Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, April 18, 2019

THIS SAYS IT ALL





Mueller: Congress still has ability to find the President obstructed justice 

In special counsel Robert Mueller's report, the team writes that: "With respect to whether the President can be found to have obstructed justice by exercising his powers under Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that Congress has the authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice."





Muller Report:  Sarah Sanders made false statements to press on Comey firing.


White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders acknowledged to investigators with special counsel Robert Mueller's team that she misled reporters when she insisted in May 2017 that "countless" FBI agents had lost confidence in former Director James Comey leading up to his dismissal. 

 The special counsel's report, released Thursday, cited Sanders’s multiple false statements to reporters as part of its review of whether President Trump obstructed justice in firing Comey. Sanders told investigators that her misstatements were a "slip of the tongue,” and that the claims were not founded on anything.










From the Mueller Report:

“The evidence we obtained about the president’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. 

At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. 

Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment. 

Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

10 comments:

Ray Cranston said...

My main conclusion: Barr lied in his letter summarizing the report, and in his conclusions about the report today. Barr agrees with Mueller that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in an attempt to help Trump. This is indisputable.

But Mueller did not conclude that there was "No Collusion." There was obvious open collusion between the Trump campaign, and Trump himself, and the Russians. But this did not rise to the level of criminality because the applicable charge is Conspiracy, which has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Mueller decided not to charge Conspiracy.

Barr also falsely concluded that there was no Obstruction of Justice. This is a charge that, according to Department of Justice policy, must be made against the President by the Congress in impeachment proceedings. Conviction in Trump's case cannot occur due to the hyper-partisan nature of the Republican-controlled Senate, which will not consider the evidence, no matter how damning.

It should also be stressed that this is far from the whole and complete report. There are massive redactions. For example, whole pages in the Wiki-Leaks section are blacked out. It will all come out eventually, and when it does, criminal charges will be made against Trump, and others.

And, of course, there are over a dozen ongoing investigations, including investigations started by Mueller that are still proceeding. Finally, Mueller needs to testify -- immediately.

Jerry said...

It's left to the Congress to indite the president, if they have the will.
The Justice Department's policy is a president cannot be indited.
A president does not have to commit a crime to be impeached. There is plenty of evidence in the Mueller report to start impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Pelosi has said she is not interested in impeachment. The House has to write the articles of impeachment and the Senate has to agree with those articles of impeachment.
The only way to get rid of Trump, is to vote him out of office.

Dave Miller said...

Ray, et al... Mueller was not dealing with collusion, as I understand it. As such, that was always a non-issue.

Barr I don't think falsely concluded there was no obstruction. He interpreted the info he had to come to that conclusion. I guess you could say he was wrong, but different lawyers and prosecutors come to different conclusions all the time. In any event, it is against DOJ policy to criminally indict a sitting Pres, so what could he have done?

Maybe that reality is why Mueller came to no hard conclusion. Why bother if you can't indict someone?

Look, this is a mess. Here are the facts, that anyone can read in plain language...

President Trump is a liar, asked senior aides to lie privately and publicly for him, and in fact, had to be argued out of obstruction of justice crimes. And 40% of the American people, people who just a few years ago slammed President Obama for lying, said the White House should not have a liar in chief and believed that immorality disqualified someone from office, not only voted for, but approve of his actions.

Because he is on their team.

President Trump is a horrible person, publicly devoid of any of the qualities his stated religion hold dear. He does not walk humbly, live sacrificially or consider others better than himself, all traits that millions of Christians around the world will look at tonight as we near Easter Sunday.

What this report has done is laid bare just how bad he is...

Ducky's here said...

He's still claiming complete exoneration while the report is anything but. It gives the house a way forward but they will have to be deliberate.

Dave Miller said...

Sarah Sanders... A slip of the tongue? In the heat of the moment?

I'm sure Hillary, Obama or any Dem would get a pass on a lie from the GOP or extremist bloggers if they used that excuse.

I just wish those clowns would come out and say...

Well actually, some of them do on the Poop Deck of the Mother Ship... "We're okay with Trump lying even if it is inconsistent. Cause he's our guy!"

Anonymous said...

The Trumpanzees's asses are burned today. That's what happens when even their propaganda machine, FOX, tells the truth. THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! HAHAHAHA!

"BY THE WAY; SHEP SMITH ON FOX RIGHT NOW IS GOING DOWN THE LIST OF HOW TRUMP REALLY IS VERY GUILTY…..”PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID HE DIDN’T TELL MCGANN TO DO THAT…NOW WE KNOW HE DID!”
the list continues….

FOX IS ON IT!!! “OUR RESEARCHERS SHOW THAT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS CONCEALING INFORMATION…DEMOCRATS ARE DEMANDING RELEASE TO THEM AS THEY SEE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ON A DAILY BASIS”

Oh, Shepard Smith is a BASTARD."


Is it any clearer how they hate the truth and love Trump more than they love their country?

Dave Miller said...

Anon... let's remember that the writer of that quote wants her news straight, no nonsense and no bias. She just wants it reported.

Unless of course that news is not favorable to her guy or party.

I'm not sure they love trump more than the USA, but there are certainly blind spots...

Shaw Kenawe said...

At this point, I'm not really concerned about a Senate conviction. Articles of Impeachment in the House will expose the corruption and ethical and moral filth of this fraudulent president through public testimony. By the time the election rolls around, the Senate will be irrelevant.

Nervous Cake Mix said...


Are the Trumpanzees still waiting for the report naming Muslims who burned down Notre Dame?

Dave Miller said...

Slips of the tongue... sometimes useful, but not when trying to explain why you spouted untrue statements questioning the credibility of law enforcement officials. Especially when there is usually enough truthful excess you can cite. When asked what she based her slip of tongue on Sanders said it was based on nothing.

And then her press underlackey defended her last night, claiming her slip of the tongue was in fact based on something.

How do these guys keep it all together? And still manage to keep a straight face calling Dems and the media liars?