What does the Mueller report mean for the U.S.?

On March 24, Robert Mueller, special counsel for the United States Department of Justice, submitted an investigation report to the Justice Department, stating that neither President Trump himself or his campaign team colluded with Russia to intervene in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and there was insufficient evidence to show that Trump obstructed justice.

While the found no evidence of collusion, it also did not exonerate President Trump of obstruction. Trump claimed victory and said, “We can never let this happen to another president again.”

“It's not the job of a prosecutor or a special counsel to supposedly exonerate somebody in America,” John Sitilides, a geopolitical strategist at Trilogy Advisors and a consultant to the U.S. State Department, told CGTN. “This is a tragic situation politically for America,” he said.

Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, shares his Insights with CGTN.

In Frank Sesno's opinion, the abnormal reactions of Trump, in the beginning, determined the necessity of the investigation. “We build our society on the degree of confidence,” Sesno said, “There was a need to pull out the facts so that the public could understand what went on. Those facts are required,” Sesno told CGTN.

Joel Rubin, president of Washington Strategy Group, agrees and indicated the importance of making the full report document public.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he returns to the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., March 24, 2019. /VCG Photo

Rubin points out his concern that Mueller's investigation sets “a very dangerous precedent” to make the special counsel “a political for Republican and Democratic presidents going forward in a deleterious manner for the rule of law in the United States.”

Besides the two opposite sides, Sesno commented on the severe casualty of media in this battle, in which massive reporting has been on front pages over the two-year investigation. Although many sophisticated journalistic works were done on Mueller's investigation, he points out that much of the media went too far.

“They got drowned into this. It became the addiction,” Sesno said. In his opinion, the current journalism industry should reflect on its role in political reporting when facing such chaotic events. When attention-drawing coverage is done like the one about Mueller, “it's bad for journalism, it's bad for our democracy, and it's bad for our country,” he said to CGTN.

(CGTN)