Over this past weekend the Mueller Investigation Report was issued. On Sunday AG Barr issued a letter to congress and the Senate with a brief summary of the findings and stating a more complete AG redaction would be forthcoming. This in accordance with his stated testimony during his appointment interviews by the Senate Judiciary Committee where he said he would release as much as was permitted/practicable under DOJ Guidelines. These guidelines are meant to 1) Ensure national security considerations are not violated and 2) Ensure individuals who may have been caught up in the investigation but were never charged or indicted do not suffer undeserving reputation damage.
In his Summary, Barr states there was no evidence uncovered to indicate the President or any of his campaign associates engaged in collusion with the Russians to undermine the election process. He further states that while Mueller did not make a determination on the obstruction of justice charge, both Deputy AG and he, after consultation with legal counsel and other DOJ personnel, could find no evidence to corroborate the obstruction of justice charge. In particular given that for such a charge to exist there has to be a related crime. In other words, if there was no collusion to hide, there can be no obstruction of justice.
Not withstanding his promise to release the report, Democrats and the Media are up in arms clamoring for immediate and full release of the entire report and all background documents. Many of the most vociferous Democrats are those who for the last two years have been claiming there was clear evidence of collusion. Several of those indicated they had seen the evidence.
There are two points I wish to make, or at least express my perspective on in this regard. First, Why is it the Democrats are unwilling to stand down and let this issue go? My view is that from the time Trump won the election they have known they have a formidable opponent before them. They recognized, here is a man who has won over the hearts and minds of the American people, at least a sufficient number to get elected, and if he is allowed to fulfill his promises Democrats will not be able to regain their power for possibly decades. The only platform Democrats have to run on is the government will take care of you platform. They fail to recognize that most people prefer to take care of themselves and would just like to have that opportunity.
President Trump has implemented, even while under a cloud of suspicion, policies that have enhanced the ability of all Americans to take care of themselves. Record levels of employment, record numbers of people returning to the workforce, wage growth where there has been none for almost two decades, record low unemployment among all demographics, manufacturing jobs returning to America, record growth in the stock market, improved foreign policies, better trade agreements, better participation in the costs of NATO and other world wide organizations, etc. etc. etc. So when the only platform you have to run on is more free ride from your government, how do you combat the success of a President who is able to accomplish all of this under a cloud of suspicion? You engage in smear tactics by disparaging him at every opportunity, you lie about anything that seems unseemly to further darken the shadow of suspicion. I can only imagine where the stock market would be without all of the political negativity/animosity perpetrated by politicians and the media.
Secondly, When did Mueller know there was no evidence of collusion? Victor Davis Hanson, Alan Dershowitz and others said long ago there would be no collusion found as early as February-March of last year. What did they know that others, Democrats and the Media, didn't? It became obvious to them early last year when indictments came down on thirteen Russian nationals for their involvement in attempting to interfere with US Elections. Shortly thereafter additional indictments came in against Trump associates, but none had anything to do with collusion or interfering with the Election. Instead they were for lying to investigators, hiding assets, bank fraud, money laundering, lobbying on behalf of a foreign government without registering, etc. All events, except for lying, that occurred prior to their involvement in the Trump Campaign. What did they lie about and why? They lied to protect their own personal interests because they had engaged in unsavory activity of their own making well before their participation in the Trump Campaign. None was charged with lying to hide/cover-up collusion.
This was a clear indication there was and would not be a finding of collusion on behalf of the President or his organization. The question remains then, Why didn't Mueller report out there was no collusion? Why did he continue with the investigation until recent days? The conclusion I am left with is, he did so to cast a pall on the President and his agenda during the 2018 Elections. Had he come forward and announced there was no collusion but that other unrelated crimes, not of the Presidents doing, had been uncovered, the 2018 Election results would surely have been much different.
So, What can we expect now? We can expect the Democrats and the Liberal Media will continue to smear and disparage the President at every opportunity simply because they have no worthwhile platform to run on in the 2020 Elections. They see there only chance of keeping the Congress, regaining the Senate and/or winning the Presidency is to keep a dark cloud over his head. We can expect more investigations, with more tax payer dollars spent on useless hours of testimony. When will they realize they were sent to Washington to Legislate and not to Investigate?