Posted on 06/16/2017 3:24:29 PM PDT by markomalley
That was fast.
Less than a month after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel for the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election, the process has been revealed as a thinly veiled offensive on the Trump presidency.
According to reports this week, the investigation is now looking into potential obstruction of justice charges against the President – an idea that legal scholars on both sides of the aisle have dismissed as ridiculous – and even more out of left field, for evidence of financial crimes committed by the President and his associates.
Unfortunately, this shift in focus is no surprise.
We now know the appointment of a special counsel was orchestrated by a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind — fired Federal Bureau of Investigations Director James Comey. As Comey testified June 8th, he intentionally leaked secret information to the press in order to spur the appointment of a special counsel after his termination.
We also know that Mueller is stocking his investigative team with Democratic partisans. Jeannie Rhee, for example, was an attorney for the Clinton Foundation for many years and FEC records show she has donated exclusively to Democrats. In fact, Mueller’s hires have donated nearly $50,000 to Democratic candidates in the last dozen years, versus only $2,750 to Republicans.
Another one of Mueller’s hires, Andrew Weismann, has a record of overzealous prosecution and charges of unethical behavior. As leader of the Enron Task Force, Weissman faced charges for allegedly intimidating witnesses and hiding evidence that would have helped the defense. The criminal case he prosecuted against the accounting firm Arthur Anderson was overturned 9-0 by the Supreme Court because it found the company had committed no crime. Sadly, it was too late to save the 85,000 jobs that were lost due to Weismann’s lust to prosecute.
So far, Mueller’s team does not look like a group of fair-minded, independent attorneys. It looks like a legal hit squad specifically built to hurt President Trump and Republicans.
The real danger of these types of special investigations is that the innocence of the accused – or the initial focus of the investigation – often has no bearing on the outcome. More often, people who get ensnared by these proceedings fall victim to the pitfalls of the process. Lives are often ruined – not for anything related to what prompted the investigation but for some procedural error. This is precisely why I opposed the renewal of the Independent Counsel Act in 1999.
I explain the dangers of these special investigations in my new book, Understanding Trump, which was released Tuesday. In the book, I argue that no one on the Trump team should agree to testify without a guarantee of immunity from prosecution. Too many things can go wrong otherwise.
“Fishing expeditions driven by the Justice Department, congressional staffs, and the news media take on a life of their own and can easily trap innocent people through procedural mistakes.
“There is a grave danger that Trump team members will testify as though they were participating in a benign or honest process. That can lead to disaster.
“Every word someone says can be measured against all other testimony and all available evidence. Any discrepancy, no matter how innocent, can lead to a charge of perjury or obstruction of justice.
This remains my advice, although Attorney General Jeff Sessions has done remarkably well in his testimony. Sessions served as a U.S. Attorney for eighteen years and was formerly a seasoned member of the Senate. He knows how these things work.
Every other member of the Trump administration should take heed: this is not an honest process. Mueller’s team of attorneys will do everything it can to damage or destroy the Trump presidency.
The revelations this week about the investigation’s ridiculous expansion in scope, if true, are further evidence that the initial purpose of the special counsel’s investigation has been thrown out the window.
To be clear: Russia’s meddling in U.S. politics is a serious issue, but it is much bigger than the 2016 election.
The United States must investigate and learn to counter the ways in which Russia is using intelligence, cyberwar, economic and diplomatic pressure, and widespread corruption throughout the world to bolster Russian interests.
It is tragic that it now looks like the special counsel investigation, which was supposed to focus on Russia’s involvement in the election, will now only serve to distract us from the real challenge facing the United States.
The only thing that matters in this process is that the man we elected president is no longer president.
The uniparty is most unhappy that it was not able to dictate to us who are leader would be, and we must be taught a lesson.
GO GINGRICH
TRUMP should take him as his first attack dog !
He will be very good
To paraphrase Steve Bannon: they stole your country & if you think they are just going to give it back to you without a fight.....forgetaboutit. We are in a literal war.
The left has thrown a hornet’s nest into the body politic and have commenced to poke at it with a stick.
In other words, liberals are averse to facts. They perceive themselves to be their own highest moral authority. Laws and rules do not matter if they cannot be used to achieve liberal’s goals.
But we already knew this.
Why didn’t he surround himself with Newt and Rudy the first day?
I know Rudy’s not a true conservative, but he IS a true friend and he IS loyal and tough as nails.
And Newt’s great.
This is Soviet Union stuff. The criminal has been identified; the state will subsequently find the crime.
Trump is the President. The Constitution vests the executive power in him alone.
He’s going to have to fire those in rebellion, come what may.
bump
They're not the only ones who can teach lessons...
I’m thinking that a few thousand bee stings might get some people’s minds right...
I’m thinking that a few thousand bee stings might get some people’s minds right...
From the memo, the purpose of these investigations is to give Democrats "access" to materials that they otherwise would not be able to see (such as Trump's income tax filings). They will then use this information to provide Democrat "views" on the issues to "castigate the majority," and draft their own "independent submissions" of questions to the Justice Department.
Furthermore, Democrats get concessions from Congressional Republicans during these investigations. They expect to hamstring Trump's use of his own office powers by poisoning the well, so to speak, to make it politically difficult for Trump to fight back. Democrats will rely on their fellow Republicans to keep Trump in check via the committees. Democrats will force Republicans to constantly call on Cabinet members to appear for hearing after hearing after hearing, making any Trump action look like retaliation.
The bottom line of their strategy is to keep the ball in play, because one never knows what may happen (other than weak Republicans capitulating under pressure). Even if it does not result in Trump's guilt of anything, Democrats still see many wins along the way.
That's why these things need to be stopped as soon as possible.
-PJ
Been thinkin’. The term civil war has been heard lately on the tube/internet. The proper response? A civil war will put Trump right up there with Lincoln as our best President ever. He will thank the left for that.
-PJ
One seat, at this point, would be a small price to pay. A whiff of grape does wonder for morale.
Too bad we don’t have a real opposition party or they’d be initiating a few processes of their own.
Washington D.C. is a SWAMP.
President Donald J. Trump is entirely and completely innocent of any and all criminal charges that could possibly lead to his impeachment.
This is a witch hunt of historic proportions.
Even Vice President Mike Pence has now secured the services of a private defense lawyer.
The players in this witch hunt are so entwined it would be funny if it were not so damn serious. For example, Vice-President Pence’s lawyer, Richard Cullen, is Godfather to one of James Comey’s children.
*SIGH*
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