Donald Trump has not been 'exonerated' on Russia. Congress can make that clear this week. Donald Trump falsely claimed the Clinton email report cleared him on Russia, even as Paul Manafort was headed for jail. Congress must set the record straight.

Caroline Fredrickson | Opinion contributor

When prosecutors in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation presented convincing evidence of witness tampering, a federal judge decided to jail Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager. Manafort on Friday became the first Trump campaign staffer to be locked up.

Manafort now joins Richard Nixon’s John Mitchell in earning the dubious distinction of being a former presidential campaign manager charged with obstruction of justice. In addition to tampering with two witnesses — an indictment he shares with a suspected Russian intelligence agent and business associate, Konstantin Kilimnik — Manafort’s charges range from tax and bank fraud to conspiracy against the United States. If he is found guilty as charged, Manafort may go to prison for the rest of his life.

With dozens of criminal charges against 20 individuals and three companies already filed, Mueller deserves the time to continue his work draining the swamp. Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has not only resulted in the multiple charges against Manafort, but it also led to guilty pleas for serious crimes by Trump’s former national security adviser and deputy campaign manager.

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The Manafort bail revocation hearing Friday occurred within 24 hours of a new report from Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz that examined the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. Unfortunately, President Trump has taken advantage of the coincidental timing of these events and is attempting to conflate Mueller’s work with the separate and distinct issues addressed by the new IG report.

Lawmakers conducting responsible oversight over Department of Justice should take care to avoid adding to the chaos and confusion created by the president’s ludicrous claim that he has been “totally exonerated” by the IG report.

To be crystal clear: The Horowitz report does not purport to examine or draw any conclusions about DOJ or FBI conduct in the Mueller inquiry or the merits of any allegations that the Trump campaign interacted with Russia in the 2016 campaign.

Horowitz is scheduled to appear Monday and Tuesday before the Senate and House judiciary committees. Members of Congress should take the opportunity to illuminate the distinction between the IG report and the Mueller inquiry on the following key issues:

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►The IG found no evidence that the decision to decline prosecution in the email server inquiry was affected by political bias, and the report is an inappropriate basis for making generalizations about FBI or DOJ political bias in other inquiries.

► The IG found former FBI Director James Comey had committed errors in judgment but did not find Comey was untruthful.

►The IG’s evaluation of Comey’s decisions did not examine or draw conclusions about Trump's shifting public rationales for firing Comey. These included comments that he was thinking about “this Russia thing” when he took the step, and that doing so had relieved “great pressure,” in addition to statements on Comey’s performance in the Clinton email inquiry.

Just as Congress will rightfully expect that DOJ and FBI consider and act on the IG report's recommendations going forward, Congress too should learn from the report. The biggest lesson is simple: Do not put political pressure on these agencies. Let investigators do their jobs.

Caroline Fredrickson is president of the American Constitution Society and the author of Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over. Follow her on Twitter: @crfredrickson

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