The legal opinions I've read indicate the charge can result in anything from a slap on the wrist and a fine to a felony conviction and jail time depending on the knowledge and intent of the perpetrator. It seems inadvertent violations are treated lightly, whereas intentional violations may get one in real hot water.
I'm not understanding why so many conclude that there was no collusion. First, the summary indicated that there was evidence of collusion and there was evidence of no collusion. Second, Mueller did not make a finding one way, or another. He didn't say, according to Barr, that he could not make a finding. Third, Barr--Trumps appointee and a guy that wrote a 90+ page manifesto in support of Trump's position ... when no one asked him to ... months ago -- Drew his own personal conclusions. The same conclusion he drew before seeing the report. Congress has the Constitutional duty to investigate, and make legal determinations. Barr is a lackey; and his conclusions are pomp and circumstance. Think chess, not checkers. Every chance he got, Mueller farmed out investigations. He constantly worked under the threat of being fired. There are 17 ... err 16 current investigations going on into Trump right now. While you're playing one-up the Democrats in internet chat rooms, you're missing the big picture.
From the Barr Memo: The report further explains that a primary consideration for the Special Counsel's investigation was whether any Americans – including individuals associated with the Trump campaign – joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election, which would be a federal crime. The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/24/us/politics/barr-letter-mueller-report.html
You better read the statement from Barr again. Barr explicitly states there is no collusion from the Trump campaign found by the Mueller investigation. He points out that the Trump campaign actually rejected advances from Russia. Barr stated that the Mueller report offered no opinion one way or the other on the obstruction of justice allegations -- which is a very different matter than collusion.
... Thank you. That part of my post referred to 'obstruction,' not collusion. I stand corrected. I've corrected my post:
For those who clutch their pearls and shout BUT BARR WASN"T ELECTED, HE IS A TRUMP APPOINTEE, Mueller is an appointee, Rosenstein is an appointee, FBI Directors Comey and Wray are appointees. But, they are unbiased public servants, right?
Do you not see a difference? Earlier this year Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law and other offenses as part of a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan. Separately, Cohen pleaded guilty for lying to Congress about the Trump Organization’s efforts to develop a new property in Moscow during the presidential campaign, an admission that came as part of a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. With Cohen now headed to prison, here is a look back at how exactly he broke the law. During the 2016 election, Cohen paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, and arranged for a publishing company to pay $150,000 to model Karen McDougal for her story in exchange for the women agreeing to not go public with allegations that they had affairs with Trump. (Trump has denied having affairs with either Clifford or McDougal.) Prosecutors said the purpose of the hush payments was to influence the 2016 election, and treated them as campaign contributions, which are subject to restrictions under the Federal Election Campaign Act. Cohen’s payment to Clifford, they said, exceeded the $2,700 limit on personal contributions to a single candidate for an election. The payment he helped arrange for McDougal flouted the ban on corporations contributing directly to campaigns. The case has some parallels to the federal campaign finance prosecution of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate. Edwards was indicted in 2011 on charges that he was part of a scheme during his 2008 campaign to have two of his supporters spend almost $1 million to conceal an affair. Prosecutors argued that the payments were tantamount to illegal campaign contributions, but the Justice Department eventually dropped its case against Edwards after trial jurors deadlocked on five of the criminal counts against him and acquitted him on the sixth. Had Cohen not plead guilty, Mueller likely would have had more nothingness.
It was a 19 page open letter, try not to be such a partisan loser. Comey leaking to his prof buddy to get a special investigation is clearly not bias in your world.