Former special counsel Robert Mueller's top deputy Aaron Zebley and former prosecutor Andrew Goldstein argue in their new book that Russia's election interference efforts continue and pose a significant threat to the 2024 presidential election.
"Good Morning America" co-host George Stephanopoulos interviewed former special counsel Robert Mueller's top deputy Aaron Zebley and former prosecutor Andrew Goldstein on Tuesday to discuss their new book on the ongoing dangers of election interference.
Zebley explained that they wrote the book now because election interference is a pressing concern for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. "We thought it was important right now because there are two key messages in the book," Zebley said. "One is that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. And, with recent public reports, we think they’re continuing to do that now. And then, it’s also very important that there be a mechanism to investigate presidents and the book describes how we did that."
Election Interference: Former Mueller Lawyers Sound Alarm on Ongoing Threat
Stephanopoulos pointed out that former President Trump and his allies have repeatedly dismissed the Mueller investigation as a "hoax." Goldstein responded forcefully, stating, "It wasn’t a hoax. Russia interfered in the election in 2016 in sweeping fashion. We document that both in the report and in the book. And we know that it is happening now and it’s important for American elections to be decided by Americans and not by foreign adversaries."
Zebley also criticized former Attorney General William Barr's handling of the Mueller report, alleging that Barr's summary of the report mischaracterized its findings. "What happened when we delivered the report is that the attorney general did not release our report immediately and instead released his own summary, which we think mischaracterized the full extent of our work," Zebley said. "And we think that led to some confusion about what we had actually done and what we had actually found."
Election Interference: Former Mueller Lawyers Sound Alarm on Ongoing Threat
Goldstein declined to comment on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, but stated that the Mueller report documented numerous links and outreach efforts between the Russian government and the Trump campaign during the election interference campaign.
Mueller's final report, released in April 2019, concluded that there was no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the election. However, the report did not exonerate Trump on the issue of obstruction of justice, leaving open the possibility of further investigation.
Election Interference: Former Mueller Lawyers Sound Alarm on Ongoing Threat
Zebley and Goldstein's new book provides a detailed account of the Mueller investigation and its findings, as well as an analysis of the ongoing threat of election interference. The authors argue that it is essential for the United States to take steps to safeguard its elections from foreign interference and to ensure that American elections are decided by Americans, not by foreign adversaries.
