Democrats do not want to take U.S. Attorney General William Barr's word for it that President Donald Trump did not obstruct Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election, and are demanding the full report be made available to Congress.
After about two years of investigating, Mueller delivered his report on Russian meddling to the Department of Justice on Friday.
On Sunday, Barr summarized for Congressional leaders and the public that report, indicating that Mueller did not find evidence of collusion or cooperation between Trump or his team and Russia.
Barr also said he determined that Trump did not obstruct justice, though Mueller presented arguments on both sides of that question without making a determination.
"It took Robert Mueller almost two years to complete his investigation. It took Attorney General Barr less than two days to conclude that there was no obstruction," U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said at a press conference in Boston on Monday morning. "We've got a rush to judgment here by a partisan attorney general on an issue of historic importance."
Markey said the four-page summary "written by a Trump appointee is not the same as the entire Robert Mueller investigation" and said it is crucial that Congress be given Mueller's full report and all associated materials "and reach its own conclusion."
"The job of Congress now is to make sure that everyone in America has the basis for making the conclusion which Barr and Mueller have reached. That is what is about to unfold," he said. "The question is whether or not Attorney General Barr is going to give the information to Congress, whether or not he is going to stonewall with that information and expect the American public to just be happy with a four-page summary which he has written as the hand-picked attorney general of Donald Trump."
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern also called for the entirety of Mueller's report to the Justice Department to be given to members of Congress, saying Barr is "entitled to his opinion, but Congress must see the full, unedited report to decide whether or not the president abused his power."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president, posted to Twitter that the full Mueller report should be released to the American public, and circulated a petition among campaign supporters calling the report's public release.
Barr told Congressional leaders Sunday that some of the material turned over by Mueller's team cannot legally be released, but that the Justice Department will work through those issues to make public what it can.
"As I have previously stated, however, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. For that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies,” he wrote in his Sunday letter.
In a letter summarizing the findings of Mueller's report, Barr on Sunday quoted from Mueller's report that the special counsel's "investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
The Mueller report also weighed the question of whether Trump obstructed justice in connection to the investigation. Barr said that Mueller "did not draw a conclusion -- one way or the other -- as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction" and instead left it to the Justice Department to determine whether the conduct Mueller's report covers constitutes a crime.
"Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense," Barr wrote to lawmakers.
The president took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to trumpet the news of Mueller's findings, as reported by his attorney general.
"No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION," the president Tweeted. "KEEP AMERICA GREAT!"
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called the Mueller report's findings "a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States."
In Barr's letter, he quotes directly from Mueller's writing to point out that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
Later Sunday, as the president arrived back at the White House after a weekend in Florida, he approached reporters shouting questions about the report and Barr's letter, and said only, "I just want to tell you, America is the greatest place on Earth. The greatest place on Earth," according to a pool report.
The Massachusetts Republican Party said Trump, who won the Massachusetts GOP primary in 2016 but did not carry the state in the general election, was "vindicated" by the findings.
"This two-year investigation has cost taxpayers $25 million, and the result is that there was no collusion or obstruction going on at all," Party Chairman Jim Lyons said.
Lyons, a former state representative who took the reins of the party after the last election, suggested that "those responsible for ginning up hysteria, and those responsible for triggering this witch hunt" should now be investigated themselves.
Trump suggested the same on Sunday. "This was an illegal takedown that failed and hopefully somebody is going to be looking at their other side," he said, according to a pool report.
Markey proposed a different next step: He said Congress and the administration should learn what they can from the Mueller investigation in order to be better prepared to combat potential Russian interference in the upcoming 2020 elections.
"President Trump is more interested in claiming that this four-page summary is an all-clear for him and his administration than in ringing the alarm that our elections and our democracy are still in grave danger," Markey said.
This report was originally published by State House News Service.
