Over the past sixteen months, FBI special counsel Robert Mueller III has launched a comprehensive investigation looking at the possible link between President Trump’s administration and campaign staff to whether or not they colluded with Russia in order to influence the mindset of voters in the 2016 presidential election.
The process has been hectic with questions arising over who is telling the truth, and whether or not the truth will be uncovered. News sources that were widely seen as credible before the Trump presidency, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, are now, largely due in part to Trump’s constant claims of “fake news,” being read in a different context.
Junior Baasil Saleh now feels a need to get all sides of the story in order to form an opinion.
“Nowadays there are a lot of fake publications, so I like to look at stories from both sides of the spectrum,” Saleh said.
With increasing polarization stemming from far left and far right publications, the public must dig deep in order to stay informed.
Meanwhile, as the number of Trump administration members and campaign officers to be indicted by the special counsel grows, investigators are seeking a direct link between Trump himself and Russia. Mueller hopes to obtain a one-on-one interview with the president, looking to get more information, but also knowing that Trump is susceptible to contradicting his previous statements, which would be federal perjury.
“Mr. Trump has put his lawyers in the vexing position of trying to follow the desires of their client while seeking to protect him from legal jeopardy at the same time,” said Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times.
The arrest of many Trump officials already proves that this is not an investigation to take lightly, but junior Jacob Coffey believes that Trump’s actions had far more serious consequences on the 2016 election than many realize.
“Before I thought that he [Trump] was elected based on luck and Democrats not turning out on Election Day,” Coffey said. “But based on the solid evidence of collusion I believe that he and his campaign maliciously changed the results of the election.”
Mueller’s investigation has created a swirling cloud of accusations against the President and his administration, which will undoubtedly make it one of the biggest stories of Trump’s entire presidency. Although there currently are signs of economic strength, such as a decreasing unemployment rate and rising GDP, many will hold the negativity of this investigation and other scandals over Trump’s head, while others will disregard the investigation’s findings as meaningless.
Senior Josh Franks feels that the investigation has gone on far too long and has been covered unfairly by major news media.
“The investigation has been dragged out for months and they still don’t have solid evidence on him [Trump],” senior Josh Franks said.
Additionally, he values economic success over any possible wrongdoings being investigated, leading him to believe that Trump’s presidency has been a successful one.
“Economically we’re doing great so this investigation doesn’t overshadow his achievements. The media never talks about how well he is doing but instead about this long investigation.”
No one knows how long the Russia investigation will continue, or if it will ever lead directly to President Trump, but there is no doubt it marks a pivotal point in both the foreign and domestic relations of our country. Many are hoping that this is the last time the U.S. will have to deal with issues of foreign collusion on this large of a scale.
