By Mike McCombs
About 50 Beaufort County citizens on Thursday, April 4, gathered in front of U.S. Congressman Joe Cunningham’s office on Boundary Street to protest the failure of the Trump Administration to release the details of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Chanting things like “we want it and we want it now,” “release the report,” “no one’s above the law” and “Mueller time is now,” protesters from several different local activist groups held up homemade signs and made their voices heard as motorists acknowledged the rally with honking horns and words of encouragement.
The event was put together by Lowcountry Indivisible and Indivisible Beaufort, two non-partisan political action groups.
“What we know is that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Lowcountry Indivisible chairman Mitch Siegel said. “We have thousands of concerned citizens across the state writing letters to S.C. members of Congress, urging them to release the report. We’re happy the folks here took the time to come out on such short notice and late in the day to draw attention to this important issue.
“They represent the very best of democracy in action.”
Though the protest took place in front of Cunningham’s office, he is hardly an adversary in this case.
Cunningham has already issued a statement in support of releasing the Mueller Report.
“I have the utmost respect and confidence in Robert Mueller and accept the conclusion of his team’s investigation,” Cunningham’s statement reads. “However, after almost two years and nearly $30 million in taxpayer money spent on this investigation, the American people deserve to know what is in the report for themselves and not just a four-page summary.”
Quoting polls that say that nearly three-fourths of Americans support making the report public and the fact the House of Representatives voted 420-0 to release it, Siegel wants to know what the delay is.
“It breeds suspicion of a cover-up,” he said. “The only way to know what’s true is for Attorney General Barr to release the unredacted report now to Congress. And for Congress to make the report public.”
For Carolyn Brooks of Seabrook, the rally was bigger than just the Mueller report, and the reason is simple.
“It’s Trump,” Brooks said. “The lies. The deceit. Taking programs away from the people that need them. We need people that care about our country. If something doesn’t work, you fix it. That’s how I was brought up. You don’t throw something away because it doesn’t work. You fix it.”
Above: Around 50 protesters from several different local activist groups held up homemade signs and made their voices heard Thursday, April 4, in Beaufort in favor of the Trump Administration releasing the Mueller report. Photo by Mike McCombs.
