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Torres Statement on the Release of the Mueller Report

April 18, 2019

ONTARIO, CA – Today, U.S. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-CA) released the following statement after the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report:

"This is far from a total exoneration of the President. In fact, the only person the Special Counsel's report exonerates is Robert Mueller. He deserves the nation's gratitude for his more than two years of diligent investigative work. His findings prove that this investigation was far from a witch hunt. What he found is extremely disturbing and raises serious questions about President Trump's fitness to serve as President of the United States.

"First, the report's information regarding the Trump Campaign's contact with WikiLeaks is significantly redacted because it could harm ongoing investigations. The report states, ‘…by the late summer of 2016, the Trump Campaign was planning a press strategy, a communications campaign, and messaging based on the possible release of Clinton emails by WikiLeaks.' There are clearly unanswered questions about the campaign's role in disseminating information that was obtained by hacking. If not criminal, these actions were certainly unpatriotic. The American people expect more from a presidential campaign, and they deserve better.

"Second, the report details a series of actions taken by President Trump that aimed to obstruct the Special Counsel's investigation. Notably, the report concludes by laying before Congress the responsibility to pursue whether to ‘apply the obstruction laws to the President's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.' This is something Members of Congress must carefully consider. If anything is clear, it is that the Department of Justice is not done investigating President Trump and his associates—neither is Congress and neither are the American people.

"If President Trump thinks that he is completely innocent, then I would invite him to testify before Congress. He should have nothing to hide."

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