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Remaining questions in the wake of the Mueller investigation results

Now the Russia investigation is over and done with, a huge question regarding Donald Trump’s future has been put to rest. But others remain.

Gavin Fernando
4 min read
March 26, 2019 - 6:16AM
Mueller report: Trump unleashes after findings reveal no collusion

Donald Trump can sleep soundly at night.

Now a summary of Robert Mueller’s investigation has revealed no evidence that he obstructed justice, experts say it’s highly unlikely he will face impeachment charges.

“The special counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or co-ordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US Presidential Election,” Attorney-General William Barr wrote to Congress.

But with a number of questions still unanswered, a growing chorus of Democrats is pushing for the final report to be made public.

Existing laws could prevent this from happening, based on the notion that it wouldn’t be fair to release potentially unsavoury information about someone who’s already been found not guilty of a crime.

But Mr Barr acknowledged the growing public interest in the report. “My goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations and Departmental policies,” he wrote.

But whether it’s made public or not, Mr Trump’s political fate looks secure until 2020.

COULD TRUMP STILL FACE IMPEACHMENT?

The prospect of impeachment has been threatening the President since before his inauguration more than two years ago.

For many Democrats, the strategy was to wait and see the result of the Mueller investigation before charging ahead.

This — according to experts — means that impeachment is now highly unlikely.

Dr David Smith from the United States Studies Centre told news.com.au that the prospect of officials removing the President from office is negligible.

“In terms of the political consequences, the possibility of impeachment is at near zero,” he said. “Nancy Pelosi already said she wasn’t keen on impeachment unless there was bipartisan consensus. This makes it impossible for there to be any bipartisan consensus.”

But Mr Trump certainly hasn’t seen the last of legal investigations. He will later face a separate Justice Department investigation into hush money payments during the campaign to two women who say they had sex with him years before the election.

He’s also been implicated in a potential campaign finance violation by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who says Mr Trump asked him to arrange the transactions.

Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating foreign contributions made to the president’s inaugural committee.

But according to Dr Smith, these are unlikely to play out until after Mr Trump has left office.

WHY WASN’T TRUMP EXONERATED?

In the wake of Mr Barr’s statement, several high-profile Democrats have demanded the full report be released:

A number of questions surrounding the investigation remain unanswered, given we’ve only seen a summary of the report rather than the original findings themselves.

We don’t know how exactly Mr Mueller conducted his investigation, or how the evidence was gathered.

We don’t know what quantity of evidence was found to support the case that members of the Trump administration obstructed justice. We do know that Mr Trump wasn’t totally blameless in all this, with Mr Barr stating: “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

We don’t know why members of Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials in the lead-up to the election, or what incentives — if any — Mr Trump had to favour Russia.

We don’t know why members of his campaign lied to Congress if there was evidently nothing to hide from the beginning.

Democrats pushing for the report are keen to pinpoint any evidence of obstructing justice on the President’s part.

They also argue it’s not about politics, but holding leaders to account.

“Not only do Democrats want to see the full report, but they also want to see the evidence that was gathered by James Comey,” Dr Smith said. “While they accept there are no criminal prosecutions, there is still a whole range of behaviour that could constitute wrongdoing.

“(Trump) had been openly hostile, not just to this investigation, but to law enforcement in general … a lot of people have seen this as a threat to the rule of law.”

But in light of the report’s conclusion, heavily pursuing the matter may not be the smartest political move.

“In the lead-up to the 2020 election, it would be unwise for Democrats to maintain this focus,” said Dr Smith. “The Democrats won the midterm elections last year by talking about other issues — healthcare and other policies. This might be a good opportunity for them to make a clean break from all this and get on with that.”

Many observers are still questioning why Mr Trump’s campaign officials lied to Congress in the first place about their relationship with Russia, if there was nothing to hide.

But Dr Smith suggested this has less to do with the President and more to do with his campaign officials’ personal crimes.

“It’s usually because they were covering up for other things,” he said. “Paul Manafort was covering up his own criminal activities. Cohen was lying about activities that weren’t to do with collusion — ill-advised business ventures and hush money and so on.”

Whether the report is made public is too difficult to predict at this stage.

But either way, it’s safe to assume the President isn’t going anywhere.

Mueller report 'does not exonerate' Trump of obstruction of justice
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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/remaining-questions-in-the-wake-of-the-mueller-investigation-results/news-story/0d3d27600c965df60b7205a4b71473d7