Commentary: End of Mueller probe no end for partisan feud in Washington

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A confidential report recently submitted by special counsel Robert Mueller to the U.S. Department of Justice marked the end of a nearly two-year investigation. However, that could hardly conclude the bitter partisan battle in Washington.

According to U.S. Attorney General William Barr's synopsis, Mueller found no evidence of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 U.S. presidential election but did not reach a conclusion as to whether the president had obstructed justice. Barr concluded the special counsel's findings are "not sufficient" to support a charge.

That is more than sufficient to give a sense of relief to the White House, which had been shadowed by Mueller's investigation, commonly known as the Russia probe, as six Trump associates, along with over two dozen others, had been indicted since the special counsel's appointment in May 2017.

More good news for Trump's inner circle is that Mueller, according to Barr, "does not recommend any further indictments." The president has claimed a "complete exoneration," as his political allies were celebrating it as a victory.

For the Democrats, Barr's four-page summary of Mueller's wide-ranging inquiry is far from a satisfying answer. To get a clearer picture of the special counsel's investigation, they are demanding a release of the complete report and Barr's appearance before Congress.

A new fight has already started. Six Democratic committee chairs in the House sent a letter to Barr on Monday requesting that he submit the full report from Mueller to Congress by April 2. Also on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a non-binding resolution to make the full report public.

The scenario was expected, as rarely is there a happy ending for both parties in U.S. politics, characterized by partisans bickering and you-win-I-lose games.

During the Russia investigation, Republicans and Democrats were locked in a tit-for-tat fight in a politically toxic manner. As a result, the nation has been driven further apart. Mueller's report, no matter what findings it produces, by no means spells a solution to their entanglement.

In other words, neither the end of the Mueller-led probe nor Barr's conclusions would put partisan fights to rest. Democrats' attempt to get the full report is set to clash violently with recrimination of the White House and Republicans, as each remains committed to turning the investigation into a political torpedo that could sink the opposing side.

It appears that even from the beginning, Mueller's investigation had not been viewed as a way to purely address U.S. concerns over alleged Russian actions in 2016, therefore its end is not "the end" at all.

Perhaps those seeking power in Washington care less about whether the partisan fight is a "witch hunt" or not, but more about which hunt they could join and win. enditem