Well, the Mueller investigation did not find that “the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” To that limited extent, the president has been vindicated in arguing that there was “no collusion.” Attorney General William Barr has decided not to prosecute the president for obstruction of justice irrespective of whether a president can be prosecuted, even though the report apparently details many examples of what could easily be considered obstructive acts. His rationale is in part that there was no underlying crime. So, as a result, the president has gotten a pretty clean bill of health, and we can all look at the report someday soon and see all of the bad behavior but we won’t have much recourse.
As for whether the president has been compromised by a foreign power, the letter William Barr sent to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees is completely silent on the matter. And, yet, this is the primary thing the American people need to know. To get any insight into the answer to that question, it appears that Mueller and members of his investigatory team will have to be asked to testify before Congress.
The Deep State has so far proven to be toothless. It looks like Congress (one half of it, anyway) is on its own. This will now most likely be settled at the ballot box, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions and tasks that need to be taken on. Congress needs to figure out how to better protect against foreign interference in the next election. And they will have to do their best to carry on their own counterintelligence assessment, as difficult as that will now be.
In the meantime, everyone else needs to knuckle down for the most brutal and consequential political battle of our lifetimes.
So we’re taking Barr’s word for this? He’s a DT appointee with a history of this kind of ass-covering. I think I’ll wait for Congress to get their hands on the actual report before I get all hopped up about stuff.
Here’s the problem with that. Trump and team has already said he has been exonerated. Case closed. He will say this every day from now until the election, and if the Dems investigate more, he and his friends will say it more often with a tag line about dem sore losers who are not trying to help the country. And along comes Dems who want bi partisan investigations. Nah, Dems are now in dangerous territory, We need to concentrate on winning the election and taking back the senate. Some other work can be done like interview Mueller. But like Booman notes this election will be brutal. If Trump wins maybe we can impeach. Not now.
I could give a flying fuck what Trump has to say about Congressional investigations. The DOJ and the Trump base can decide facts don’t matter, but the 2018 election shows that propaganda has a limited ability to control voter behavior.
We would be well advised to aggressively help Congress disseminate the facts revealed by continuing investigations to the public. That will be a much better use of our time than damaging fights within our movement.
I couldn’t give a fuck what Trump wants either, The point though is the public could become weary of hearing about an investigation that leads no where . So there is danger in that . We need the actual report and Mueller to tell us about it, but if Mueller supports the Barr letter that could be the problem that could impact the election. Now if SDNY has some material that could change the game too.
This was never going to be a slam dunk since you need 13 republicans to vote with us. And now Trump is saying he has been exonerated. Where you gonna get those votes. Best to win the election and the senate.
I cannot disagree…except to point out that in some respects the “Deep State” is not toothless.
It has simply chosen…so far…not to bare those teeth.
Wet work is currently out of fashion.
It’s messy and highly risky.
But…as they say, fashions come and go.
Or as Chuck Schumer so (
unaccustomedly) honestly pointed out…Or as the esoteric American prophet Yogi Berra noticed:
Indeed!!!
Bet on it.
Later…
AG
I also don’t see this as showing that the “Deep State” is toothless. But they may be toothless on a matter under the control of a Department of Justice controlled by a Trump stooge. Or maybe not. There are many shoes yet to drop.
As Booman has been emphasizing, the deeper point at issue is not the juridical one of whether Trump was technically colluding with a foreign power. It’s whether he and his buddies are wittingly or unwittingly compromising the security of the US of A. That’s where you would expect the Deep State to have some teeth. We’ll see.
Case in point.
If the president wants to compromise the security of the country he has the power to do so. Its entirely a political question, so you have to make the judgement over whether that offense is (in)sufficient for removal. You are very right we’ll see over whether they think that.
There is some truth to what you say, but because the determining factor is the president’s oath of office I think it is not so much a political question as a moral one. With this president, we are in a sort of Twilight Zone of constitutional law. I think this essay speaks to the deeper problem.
The most crucial, consequential election of our lifetimes was in 2000.
All the spoiled fruit that is America comes from that poisoned root.
We’re just in damage control now.
Hell, we seem to be in damage acceleration now.
This will most certainly be the judgment of history.
The collapse all flowed from the Stolen Election of 2000—especially the normalization of democratically illegitimate (Repub) electoral college prezes.
Some of it flowed from the pardon the Iran Contra.
From NPR
This won’t be the first time that William Barr, President Trump’s nominee to become attorney general, will be involved with what’s been called a “witch hunt.”
