It is fitting that an investigation that has given rise to so much speculation over the past two years should give rise to yet more at its conclusion
ROBERT MUELLER has concluded his investigation into links and/or co-ordination between President Donald Trump’s electoral campaign and the Russian government. This is a big moment. The special counsel’s probe has already been the downfall of some of Mr Trump’s closest former advisers. Many of the president’s opponents are hoping his final report, now sitting on the desk of Attorney-General William Barr, is about to hook an even bigger fish: the president himself.
Second, despite a relentless attack on Mr Mueller by the president, who branded the probe a “witch-hunt” and slandered its investigators, it appears to have been conducted without political interference. The Justice Department has intimated that Mr Mueller does not intend to issue any further indictment. And in his letter to Congress Mr Barr said Mr Mueller had not been refused permission to take any “proposed action”.
The final report could contain additional incriminating details about Mr Trump. If, for example, the special counsel was deterred from indicting him only by the Justice Department’s policy of granting immunity to a sitting president, Mr Mueller might be expected to inform Mr Barr of the charges he would otherwise have brought. This is clearly possible. But there is nothing in the available evidence to suggest it is likely.
The most damaging misbehaviour by the Trump team—and conceivably Mr Trump himself—examined by the special counsel concerned its communications with Russians. Yet this is subject to a continuing counter-intelligence investigation, and therefore most likely to be kept under wraps by Mr Barr. The fact that the attorney-general has a history of taking an expansive view of executive power, which in this hypothetical case could be cited on national security grounds, makes that seem likelier still.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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