In interviews since Attorney General William Barr issued his four-page letter on Sunday, Democrats have refused to accept that determination, saying there’s ample evidence of Trump campaign and Russia contacts that may not have risen to the level of criminal conduct. They are demanding the full release of the Mueller report to determine what else the special counsel found, and they appear intent to continue investigating ties between Trump and Russia.

But that strategy risks political backlash for Democrats if they are viewed as overreaching and probing into an area that has already been exhaustively investigated by a special counsel whose investigation turned up no criminal wrongdoing.

“What I accept was there was apparently no criminal conspiracy … with the Russians,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, told CNN. “That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of activity with the Russians that ranges from unsavory to treacherous.”

This is the best explanation I’ve heard.

Excerpts:
[The airwaves, print, and social media are brimming with false or misleading statements about the Mueller report and Attorney General William Barr’s letter to key members of Congress.

As a concession to the shortness of life and my editor’s insistent word count restrictions in this space, I would like to underscore the most egregious examples, with some accompanying legal clarifications.

1) The Mueller investigation wasted $25 million in a witch hunt because it found no criminal collusion or conspiracy between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian agents.

False. The purpose of an investigation is not to prosecute a case but to see that justice is done. Justice is vindicated when a prosecutor refrains from indicting individuals where the evidence seems insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to impartial jurors. Moreover, the Mueller investigation did establish criminal Russian endeavors to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. That conclusion accords with the unanimous finding of Trump’s intelligence agencies. It discredits Trump’s insistence that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him the truth in denying Russian interference.

2) The Mueller investigation completely exonerates Trump.

False. Trump could still be named as an unindicted co-conspirator by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in its ongoing federal election law investigation of Trump’s pay-offs to a porn star and Playboy Bunny in exchange for silence about his adulteries to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. President Richard Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate cover-up prosecution by Special Prosecutor Leon Jarworski.

Additionally, the Mueller report did not exonerate Trump from an obstruction of justice prosecution once he departs the White House. It marshaled both incriminating and exculpatory evidence but refrained from opining on whether the totality of the evidence proved guilt or innocence because he is bound by Justice Department policy against indicting or prosecuting a sitting president. To boost the political standing of Trump, Attorney General William Barr gratuitously decreed that obstruction was not proven. Barr’s statement commands no legal standing and does not foreclose a criminal prosecution of Trump once he leaves office.

In sum, the Mueller Report will be only the seventh inning stretch of a nine inning game. House Democrats can keep this going if they want, and they probably will.] – Bruce Fein, writer at TAC

Bruce Fein was associate deputy attorney general and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission under President Reagan and counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran. He is a partner in the law firm of Fein & DelValle PLLC.

“Also SDNY is about to be Trump’s worst nightmare.”

I’m cautiously optimistic you’re right on this, Rodney.