Participants of the Muller Report Community Discussion Series began Volume Two on Sunday, July 7, covering up to page 77 of the second half of the report.
While Volume One reads like a complicated Russian novel, moderator Shelby Steuart said that Volume Two is comparatively light.
“Volume One is a lot harder to read,” Steuart said. “There’s just so many different people, there’s a lot of different Russians, there’s this idea that you need to understand social media and Bitcoin and all of these underlying concepts that are very challenging, whereas the underlying concepts in the second volume are just a lot more simple.”
The reading concerned Mueller’s obstruction-of-justice investigation, as well as the firings of former FBI Director James Comey and National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. As such, President Trump’s actions came into play more directly than in the first volume.
Participants were eager to share their thoughts.
“When Trump brought the Russians into the Oval Office and kept our press out, he should have been hauled off to jail that day,” Lane Stewart said, to laughter and scattered applause. “I do not understand why he’s been allowed to have all these wink-wink, nod-nod [meetings], and I think that should be put into law.”
Roger Bailey added, to murmurs of agreement, that it would be a disservice to call the president inept.
“I really think he has a certain genius, though, and that is the genius of distraction,” Bailey said. “His questions and his attacks will muddy a very clear issue quite quickly, and I don’t think the media assists in clarifying those things at all.”
Discussion of Volume Two will continue through the series’ conclusion at the end of the month.
The next meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 14, 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.
