Obama Homeland Security chief: ‘No reason to doubt’ Mueller report findings

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that she has “no reason to doubt” the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

“Right now I have no reason to doubt him,” Napolitano told ABC News on its Powerhouse Politics podcast.

Napolitano worked under former President Barack Obama at the same time Mueller was director of the FBI. Her comment comes days after Mueller submitted his final report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to Attorney General William Barr.

{mosads}In a brief summary of the findings, Barr said that Mueller found no evidence of collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. The White House has declared victory and said that the findings “totally exonerate” the president, but many lawmakers have vowed to reserve judgement until the full report is released to the public. That is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

Some lawmakers, including those who are continuing separate investigations of the president, have been more apprehensive about Mueller’s findings. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday that he believes there is evidence “in plain sight” of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Barr wrote that Mueller said his report does not conclude that Trump committed a crime, but it also does not “exonerate” him. The special counsel also failed to reach a conclusion on allegations that Trump obstructed justice.

In her comments Wednesday, Napolitano shifted focus to the possibility of Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election, and asked what the government plans to do to prevent it.

“The one thing that is clear is that the Russians were all over our 2016 election,” Napolitano said. “What are we doing to sanction the Russians for directly interfering in our democracy? What are we doing to strengthen our election systems?”

Mueller’s investigation led to the indictments of over two dozen Russians for interfering in the election through the use of social media campaigns.