This isn’t going how Donald Trump was hoping
Speculation continues to run rampant regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which he delivered to Attorney General William Barr last week. We all know that Barr miraculously reduced over 300 pages of information into a four-page memo, and most agree that Barr’s memo cannot possibly give a clear indication of everything contained in the report.
While speculation as to the report’s contents and its release to the public continue, “President” Trump held one of his hate rallies in Michigan, proclaiming his innocence to the crowd. Those proclamations are based on Barr’s whitewashing of the Mueller report. Barr’s memo obviously leaves more questions than answers, and while Trump may crow about his innocence, others want to know what Robert Mueller wrote about his investigation in his more than three hundred pages. While the public anxiously awaits the outcome of the battle for the release of Mueller’s report, NPR and PBS teamed up with Marist to gauge where voters stand on Trump’s self-proclaimed exoneration.
According to the NPR/PBS/Marist poll, only approximately one-third of Americans believe that Trump is in the clear. The same poll asked whether Democrats should continue their investigations into Trump, and the results were split 48% to 46% in favor. Lee Miringoff, who is the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, states the obvious: People want to see the report. According to this poll, people also want to see both Mueller and Barr testify to get a better understanding of how everything has transpired.
I tend to agree with those polled, though I want the testimony because I believe Barr whitewashed Mueller’s report to try to save Trump’s hide. It will be far more difficult for him to continue to do so once he is under oath. Having Mueller testify as to what’s really in the report, as well as his investigative methodology, would go a long way toward clearing up any ambiguities. Most agree. This poll reveals that two-thirds (or 66%) of those polled want Mueller to testify before Congress, with 64% requesting testimony from Barr. Again, I believe people sense that something is not quite right with this entire fiasco.
The most damning part of this poll for Donald Trump is that almost six in ten participants believe that questions remain as to Trump’s involvement in criminal activities, with 36% claiming Trump is in the clear. According to the poll takers, that 36% figure is “close to where Trump’s approval rating has been throughout his presidency.” Interestingly, while the Barr whitewashed memo clearing Trump of collusion increased his approval rating, it did so by only 3% (up from 39% in January to 42%), still well below that of a successful presidency.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years