David Corn: Trump Aided and Abetted Russia's Attack. That Was Treachery. Full Stop.

[pnwmom]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/trump-mueller-report-russia/

On Sunday afternoon Attorney General William Barr sent a letter to Congress noting that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” The message also noted that Mueller could not exonerate President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, but that Barr himself had decided that the evidence Mueller developed was “insufficient to establish” that Trump had obstructed justice. Trump proclaimed it was “complete and total exoneration.” And Trump champions popped the cork and declared case closed, nothing to see, end of story, no need for further investigation, Trump did no wrong.

Well, that is fake news.

Barr’s note is clear that Mueller did not uncover evidence Trump and his gang were in direct cahoots with Russia’s covert operation to interfere with the US election and boost Trump’s odds. But the hyper-focus on this sort of collusion—as if Trump instructed Russian hackers on how to penetrate the computer network of the Democratic National Committee—has always diverted attention from a basic and important element of the scandal that was proven long before Mueller drafted his final report: Trump and his lieutenants interacted with Russia while Putin was attacking the 2016 election and provided encouraging signals to the Kremlin as it sought to subvert American democracy. They aided and abetted Moscow’s attempt to cover up its assault on the United States (which aimed to help Trump win the White House). And they lied about all this.

And, yes, there were instances of collusion—not on the specifics of the attack, but secret scheming between Trumpworld and Russia.

None of the evidence underlying this is in dispute. No matter what Mueller report contains, a harsh verdict remains: Trump and his gang betrayed the United States in the greatest scandal in American history.

SNIP

[UniteFightBack]

1. We need to see the report before I start ripping new assholes. It must be released promptly. nt

[RHMerriman]

2. Summing up:

"...If neither Trump nor a Trump emissary communicated explicitly with the Russians about the specifics of the operation, that is not the end of this scandal. Trump knew the attack was happening, and he helped. So, too, did Donald Trump Jr. and Manafort—and probably others within the campaign. This is the core of the Trump-Russia scandal.

By asserting that the issue is only whether or not he directly colluded with the Kremlin plot, Trump has diverted attention from the fact that he facilitated an assault on his own country. That may or may not have been illegal. But it was betrayal. It was treachery.

Mueller’s job was to seek out possible crimes to prosecute. It was not to evaluate actions that did not rise to the level of criminality. Nor was it his charge to tell the public the whole truth.

Yet so much of the truth is already out there. And the bottom line was established before Mueller submitted his report: Trump committed what is probably the most significant political misdeed in American history. The public did not need the Mueller report to confirm this. The foundation of this scandal—Trump’s villainy—has for long resided within plain sight."

[Honeycombe8]

3. "Aiding and abetting" is part of what Mueller was investigating, wasn't it?

And so Mueller didn't find enough evidence to conclude that the Trump team did that.

We need to see the report. I don't know what to think, except there wasn't enough evidence for Mueller to state there would be enough for an indictment, if a President could be indicted.

[pnwmom]

4. We don't even know this:

"except there wasn't enough evidence for Mueller to state there would be enough for an indictment."

Barr's letter was very limited and we can't trust his paraphrase of Mueller's report.

[Honeycombe8]

5. Agreed. I hope the House can get the report. Or someone. Or that it gets leaked.

But I'm sure it's under lock and key in the AG's office.

[bluestarone]

6. ONE copy of it

I'm sure there is more than one!

[rockfordfile]

7. Mueller was never going to indict Trump. It seems he wouldn't indict any President

[Volaris]

8. At least Barr is admitting here that Putin and his agents did in fact, attack our elections

If Trump continues to deny this point, he's clearly lying about it now, and at odds with his own justice department.

Some reporter should ask him about this tomorrow, just to see if he really is as dumb as I think he is.

[ffr]

9. Now, what to do about it when you have a traitor being upheld by the GOP.

[cstanleytech]

10. Uh huh and there was never any clandestine meeting with the Russians and Trump campaign officials.

Oh wait..............there was.

[Scotch-Irish]

11. Hell! He asked them in plain sight in front of a few million people while Russia was in the process

of hacking!! What kind of alternate reality does Barr think he can sell people?

[Poiuyt]

12. The greatest scandal in American history.

This is the truth. Much worse than Teapot Dome, much worse than Watergate. The Trump administration will go down as the more corrupt and unethical in American history.