To my Trumpian Friends:
Once I have the opportunity to read the Mueller Report, I will accept his finding of no criminal conspiracy with Russia. I say once I see the report, because I am sorely disappointed that Attorney General Barr has ignored the non-partisan intent of the Special Counsel regulation, and has made a political decision with his four Page “summary.”
But I will not accept that all of the evidence of cooperation with Russia is false – because it’s not.
I know Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian representatives in Trump Tower with the intent of getting “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. This is a fact. Donald Jr. said he’d “love it.”
I know that Donald Trump lied to the American people about his business dealings with Russia throughout the 2016 election campaign. Not only did Cohen testify to it, but Trump himself and his lawyer Giuliani acknowledged it.
I know that campaign manager Manafort and his assistant Gates met with a Russian operative in the Cigar Bar in New York and passed him campaign polling data.
I know that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn made multiple contacts to Russian officials, then lied to the FBI about it. I know that in some of these calls, he promised a change in the future administration’s policy if they would ignore the Obama administration’s sanctions for election interference – and the Russians did.
I know that either Roger Stone is a soothsayer able to predict the future, or he knew about the subjects of the WikiLeaks email releases well before they happened. As I don’t believe in supernatural powers, that leaves Stone in contact with Wikileaks.
I see a record of lying about Russian contacts from the President, the children, and the campaign staff that has stretched over three years. Why did they lie if there was nothing to hide?
You ask why we “liberals” can’t just let this go. You state: “…see, we told you there was no collusion (whatever that word means.)” But what I actually “see” is evidence of exactly that. I hope that the Mueller Report will address my concerns because what Bill Barr is saying is; “believe me, not your lying eyes.”
Legal constraints on Robert Mueller in his Special Counsel position may have pre-ordained the outcome of his investigation. There are two issues that hamstrung the Special Counsel, unlike the Independent Counsels of the Nixon, Reagan and Clinton eras. Those Counsels were operating under a law passed by Congress, creating their position and guaranteeing its independence from the rest of the Executive Branch. While there were questions about the Constitutionality of creating such an office, while it existed it could operate in the Justice Department as an independent entity.
Mueller was given no such powers. He was appointed under the Special Counsel regulation of the Department of Justice itself. He was never independent, but an employee of the Department of Justice, and subject to its restrictions and controls. He served under the Attorney General (or Deputy Attorney General during the recusal of Jeff Sessions) and had to run major decisions through him.
The Special Counsel regulations require that if the Counsel and the Attorney General disagree about a decision, that has to be reported to the Congress. What the Regulations don’t mention, is that if a Special Counsel knows there will be disagreement, and therefore does not bring an issue to the Attorney General, there is nothing to be done.
Robert Mueller is an honorable man. He was well aware of the rules of his new office. One of those rules was that the Department of Justice would not bring an indictment against the President of the United States. This means that regardless of the outcome of his investigation, Robert Mueller knew that he could not bring an indictment of Donald Trump. It was unreasonable for anyone to expect differently, Mueller is a straight-ahead litigator, he is not a rule breaker. He was not going to demand a re-write of long established policy.
So what if Mueller found evidence that President Trump broke the law? Leon Jarworski, the Nixon Independent Counsel, didn’t indict the President, but named him as an unindicted co-conspirator. Robert Mueller didn’t do that, but the Federal Southern District of New York has all but done so, naming him as “Individual One” who participated in Cohen’s crimes.
But Mueller also knew his greater task, to let the nation know what really happened in the election of 2016. Those details, the evidence that might serve Congress in an impeachment of the President if required, are in the Report. That’s why the Barr Letter is so dissatisfying; it, intentionally or not, hides the facts.
In addition, when the new Attorney General, Bill Barr, was appointed; Mueller knew full well that Barr had a unique view of Presidential power. Barr ascribes to the “Unitary Executive” theory, granting all powers of the Executive Branch in the single individual, the President. Under this theory, the President cannot obstruct justice, as obstructing an investigation by the Department of Justice is theoretically just stopping himself. In the same way, the President can fire any executive branch personnel for any reason. He is the sole decider. The only Constitutional check on the President recognized by the theory is the power of Congressional impeachment.
Mueller could have brought a recommendation to indict President Trump for obstruction, but that would run counter to both Department policy (indicting a President) and the avowed views of the new Attorney General. Instead, Mueller did what a good prosecutor does, he presented his evidence for the Congress and the Country to decide.
We will, when we get the opportunity to see the Report.
So I am sorry my Trumpian friends and Attorney General Barr, it will take more than your say-so to overcome what I already know. I believe in Mueller, but I need to see what he saw to understand his conclusions. In our current world of “fake news” – created by this – President – it’s the only way to know.
