XPost: alt.politics.obama, alt.politics.usa, alt.society.liberalism   
   XPost: alt.connecticut   
   From: deplorable.redneck@nytimes.com   
      
   No collusion.   
      
   While we don’t know yet what’s in the report by Special Counsel   
   Robert Mueller on Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S.   
   presidential election, many news organizations have reported on   
   what’s not in the report – any recommendation by Mueller for   
   further indictments.   
      
   This is very good news for President Trump and people in the   
   Trump orbit.   
      
   Not a single one of the nearly three dozen criminal indictments   
   Mueller has obtained in his nearly two years of investigation   
   deal with collusion between the Trump campaign or Trump himself   
   and Russia to win the presidential race against Hillary Clinton.   
      
   If there are no more indictments that’s a strong indication that   
   – to use one of the president’s favorite phrases – “there was no   
   collusion.” Or, at minimum, it means the Mueller team found no   
   evidence of collusion by Russia to put its supposedly favored   
   candidate in the Oval Office.   
      
   Here are some key facts to keep in perspective as we watch what   
   happens over the next few days.   
      
   From the very beginning, Democrats and others who oppose the   
   president politically had already decided that Donald Trump was   
   guilty of collusion with the Russians. They came to that   
   conclusion based largely on a highly questionable dossier   
   prepared as opposition research by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.   
   In addition, they had a predisposition to think the worst of   
   Trump, whom many demonized.   
      
   From the very beginning, Democrats and others who oppose the   
   president politically had already decided that Donald Trump was   
   guilty of collusion with the Russians.   
      
   But after two years and hundreds of interviews, the House and   
   Senate Intelligence Committees were unable to find any credible   
   evidence of collusion. Their reports were largely ignored by   
   most of the media.   
      
   As required under Justice Department regulations, Mueller has   
   provided the attorney general with a “confidential report   
   explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by   
   the Special Counsel.” “Declination” refers to decisions to   
   decline to prosecute someone under investigation.   
      
   As soon as he received the Mueller report Friday afternoon, Barr   
   – also as required under the regulations – notified the chair   
   and ranking minority members of both the House and Senate   
   Judiciary Committees that the special counsel had finished his   
   job.   
      
   Barr added that the regulation required him to provide Congress   
   with a description of any instances in which he or any of his   
   predecessors “concluded that a proposed action by (the) Special   
   Counsel was so inappropriate or unwarranted under established   
   Departmental practices that it should not be pursued.” Barr said   
   that there “were no such instances during” the Mueller   
   investigation.   
      
   So much for the concern – and some hyperbolic statements   
   expressed by some Trump critics – that the president or his   
   Justice Department would try to interfere with Mueller’s   
   investigation.   
      
   Keep in mind that the special counsel’s report is a confidential   
   law enforcement document similar to any internal reports   
   prepared by prosecutors concerning a federal criminal   
   investigation.   
      
   These are privileged documents. Under Justice Department   
   regulations, it is up to the attorney general to decide to what   
   extent release of the Mueller report or any parts of the report   
   is in the public interest or can be released without   
   compromising national security or violating executive privilege.   
      
   Those clamoring for Barr to release the entire Mueller report   
   should remember the prior criticism of then-FBI Director James   
   Comey for wrongly engaging in that exact type of misbehavior –   
   for which he was fired as the head of the FBI.   
      
   In the letter he sent Friday to the Senate and House committee   
   leaders, Barr said he would be consulting with both Mueller and   
   Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to determine what   
   information from the Mueller report could be released   
   “consistent with the law” including the Justice Department’s   
   “long-standing practices and policies.” Barr added that he   
   remained committed to being as transparent as possible.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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