Author of Watergate special prosecutor law makes the case for Mueller to release report to the public — or risk 'a colossal cover-up'

On Wednesday, former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D-NY), who co-authored the original "independent counsel" law in the wake of the Watergate scandal, penned an editorial in USA TODAY laying out the reasons why special counsel Robert's report must be made public.

According to Holtzman, one of the biggest reasons this is important is that the odds are Mueller will not directly prosecute President Donald Trump himself — but there are two, very different possible reasons why: "One is that there is sufficient evidence to indict and convict Trump, but legal obstacles block his prosecution. The other is there is insufficient evidence of criminality."

"If Mueller has found sufficient evidence to prosecute, but has identified legal barriers to doing so, he must lay out that evidence in his report so that Congress and the American people can assess the validity of any legal barrier that he asserts will prevent prosecution," she continues. One of the most obvious barriers could be the Justice Department legal guidance against indicting a sitting president, in which case "Mueller needs to report whether he tried to obtain an exemption" from Attorney General William Barr "and what the outcome of such an effort was."

Mueller might also accept Trump's use of the so-called "Nixon Defense," which asserts that the rule of law derives from the chief executive and thus nothing the chief executive does can be illegal. If so, "he needs to explain why he believes it is valid."

The public need for transparency would be no less urgent if Mueller decides there's simply insufficient evidence Trump committed a crime, writes Holtzman. "In this unlikely case, he must explain where the evidence falls short and what he has done to try to obtain it. A blanket claim of insufficient evidence will not pass muster. Rather, Mueller must assure us that the investigation was thorough and no punches were pulled."

A similar point was made recently by former FBI Director James Comey, who explained it would have undermined public confidence in law enforcement not to disclose the details of why the agency did not find criminality in the Ferguson police shooting, the IRS Tea Party controversy, or Hillary Clinton's email server.

"Barr has claimed that the 'proper mechanism for policing the President's' actions is 'the political process — that is, the People acting either directly, or through their elected representatives in Congress.'" continued Holtzman. "But neither the Congress nor the people can take corrective action without the full facts. If Barr is true to his beliefs, he must provide Congress and the public with all facts about Trump so they can carry out their accountability duties under Barr's doctrine, whether through the ballot box or impeachment."

"If the attorney general refuses to release the Mueller report, it would be a colossal cover-up on the order of Watergate," warned Holtzman in conclusion. "That cannot be permitted to happen."