Members of Hawaii’s all-Democratic congressional delegation said Thursday that a review of the 448-page report by special counsel Robert Mueller hardly shows that President Donald Trump was exonerated in the investigation into any dealings he had with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case said that he would push for the report to be unredacted, while U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono that “everything should be on the table” when it comes to Congress’ oversight role of the administration.
Both criticized Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the report, suggesting that he was spinning the findings in favor of Trump.
“Clearly, what I read already of the report is highly disturbing — incredible interference by Russia in our 2016 elections,” Case told reporters outside of the state Capitol in Honolulu. “And although Mr. Mueller did not find overt collusion or interference or participation, certainly many, many people turned a blind eye and or were receptive to that interference. That in and of itself should concern all of us.”
Case said that he was concerned by how heavily redacted the report was and that if the attorney general isn’t willing to release it in full, at least to somebody in Congress in an oversight role, then the matter should be decided by the courts.
“I simply don’t trust this attorney general, given what has happened in the last couple of months with this report, to make independent decisions that will disclose the full meaning and consequence of this report,” said Case.
Hirono, who is in Vietnam, released a statement saying that the special counsel’s investigation “found serious wrongdoing by the president and many of his associates.”
“Although the special counsel felt he couldn’t meet the high bar necessary to prove criminal conspiracy with the Russians, he demonstrated that Donald Trump and his campaign were willing to engage with our foremost adversary to gain an advantage in the 2016 election,” said Hirono. “This is just wrong, plain and simple.”
“The special counsel’s report in no way exonerates the president. In fact, it implicates the president in criminal activity. Congress has an obligation to act like the separate branch of government it is and conduct serious oversight of this administration. Everything should be on the table.”
The Mueller report paints an unflattering picture of Trump, including attempts to derail the investigation that were thwarted by advisers. But the report doesn’t accuse the president of criminal wrongdoing or colluding with Russia to win the presidency.
Hawaii Republican Party Chairwoman Shirlene Ostrov said Democrats need to move on.
“I just think it’s time for our congressional delegation to start working for the American people instead of continuing this overzealous witch hunt, which was two years and tens of millions of tax dollars, which came to the conclusion of no collusion,” she said.
