Donald Trump’s Undoing

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report is highly reactive fuel with the power to keep Trumpism in check for what remains of the current president’s term in office and prevent his reelection in 2020.

Donald Trump is beyond salvation. The scrupulous investigation carried out by Special Counsel Robert Mueller has allowed him to flaunt the fanciful notion that he has been completely exonerated from charges of conspiring with the Kremlin and obstructing justice. He received considerable support in this matter from Attorney General William Barr – appointed expressly for this purpose – thanks to Barr’s initial summary of the report claiming that Trump had been exonerated from one of the crimes and that there were no grounds for charging him with the other.

The Mueller report is a bomb and has been treated as such, with the care and steadiness that are required when handling explosive material. First, Barr issued a summary of the report; then, a redacted version of the report was published, meaning that Congress will have to fight for the publication of the unabridged version.

Even so, the White House described by Mueller – chaotic, corrupt and dishonest – does justice to the alarming portrayals rendered by Bob Woodward in his book “Fear: Trump in the White House,” and Michael Wolff in his book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” But the special counsel did not level any direct accusations against Trump. He was conscious of presidential privileges and of how difficult it would be for Congress to remove the president from office, given that impeachment would require a Republican consensus in the Senate.

The fact that Trump did not conspire with Vladimir Putin directly means there was no collusion, which, moreover, is not itself a crime. He did, however, gladly welcome a genuine Russian campaign to obstruct Hillary Clinton and ensure that he was elected president. Strictly speaking, Trump did not obstruct the course of justice either, but he attempted to, and even gave orders to this end at least 10 times. He managed to avoid committing this crime thanks to members of his staff, who circumvented his orders and refused to carry them out.

The report is highly reactive fuel with the power to keep Trumpism in check for what remains of the current president’s term in office and prevent his reelection in 2020. To a large extent, this depends on the Democrats and their ability to find a candidate capable of defeating him at the polls. But it also depends on the shamelessly cavalier resolve – and even patriotism – shown by the Republicans through their continued support of a dishonest and incompetent president who is toxic for the interests of the United States and poses instability to world order.

The report is invaluable testimony to the regenerative capacity of U.S. democracy, and especially to the success of both the separation of powers and the famous system of checks and balances. Mueller has begun to repair what Trump has destroyed.