Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman argued Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s highly anticipated report lays out a “devastating case” against President Trump that Congress should act upon.
John Podesta wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that Mueller’s partially redacted report shows that Trump campaign operatives knew in advance about releases of stolen Democratic emails obtained by WikiLeaks from Russian intelligence sources.
Podesta argued that Mueller’s findings were coupled with a clear call for lawmakers to act, as the sitting president cannot be indicted under Justice Department policy but Congress has authority to pursue obstruction of justice investigations.{mosads}
“Mueller lays out a devastating case against the president, but explicitly says in the introduction to the obstruction section that given the Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president, it would be unfair to draw the conclusion that seems obvious from the facts that follow, because Trump wouldn’t be able to defend himself in a court of law,” Podesta wrote.
“Mueller got us this far. Now it’s Congress’s turn to weigh the evidence against the president, decide what merits a response and act in the best interests of our democracy,” he added.
Podesta also echoed claims from other Democrats who have accused Attorney General William Barr of misrepresenting the Mueller report’s finding that Congress had the authority to investigate the president for obstruction of justice.
Barr had written in a four-page letter summarizing Mueller’s primary findings last month that the decision against pursuing an obstruction case against Trump had been made by him and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
“Attorney General William P. Barr spoke to an audience of one, President Trump, and in so doing let down 329 million Americans,” Podesta said of Barr’s press conference earlier Thursday.
House Democrats, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) have vowed to continue investigations into the president, including on the issue of obstruction of justice.