With the delivery of the Mueller report, we can safely say that one aspect of the investigations into Trump has finished. It is now up to Congress to pressure the Administration into a full release of the report. We should be under no illusions that Mueller will take any further steps, as he did not indict anyone else while he had a chance.
The aura of invincibility
Donald Trump has been and always will be a bully. His constant adulation of men like Duterte, Balsonaro and Putin depend on what Trump likes to term as being “strong.” What Trump means by strong is that these men have the power of intimidation. Duterte threatens his political enemies, Balsonaro does the same thing and Putin poisons his enemies. These “leaders” are all about intimidation and Trump loves intimidation because it is the lifeblood of bullying.
Beyond offering a blueprint for impeachment, the Mueller report can be useful if it helps shatter the illusion of Trump as the invincible bully that intimidates everyone else. The leadership in Congress can use the substance of the Mueller report–the lying by subordinates to protect Trump–as a cudgel to intimidate Trump right back.
In the best-case scenario for Trump, he will be fully exonerated in the Mueller report of having knowingly participated in a quid pro quo with Russian agents. But Trump’s claims of innocence beg the question of why an innocent person would feel the need to obstruct Mueller’s progress at every step of the way. If Trump himself believed he was pure as the driven snow, why would he question the legality of the investigation in the first place?