USA TODAY US Edition

Russia is a habit Trump can’t break

Evidence and danger but no indictment­s

- Michael J. Stern

Many people are shocked that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigat­ion “did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinate­d with the Russian government in its election interferen­ce activities.” This soon-to-be infamous quotation will forever rankle all who recoiled at the sight of President Donald Trump cheating on Melania with Russia. But it’s not exactly as it sounds.

Mueller conclusive­ly found that the Russian government interfered with the 2016 American presidenti­al election. In order for Mueller to have brought conspiracy charges, he needed to find a clear agreement between the Trump campaign and Russia to jointly interfere with the election. No clear agreement, no indictment.

Trump’s campaign did a lot of sleazy things that might not satisfy the demanding legal requiremen­ts of a conspiracy. Things like: publicly asking Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails; meeting with a Russian operative at Trump Tower to get “dirt” on Clinton; and handing over proprietar­y polling data to a man with ties to Russian intelligen­ce.

Russia and Trump might have bulldozed the same immoral path to hijack a free presidenti­al election, but Mueller’s conclusion that they were not coordinati­ng with one another stopped him from finding an indictable conspiracy.

The Trump-Russia connection

People often dislike lawyers because what they say is not always what they mean. So does Mueller’s report mean he concluded there was no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia? No.

“Beyond a reasonable doubt” is the standard the Justice Department uses to indict. It is the law’s highest burden of proof. If Mueller used the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard to conclude that his investigat­ion “did not establish” a Trump-Russia conspiracy, there could still be evidence of a conspiracy that simply does not rise to the level needed to indict in a criminal case.

Mueller’s report should reveal the standard he used and the evidence he found. That is why it is imperative that Attorney General William Barr release the full report. Only then can Congress and the public assess the true nature of the Trump-Russia connection.

As for obstructio­n of justice, Mueller offered this: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Mueller left the obstructio­n question to Barr, who was appointed by Trump.

What is disturbing about Mueller’s abdication is that Barr’s audition for the role of attorney general was preceded, last June, by a gratuitous­ly submitted memo in which Barr essentiall­y said that it is impossible for the president to commit obstructio­n of justice. It is no wonder then that Barr quickly concluded there was insufficie­nt evidence to charge obstructio­n.

While Barr should have recused himself from deciding a case on which he had ventured an opinion, he did not. Thus he avoided the same misstep that made predecesso­r Jeff Sessions target bait for the president’s endless attacks.

Trump and Putin had same goal

How this turn of events will play out is quickly taking shape. Trump is already tweeting “Total EXONERATIO­N,” despite Mueller’s unequivoca­l statement that the report “does not exonerate him.” The Fox News outrage machine is running full throttle, with Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham seeking “repercussi­ons” against the news media, including a call for CNN’s president to be fired for daring to report on Mueller’s investigat­ion.

Continued efforts to ferret out Trump corruption have been made exponentia­lly more difficult by Mueller’s report, or at least the summary released by Barr. A nuanced understand­ing of Barr’s summary is necessary to distinguis­h a flesh wound from a fatal blow, and nuance is in short supply in an age where informatio­nal diets rely on headlines and tweets.

A Google search of “no collusion” found headlines in most major news outlets failed to distinguis­h between no evidence of criminal conspiracy and evidence that is insufficie­nt to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Danger to American democracy can come in many forms. Even if there is not a single piece of evidence supporting coordinati­on with Russia, Mueller’s report tells us that Russia and Trump were working toward the same goal — making Trump the most powerful man in the world. Attaining the identical result might have taken different paths, but Trump knew the endgame.

Trump fawned over a ruthless dictator, undercut American foreign policy, and sold out his own intelligen­ce agencies. Russia’s illegal election interferen­ce is an addiction. The failure of Mueller’s report to rein in the president will ensure that it remains an addiction as we head into the 2020 presidenti­al campaign. Russia is a habit Donald Trump cannot break.

Michael J. Stern, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributo­rs, was a federal prosecutor for 25 years in Los Angeles and Detroit.

 ?? TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES ?? At a church near the White House on Sunday.
TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES At a church near the White House on Sunday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States