Since he was first appointed as a special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference and “collusion” with the Trump campaign in the 2016 election, Democrats and Republicans alike have been anxiously awaiting a final report with conclusive findings from former FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Mueller is expected to deliver a report on some of his key findings in the Russia investigation after the midterm elections, sources say.
That latest news comes from Bloomberg, which cited two unnamed U.S. officials that requested not to be identified, one of whom suggested that Mueller’s report would focus in on two major issues: Whether there were any clear incidents of “collusion” between the Russian government and Trump campaign, and whether President Donald Trump took any sort of action that could be construed as “obstruction of justice” with regard to the Russian interference investigation.
Post-election report
Based on Justice Department guidelines that instruct prosecutors to avoid taking any overt actions prior to an election that could influence said election one way or the other, it is highly unlikely that anything major will emerge from Mueller’s probe until after the elections are complete.
But a majority of people across the political spectrum want this long-running investigation to be wrapped up as soon as possible, especially President Trump, but also Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed and is nominally the “boss” of Mueller and his team. One U.S. official told Bloomberg that Rosenstein has “made it clear that he wants Mueller to wrap up the investigation as expeditiously as possible.”
However, even if Mueller issues a report of his findings after the mid-terms, it doesn’t necessarily mean that his investigation will be shut down entirely.
The investigation may have uncovered other developments that his team will continue to look into, just as there will likely still be ongoing litigation involving the individuals that Mueller’s team have already indicted and are prosecuting for matters unrelated to Trump or Russia or the 2016 election.
Report may not be made public
Many Americans will want to see Mueller’s findings for themselves — indeed, one could argue that the American people deserve to see everything that has transpired in regard to the Mueller probe — but it is possible that Mueller’s expected report will not be made public.
The decision of whether to make the findings public or not rests solely with Rosenstein. Largely dependent upon what is contained in Mueller’s report, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle will be clamoring to review the report, and assuming the report exonerates the president himself of any alleged wrongdoing, the White House will want it made public as well.
That said, even if the report is ultimately released for the American public to see, any parts of it related to secretive intelligence gathering “sources and methods” or ongoing litigation will likely be redacted.
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By the time the November elections conclude, Mueller and his team will have been working on this investigation for a year and a half — ample time to determine whether there was any “collusion” during the election or if Trump attempted to obstruct the investigation into alleged “collusion” prior to the appointment of Mueller.
It’s high time to wrap up this lengthy probe — no matter the ultimate outcome — if only so we can move on to the next big “scandal” that Democrats and the media will try to pin on Trump in their effort to obstruct his MAGA agenda.