Defeated Democrats in retreat

After two years defending to the hilt Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election, US Democrats have been left in an invidious position. Yet instead of accepting what Attorney-General William Barr reported is in effect Mr Mueller’s exoneration of Mr Trump from the “collusion illusion” charges, the Democrats, led by house Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, are seeking to push back against it and are calling for further investigations.

Not since Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair and Bill Clinton’s impeachment has there been a more extensive and lengthy probe into an incumbent US president than Mr Mueller’s investigation. His efforts and the US national interest deserve better than the peeved, politically partisan response of Democrats to his exoneration of Mr Trump.

Mr Mueller’s is, after all, not the first investigation to look into and find nothing to support the collusion charges. Inquiries by committees of the House of Representatives and the US Senate have reached similar conclusions. Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer have a point when they demand the release of the full Mueller report, rather than just Mr Barr’s four-page synopsis of its contents. That is likely to happen in coming weeks, depending on congressional processes.

They may be on to something, too, when they question Mr Mueller’s decision against reaching “any legal conclusions” over alleged “obstructive conduct” by Mr Trump when he fired FBI director James Comey in 2017 amid the Russian collusion claims. But that does not detract from the fact that on the central charge of colluding with Russia, Mr Mueller, according to Mr Barr, found that “the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference”.

After years of intensive work by the top investigative bodies in the US, the only major conviction of anyone connected with the Trump campaign was that of Paul Manafort, who was briefly the campaign manager, on charges that had nothing to do with Mr Trump or his 2016 race for the White House. Democrats are likely to pay a heavy political price if they persist with the collusion charges. As Washington correspondent Cameron Stewart reported, the findings, as related by Mr Barr, are “a devastating defeat for the Democrats and for much of the US media who had hoped, prayed and, frankly, expected that Mueller would somehow find a silver bullet to end or at least cripple Trump’s presidency”.

Despite Mr Mueller’s findings, the rancour surrounding the Russian collusion charges is unlikely to disappear. But they should destroy the Democrats’ persistent insinuation that alleged collusion with Russia made Mr Trump’s election victory illegitimate. Mr Barr has promised to disclose as much as he can of the Mueller report, subject to grand jury secrecy requirements and other legal consideration. It is imperative that he does so. Much more needs to be known about Mr Mueller’s precise findings on an issue that has dogged the Trump presidency from the day he entered the White House. There is much about the dirty tricks surrounding the collusion claims that has yet to be revealed.