‘No collusion’—now what?

Without the public release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative report, many questions remain as to President Trump’s potential illegal activity.

What we know comes from newly appointed U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who announced that the probe did not find that POTUS or his campaign had “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” In other words, Mueller didn’t find proof of “collusion.”

Barr, who summarized Mueller’s findings, also noted that the president had not been exonerated when it comes to obstruction of justice. That is, the president may be guilty of that federal crime. That wouldn’t surprise anyone who watched former FBI Director James Comey’s congressional testimony. The president cut him loose, Comey said, after asking him to drop an investigation into the conduct of Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser. Flynn, who had a history of working with Russia—including being paid tens of thousands of dollars by its state-run television station—ultimately pleaded guilty of lying to the FB`I.

Others wary of the Russian government having leverage over Trump may have gleaned that by listening to the president himself. Recall Trump’s interview with TV journalist Lester Holt in which he copped to having fired Comey—then lead investigator in the Russian-influence case—while he was thinking about “this Russia thing.” Unsurprisingly, Trump-appointed Barr has shown no interest in pursuing obstruction charges.

Republicans have seized on the “no collusion” narrative. What they don’t acknowledge is that the crime—conspiracy—carries a high burden of proof to prosecute. Moreover, they appear unmoved by the raft of indictments stemming from the special counsel’s investigation. Among the 34 people facing federal charges, seven have been convicted of crimes ranging from tax fraud and money laundering to lying to the FBI and conspiracy. Some, like Flynn, were senior members of Trump’s election campaign staff.

The question for citizens concerned by Trump is how to move forward now that we’re stuck with him for the next two years. Our advice: Focus on policies—his tax plan that enriches the ultra wealthy; his efforts to fully dismantle the Affordable Care Act; his proposed cuts to education, Social Security and Medicare; his work to torch financial regulations put into place after the Great Recession. The list goes on. Those are the things affecting everyday people—and, other than the courts, there’s no stopping them until Trump is out of office.