Barr, who is scheduled to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearings, ran the Justice Department once before, under President George H.W. Bush.
Back then, the all-consuming, years-long scandal was called Iran-Contra. On Dec. 24, 1992, it ended when Bush pardoned six people who had been caught up in it.
“The Constitution is quite clear on the powers of the president and sometimes the president has to make a very difficult call,” Bush said then. “That’s what I’ve done.”
Lawrence Walsh, Who Investigated Iran-Contra Scandal, Dies At 102
THE TWO-WAY
Lawrence Walsh, Who Investigated Iran-Contra Scandal, Dies At 102
Then-Attorney General Barr supported the president’s decision in the Iran-Contra case, which gave clemency to people who had been officials in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, including former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. He had been set to go on trial to face charges about lying to Congress.”
Rove never got frog-marched either. They never do. They always get away with it. Just look at legit war criminal George W. Bush, BFFs with Michele Obama.
I don’t know why I bother, really.
I just saw “Client 9,” the documentary on the downfall of Eliot Spitzer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_9:_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Eliot_Spitzer
Interestingly, they contrasted his case with that of the DC Madam that ensnared former senator David Vitter. Spitzer was forced to resign while Vitter was not even, though his and Vitter’s scenarios were virtually the same. The narrator said the only difference between them is, one was a democrat, the other, a republican.
I think it comes down to this: republicans represent the rich and powerful, and institutions respect the use of that power to keep them above the law. Democrats don’t get away with the stuff republicans do because they are generally are viewed by the wealthy as representing “the people” who the wealthy also do not respect.
There are two elements already in the public record that render Barr’s description of what Mueller’s report actually contains implausible.
Both facts are contrary to the statement “The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian Government in its election interference activities” unless you read it incredibly narrowly.
Obviously we need to see the whole report.
That and more. Marcy has a post up today covering it. None of it makes any sense to me except that it is nice to have a friend or two in the DOJ. Or maybe it is in the report and we may never see it.
Mueller did not find any conspiracy with Russia by anyone in the campaign or by Trump. On obstruction Barr says it was inconclusive. So we need to talk to Mueller about that one specifically and what evidence he considered on conspiracy and any other charges noted by Marcy. This could be a case of good friends helping you along.
As Marcy Wheeler points out, Roger Stone wasn’t Trump’s campaign and Kilimnick isn’t the Russian government, so technically Barr’s statement can be true, but highly misleading.
Yeah, that’s what I meant by “unless you read it incredibly narrowly”. I think Barr’s trying to be way too cute here and thinking the report itself won’t see the light of day. We’ll see about that.
Seems very difficult to square Mueller’s stated conclusion on collusion with what was previously reported, not to mention Der Trumper’s (overt!) obstructive behavior. Nor does there seem to be a Muellerian admonition that “we couldn’t arrive at the truth because of pervasive obstruction.” But that’s that. Trumper and the National Trumpalists will be crowing to high heaven, presumably they’ve already started.
One small benefit is that there is simply no reason not to make the entire report public—the more Der Trumper crows, the more the public’s need to know.
Can’t believe he got away with it. A political calamity, but just throw it on the pile…..
Two more years, not sure we are going to survive that.
In hindsight, Democrats have put way too much faith in the integrity of the process and people. What they probably should have been doing is working the refs like the other side was, and argue that there is no way a bunch of Republicans investigating another Republican in a department run by Republicans would get to the truth. Instead we got constant praise of Mueller and of the of the integrity of the people in the Justice department, and now they are going to have to start walking all that back, or at least do a better job explaining why Barr’s summary isn’t definitive.
Based on my intitial reading of the Attorney General’s letter today, it appears to me that the DOJ as an expression of the Deep State is not toothless. Instead, it is extraordinarily partisan and possessing of fangs.
This expression of the Deep State is one which declares many lies are truthful, and other lies are to be given a pass, no matter how enormously consequential, as long as you are a conservative Republican serving the oligarch class. On the other hand, that same DOJ will conduct nearly the opposite actions when it comes to liberals and Democrats, no matter how enormously consequential.
They’ve got teeth, all right. Teeth which intend to continue to rip people in our movement to shreds. We’d better get our motherfucking shit together and fight against getting ripped apart. Assholes who come here to try to get us to fight bitterly over the Presidential primary campaign should be recognized as the explicit enemies they are.
I’m looking forward to the full report getting out. If Barr and Trump think they’re going to get away with hiding the evidence compiled, they are mistaken.
Best way to get Trump is vote him out or, failing that, win the senate and then impeach him.
