Democrats from Florida continued to voice skepticism and demand transparency Monday over the summary of the special counsel’s report from President Donald Trump’s attorney general.
For Republicans, Attorney General William Barr’s letter about what’s contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report is a vindication and an exoneration of Trump.
A key statement from Barr’s letter on Sunday to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees — “The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him’” — was seized on by both sides.
The reactions from Florida’s members of Congress fell entirely along partisan lines.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote Monday afternoon on Twitter that Trump was, in fact, exonerated.
“Narrative that #MuellerReport didn’t exonerate @realdonaldtrump is ridiculous It was investigation into collusion with #Russia After exhaustive probe it concluded that collusion did not exist That is de facto exoneration of principle accusation,” Rubio wrote.
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, issued a statement on Monday in which he dismissed the conclusion the president didn’t obstruct justice.
“Contrary to the Administration’s statements, the findings of the Special Counsel pointedly do not exonerate the President of obstruction of justice,” Hastings said.
He said Barr’s summary of the 22-month investigation, which came less than 48 hours after the report was sent to the Justice Department, is reason to be suspect. And he pointed to Barr’s criticism of the special counsel investigation before Trump nominated him to become attorney general.
“Given Attorney General Barr’s longstanding bias against the Mueller Investigation, Congress would be remiss if it relied solely on what may be a hasty, partisan interpretation by him,” Hastings said.
Rubio and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who represents northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, said the Democrats shouldn’t play politics.
“After end of divisive 2 year ordeal, many Democrats now want to plunge the nation into another divisive fight over whether @POTUS ‘obstructed’ the investigation of a crime that didn’t happen. Investigations are for oversight & justice. But they have become a political weapon,” Rubio wrote on Twitter Monday.
On Sunday, in a statement released by his office, Mast said : “I think it’s clear that this has been about anti-Trump politics since the beginning. … More than anything, it’s time for Democrats in Congress to stop the partisan obstruction, set aside the one-sided Congressional witch hunts and finally govern in a bipartisan way that puts people before politics.”
South Florida Democrats said the full Mueller report should be released to the public.
“The American people deserve the TRUTH,” U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Palm Beach County Democrat said on Twitter.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, called for “complete transparency.”
“Attorney General Barr, who works at the discretion of the President, has done a disservice to this investigative process. Mr. Barr has quickly drawn and released conclusions from an investigative report that Congress and the public have yet to see, and his handling of it underscores the need for immediate and full disclosure of the Mueller report,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties and sits on the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted that “questions remain related to evidence of obstruction of the investigation into Russian election interference. … The American people deserve the facts, not just AG Barr’s interpretation of the investigation.”
aman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4550 or Twitter @browardpolitics