shake that tree runs the risk of turning public opinion against their efforts rather than gaining any new converts.
But there are aspects of the whole roll-out by Barr that feel less than fair and wholesome. First of all, there is the infamous 19 page memo Barr wrote as his job application to be Attorney General. The main thrust was his contention that the President cannot be charged with, nor commit, obstruction of justice, simple because he is the President. In particular, he claimed that the Mueller investigation into obstruction was wrong-headed and absurd. Many (most?) legal scholars have ridiculed Barr’s assertions in that memo. Barr, as a strong proponet of the “imperial presidency” (he would have been warmly welcomed by Alexander Hamilton), is almost the last person who could, without bias, declare Trump summarily innocent of obstruction. Especially given that he wrote this memo. Having Barr decide in lieu of Mueller’s abdication on the matter is a lot like having the fox decide whether the henhouse needs guarding or not. It is basically a foregone conclusion.
Furthermore, I am not convinced that Mueller ever thought that, in leaving the question of obstruction unresolved, intended that it be decided by the Attorney General. In fact, the whole idea that someone of Mueller’s known fortitude and resolve would actually leave the issue unresolved seems questionable in itself. Mueller has not been known for backing away from tough choices.
The question of collusion (ie, conspiring) with the Russians is also not so cut and dried. Yes, Mueller definitely said there was not enough evidence to bring the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, which was the standard for every indictment brought by (or referred by) the Mueller team. Based on the statement in Barr’s summary declaring no collusion, Trump and the GOP have claimed complete vindication on the matter. But to decide there was not enough evidence to bring the charge is not the same as saying there was no evidence. Hell, there’s plenty of evidence in the public domain to suggest some sort of collusion.
Both of these gray areas are reasons why it is critical that the Mueller report in its entirety be made public. Furthermore, it is just as critical that Mueller himself testify before Congress w.r.t. his thinking about the obstruction evidence. Did he intend for Barr to make that decision, rather than, say, Congress? Why did he decide, against everything we know about the man, to punt on deciding whether the obstruction evidence warranted criminal proceedings? Did it have anything to do with the current DOJ policy of never indicting a sitting President?
In the meantime, Barr’s summary, regardless of what is revealed when the full report comes out, gives Trump and GOP the opportunity to claim full vindication. Note that since Barr’s summary was released on Sunday, Trump, et al have been shouting from the rooftops how Trump is “completely exonerated” (even though even Barr’s letter explicitly says he was NOT exonerated). This basically gives them a leg up in the court of public opinion, where there is never much attention to detail.
Having gained this shot of poltitical capital, Trump has wasted no time in using it. His first expenditure: a new attempt to completely overturn ACA, this time in the courts. Not just selected portions of the law, but the whole shebang. One can only shudder in anticipation of the chaos that would be unleashed in our health care system were they to succeed. Trump is demanding that the investigators be investigated, claiming terrible personal harm from the two years he was investigated. Senator Linsday Graham wants to open an investigation to determine whether Obama tried to prevent Trump’s election. Note that Obama was the man who decided NOT to reveal the ongoing counter-intelligence investigation (involving Trump) during the campaign lest it be interpreted as an attempt to sway voters.
Is this significant reversal in fortune enough to turn the 2020 election to Trump? I for one will be very interested in seeing Trump’s polls numbers from before the Barr summary and after. But there can be no doubt that he will receive some positive bump from this episode.
So the primary question before those of us who oppose Trumpians with every fiber of our being is this: Is it in fact time to stop worrying about the 2016 election campaign shenanigans and instead focus solely on efforts to unseat Trump in 2020? That focus would certainly involve articulating our positive vision for what is needed to make America move forward into the 21st century:
- how to negate the existential threat to humanity of climate change
- how to make our elections secure from interference
- how to reverse the trend of voter suppression
- how to humanely and fairly deal with border security
- how to achieve racial, gender and sexual equality
- how to continue to improve healthcare for all Americans
- how to once again make America respected among the nations of the world, instead of ridiculed
And even if the results of the Mueller investigation offers no slam-dunk damnation of Trump’s actions in that campaign, the spin-off investigations provide endless opportunity to present strong arguments to be used in the 2020 election. He stands at the apex of a morass of corruption and financial crimes to ignore. It is an embarrassment of riches in terms of targets to use. Not to mention the widespread corruption that has basically defined his entire Cabinet and administration.
But even with that as our focus, I do not believe we should simply walk away from the Mueller forum. The report must be made public. Mueller must testify before the appropriate House committees, as must Barr. But, as the Wicked Witch said, these things must be done delicately. And we must be prepared to weather the shitstorm that Trump, the GOP and Fox will unleash in retribution for “winning”.
The only moving on we should concentrate on is the one exemplified by MoveOn.org. Fight against authoritarianism and corruption. Fight for equality and justice. Stay informed and stay involved.
Our nation’s future depends on it.
© 2019 Chuck Puckett