Donald Trump’s presidency — or at least his first term — will be measured this way: Before the Mueller Report (BMR) and After the Mueller Report (AMR).
Like it or not — and lots and lots of Democrats won’t like it — we are in a post-Mueller world now. And that new reality brings with it a series of critical choices for both the White House, congressional Democrats and the 2020 candidates who want to unseat the President next November.
Here’s a look at the choices before each group.
1) Trump: He has spent much of the past year relentlessly blasting the Mueller team, the media for its coverage of the Russia investigation and even members of his own administration for their lack of perceived loyalty to him on all of it. Now, the Mueller report is (mostly) behind Trump. Does he let sleeping dogs lie? Move on to immigration and the economy full time between now and 2020? Can he?
2) Congressional Democrats: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democratic colleagues face perhaps the most difficult — and critical — choice in the coming weeks. Do they push forward — as Mueller seemed to suggest — on the obstruction evidence in the report?
That would likely necessitate pursuing impeachment against Trump. Pelosi has made clear she is opposed to that move — unless there was bipartisan support for it in the country.
