'Everybody's been holding their breath:' Wisconsin politicians react to Mueller's findings
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: U.S. Attorney General William Barr returns to his house on March 24, 2019 in McLean, Virginia. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential
MILWAUKEE -- Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, but reached no conclusion on whether President Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr declared Sunday. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from President Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting
President Trump, pleasure tinged with resentment after two years of investigations , declared "complete and total exoneration. "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this," he said. But Democrats demanded to see the full Mueller report and insisted that even the summary by the president's attorney general hardly put him in the clear.
Reaction in Wisconsin fell along party lines, with Democrats seeking more than just the four-page summary, and Republicans saying it's time to move on.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he returns to the White House after spending the weekend in Florida March 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump returns to Washington as Special Counsel Robert Muell
Mordecai Lee
"It comes down to this. Based on the special prosecutor's report, and based on the attorney general's summary of it, President Trump did not commit a crime," said Mordecai Lee, political analyst.
Lee watched it play out on Sunday, March 24 after Robert Mueller finished his 22-month investigation Friday.
"It reminds us that a president can be impeached for what we would consider political crimes which are wholly separate from the criminal court," said Lee.
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson
Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson expressed happiness in a statement:
“We should all be happy that after an extensive investigation, the Special Counsel ‘did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.’ Unfortunately, the investigation took almost two years and was a huge distraction from the significant problems facing our nation. Hopefully, the attorney general can quickly conclude his final report and allow us to turn our full attention to those other challenging issues.”
On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan shared this message on Twitter:
"Everybody's been holding their breath for this," said Lee. "Things have gotten so bad in our country and here in Wisconsin that Republicans have made up their mind without seeing evidence and Democrats have made up their minds without seeing evidence."