In 2020 battleground state, looming Mueller report could hold dangers for Democrats

Inside the Touchdown Tavern in the presidential battleground state of Wisconsin, voter Aric Nowicki worries over how the impending release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation could affect the 2020 election for president.

Nowicki is not concerned about potential harm to President Donald Trump if Mueller accuses the Republican’s campaign of working with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Instead, the heating and air-conditioning business owner fears the report could prove a political landmine for overzealous Democrats trying to take down a president they despise.

“They absolutely run the risk of overhyping it and overblowing it,” Nowicki, 41, who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, said in Reedsburg, in southwest Wisconson. “If they take the report and spin it too far, they could end up helping Trump.”

At first glance, the long-awaited Mueller report might seem a political gift for Democrats aiming to reclaim the White House next year.

If Mueller finds Trump played a role in a conspiracy with Moscow to boost his chances of winning the election or committed obstruction of justice to try to impede the probe - allegations Trump denies - the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives could launch impeachment proceedings against the president.