Mueller Report: Does it help Russia Sow Seeds of Distrust?

The Mueller report exonerated President Trump of being a Russian agent. But did it also give Russia the fuel it needs to cause more trouble here in the U.S. as a new election nears?

It appears that the Russia collusion is sandwiched at both ends with questioned political documents – the infamous anti-Trump opposition research dossier at the beginning, and the Robert Mueller report at the end.

Mueller concluded that no American conspired with Russia, but also implied that the evidence found doesn’t entirely exonerate President Trump. It’s easy to see how this can cause confusion that can be easily used by political forces to stir the pot.

Check out this excerpt from The Hill by John Solomon titled “And the winner of the Robert Mueller Sweepstakes is — Vladimir Putin.”

It seems remarkably fitting that a now-disproven Russian collusion scandal started with a blatantly political memo known as the Steele dossier and ended with another called the Mueller report.

I’ve covered the Department of Justice (DOJ) for three decades, a period that involved some of Washington’s biggest scandals (Iran-Contra, Whitewater, impeachment), prosecutors’ biggest triumphs (the Unabomber case) and the FBI’s biggest missteps (the lab scandal and pre-Sept.11 intelligence failures).

I’ve seen and read prosecutorial declination memos before, and few resemble the one that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team presented to the DOJ and released by Attorney General William Barr.  

Most are written simply to explain why prosecutors choose not to charge a high-profile suspect whose name was besmirched publicly. Almost all are written in the spirit of the central tenet of American jurisprudence: One is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

Mueller’s report is not written from that presumption. In fact, it is written more from the perspective that President Trump may be guilty until proven otherwise. Here’s why.

Both volumes of the report — Russia collusion and obstruction — start as a narrative that goes like this: If we were going to indict Trump, here’s our best evidence.

Volume I then ends like a “straw man.” After listing every titillating piece of evidence, Mueller concludes his evidence did not establish a conspiracy between Trump and Russia to hijack the 2016 election. In fact, it unequivocally stated no American conspired with Russia.

Volume II takes the same path on obstruction issues — but Mueller then punts with this remarkable have-it-both-ways conclusion: “This report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

In short, Mueller’s report lay out all the dirty laundry and then passes on criminal charges. (continued)

You can check out the rest of the article here: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/439907-and-the-winner-of-the-robert-mueller-sweepstakes-is-vladimir-putin

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson’s work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.