Political readers finished up Volume One of the Mueller Report at the third meeting of the Mueller Report Community Discussion Series on Sunday, June 30.
The meeting, held at the Athens-Clarke County Library, continued to explore links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign through Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner and Kirill Dmitriev.
Maggie Middleton, a lawyer with a master’s degree in public administration, came to clarify the legal terminology that appeared this section of the report.
“This is a report that’s written by a team of attorneys, and some of the language they use can be pretty dense,” Middleton said. “Luckily, as a lawyer, I’m someone who’s had training in that area. But all lawyers are imperfect; the law is imperfect — it’s kind of this blob that’s ever-changing — so it’s good to have someone who can navigate the blob and form it into something that’s useful.”
As the series comes to its midpoint, participants continue to hold both themselves and others accountable for knowing the details of Mueller’s investigation.
“I have to read it because I want to be able to say to my senator, ‘Have you read it? Because I have. And you need to read it if you haven’t,’” said attendee Karen Radde. “Good or bad, whatever the outcome, people need to know what it says and know what went on.”
Participants also reflected on what they took away from Volume One after reading and discussing it in-depth.
“It’s something that I think we’ve heard about in the news, but to read about this very methodical investigation that documents, over time, known occasions where there’s a coordinated effort by organizations that have ties to foreign entities and what the potential impact was on our elections, that was really an eye-opener for me,” said attendee Sharon Logan.
Going forward, moderators will continue to keep the discussions as non-partisan as possible. Logan said that she tries to approach the report objectively.
“From my perspective, I’m approaching it as if it’s a text,” Logan said. “And reading about the text, reading what’s not in the text, and thinking about some of the implications of it; it’s been a good experience.”
Bruce Menke summed up why he and others will return for the second half of the discussion series.
“We come back because this is not a topic which has ceased to be of relevance and importance, and [the series] is a continuing opportunity to be reminded and educated about what the report has to say,” Menke said.
The next meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 7, at the Athens-Clarke County Library. Participants can join the series at any time and are strongly encouraged to read the scheduled section before attending.
For a complete schedule of the readings, visit WUGA’s Facebook page.
