WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today released the following statement in response to Special Counsel Mueller’s report:
“The report released today is a reminder that this is about an attack on our elections by a foreign government and that we need to prevent something like this from happening again. This is bigger than President Trump. Our paramount obligation is to protect our elections and democratic process. Additionally, it’s also clear that Attorney General William Barr has put his thumb on the scale and is acting more like the president’s general counsel than Attorney General of the United States.
“Attorney General Barr may have come to the conclusion that ‘no American colluded,’ but the report is full of concerning possible examples to the contrary. For example, a striking piece of information to come out of the report is that in August of 2016, former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort met with his long-time business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI believes has ties to Russian intelligence. In this meeting, they discussed the campaign’s strategy to win Midwestern states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. According to the report ‘Months before that meeting, Manafort had caused internal polling data to be shared with Kilimnik, and the sharing continued for some period of time after their August meeting.’
“The report also raises more questions than answers on whether or not the President of the United States may have obstructed justice, which Congress needs to explore further. This is all the more reason why we ought to see the full report, with the underlying evidence, and hear directly from Special Counsel Mueller. Congress has a responsibility to provide oversight of this administration and we will continue to exercise our authority to do so.”