Establishment media pundits and left-wing political operatives believe that although special counsel Robert Mueller declined to prosecute Donald Trump for Russian collusion or obstruction of justice, his report on the investigation nonetheless invites Democrat lawmakers to impeach the president.
The Justice Department on Thursday released the long-awaited report by Mueller, which specifies the two-year investigation and details that the team found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia before the 2016 election.
The report, in total, is 448 pages long. It describes in detail how the Russian GRU intelligence unit hacked campaign emails of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, which were subsequently leaked by WikiLeaks. It also specifies there were some contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Mueller’s report Thursday described several actions by President Donald Trump which his critics could interpret as attempts to interfere with the investigation. The incidents did not amount to enough evidence to prosecute, but Mueller refused to say that this lack of evidence amounts to an exoneration.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin believes the report contains an invitation to Congress to impeach the president. Mueller wrote that “if we had confidence” President Trump did not attempt to obstruct justice, “we would so state.” The report further states “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”
Toobin believes the line is “all but an explicit invitation to Congress to impeach the president.”
Other media pundits and political operatives, including former Obama strategist David Axelrod and speechwriter Jon Favreau, said the report put the ball in the court of Congress to explore whether impeachment should be on the table.
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The AP contributed to this report.