U.S. President Donald Trump has won a rare reprieve in the 22-month investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, into whether there was any collusion between him or members of his 2016 campaign and Russian covert operatives vying to influence the outcome of the presidential election that year. A summary released by Attorney General William Barr said the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities”. This, despite the fact that the Special Counsel has brought criminal charges against a number of Russian nationals and entities in connection with two illicit activities. First, attempts by Russia’s Internet Research Agency to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the U.S. Second, Russian government agents’ hack and theft of emails from persons affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign and various Democratic Party organisations, followed by public dissemination of those documents through WikiLeaks. Although Mr. Trump soon tweeted, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION,” Mr. Mueller’s report made clear that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” This conclusion relates to the second question of obstruction of justice. In this matter the Special Counsel did not draw a conclusion either way as to whether Mr. Trump’s conduct constituted any obstruction. This only implies the absence of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted “with corrupt intent and engaged in obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding”.
However, any sense of relief that Mr. Trump and his associates get from these findings may be short-lived given that there are numerous other investigations under way. While some of these cases rely on evidence that came to light through the Mueller investigation, they go beyond the question of Russian collusion to issues such as the President’s tax filings, his charitable foundation’s operations, and the infamously expensive Trump inaugural ceremony. A criminal investigation is also ongoing in New York over allegations that Mr. Trump directed his lawyer Michael Cohen to pay illegal hush money to quash mounting sex scandals during the 2016 campaign. Also, there is anger in Washington over the fact that Mr. Barr, a Trump appointee, took Mr. Mueller’s report one step further within 48 hours of its completion to conclude that there was not enough evidence to establish that Mr. Trump obstructed justice. Now Democrats, including Congressman Jerrold Nadler, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, are calling on Mr. Barr to testify on “very concerning discrepancies” regarding possible inferences made from the Mueller report. Unless more material is made known, the public will remain enveloped in a fog of unknowing over whether and where their President flouted the law.
