Swordmaker to TEXOKIE
1 -[my paraphrase] not sufficient to show an obstructive act because it is unclear whether the Prez knew that to be false. In fact the Prez was focused on the fact that he didn’t tell McGahn to FIRE Mueller [Barr says “McGahn” here, but I believe he means “McGahn to Fire Mueller” in other words, “I never told you to FIRE MUELLER. I asked you to bring up the conflict of interest.]
No one is pointing this out, but McGahn has no authority to fire Mueller. He is not even in the chain of command to have that power. That chain is The President, the Attorney General, the Acting Attorney Genera.. . . that’s it. McGahn is merely the advisor to the President on legal questions which come up that the President may need answered to assist him on making decisions on bills, treaties, etc. He has no authority over the Department of Justice.
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HI SWORDMAKER!!! GREAT TO SEE YOU!
You make a VERY great point! McGahn did not have the authority/juice to fire Mueller.
And even if he did - which he didn’t - my take away was that Trump asked him to clarify for the record that it was not FIRING he was being asked to do but to approach Mueller with the question of conflict of interest and should consider stepping down.... but entirely to be left in Mueller’s decision. At least that was how I understood it.
Swordmaker made a great point, and to add to it, not only did McGahn not have the power to fire Mueller, but Mueller did have a conflict of interest that should have disqualified him from handling the investigation, if RR hadn’t been a derp, too. That is also a factor to consider.