Craig Calcaterra
  • Blog
  • Keepers
  • About Craig
  • Resume
  • The Axe Murder
  • Cats
  • Get In Touch
  • Blog
  • Keepers
  • About Craig
  • Resume
  • The Axe Murder
  • Cats
  • Get In Touch

Release the Mueller Report. Now.

3/23/2019

 
Picture

The Mueller Report is finished and it has been given to the Attorney General. We now begin what I suspect will be a nasty, extended fight over whether and/or when it should be released to the public. 

I'm struggling to think of a single reason why it should not be released, in full, to the public. While there may be some security concerns around the edges of the thing they can be dealt with easily via redaction of names and the like. All other objections to releasing it would seem to be political in nature.

Republicans will not want it released because it will, in all likelihood, serve to make some Republicans look bad. Either because they were involved in the underlying matters (a small number of them to be sure) or because they have said and done things in the past two years which will prove to be embarrassing or stupid in light of what the report has to say (a great many of them, particularly Members of Congress).

I'd like to say I'll be surprised when Republicans object to the report's release but, sadly, I will not be. These are people who argue, with a straight face, that it's good to make it hard for people to vote, after all. Fighting against transparency and sunlight won't trouble them a lick. 

As for the substance: I've been far less caught up in the Mueller Report hype than most of my friends on the political left. While I think the investigation was and is important, the idea that Mueller would indict multiple figures in the administration, let alone anyone close to Trump personally, has always seemed like fantasy to me, both for legal and practical reasons (more on that below). Mueller is no avenging angel and possesses no magic bullets which will end the nightmare of the past two years and change. The only thing that will effectively deal with that are effective oversight and pushback from Congress, political action, and elections. Mueller ain't no Jesus gonna come from the sky, even if he found out something big. 

Which is not to say that what's in the report is not important. There are many things Mueller has already uncovered for which a full explanation and accounting must be made and a lot of questions about Trump, his campaign and his administration which must be answered, whether or not any indictable criminal activity was found. A non-exhaustive list: 
  • It has already been established that the Russian government engaged in broad-based attack on the 2016 election. Intelligence agencies have concluded that these efforts were calculated to help Trump. Multiple Russians have been indicted for acts in furtherance of this scheme. We are entitled to a full accounting and Mueller's assessment of these efforts;
  • Senior members of the Trump campaign and members of his own family met with Russians promising to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign and aid Trump's. We are entitled to a full accounting of these meetings and Mueller's assessment regarding  the extent to which such meetings were part and parcel of the Russian government's scheme;
  • Multiple Trump advisors and/or members of Trump's campaign lied to investigators about the nature of their relationships with foreign powers. We are entitled to a full accounting of these lies and Mueller's assessment of their purpose;
  • There is considerable evidence that Trump attempted to impede scrutiny and investigation of his campaign and his administration vis-a-vis the Russian government's interference in the 2016 campaign. This includes firing James Comey and multiple Department of Justice officials, applying pressure to the previous Attorney General and selection of his successors which appeared to be calculated to thwart Mueller's investigation, his many public statements which were obviously calculated to undermine the investigation and, possibly, behind-the-scenes conversations between Trump and/or his surrogates with subjects and targets of the investigation which could have involved the discussion of pardons. We are entitled to a full accounting of these efforts and Mueller's assessment of them, including whether or not, in his view, they constitute obstruction of justice, whether or not charges are ever filed. 

It should finally be noted that, even if Mueller has not sought any further indictments, that does not mean that he has not found potentially criminal conduct on the part of either Trump or high-ranking campaign or administrative officials. There is a well-established -- and well-founded -- hesitance on the part of prosecutors to seek criminal charges against a sitting president and a strong belief among legal scholars that doing so is impermissible under the law. Rather, the notion is that Congress, a co-equal branch of government, is the primary means of sanctioning criminal conduct on the part of the executive. As such, it quite possible that Mueller has uncovered acts which are, in fact, criminal, but which are not appropriate for indictment given the figures involved or, possibly, are simply not appropriate for indictment at this time. 

More likely, it is possible that the facts and conclusions presented by Mueller constitute a basis for Congress to act in some way, shape or form, be it action taken directly against the administration or legislation aimed at ameliorating what has happened or preventing it from happening again. We are entitled to know what Congress knows regarding all of this, both because Congress is the surrogate for the people, and because we are entitled to know the basis on which Congress acts in our name and in our stead. 

The Mueller Report, in its entirety, must be released. Anyone who stands against its full release -- anyone who stands for anything less than full and total transparency regarding the important effort which has been undertaken these past two years -- stands against democracy. 
Follow @craigcalcaterra

Comments are closed.

    Hi.

    I'm Craig. I'm a writer. I work for NBC Sports.  This is where I write stuff that doesn't really go there. Read more about me here. Or, if you'd like, drop me a line. 

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Business
    Entertainment
    Food And Drink
    General
    Law
    Media
    Music
    Personal
    Politics
    Science
    Social Media
    Sports
    Travel
    Writing


    ​Recent Archives

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    May 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    July 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    June 2008

    RSS Feed

    Older Archives

    2014
    ​2013
    2012
    2011
    2010
    2009
    2008

Proudly powered by Weebly