Democrats in the United States have been rushing to produce Special Inspector Robert Muller's report on his investigation. Now that the report is in their hands, the Democrats find themselves faced with two choices: either to continue the attack or go beyond it.
The billionaire, who has poured millions of dollars of his own money into a campaign calling for Trump to be removed from office, said lawmakers in the House of Representatives, led by Democrats, should begin the process of questioning the president in order to isolate him based on evidence gathered by Muller.
Muller did not find evidence of complicity between Trump and Russian citizens despite many contacts, but he gathered a large amount of evidence that he said showed that the president sought to block or control the FBI investigation.
Democratic strategists said House Democrats and pro-progressists would continue their congressional inquiries into Trump, but Democratic candidates for the presidential election - who hope to win over moderates and independents next year - will probably take a less aggressive approach.
Half of Americans with conviction
Robin Winston, a former Indiana Democrat president, said economic concerns were more important for voters than Russia, and two years of tireless coverage of the investigation shocked voters.
Opinion polls show that the American public has largely decided on the investigation before the report was released on Thursday.
The Ipsos poll, conducted last month after the results were first revealed, showed that about half the country's population still believed Trump was working with Russia to influence the outcome of the election.
Will he survive?
Democrats in the House of Representatives have hinted that their efforts to investigate Trump's actions will continue, but it is not clear what these efforts will result in, and the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to thwart any attempt to isolate the president.
Democrats have played down Trump's accountability for isolating him since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it would backfire.
But progressive democracy legislator Alexandra Ocacio-Cortez raised the possibility again by tweaking on Twitter yesterday: "Many people know that discussions about accountability are not my pleasure. They were not part of my campaign and I rarely discuss them unless there is something to push me. But the report puts accountability directly At the thresholds of our doors. "
Many know I take no pleasure in discussions of impeachment. I did not campaign on it, & rarely discuss it unprompted. |
"It is clear that Trump only wanted to close the Muller investigation," Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, said in a statement. "As we have more details than ever before, Congress must continue to investigate the president's actions and any external attempts to influence our election."