U.S. House of Representatives
If the legendary entertainer Ray Charles was still with us, he, no doubt, would have had someone read to him the special report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, since he was sightless for the majority of his life.
Charles, who closely followed current events, would have concluded a number of things. One, the Russian government interfered in the 2016 American presidential election, with President Donald J. Trump being the Kremlin’s preferred candidate. And two, the report contains evidence that the president of the United States was a participant in activities that bordered on illegality.
If not, why did special counsel Mueller, himself a Republican, write in the report, “If we had had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so”?
Furthermore, the report states that one of the obstacles to the president being charged by the investigators with a crime is a Justice Department policy, which states that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
The Mueller report, all four hundred and eighty-eight pages of it, is currently among the top ten reads on the New York Times list of best-selling books. In fact, there are two versions of the report and both are included in the top ten. No doubt, President Trump would like to see fewer people read it.
Unfortunately, far too few people in our country do read books. If sufficient numbers read the Mueller report there would be an overwhelming outrage by people of many different political persuasions, in all political parties.
The special counsel’s investigation was thorough, and Mueller and members of his team made every effort to be fair to all of those who were interviewed. A number of indictments were handed down, and many of those indicted were people who were confidants of President Trump or worked with his campaign.
Mueller’s report should be alarming to every citizen in our country.
“It deserves the attention of every American,” Mueller said. Prior to making his first public statement, special counsel Mueller was critical of Attorney General William Barr for releasing a summary of the report, which the former characterized as “confusing” to the public.
Efforts to have current and former Trump confidants appear before Congress to answer questions about the report and their involvement in it have been rebuffed by the White House. It begs the question that the Trump administration and those that support it are trying to hide things that could prove fatal to the executive branch.
The president and his associates need to be reminded of the belief that whatever is done under cover of darkness will eventually find itself under scrutiny in the sunlight.
Certainly, if Charles were alive, he could see that!
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas in the United States House of Representatives. She also chairs the House committee on Science, Space and Technology.