The Mueller report: Can Trump be impeached?

In this week’s UpFront, we ask 2020 Trump campaign adviser Marc Porter about the findings of the Mueller report and whether he thinks the US president obstructed justice.

And in our special interview, Nobel Peace laureate and Iranian dissident Shirin Ebadi explains why the government in Iran must change, and how she thinks it can be done.

Debating Mueller, Trump and the lies told

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has been released, and as far as US President Donald Trump is concerned, it’s case closed.

Trump tweeted a Game of Thrones-style meme to insist, once again, that the report fully exonerates him. “No Collusion, no obstruction. For the haters and the radical left democrats – Game Over” he crowed on his official Twitter page.

But the 448-page-long redacted report isn’t that clear cut.

While Mueller says he could not establish that there was a criminal conspiracy between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, the report does confirm that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to try to get Trump elected, and that Trump and his team welcomed and encouraged that help.

Mueller also cites at least 10 instances in which Trump may have obstructed justice.

But 2020 Trump campaign adviser Marc Porter says the US president is clearly exonerated.

“This is absurd because what happened in the Mueller report is, in fact, the exoneration of Trump,” Porter said.

When asked why Donald Trump lied about trying to fire Robert Mueller, Porter said to “call the White House and ask it.”

Shirin Ebadi: Sanctions ‘can weaken the government’

This week the Trump administration piled more pressure on Iran, announcing that it will no longer exempt any countries from sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil.

The move was made as part of the administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy that aims to eliminate all of Iran’s revenue from oil exports.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the move will choke off Iranian income amounting to more than $50bn a year.

In this special interview Nobel Peace laureate and Iranian dissident Shirin Ebadi says she supports sanctions against Iran, but only ones that don’t hurt the Iranian people.

Ebadi said stopping Iran from broadcasting non-Persian language TV channels on Western satellites is one way sanctions can hurt the government.

“Prohibit the use of these satellites for Iran so that it would cut off Iran’s propaganda megaphones,” Ebadi said.

“How do you think that some of the Syrian, Lebanese or Yemeni youth support Iran? It’s through the same TV networks that lure the young people,” she said.

Ebadi, one of Iran’s most high-profile dissidents, is a human rights lawyer and former judge who has been living in exile in Britain since 2009.

She has supported various reform movements inside Iran, but has recently hardened her stance, saying reforms won’t work.

“There will be no reform in Iran unless the Constitution is changed, and this is something that must be done by the people of Iran and inside Iran,” Ebadi said.

Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront and Facebook.