The two-pronged conspiracy theory that has dominated US political discourse for almost three years - that Trump, his family and his campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, and Trump is beholden to Russian President Vladimir Putin - was not merely rejected today by the final report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The key fact is this: Mueller - contrary to weeks of false media claims - did not merely issue a narrow, cramped, legalistic finding that there was insufficient evidence to indict Trump associates for conspiring with Russia and then proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
That's precisely what he did: Mueller, in addition to concluding that evidence was insufficient to charge any American with crimes relating to Russian election interference, also stated emphatically in numerous instances that there was no evidence - not merely that there was insufficient evidence to obtain a criminal conviction - that key prongs of this three-year-old conspiracy theory actually happened.
As Mueller himself put it: "In some instances, the report points out the absence of evidence or conflicts in the evidence about a particular fact or event."
Regarding various Trump officials' 2016 meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Mueller said they were "Brief, public and nonsubstantive." Concerning the much-hyped change to GOP platform regarding Ukraine, Mueller wrote that the "Evidence does not establish that one campaign official's efforts to dilute a portion of the Republican platform was undertaken at the behest of candidate Trump or Russia," and further noted that such a change was consistent with Trump's publicly stated foreign policy view to avoid provoking gratuitous conflict with the Kremlin over arming Ukrainians.
In other crucial areas, Mueller did not go so far as to say that his investigation "Did not identify evidence" but nonetheless concluded that his 22-month investigation "Did not establish" that the key claims of the conspiracy theory were true.
Regarding alleged involvement by Trump officials or family members in the Russian hacks Mueller explained: "The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/april/19/robert-mueller-did-not-merely-reject-the-trumprussia-conspiracy-theories-he-obliterated-them/
The key fact is this: Mueller - contrary to weeks of false media claims - did not merely issue a narrow, cramped, legalistic finding that there was insufficient evidence to indict Trump associates for conspiring with Russia and then proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
That's precisely what he did: Mueller, in addition to concluding that evidence was insufficient to charge any American with crimes relating to Russian election interference, also stated emphatically in numerous instances that there was no evidence - not merely that there was insufficient evidence to obtain a criminal conviction - that key prongs of this three-year-old conspiracy theory actually happened.
As Mueller himself put it: "In some instances, the report points out the absence of evidence or conflicts in the evidence about a particular fact or event."
Regarding various Trump officials' 2016 meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Mueller said they were "Brief, public and nonsubstantive." Concerning the much-hyped change to GOP platform regarding Ukraine, Mueller wrote that the "Evidence does not establish that one campaign official's efforts to dilute a portion of the Republican platform was undertaken at the behest of candidate Trump or Russia," and further noted that such a change was consistent with Trump's publicly stated foreign policy view to avoid provoking gratuitous conflict with the Kremlin over arming Ukrainians.
In other crucial areas, Mueller did not go so far as to say that his investigation "Did not identify evidence" but nonetheless concluded that his 22-month investigation "Did not establish" that the key claims of the conspiracy theory were true.
Regarding alleged involvement by Trump officials or family members in the Russian hacks Mueller explained: "The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/april/19/robert-mueller-did-not-merely-reject-the-trumprussia-conspiracy-theories-he-obliterated-them/
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