On Volume One of the Mueller Report

"No Collusion," but . . . .

Over at the Niskanen Center, I have posted some thoughts on volume one of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller. The first volume addresses Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the extent to which the Trump presidential campaign participated in that interference. The good news is that the campaign did not actively conspire with Russian operatives to influence the election and that the Russian efforts at interference were not terribly effective. The bad news is that Russian operatives clearly did try to influence the election and that the Trump campaign was at best unconcerned about Russian meddling and at worst would have been happy to encourage and benefit from it. You can read the whole thing here.

From the conclusion of the Niskanen Center post:

One need not deny the reality or legitimacy of Trump's electoral victory to recognize that the Russian threat should be addressed. The significance of the findings in volume one of the Mueller report should not be a partisan issue. Though the report might support the conclusion of "no collusion," it thoroughly undermines the president's own favored narrative that American intelligence agencies were worried over nothing in 2016. Both Russia and the Trump campaign created plenty of reasons for national security professionals to worry and to see the need for a more thorough investigation. That only one of Trump's campaign managers found himself imprisoned in the aftermath of the election or that Donald Trump's son-in-law thought it was a "waste of time" when a meeting failed to deliver the promised incriminating Russian government files is no cause for celebration.