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Northeast Florida Congressmen react to release of Special Counsel's Russia report

Jacksonville, FL — Following the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report on the Russia probe, your local lawmakers are weighing.

WOKV spoke with Northeast Florida Republican Congressman John Rutherford hours after the report's release on Thursday. 

He tells us the important elements to him, were the findings that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and no corrupt intent determined in the obstruction of justice allegations.

But Rutherford says he was surprised that the Special Counsel didn't make a final prosecutorial decision on the obstruction of justice issue. 

"He [Mueller] relies on the Office of Legal Counsel that says you can't indict a sitting President, and in this regard, he went along with that. But to say that's his basis for not coming to a conclusion on obstruction, when he came to a conclusion on the Russian collusion, it doesn't make sense to me," explains Rutherford.

He says it's almost like Mueller didn't want to make a decision.

"The lack of a conclusion that there was a crime IS an exoneration... if you say you find no corrupt intent, we find no crime, how do you then say, but we can't exonerate him [Trump]. In that part, I struggle with the finding," Rutherford adds.

In terms of the reaction on Capitol Hill, Rutherford says it's likely that those who support the President will highlight no collusion and no obstruction, but those who dislike him will latch on to the elements that the Special Counsel refused to come to a conclusion on.

When it comes to recent calls to 'investigate the investigators' in the Russia probe, Rutherford says he feels it's absolutely necessary as he wants to know the 'predicate act' that started this investigation in the first place.

"We don't just investigate people, we investigate crimes. And there has to be a predicate act, that indicates there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred. And if that predicate act turns out to be the Steele Dossier and it's completely false, then this whole thing falls like a house of cards," says Rutherford.

WOKV also spoke with Northeast Florida Democrat Congressman Al Lawson about his thoughts on the report. 

He says his biggest takeaway is that the American people will find out what really happened during the course of this investigation with the President.

"Because, as you know, about 25 people that worked with him [Trump] during the course of the campaign got indicted," explains Lawson.

He says the other thing that stands out to him is that he feels Attorney General William Barr is more trying to protect the President, than do his job for the American people. Lawson says he also doesn't feel the AG's summary to Congress was accurate. 

Lawson says when people and lawmakers read this report, he hopes they move away from putting a party label on it.

"I wish what they would put on it, is what is best for American people and, especially, when you have some possible collusion with Russia. It's unacceptable to have that regardless of who is in office and see the way the President has been operating- not like any other President in American history," says Lawson.

When it comes to efforts to 'investigate the investigators', he says all of us need to be accountable and that investigators need to be unbiased and not swayed one way or another.

"This has taken up an awful lot of time, and we, as taxpayers, have spent an awful amount of money to be where we are today. It shouldn't be a situation where everything is being questioned, simply due to the fact that over the last almost two years, the investment we have made in order to get down to see whether a foreign government had significant input in our electoral process," says Lawson.

He says his hope that once all the dust settles on this report, that the public has a clear vision of what occurred.

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