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Senate Republicans say they want "transparency" around the Mueller report – but they continue to reject a measure that would actually offer it.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) again blocked Thursday a resolution calling for the release of the report of special advocate Robert Mueller. This is the fifth time Republicans have rejected democratic efforts to review the resolution – even though many reports this week cast doubt on the breadth of the summary of the comprehensive report presented by Attorney General Bill Barr. The resolution, which is non-binding, simply calls for the publication of the report and notes that it does not claim any content "expressly prohibited by law".
As Ella Nilsen of Vox pointed out, this resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority in the House by 420-0. (It should be noted that the vote in the House took place prior to the publication of the report summary by Barr.) In the Senate, however, several Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the President of the Judiciary , Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Paul proposed Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) requested that the report be published.
So far, the only reasons why Republicans have given their position on the resolution have not been particularly convincing. Although McConnell stated that he was rejecting the measure because he wanted to give Barr time to coordinate with the special attorney's office to find out how to publish the additional content of the report, Democrats stated that the resolution not only prevented it from doing so, it did not set a deadline.
Meanwhile, Graham and Paul did not hesitate to point out that their objections were strongly "political". Graham said he was rejecting the resolution because he wanted more information about Hillary Clinton's 2016 private messaging server survey. "I'm just making a political argument," he told Charleston Post and Courier when he rescinded the resolution in mid-March. Meanwhile, Paul called for a thorough review of the start of the investigation into Russia and why law enforcement officials have been looking into the Trump campaign.
This is an answer that completely diverts from the main – and simple – problem that the resolution is trying to solve. And the diversion did not go unnoticed.
"I have not yet heard any legitimate concerns from my Republican colleagues who are blocking this bipartisan resolution or trying to stop it with strange partisan amendments," said Senator Mark Warner (D-VA ), the last Democrat on the resolution Thursday, said Vox in a statement.
Some Republicans have put forward their reluctance to publish the report for a reason more concrete: they fear that the information it contains, content that does not fall under the guise of legal protection, be disclosed and ultimately undermine to the reputation of some people. and the standards of the GM.
But an important reason why Republicans may not have been able to really explain why they oppose this resolution? They do it to protect President Donald Trump – and they can not say it explicitly.
Republicans may be worried about other redactions
If the report is published in a more complete form, there should be some redactions. Some of these redactions may be for legal reasons, while others may be in keeping with DOJ standards, as Jen Kirby de Vox wrote:
As a general rule, the Department of Justice does not disclose detrimental information about individuals if they are not charged with a particular crime, or why. a case does not give rise to criminal prosecution.
Drafts made to comply with these standards may not all be legally guaranteed – and thus, not being protected by this particular resolution, Adam White, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School of the United States. George Mason University, told Vox.
"To the extent that the resolution only removes information that may legally be [not] to be released is not wide enough, "he said. "In my opinion, any release should conform to the standards of the Department of Justice."
This is a concern to which several Republican lawmakers have also alluded while protesting the resolution.
"That's the [attorney general’s] responsibility to protect and protect the reputation of innocent people from any crime charge, "Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters last week. "The resolution is no exception for this type of information that I've described, it's certainly too broad."
Democrats argue that this opposition is only one way for Republicans to show that they are in tune with Trump
Trump has already stated that he too would be open to public publication of the Mueller report, but his willingness to follow through on this effort seems to be fading. as more time has passed since the publication of the main summary of Barr. The administration seems particularly eager to fully understand the details of the report before fully endorsing transparency, Warner said.
"Until now, the president and his allies have turned a blind eye to transparency – heck, even the president said it should be made public," he said. "Unfortunately, their actions indicate that this president does not intend to sign this resolution until he knows what the report actually says about his conduct."
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, emphasize their support for the president by continuing to thwart the democratic efforts to vote this resolution.
"There have been some small cracks in Republican Trump and House and Senate relations, but by continuing to block a single resolution calling for the release of the Mueller report, Republicans on the Hill have made it clear that they were [do] all they can to protect the president, "said Jim Manley, a staff member of former Democrat and Minority Senate Leader Harry Reid.
There is certainly a "political calculation" in the way legislators have responded on both sides of the aisle, White added. For the moment, it seems that "calculation" is preventing many, but not all, Senate Republicans from fully supporting any form of publication of the report.
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