Multiple times, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked a resolution in the upper chamber of Congress that called for the Mueller Report to be released publicly and in its entirety, this time after its introduction by California’s Dianne Feinstein.
It was not a surprise to see the Republican caping for President Trump, who himself indicated at one point that he wasn’t intimidated by the report being released in full. Now that Republican Attorney General William Barr has given the GOP cover by releasing only a 4-page “summary” so far that Trump has now used to claim “total exoneration,” the Party has new talking points and has moved the goalposts once again.
What did come as a surprise was that McConnell seemed to be admitting that actually allowing the Mueller Report to see the light of day without first allowing Barr and Trump to line-item veto whichever things they don’t want people to see would somehow be “advantageous” to Democrats.
I have consistently supported the proposition that his report ought to be released to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the law … I think we should be consistent in letting the special counsel actually finish his work and not just when we think it may be politically advantageous to one side or the other.”
The thing is either McConnell is talking about preparation and investigation by the special counsel — which is already complete — or he’s talking about the continued prosecutions that have arisen from the indictments and cases brought to court by the special counsel, like Roger Stone’s looming case. That’s not until November, though, and Barr and almost everyone else involved has already indicated they want to at least release a “version” of the report within a few weeks.
But the second half of that sentence is the more concerning part — there should be nothing “politically advantageous” about releasing a non-partisan report on an investigation. If it aided Republicans or Trump, the report would already be published in full and excerpted in every major newspaper in America.
That means Mitch knows that releasing the report in full to the public would make Republicans and Trump look bad, and make Democrats and those concerned with the rule of law look good.
Featured image via screen capture
