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Local Democrats, Republicans React To Mueller Report

Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019.
Associated Press
Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House after attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019.
Local Democrats, Republicans React To Mueller Report
GUEST: Chuck LaBella, former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California Subscribe to the Midday Edition podcast on iTunes, Google Play or your favorite podcatcher.

Local officials were beginning to react to the news that Attorney General William Barr had submitted to Congress his summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation of President Donald Trump.

In a four-page letter, Barr told Congress the special counsel had come to the conclusion that the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with the Russian government's election interference in the 2016 election.

RELATED: Impeachment Just Got Less Likely And 6 Other Takeaways From The Barr Letter

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However, Barr quoted the report as saying "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

The letter said Mueller addressed allegations Trump engaged in obstruction of justice during the course of the investigation, but declined to make a formal determination that actually happened.

Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence laid out in Mueller's report was not enough to indicate the president had obstructed justice.

Democrats were quick to criticize Barr's letter and call for Mueller's report to be released in its entirety.

RELATED: Next Steps And Big Unanswered Questions As The Nation Moves Into Post-Mueller Era

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Darrell Issa, the former Republican congressman from North County, said on Twitter: "The Mueller report may not have been drafted to exonerate president Trump and humiliate the conspiracy caucus on Capitol Hill ... But that's exactly what it did."

"Considering the Attorney General's bias toward the Special Counsel's investigation, the American people deserve to see for themselves what is in the report," Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, said in a tweet.

Kamala Harris, 2020 presidential candidate and California's junior U.S. senator, called for the same.

"This is what transparency looks like," Harris said of publicly releasing the report. "A short letter from Trump's hand-picked attorney general is not sufficient."

On the other side of the aisle, Tony Krvaric, chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County, issued a statement soon after Barr's letter was released Sunday afternoon.

"Today we learned what most fair minded San Diegans instinctively knew; that President Trump did not conspire with Russia in regards to the 2016 presidential election," Krvaric said. "We call for an investigation into how the DOJ and FBI under President Obama came to surveil the presidential campaign of an opposing party. Will anyone be held accountable for the nearly two-year farce America just went through?"

RELATED: READ: The Justice Department’s Summary Of The Mueller Report

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released a statement regarding the Mueller findings and Sunday's Barr letter, calling it "a great day for all Americans."

"As we have said all along, there was no collusion and no obstruction," McDaniel said. "Now that this investigation is over, Democrats need to finally end their baseless investigations and political crusade against President Trump for the good of the country."