The full 448-page report of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 U.S election was released on April 18.
Anyone expecting a giant block of text saying “TRUMP IS GUILTY” will be disappointed, but the course of this investigation did lead to 34 indictments and eight guilty pleads, meaning the investigation wasn’t for nothing.
Reading the report at first you see a few black lines, usually where you’d expect a name or location to be listed.
However, lines turn into paragraphs and paragraphs turn into pages.
Entire sections of the report are blacked out and are given a short description as to why that section was blacked out.
Despite these explanations, the entire context of those sections can be lost and can make one wonder why exactly that part was censored.
Currently, House Democrats are trying to get access to the uncensored report, though it’s unclear whether it will be released fully to public.
One censorship explanation appearing frequently is “harm to ongoing matter” meaning those sections contain information referring to some sort of government action or investigation.
While this sounds logical in terms of a criminal investigation, the amount of times its used seems almost like a cop out to hide damaging information.
Since the White House has the right to censor any information it deems sensitive, it can be hard to take the reasons at face value.
Can we trust White House staff members to only censor information that is absolutely necessary to censor?
This, however, doesn’t excuse the reluctance of Republicans to allow the full report to be released, as our elected officials are given jobs for the purpose of making decisions on behalf of constituents.
Surely Democrats who gain access to this information wouldn’t reveal sensitive information to the public, otherwise they may face charges of leaking government secrets.
While it makes sense that things like Grand Jury testimonies and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigations aren’t revealed to the public, it’s unacceptable the White House can completely control the narrative surrounding the possible wrongdoings of its own officials.
We have three branches of government for a reason.
It’s time to let Congress do its job and receive the full-uncensored report so our elected officials can make independent judgments on its content.
