Column: Everyone needs to believe Robert Mueller
The polarization of the special counsel’s investigation and report is helpful for no one. We need to learn more and trust Mueller’s conclusions.
Special counsel Robert Mueller walked past the White House on Sunday after attending St. John’s Episcopal Church for morning services. Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation last week, delivering a report to Attorney General William Barr. On Sunday, Barr sent Congress a four-page summary of principal findings.
March 25, 2019
After nearly two years of waiting, the Mueller report is finally complete.
There has been and continues to be plenty of speculation and punditry floating around Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into potential cooperation between President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian special interests, as well as the possibility that the president obstructed justice.
The results are in: the campaign did not conspire with Russia, and as for obstruction, Mueller decided that he could neither indict nor exonerate Trump, says Attorney General William Barr.
RELATED: How Barr found no obstruction by Trump when Mueller wouldn’t
It must be noted that the virtually none of Mueller’s report is currently public. All we know right now is what Barr has released in a statement summarizing the report submitted to him directly from Mueller. Regardless of the source of the news, it does appear Trump benefits from the findings overall.
But are either of these reactions right? No. As two writers far apart on the political spectrum, we implore everyone to simply calm down. We don’t have all the facts yet, and we are almost certain to learn more of the specifics over the next days and weeks. We should take this time to examine how we have interpreted the investigation to this point.
In America, it is not typical to refer to a Purple Heart recipient, Vietnam veteran, and Marine Corps officer as the enemy of the people. But that’s what many have labeled Mueller during his investigation of the 2016 presidential election.
The polarization of America has allowed partisans to avoid the recognizing of Mueller as an honorable man who has time and time again answered the call the serve his country. He’s not a deep-state veteran nor the left’s savior. He’s just a man doing his job.
We must stop treating Mueller as a political actor. He’s a Republican, but he is no partisan. He is a fair investigator, and we must trust the process he used to look into collusion and obstruction in good faith.
RELATED: No ‘evidence of collusion,’ Grassley says after Mueller investigation ends
The investigation was not a witch-hunt. It included more than 2,800 subpoenas, more than 500 witnesses, and tireless work with dozens of lawyers and FBI agents. Mueller issued 34 indictments, seven of which ended in convictions or guilty pleas. It’s not as if there was nothing to find, and it was certainly not a waste of time nor unnecessary, as the president and others have claimed.
Mueller’s career has included a lifetime of service. A Princeton graduate with a juris doctor from University of Virginia School of Law, Mueller has been appointed — and confirmed by the Senate — to numerous positions by both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations. He has held positions of FBI director, United States attorney and assistant United States attorney. He was compelled to serve during the Vietnam War to honor a friend who was killed in action. Instead of shying away from fear, he confronted it and became a Marine Corps officer in 1968. He’s is a trustworthy public servant of his country, and it’s best for all of us that we trust his conclusions of his report.
Of course, this would be much easier if his entire report would be made public, not just a summary with a few quotes from the attorney general. Trump’s supporters should have no problem releasing as much information as necessary to persuade those more skeptical of the president’s innocence.
The amount of political positioning and narrative spinning is doing nothing to make our republic stronger.
Previous supporters of Mueller have become critical of his career, and prior skeptics of Mueller are now praising him as a hero. The polarization of America has allowed partisans to avoid the recognizing of Mueller as an honorable man who has time and time again answered the call the serve his country. He’s not a deep-state veteran nor the left’s savior. He’s just a man doing his job.
