By Dan Peak
The Commoner Call (3/25/19)
Dear Fellow Readers,
Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to Attorney General William Barr on Friday. On Sunday Barr made a public release of a summary of the special counsel’s findings. You can access Barr’s four-page document here.
While there will be an ongoing debate of what was said and what it means, Trump and his followers are declaring victory, and while more information to come may make this less than the resounding victory being claimed, the first wave of headlines benefit Trump. Keep in mind, very few people have seen the final Mueller report, but Trump and team are now out of the box and racing ahead for 2020: Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy But Stops Short Of Exonerating President On Obstruction Of Justice.
The New York Times offers this on the front end of their reporting: This is a developing story. The New York Times will be examining the findings. Check back for updates.
They are reporting on two important issues – Trump campaign coordination with Russians and obstruction. On the first point:
“WASHINGTON — The investigation led by Robert S. Mueller III found that neither President Trump nor any of his aides conspired or coordinated with the Russian government’s 2016 election interference, according to a summary of the special counsel’s findings made public on Sunday by Attorney General William P. Barr.”
On the second issue of obstruction the question was left to others to completely resolve. The Mueller team did not offer a conclusion and with this AG Barr and Deputy AG Rosenstein overlaid their conclusion:
“Mr. Barr also said that Mr. Mueller’s team drew no conclusions about whether Mr. Trump illegally obstructed justice. Mr. Barr and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, concluded that the special counsel’s investigators lacked sufficient evidence to establish that Mr. Trump committed that offense, but added that Mr. Mueller’s team stopped short of exonerating Mr. Trump.”
While the Trump team is crowing complete victory, given the statement on obstruction this is left as a political issue to be taken up — or not — by Congress.
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What might Rudi know?
Curiously, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani offered this:
““It’s better than I expected,” Rudy Giuliani, the lawyer, said, adding that he would have a statement on the matter soon.”
Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow told MSNBC host Katy Tur that they were not interested in the full report. By this we can assume that the Trump team is sending the message that anything Trump-Russia is done and deserves no further consideration.
It is now up to people like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler amongst others. Nadler tweeted:
“JUST IN: Rep. Jerry Nadler tweets that “in light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report,” the House Judiciary Committee will be calling AG William Barr to testify.”
At this time we are left with the questions of why so many lies by Trump and and his gang? Joe Scarborough asked a simple question: If There Was No Collusion, Why Did Trump And Associates Lie About Russia?
While Trump will make this one of his main 2020 campaign messages — as the victim of a failed attempt to remove him from office — he does still face ongoing legal risks: Trump’s Legal Troubles Are Far From Over Even As Mueller Probe Ends.
“Nearly every organization Trump has run over the past decade remains under investigation by state or federal authorities, and he is mired in a variety of civil litigation, with the center of gravity shifting from Mueller’s offices in Southwest Washington to Capitol Hill and state and federal courtrooms in New York, the president’s hometown and the headquarters of his company.”
If you want to read a good summary of the history of how we arrived at this moment the New York Times has offered an excellent summary. You’ll be left with more questions than answers.
Trump now has his campaign points with “No Collusion”, and “This was an illegal takedown and failed”.
We’ll see what Monday — and the weeks to come — brings.
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The Young Turks: How Mueller & The Democrats Blew It
This quick assessment of the Mueller report released late Sunday (3/24) by Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks makes some good obervations about how the Trump investigation may very well have been been badly bungled. The dems were looking at the wrong end of the case and Mueller apparently skated away from the real Trump-Russia connection.
Can ongoing investigation by the Southern District of New York or some of the other state and congressional investigations make Trump & Co. pay? We’ll have to see. — Mark L. Taylor, Editor