Analysis: The Democrats’ post-Mueller dilemma
By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow March 27 at 12:58 PM For the better part of the past two years, Democratic leaders in Washington have successfully quelled the impeachment fervor that has existed within their ranks.
Even though special counsel Robert S. Mueller III declined to accuse Trump of obstruction of justice or his 2016 campaign of collusion with the Russian government, Democratic leaders have largely stuck to their previous assertions that both appear to have taken place and should be probed further. Rep. Jerrold Nadler , the head of the House Judiciary Committee in charge of obstruction-related questions, appears similarly assured. He said earlier this month that it was “very clear” that Trump had obstructed justice, even as he acknowledged the burden of proof needed to be met. And after Attorney General William P. Barr reported this week that Mueller had neither accused Trump of obstruction nor exonerated him, Nadler suggested Barr’s letter might be politically slanted.
But as with impeachment, just because they can move forward aggressively doesn’t mean it will pay off. And it’s one thing to say you want to reach your own conclusions; it’s another to look like you’ve drawn those conclusions before the investigation is complete. Democrats have boxed themselves in, to some degree, by arguing that these crimes were committed and then having Mueller — after an intensive nearly two-year-long investigation — concluding they can’t be proved.
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