Background

Nov. 4, 2016. Election Day in the United States. Millions of Americans are glued to their favorite news outlet following the election, waiting patiently for the results from each state to be projected. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wins the popular vote, but loses the presidency, devastating millions of Americans. The winner of the Electoral College, Donald J. Trump of the GOP, is elected as President of the United States.

To many, Clinton seemed like a shoe-in and her loss was shocking, leaving one question in many Americans’ minds: how did Hillary Clinton lose the presidency?

Synopsis

July of the election year, an investigation into President Trump’s campaign and the alleged involvement of the Russian government began. The accusations of Russian interference in the election had many parts, but boiled down to the belief that Trump campaign was given an advantage and gained votes by the metalling of the Russian government. The investigation seemed to explain Clinton’s loss, until April 18, 2019.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller III, former Director of the FBI, appointed by the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ran the investigation. He was chosen after then Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from running the investigation. Mueller’s responsibility was to uncover the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to the Russian government: a task which resulted in  500 warrants, 2,800 indictments and further investigation. His job was to create a report, laying out all of the information he collected and ultimately reaching a conclusion on the matter. The investigation lasted over two years and cost American taxpayers over 25 million dollars. Mueller’s investigation ended with six members of the Trump campaign, along with 31 others, facing criminal charges. People to note included Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Manafort was charged with bank fraud, tax fraud, conspiracy and witness tampering. Cohen was found guilty lying to Congress about his knowledge of meetings in Trump tower.

Mueller concluded his investigation in March of 2019, announcing there will be no further indictments, and passed the report off for good to Attorney General William Barr. Barr is an impeccably qualified Attorney General, serving the same position under George H.W Bush. He read, annotated and summarized the 475 page report in 48  hours, releasing a timely four-page summary to the American public in which the attorney general revealed there was not Russian collusion in the Trump presidential campaign.

After years of investigation, and millions of dollars spent, a redacted version of the Mueller Report was finally released in April of 2019 for the American public to read and for news outlets to analyze.

My Analysis

After reading sections of the redacted report myself, Mueller proved there were no ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, neither in an attempt to hurt Hillary Clinton nor to help Donald Trump.

The end of the Mueller report concludes with a sentence reading “While this report does not conclude that the President commited a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Trump may still be facing charges of obstruction of justice, but the Department of Justice is leaving this issue in the hands of Congress. The charges are being brought up, because of an accusation stating that Trump requested former FBI director James Comey to drop an investigation into a member of his administration. It is not clear whether or not this is true, or grounds for obstruction charges.

According to Columbia Law School, obstruction of justice, is when someone “corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice.”

Though Trump is not exonerated, the investigation is finally over. President Trump and his family celebrated the end of the Russia probe and Barron Trump’s 13th birthday at his Florida golf course and resort, Mar-a-Lago, for the weekend.

I think Mueller’s investigation was necessary and clearly showed the American people that the President is not above the law. With the conclusion that the President has not colluded with Russia, I think he will gain the support he needs for his re-election bid in 2020. The fact that there was no collusion also shows people around the world that America still chooses its leaders in a fair election process, giving hope to other nations.

Many Americans are outraged that the investigation ended in proving the president’s innocence. Regardless of political party, Americans should unite under the idea that it’s a good thing our president is not being charged with crimes at this point. Isn’t it a good thing  that Trump fairly won his election? I think so, and I think Americans should be glad there is no collusion, rather than angry there are no grounds for the impeachment of the president.

Mueller was to find criminal charges, which he did not. Congress is to connect all of the dots in the report and find grounds for obstruction of justice. For now, the Russia probe has finally ended, proving that the 2016 election was just.