McConnell just admitted he's blocking the Mueller report because it would be 'politically advantageous to one side or the other'

Donald Trump pretends he wants the public to see the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. William Barr makes a lot of statements about “transparency” while holding back that report. And Mitch McConnell keeps putting walls between the public and what was really discovered by the investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections with Russia.

McConnell did it again on Wednesday when, as the Hill reports, the Senate Majority Leader blocked a resolution calling for the report to be publicly released. This is the second time McConnell has moved to block such a resolution, even though the resolution was expected to pass by a wide margin. This resolution, sponsored by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, mirrored the resolution that passed in the House by 420-0. Previous versions of the resolution have been blocked by either McConnell or by Lindsay Graham.

In defense of blocking the resolution, McConnell stated that he ”supported the proposition that [Mueller’s] report ought to be released to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the law”—language that both Barr and McConnell have used to bolster the excuse that the report can’t be released with information about people who were not indicted. That’s a standard that was not followed for either Watergate or the Whitewater investigations.

Also in his statement, McConnell was adamant that the complete Mueller report continue to be withheld because it would be wrong to release something “when we think it may be politically advantageous to one side or the other.” Which is the justification for writing another “summary” rather than releasing the report.

The statement is not only deeply hypocritical, as having the letter from Barr available while keeping the Mueller report suppressed is clearly advantageous to Republicans, but it seems to be an admission by McConnell that having the full report available would help Democrats.