Mueller Probe: GOP Congress Running Interference for Trump’s White House
Ongoing Mueller probe into possible Trump collusion with Russia sets up Constitutional Crisis, enhanced by Republican obstruction of justice.
This morning, it has been reported that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has again spoken out — to denounce the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, into the scandal known as “Russiagate.” As expected, he has again denied any Russian involvement in E-mail hacking and Wikileaks’ coordinated release of materials damaging to Trump’s 2016 opponent, Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton, and has accused Trump’s political opposition and American media of pursuing this investigation purely on partisan grounds.
Notwithstanding all of the mounting evidence to the contrary, and the fact that some high-ranking members of the Trump Campaign (and his Administration) have already been indicted and/or are now cooperating witnesses in the broader investigation. And, despite the collective conclusion by all of America’s intelligence agencies that the Russians were indeed deeply involved in criminal hacking of communications of American citizens and the planned undermining of the 2016 presidential election which has shaken the confidence of the American Public in our most basic, small “d” democratic electoral process.
Putin’s remarks only echo the constant refrain of President Donald J. Trump, who has steadfastly refused to fully acknowledge or condemn Russian interference in our presidential election, or otherwise recognize the clear and present danger of continuing Russian efforts to destabilize our government and our democratic elections,…as well as those of our European allies. Some say that Trump’s intransigence is merely born out of his own thin-skinned narcissism which prevents him from accepting any possible taint to what he repeatedly exaggerates as a “landslide” electoral victory, even denying the statistical fact that he lost the popular vote by nearly three-million votes that he alleges was due to massive, unproven voter fraud!
But, the sheer volume and blatancy of the outright lies and dodgy misstatements by several top Trump associates — uncovered in recent months by a dogged American media and congressional inquiries — has pointed to something far more sinister and far more threatening to our nation’s sovereignty.
Those lies and obfuscations (many under oath) attest to the numerous direct and highly suspicious contacts they had with representatives of the Russian government; Russian intelligence operatives; and Russian business operatives with close financial ties to Russian oligarchs. Some of whom are currently subject to U.S. Russia Sanctions that have seriously hampered criminal money laundering schemes related to their decades-long pillaging of the Russian treasury under Vladimir Putin.
Contacts that began in the midst of the presidential campaign; possible promises (quid pro quos?) made then and during the presidential transition, and likely into the presidency itself. Promises to end Russia Sanctions, in exchange for Russian help in winning the American Presidency for Donald Trump, who has maintained that he has no business or financial ties to Russia, despite compelling evidence to the contrary, as enhanced by prior admissions by his own son, Donald Trump, Jr., “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
Yesterday, at a testy hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, was grilled and raked over the coals by several Republican committee members in an obvious (and shameful) attempt to play politics with the Mueller Probe, and undermine the very legitimacy of the increasingly productive investigation,…just as it seems to be closing in on yet more key players in the Trump orbit of aides and advisors.
Much to their chagrin, Deputy AG Rosenstein held firm and did not cave to angry recriminations based on a new thread of claimed FBI bias against Trump, in an insidious — dare I say — Trumpian effort to obstruct justice in the investigation. One that may well lead to more criminal charges against key players in the Trump White House and perhaps even the impeachment of the president himself.
WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told a House committee Wednesday that he saw no reason to dismiss Robert Mueller — and that the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation took the appropriate action to remove a senior FBI agent from his team last summer after exchanging overtly political text messages with a colleague. (USA Today)
Thus, just as the Mueller probe has begun to bear ripe fruit, Republicans in Congress are now beginning to openly undermine the only viable criminal investigation into acts which may border on treasonous conduct by members of the current Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. Much as House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Devin Nunes (R-CA) attempted to do last April, with furtive info-sharing trips to the White House which — once found out— resulted in his on and off again “recusal” from the committee chairmanship, specifically in their hearings relative to this probe.
As ex-congressman Joe Scarborough (a sane Republican) — increasingly frustrated by the hyper-partisan game-playing (by some) in the GOP Congress, on behalf of an embattled president under intense legal scrutiny — succinctly asks:
“How stupid do they think we are?”
As one concerned citizen, Laura Elizabeth Teller, observed on a Facebook post, relative to this new sinister effort to kill the Mueller Probe, and perhaps set into motion a “constitutional crisis” should Robert Mueller be fired, à la Nixon’s infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” in the Watergate Scandal that ended his presidency…
“After watching highlights of yesterday’s hearings, I think I’ve figured out the problem with House Republicans: they’re stupid.
Mueller isn’t supposed to be “unbiased”, nor is any of his staff. He and his staff are PROSECUTORS. They are advocates for the people against criminals. They are expected to have a bias against criminals. They are NOT JUDGES. They don’t decide guilt or innocence.
They decide if a crime has been committed, in their opinion. If a crime has been committed they then build the strongest case AGAINST THE SUSPECT that they can. They do NOT have to be unbiased.
If Mueller has looked at enough evidence to develop the opinion that Trump is an idiot, there is NOTHING WRONG with that, and there is nothing wrong with him sharing that opinion with his staff. Prosecutors are expected to be fair: not to suppress or misuse evidence, for example, and NOBODY is disputing that Mueller had been fair.
The Republican position is that his investigation has biased him against the president. That doesn’t mean anything is wrong, that means that the investigation is productive. House Republicans don’t understand that prosecutors are ADVOCATES, not judges, and don’t need to be unbiased. They just need to be fair.
Or, equally likely, some of them understand that and believe that their voters are weak-minded enough to buy their grandstanding.” ~ Laura Elizabeth Teller
I heartily concur with Ms. Teller’s assessment of the role and independence of prosecutors. If prosecutors — at any level of the criminal justice system — were barred from investigating anyone of another political party, very few people would ever be prosecuted. For anything. There is no requirement or understanding under American law that members of law enforcement (including the FBI) are not entitled to personal opinions about the subjects of ongoing investigations. Only that they fairly investigate and evaluate all relevant evidence central to their investigation(s),…or any other crimes uncovered in the process.
In this case, we have a Republican head of the investigation (Robert Mueller) who took prompt action to reassign the two persons cited, in order to avoid any appearance of bias, not because they actually acted improperly, planted any evidence, or otherwise tainted the team effort to pursue the investigation wherever it leads. One that has already uncovered criminal activity, yielding indictments and witness cooperation to get to the bottom of the more serious allegations and hold others accountable for criminal acts, as they are discovered.
This is nothing more than a mind numbing effort by Republican members of the congressional committee to run interference for a White House in disarray; fearful of the public learning the truth and terrified that offenders might be brought to justice. Their newest tact and shameful partisan conduct is in and of itself, obstruction of justice!