I do want to hear Mueller’s viewpoint.
Too bad Trump didn’t appoint a Democrat to be the head of the FBI.
The Deep State only screws Democrats because …….. only Democrats appoint the opposition to their administration.
Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Pass on a balanced budget and declining national debt
Concede an election you were winning.
Appoint Republicans to key cabinet level positions – DoD, Fed chair, the FBI.
Win the popular vote in 6 of 7 national elections
And then 30 years later –
*Two failed wars, following failed, unmotivated incompetent national security policies by a moron Republican President
*The national debt is a disgrace after being blown out be two moronic Republican presidents and a monumentally epic global economic meltdown
*economic inequality is at a high not seen since the 1920’s
*The Supreme Court could have a 7-2 conservative majority very soon
And Democrats wonder – how did this happen?
What could we have done differently? EVERYTHING!
Look forward and always be foaming the forward looking runway so the 1% get a soft landing. Don’t look backward because accountability is for suckers, we need torturers heading the CIA and we want to make some grand bargains to keep entitlements in order so Republicans can cut taxes at the first opportunity.
Also, honor the blue slips and institutional norms because, you know, be a sucker.
JFC, Democrats are really, really bad at their jobs.
Also, too, let’s get some really fucking old white men who aren’t entirely racist to run in 2020.
Luckily those really fucking old white men aren’t entirely sexist either.
OMFG
Not finding prosecutable evidence is not the same standard as “vindication”. Vindication would involve an accusation that is disproven.
For example, if it was proven that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort never met with Russian agents in Trump Tower with plans to obtain exchange dirt on Hillary Clinton for the purposes of aiding the Trump campaign – that would have been vindication.
Except that did happen.
Mueller may not have found evidence that Donald Trump Sr. knew about the meeting, himself, but that’s not vindication either, considering his public request to “Russia if you’re listening…” which suggests he was fully aware of everything.
If there is anything in the report about Trump being compromised as noted above, Barr and Rosenstein would be guilty of a rather severe cover up. On that basis I would have to say there was nothing. I see now Schumer and Pelosi are not happy about any of this.
I don’t think that’s right. “Being compromised” is not a point at law. It is a matter of national security. That’s not the bailiwick of the JD.
I only mentioned it in deference to Boomans post. The Mueller report has two sections first on collusion and second on obstruction. So I don’t know where that would fit. It would appear in fact that the Mueller report was really rather narrow.
Yes, we see that now, And in retrospect, that’s a good thing. Because, as I quoted from a Lawfare analysis yesterday, “It’s possible … that Mueller is not proceeding against certain defendants … because he has referred them to other prosecutorial offices …. In this iteration, what is ending here is not the investigation, merely the portion of the investigation Mueller chose to retain for himself.”
I don’t know if I can take comfort from that. In fact my suspicious mind even suggests Barr shut this thing down. Also on page four of his letter Barr mentions he has to consider those other matters. I am really unhappy – even sick to tell the truth – about how this thing has rolled out so far. We do need a bite at this apple before too long. First steps is to interview Rosenstein, Mueller and Barr, each separately.
Fitzmas 2: the triumph of corruption.
Imagine just how much this will embolden Trump to ignore the law, aw well as whip up anger at his rallies, and pardon everybody.
I think I need to turn off the news this week
If this report is so awesome for DT and clears his smarmy ass, then let’s see it! What is Barr hiding? Why is he hiding it?
It was turned in 36 hours ago. No one is justified in saying hes hiding anything. Yet.
Time for you to admit you were wrong and there will be no impeachment.
In fact this is kind of a relief to me in that there was no actual cooperation with a foreign power (still foreign influence) and going after Trumps policies does a LOT more damage to his poll numbers than pursuing the corruption/collusion.
You’re kidding, right. Just from the details we know publicly it’s clear there was very close cooperation with at least one foreign power, Russia and there’s significant evidence that there was also close cooperation with the Saudis, Turkey and the Qataris.
The problem is that Trump holds all the levers of power. Bob Barr was explicitly picked by Trump to shut down the investigation. Barr’s letter declares that Mueller laid out evidence “on both sides of the issue” and left “it to the attorney general to decide whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime”.
Of obstruction. Not cooperation and coordination.
You have only read Bob Barr’s words regarding the Mueller report and they are crafted to give the best possible spin by the Trump administration.
If Mueller had proven there was no collusion between Donald Trump and Russia you would have seen it in quotes, in bold type, with Mueller’s name directly attached to it.
There was clear coordination and cooperation in the Trump tower meeting, alone.
Which Barr doesn’t mention. Nothing about sanctions relief. Nothing about Ukraine peace deal. Nothing about Erik Prince. Etc.
I’m glad you brought it up, because I think everyone has a tendency to forget it. The crippling sanctions against Russia, particularly against Putin’s oligarchs, are the motivating factor in their attack on the American election system.
Trump has repeatedly worked to eliminate or minimize the sanctions, despite objections from across the political spectrum. They are the reason Veselnetskaya met with Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner in Trump Tower, offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. They are the reason Mike Flynn was caught calling the Russian ambassy, which led to his firing and prosecution. They are undoubtedly why Jared Kushner was trying to set up a covert communications link through the Russian embassy. They are the reason Trump was discussing “adoptions” with Vladimir Putin at their first meeting in 2017.
And they are what Steve Mnuchin at the Treasury Department lifted against Oleg Deripaska’s company in January.
This is the “quid” to the “pro quo” of Russian election hacking. It’s as clear a motivation for conspiracy and collusion as we could ever get, and to suggest that Mueller found “no actual cooperation” by the Trump campaign for those actions is beyond belief.
Or if nothing came of the Trump tower meeting there wasn’t. The cooperation and coordination failed.
Alternately or maybe in addition, Barr is defining government narrowly as opposed to unofficial but very real Russian sources linked to the government. Thats why I agree we need to see the entire report and would hope leaks get it to us.
As Cesar Sayoc can tell you, you can be convicted for a crime, even if you weren’t quite able to pull it off.
But in any case, it’s ridiculous to say “nothing came of it”. The Russians offered to coordinate with Trump’s campaign, in particular to leak dirt on Hillary Clinton, to attack members of the DNC, and also to target specific demographic groups in a cyber campaign attack. It’s demonstrably proven that they did all of that and they did it on a schedule designed for optimal impact.
The quotes by Donald Trump Jr, “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer“, Donald Trump the candidate “Russia if you’re listening…”, and Roger Stone “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2d in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging”, each demonstrate coordination, conspiracy and intent. Since the election, Donald Trump has acted explicitly in Russia’s interests multiple times, including his repeated attempts to lift sanctions on the Russian government, his attacks on NATO, the State Department and our intelligence services. Maybe you remember his offer to hand members of our embassy staff over for interrogation by the Russian government.
To come back to your original comment “this is kind of a relief to me in that there was no actual cooperation with a foreign power”. That is just utterly and demonstrably untrue. The Trump campaign worked closely and directly with a hostile foreign power whose intent was to install a puppet as president and to weaken the U.S.
Whether Mueller was able to make that case at a level that would lead to prosecution by a Justice Department run by partisan allies of the president or impeachment by a craven Republican Congress is a statement about serious problems in this country’s self defense systems, but the fundamental facts are still true.
The obstruction of justice, for which there is substantial evidence, both in public and in the report which we have not seen at all yet, very well could have prevented the investigators from discovering cooperation and coordination.
You shouldn’t get rewarded for successfully conspiring to prevent law enforcement from discovering a crime.
For all we know, Mueller looked at this specific conspiracy involving hacking and distributing and couldn’t implicate Trump in it without Manafort’s cooperation, which Manafort refused to do because of multiple pardon dangles. And that’s just one part of the conspiracy.
I wonder how Mueller and his team feel about being rolled by Barr.
I doubt they were rolled. I just think Mueller gave up, or otherwise punted on trying the Trump crew on obstruction. Given that they lie as a habit and that any jury is likely to have at least one MAGA knucklehead on it, he wasn’t going to take the chance of getting tied up in court for years. Maybe I’m wrong and Mueller will advise to prosecute them all after Cheeto Mussolini is out of office. Is there a statue of limitations on lying to Congress?
Oh I think they were rolled. Watching Ari Melber yesterday he made the point that Mueller was only quoted 4x in a 4 page letter and never in full sentences, just cherry picked 2 and 3 words.
Since historically obst of justice in these cases is taken up by the Congress, Mueller may have rightly assumed that the determination on obstruction would go to the Congress.
DoJ leaks are coming out that the report was damning to the president in every way and so for the Mueller team to see Trump crowing must be infuriating.
I only hope that Rosenstein learned from his first lesson and wore a wire yesterday during deliberations with Barr.
If you mean by rolled that Barr shut it down, I agree or it looks that way.
CNN is reporting that Mueller told justice department officials three weeks ago that he couldn’t reach a decision on obstruction.