If the President Is Not the Subject of a Criminal Investigation, Then Say So

PJ Media ^ | 19 May 2017 | Andrew C. McCarthy

[blueplum]

Well is he, or isn’t he?

Almost everything in a counterintelligence investigation is classified...But there is one thing that need be neither classified nor otherwise concealed from the American people: the status of the president.

Is the president of the United States the subject of a criminal investigation?

If he is not, then the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Mueller owe it to the country to say so. There is no reason to be coy about it...

Instead, political games are being played and the public is forming an impression -- which I strongly suspect is a misimpression -- based on semantics...

We’ve been told that the main investigation, the one that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein has appointed special counsel Mueller to conduct, is a counterintelligence investigation. That is what former FBI director James Comey revealed (with the approval of the Justice Department) in House testimony on March 20:

"I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission..."

In appointing Mueller on May 17, Rosenstein issued an internal Justice Department order stating:

"The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017...[.]"

Thus, to the extent it involves the president, the investigation announced to the public is a counterintelligence probe. That matters because it would mean the president is not a criminal suspect. A counterintelligence probe is not intended to build a criminal prosecution.

[blueplum]

...In his March 20 testimony, Comey elaborated:

"As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. "

With due respect, this is a heavy-handed way of putting it. As is well-known throughout the FBI and Justice Department, it is not permissible to use counterintelligence investigative authority to conduct what is in reality a criminal case.

--- PJ's put out two articles that are an interesting read - the captioned article is how the Dems are using the confusion between criminal and counterintel to confuse the public into believing the false narrative peddled by the media on behalf of the Dems - that Trump must be guilty of some crimes if there is a special counsel. It's a narrative they're using to pressure Reps not into joining an impeachment, but a call for resignation.

A separate article, authored by Richard Fernandez, draws a parallel comparison between the leaks against Trump and the green on blue attacks against troops in theatre:

https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2017/05/18/no-clear-winner-but-one-clear-loser/

[livius]

This whole thing is one giant cloud of words, strange beyond belief.

Actually, even the supposed claim of “collusion” is meaningless, because no one has ever said exactly what Russia was supposed to have done to influence the election so it’s not clear what the “collusion” would have been about in the first place.

[DoughtyOne]

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...this is a general all-purpose message, and should not be seen as targeting any individual I am responding to...

[<1/1,000,000th%]

The President is the subject of a fishing expedition looking for material to use against him in the left-wing media.

[magua]

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/05/18/dershowitz-questions-purpose-of-special-counsel-what-is-the-crime/

Dershowitz nails it.

[ReaganGeneration2]

Saying Trump is “under investigation” is akin to saying someone formerly holding clearances was “under investigation” prior to getting the clearances. Yes, they’re checking on serious things, but not even smoke exists, much less fire. They keep looking, but NOTHING TO FIND.

[TChad]

Fantasygate.