WASHINGTON DC (April 18, 2019) — Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley of Iowa, former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report of investigation.
“I’m encouraged by the level of transparency that we saw today. Attorney General [William] Barr went above and beyond what was required to give the American people answers; and, after having reviewed the report, President Trump didn’t assert executive-privilege over any of the material, allowing for maximum transparency under the law.
“Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report makes clear now more than ever that the peaceful transfer of power — a hallmark of our American democracy — was targeted by foreign adversaries ahead of the 2016 election. We know Russia sought to sow discord in our political dialogue. And we know that no American, including President Trump, colluded with Russia.
“Unfortunately, for more than two years, many critics of the constitutionally-elected president perpetuated the baseless Russian collusion-hysteria to the detriment of our democracy and to the delight of the Kremlin. Now that President Trump has been cleared of collusion and obstruction-of-justice, those critics ought to focus their energy on preventing future exploitation of our government and our democratic processes.
“We must take a hard look at how we got here and at the relevant issues that the Mueller report did not address. Were our premiere law-enforcement and intelligence-agencies co-opted by candidate Trump’s political opponents in an attempt to take him down? Did political bias or unverified claims taint decisions by senior-agency officials? How did the media allow unsubstantiated innuendo and speculation to fester at max-volume for so long? And how did many opponents of President Trump allow themselves to be turned into tools of Putin to divide our nation? Attorney General Barr is right to review the Justice Department’s actions in the Russia saga and the Inspector General is doing the same. These are issues that all Americans, especially those running for president, should want examined.”
