Mueller report stokes political rift. Could it inspire some unity too?
What happens now to America鈥檚 divisions?
In the short run they may well get worse. Sunday鈥檚 release of special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 main conclusions, as summarized by Attorney General William Barr, could widen the gulf of suspicion and misunderstanding between the nation鈥檚 polarized political factions.
Republicans are triumphant that the threat of a conspiracy indictment for President Donald Trump or his family members or associates has evaporated. Some are in no mood for forbearance and are urging the GOP leadership to push turnabout investigations into the alleged Democratic origins of a deep state conspiracy against the president.
Why We Wrote This
In the wake of the Mueller report, it鈥檚 useful to remember that at the core of the investigation is a value 鈥� the goal of untainted elections 鈥� that Americans of both parties should care about.
Democrats are downcast that the special counsel investigation apparently isn鈥檛 going to push Mr. Trump out of office, or hobble him with serious legal accusations. Many want to see the whole Mueller Report and supporting documents 鈥� a paper pile they suspect will portray the president in a harsher light.
But the medium or long run may be a different story. The point of Mr. Mueller鈥檚 probe was to protect the United States electoral system from interference by a foreign power, as much or more than to put culpable individuals in jail. Attorney General Barr鈥檚 summary notes that the investigation publicly identified two main Russian efforts to influence the election: one involving social media and disinformation, the other hacking into Democratic computers. Both led to bombshell indictments of Russian nationals, including officers in the GRU, Russia鈥檚 military intelligence agency.
They may not completely see it now, but both of the two big parties that govern America have a vested interest in defending the nation against this kind of foreign attack. That urges a bipartisan effort lest the legitimacy of the 2020 vote come into question.
鈥淲e have common interest in American democracy. Being interfered with by foreign powers ... I think we all share some values on that,鈥� says Andy Wright, an attorney who managed investigation issues for Vice President Al Gore and later served as associate counsel in the Obama White House.
Senator Graham鈥檚 push
On Monday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina showed something of how this short/long term split on divisiveness might work out in practice.
Senator Graham, a close ally of the president and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said at a press conference that he wants to investigate alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act at the start of the FBI鈥檚 Russia inquiry. He called on Mr. Barr to appoint a new special counsel to investigate the 鈥渙ther side of the story鈥� 鈥� whether the Obama administration unlawfully obtained a FISA warrant to spy on a Trump associate as a way to help Hillary Clinton鈥檚 2016 campaign.
Democrats have long considered the FISA fixation as a diversionary tactic that relies on misreading the evidence that caused the FBI to begin its probe. An effort by Mr. Graham to flip from an investigation of the current president to renewed attention on the previous administration is sure to inflame partisan tensions on Capitol Hill.
At the same time, Mr. Graham talked about how Russia鈥檚 real aim in its election hacking efforts was to turn Americans against each other, and that they鈥檇 鈥渄one a pretty good job of it.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檙e still doing this, and one of the things I want to take away from this whole endeavor is to try to find ways to fix it,鈥� Mr. Graham said.
The political system is now critical US infrastructure in the same sense that the power grid and financial system are, and the vote tallying process needs to be hardened, the Judiciary chairman said. Social media can be co-opted to spread lies and insert corrupted information into the nation鈥檚 streams of discourse.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take that from this investigation, that the Russians tried to do it and they鈥檙e going to keep trying, then we missed a real big point,鈥� Mr. Graham said.
A summary, and cries for more
Mr. Barr released his four-page summary of Mr. Mueller鈥檚 main points on Sunday night. He said the special counsel had found no conspiracy between Russia and the president or any Trump-related officials. Mr. Mueller drew no conclusions as to whether Mr. Trump had obstructed justice in the probe. Mr. Barr and his deputy Rod Rosenstein concluded that the Mueller report had insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Trump on that question.
Democrats pointed out that the summary released so far contains only a smattering of Mr. Mueller鈥檚 own words 鈥� 100 or so. While most accept the conclusion about no conspiracy, they want to see supporting evidence, especially on the question of possible obstruction. Why did Mr. Mueller make the decisions he did?
There is no foreseeable scenario under which Democrats will be satisfied with less than virtually complete access to Mr. Mueller鈥檚 work, says Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University.
鈥淲e are just coming to the end of phase one. Phase two is going to be much more legalistic and drawn out,鈥� says Dr. Engel.
By inserting himself into the process of releasing Mueller鈥檚 information, Mr. Barr has set himself up as a sort of movie critic, he says.
It鈥檚 as if you鈥檝e seen a trailer for a blockbuster movie, and it looks really interesting, according to Dr. Engel. Then Mr. Barr steps on screen to tell you he鈥檚 seen the whole thing already and you don鈥檛 have to, because it鈥檚 a bust.
Former Obama White House attorney Andy Wright says he鈥檚 disappointed in the continuing partisan attacks on Mr. Mueller鈥檚 legitimacy. On Sunday in his first public remarks on the release of Mr. Barr鈥檚 summary, Mr. Trump denounced the work of Mr. Mueller 鈥� a Republican appointed by a Trump-appointed Republican official 鈥� as an 鈥渋llegal takedown that failed.鈥�
Mr. Wright says he鈥檇 like to see the evidence Mr. Mueller collected about both the collusion and obstruction threads in his investigation. He鈥檇 like to know specifically what cases Mr. Mueller has handed off to regular Justice Department prosecutors, and if there are further counter-intelligence findings beyond those Mr. Barr discussed.
It鈥檚 true that there鈥檚 鈥渁 ton we don鈥檛 know,鈥� Mr. Wright says. 鈥淛ust a ton.鈥�
