On Wednesday, Robert Mueller testified before Congress for nearly seven hours about his investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 election and connections to President Trump and his campaign. There were multiple big conclusions we confirmed:
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President Trump was not exonerated, contrary to Trump’s claims.
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President Trump can be indicted after he leaves office.
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Mueller uncovered several instances of criminal activity connected to Trump.
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Russia attacked the US election infrastructure in 2016 and they continue to attack us.
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Trump and his associates coordinated with Russia’s attack on our democracy.
Because of Robert Mueller’s testimony, House Democrats are now escalating their investigations and actively considering moving forward with formal impeachment hearings.
The Mueller Report’s 448 pages outline a huge amount of criminal activity by Trump, his family, and his staff. Mueller’s testimony brought that information to millions of Americans. Some of the most egregious aspects include:
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37 indictments of people close to President Trump.
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7 convictions or guilty pleas. (Many of these people are now in prison, including his campaign chairman and deputy chairman; national security advisor; and his longtime personal lawyer.)
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At least 10 attempts by Trump to obstruct justice and shut down the investigation.
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More than 100 secret meetings with Russians that Trump and his people lied to Congress about.
In addition we learned that Trump ordered his staff to fire special counsel Mueller, to refuse to testify before Congress, and to lie and create false records. He also tried to discourage them from cooperating with investigations.
We now know that Trump and his campaign took the help of Russia during the 2016 election, didn’t disclose that help to the FBI, and then made efforts to cover it up. Recently when asked whether he would take information and help from a foreign country for his presidential campaign, Trump said yes. As Mueller noted, that is illegal and unpatriotic.
Over 1,000 former federal prosecutors, who have served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, agree that the Mueller report lays out indictable offenses and that if this were any other person than the president, they would be prosecuted.
Mueller stated that: If he had confidence the president did not commit a crime, he would have said so. He also said that a Department of Justice rule prohibited him from further investigating crimes that would lead to indictments of the president. Mueller intentionally referred this to Congress to take action, stating that it has the power to investigate and impeach, and handed them the evidence to do so.
As the nation’s largest grassroots environmental advocacy organization, with millions of members and supporters nationwide, the Sierra Club is a key part of US civil society and a bulwark for both environmental protection and safeguarding American democracy.
The Sierra Club and the American people require a functioning government and democratic access to that government to achieve our mission of protecting the human and natural environment.
The American people deserve to know all the facts about Russia’s interference with our elections, including the president’s knowledge of it, his use of their help, and his obstruction of justice by attempting to cover up his connection to Russia’s illegal activities.
Congress has the constitutional authority—and duty—to hold the president accountable. This is about defending our institutions of government, preserving checks and balances between the branches of government, and protecting the systems that stop one person, or one small group of people, from taking control of our government over the will of the majority of the people. Congress must send a signal to current and future leaders that this illegal, unpatriotic behavior will not be tolerated in our democracy by continuing this investigation into Trump’s obstruction of justice.