Readers react to the attorney general’s summary of the special counsel’s report.
To the Editor:
Re “Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy but Stops Short of Exonerating President on Obstruction of Justice” (nytimes.com, March 24):
Let’s be perfectly clear: While the Mueller report may not have found that President Trump colluded with the Russians to meddle in the 2016 election, it did not specifically clear him of all wrongdoing. Mr. Trump’s conduct did not meet the rigorous legal standard of participating in a criminal conspiracy, but it was far from being blameless.
There is incontrovertible proof that Russia interfered in our electoral process on behalf of Donald Trump; few disagree with this. It is also clear that President Trump’s rhetoric and actions have been highly aligned with the interests of the Russian government.
So President Trump and his fellow Republicans may gloat that the Mueller report has fundamentally exonerated the president, but it has not alleviated valid concerns about his past and continuing behavior toward Russia.
One of the terrible unintended consequences of the Mueller report is that it will not force the president to publicly acknowledge and reject Russia’s election meddling. Nor will it force him to allocate the resources necessary to actively thwart President Vladimir V. Putin from doing so again in 2020.
