Now that Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia in the 2016 election has wrapped up, Donald Trump Jr. would like to open another probe — into the investigation itself.Don Jr. apparently got the idea from his dad: He tweeted in response to a news report quoting President Trump telling journalists minutes earlier that the investigation was “an illegal takedown that failed.” The president added, “And hopefully, someone’s going to be looking at the other side.”The younger Trump appears to have taken that comment to mean his father wanted an investigation, too. “That’s one hell of an idea,” Don Jr. tweeted. “How this farce started and snowballed based on the actions of unelected bureaucrats into one the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on America should be discovered. Those responsible should be held accountable for this stain on American Democracy.”
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Mueller has spent two years looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians to sway the 2016 presidential election toward Trump. On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr turned in a four-page summary of Mueller’s findings to Congress that said the investigation did not find that Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia.Although the attorney general’s letter said Mueller’s team didn’t draw its own conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein didn’t find reason to bring obstruction charges against the president and that most of the evidence was already public. Democrats, however, argue that Congress needs to see the full report — and the underlying facts behind the report’s conclusions.President Trump was quick to say the report “exonerated” him. He tweeted shortly after that Mueller had found “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” (Barr’s summary specifically said that on the obstruction of justice question Trump wasn’t exonerated, but there was insufficient evidence.)
The White House — and many Republicans — celebrated the report’s lack of damning conclusions against the Trump campaign as an immutable victory. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the key findings were “a total and complete exoneration.” Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said on Twitter Sunday that “the clock has finally struck midnight on the ‘Russian collusion’ fantasy.”Cover: Donald Trump Jr. speaks at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 19, 2016. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)