To my Trumpian Friends:<\/p>\n
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 \u201csummary.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I will not accept that all of the evidence of cooperation with Russia is false – because it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
I know Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian representatives in Trump Tower with the intent of getting \u201cdirt\u201d on Hillary Clinton. \u00a0This is a fact. \u00a0Donald Jr. said he\u2019d \u201clove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I know that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn made multiple contacts to Russian officials, then lied to the FBI about it. \u00a0I know that in some of these calls, he promised a change in the future administration\u2019s policy if they would ignore the Obama administration\u2019s sanctions for election interference – and the Russians did.<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0As I don\u2019t believe in supernatural powers, that leaves Stone in contact with Wikileaks.<\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
You ask why we “liberals” can’t just let this go. You state: \u201c\u2026see,\u00a0 we told you there was no collusion (whatever that word means.)\u201d But what I actually “see” is evidence of exactly that. \u00a0I hope that the Mueller Report will address my concerns because what Bill Barr is saying is; “believe me, not your lying eyes.”<\/p>\n
Legal constraints on Robert Mueller in his Special Counsel position may have pre-ordained the outcome of his investigation.\u00a0 There are two issues that hamstrung the Special Counsel, unlike the Independent Counsels of the Nixon, Reagan and Clinton eras.\u00a0Those Counsels were operating under a law passed by Congress, creating their position and guaranteeing its independence from the rest of the Executive Branch.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Mueller was given no such powers.\u00a0 He was appointed under the Special Counsel regulation of the Department of Justice itself.\u00a0 He was never independent, but an employee of the Department of Justice, and subject to its restrictions and controls.\u00a0 He served under the Attorney General (or Deputy Attorney General during the recusal of Jeff Sessions) and had to run major decisions through him.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 What the Regulations don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Robert Mueller is an honorable man.\u00a0 He was well aware of the rules of his new office.\u00a0 One of those rules was that the Department of Justice would not bring an indictment against the President of the United States. \u00a0This means that regardless of the outcome of his investigation, Robert Mueller knew that he could not bring an indictment of Donald Trump.\u00a0 It was unreasonable for anyone to expect differently, Mueller is a straight-ahead litigator, he is not a rule breaker. \u00a0\u00a0He was not going to demand a re-write of long established policy.<\/p>\n
So what if Mueller found evidence that President Trump broke the law?\u00a0 Leon Jarworski, the Nixon Independent Counsel, didn\u2019t indict the President, but named him as an unindicted co-conspirator.\u00a0 Robert Mueller didn\u2019t do that, but the Federal Southern District of New York has all but done so, naming him as \u201cIndividual One\u201d who participated in Cohen\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n
But Mueller also knew his greater task, to let the nation know what really happened in the election of 2016.\u00a0 Those details, the evidence that might serve Congress in an impeachment of the President if required, are in the Report.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the Barr Letter is so dissatisfying; it, intentionally or not, hides the facts.<\/p>\n
In addition, when the new Attorney General, Bill Barr, was appointed; Mueller knew full well that Barr had a unique view of Presidential power.\u00a0Barr ascribes to the \u201cUnitary Executive\u201d theory, granting all powers of the Executive Branch in the single individual, the President.\u00a0 Under this theory, the President cannot obstruct justice, as obstructing an investigation by the Department of Justice is theoretically just stopping himself.\u00a0In the same way, the President can fire any executive branch personnel for any reason. He is the sole decider.\u00a0The only Constitutional check on the President recognized by the theory is the power of Congressional impeachment.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0Instead, Mueller did what a good prosecutor does, he presented his evidence for the Congress and the Country to decide.<\/p>\n
We will, when we get the opportunity to see the Report.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"