Americans know Trump wasn't exonerated — and they want hearings

Americans know that Trump and his campaign have not been exonerated, and they want Congress to keep looking into his criminal activity.

A Wednesday CNN poll shows 56 percent of Americans say Trump and his campaign have not been exonerated of collusion stemming from a 22-month investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Moreover, nearly 3 in 5 people want Congress to hold hearings and investigate the findings of the report.

Thus far, the full Mueller report has not been shared with Congress, the media, or the general public. The only information available is from a brief letter written by Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General William Barr, who has a long history of bashing Mueller’s investigation.

After Barr delivered his summary to Congress, Trump falsely claimed “Complete and Total EXONERATION.” Yet even Barr’s letter quoted from the Mueller report, saying that Mueller’s investigation was unable to exonerate Trump on charges of obstruction of justice.

Americans apparently saw through Trump’s lies, and want Congress to get to the truth.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of both the Oversight and Judiciary committees, said Barr’s letter “smells of a whitewash” and slammed the summary as “an elaborate public relations ploy.”

Democrats in Congress are demanding the full, un-redacted Mueller report and all underlying evidence be delivered to them no later than April 2. But Barr recently told Republicans in Congress that he intends to give the White House the opportunity to censor the report before Congress sees it.

In late 2016, months before the Mueller investigation began, top Trump officials flatly denied that anyone on the campaign had any contact with Russians. In the intervening years, multiple Trump campaign officials have been arrested and sentenced to prison, some for lying about their contacts with Russians during and immediately following the campaign.

Trump’s campaign chair, deputy campaign chair, senior campaign aide, and longtime  “fixer” have all been arrested, pleaded guilty and/or found guilty on a variety of crimes.

Trump and his associates are far from exonerated, and the American people know it.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.