Liberals and the media were obsessed with the idea that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia. California billionaire Tom Steyer expected the investigation would provide proof of “collusion.” He cited it as one of 10 reasons to impeach Trump and he’s not backing down, even now that the FBI special investigation of Trump is over without finding any collusion with Russia.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr summarized the investigation’s findings in a letter to the Judiciary Committee March 24. It indicated the Special Counsel did not find that Trump (or anyone on his campaign) “conspired or knowingly coordinated” with Russian election meddling. As for obstruction of justice, the Special Counsel did not draw a conclusion, but left it in Barr’s hands and Barr found the evidence “not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”
That “big, big win for this president” didn’t prevent media skepticism or hysteria. Nor did it derail Steyer’s aims to see Trump impeached and removed from office.
“Collusion” and “obstruction of justice” were two primary reasons Steyer argued for Trump’s impeachment with his billions and his political machine, Need to Impeach. As of March 25, the Need to Impeach website still listed both as two of ten supposedly “impeachable offenses.”
On Twitter, Steyer continued promoting impeachment and attacking Trump on March 24 and 25:
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“Robert Mueller concluded that he could NOT exonerate @realdonaldtrump, and Americans deserve to know why. The decision not to prosecute Trump was made by his hand-picked Attorney General based on a false legal premise. Congress must #SubpoenaMueller.”
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“We need to hear from Robert Mueller, not Attorney General Barr. We need to see the facts so we can judge for ourselves. #ReleaseTheFullReport”
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“.@realdonaldtrump remains the most corrupt president in American history, just in terms of criminal investigations. There’s still the hush money investigation and the emoluments lawsuit. He’s NOT exonerated of corruption, by a long shot.”
Steyer spent $120 million during the last election building what The Atlantic called, “the biggest political machine you’ve never heard of” designed to ensure Trump’s impeachment. That massive effort against a sitting president was censored by ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts. In 2019, he announced he would not run for president and instead would spend $40 million more to pressure Congressional Democrats to impeach. However, the networks Just weeks before the release of the Mueller report, Steyer told CBS “we love the Mueller Report.”
Following the end of the Mueller investigation, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked, “The question is, Dana, very quickly, impeachment. Are they going to do anything or are they going to listen to Nancy Pelosi and say, ‘Forget about it?’”
Correspondent Dana Bash replied that the judiciary committee is probably going to grill the Attorney General and “maybe even Mueller. And then they’re going to take the next step.”
Other more realistic liberal media acknowledged the prospect of impeachment faded with the conclusion of Mueller’s report.
