Democrats hoping to win presidency need to move past the report
As the phrase, “No collusion!” continues to be chanted by President Donald Trump and his supporters, they are not wrong. The Mueller Report did not find any counts of collusion from the president, but the president’s actions may lead to dire consequences in regard to his presidency. The heavily redacted report concludes, “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
The report does not outwardly accuse the president of committing a crime, but at the same time, he says that he didn’t not commit the crime. Obstruction of justice is defined as a criminal offense that involves interference, through words or actions, with the proper operations of a court or officers of the court. The report cited 10 separate instances where the president may have obstructed justice.
Obstruction of justice in the eyes of the constitution does not require the person who obstructs justice to follow through with the crime, but the person’s intent to do so. Mueller cites instances such as Trump’s attempts to fire him, the conduct involving former FBI director James Comey and Trump’s conduct around Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and someone listed as [redacted].
Much of what the president has said has been seen as obscure or obscene, but the report shows the other side of the oval office.
Mueller describes Trump’s reaction to his hiring, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f—–.”
While it may seem bad, this specific quote is not impeachable.
Along with this exchange with former White House councilman Don McGahn, described by Mueller, “The president then asked, ‘what about these notes? Why do you take notes? Lawyers don’t take notes. I never had a lawyer that took notes.’ McGahn responded that he keeps notes because he is a real lawyer and explained that notes create a record and are not a bad thing. The president responded, ‘I’ve had a lot of great lawyers [like Roy Cohn and Michael Cohen] who did not take notes.’”
These instances are concerning, and they deserve to be looked at under a microscope. This report has been one of the most anticipated in a generation, but following Attorney General William Barr’s three page summary and heavily redacted reveal, the summary leaves much in question.
Many people in Washington, D.C. have called for impeachment due to each person’s readings into obstruction, but the last time the Senate attempted to impeach a sitting president—Bill Clinton—Senate members suffered losses in the midterms later in the year. The Republicans remained the majority, but the blue wave came in hard.
While the report’s findings may seem volatile, some only act as fluff for those calling for impeachment while some may be much worse if the report were to come out as unredacted. The president may have said and done several inexcusable things, and there should be consequences, but if Democrats want to dethrone Trump and hold a seat in the Oval Office in a mere 18 months from now next November, they may need to wait out one of the most controversial presidencies of all time.
By Matthew Villanueva, Staff Writer
villanjv18@bonaventure.edu
