The investigation is far from over, but that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from insisting on Twitter that the 13 indictments Friday prove that his campaign didn’t collude with Russia.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller dropped a massive bombshell by announcing the indictment of 13 Russian nationals for their role in interfering with the 2016 Election.
In a statement, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made it clear that “there is no allegation in the indictment on the outcome of the election,” and the indictment further stated that the Russians communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”
In other words, the indictments that were handed down are not alleging that the meddling affected the outcome of the election, nor are they alleging that there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
And that sent Trump to Twitter to insist that his campaign “did nothing wrong” and that there was “no collusion!”
Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2018
However, it should be pointed out that the investigation is not over and just because these indictments are not making allegations of collusion, doesn’t mean future indictments won’t.
Also, just because the indictment says that Trump’s campaign members were “unwitting” on this occasion, it doesn’t mean they weren’t willing participants on others. Plus, there could very well be obstruction charges, which Trump nor Rosenstein and the indictment, addressed.
Again, the investigation is not over yet no matter how much Trump wants it to be.
To that end, Trump issued a White House statement insisting that it’s time for Americans to move on and made some incredibly hypocritical remarks as well.
“It is more important than ever before to come together as Americans. We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful. It’s time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections.”
First of all, Trump and Republicans attacked our institutions for months to discredit the Russia investigation.
Let’s not forget that Trump refused to believe our intelligence agencies when they confirmed that Russia interfered with the election. Trump even went so far as to say he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin over our law enforcement and intelligence community.
Furthermore, Trump just admitted on Twitter that Russia has been attacking the United States since 2014, yet he still refused to impose sanctions on Russia that Congress passed by an overwhelming margin last year. If anything serves to “further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia,” it’s Trump’s refusal to punish them by imposing the sanctions.
Finally, it should also be noted that four members of Trump campaign have been charged by Mueller thus far, including Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, and George Papadopoulos.
So, Trump is not off the hook yet. Mueller’s investigation is ongoing, which means it’s possible more indictments are on the way. Trump’s declaration of vindication is pre-mature. If anything, this investigation is just starting to heat up, and Trump should be terrified.
Featured Image: YouTube screenshot.
