I have no quarrel with Cates’ summary there, and since he’s been out on the limb promising big things from the RR testimony for a long time, I’ll cut him some slack when it comes to redefining it.
What he failed to point out is the “why”. RR knows full well that Cruz really nailed him to the wall when he presented him with the Morton’s Fork choice: “Either you are complict...or you are grossly negligent”. Naturally as a skilled lawyer RR took Door #2, because as I posted earlier, that’s the safe and painless way out. You may not earn the respect of FReepers (many of whom hate his guts anyway) by admitting that you could have done a better job of being Deputy and Acting AG, but you don’t get indicted, lose your pension, or go to jail for it. Being incompetent isn’t a violation of the law.
After listening to RR and considering his career path and how he’s likely to think and act (as a “C-level” executive in a mammoth federal bureaucracy) it was pretty easy to see this coming. Deflect and develop poor memory, admit to making mistakes like “trusting people”, simple and harmless errors that any busy executive is likely to make in the course of their busy job. But if there’s anything even remotely criminal, you don’t treat it like a landmine, and let others worry about how they will deal with it.
I also will predict that we will never see RR deviate from what he said yesterday. He’s had a long time to think about the questions he’d be asked and he was prepared. Not to throw raw meat to the SpyGate proponents but to make sure RR stayed comfortably on the safe side of every line that was drawn. He will live his life, enjoy the perks, and never give a care about what color his hat is ;-)
I am now 100% sure it was a sting.
#123 RR’s problem is his testimony yesterday is at odds with his testimony before the house.
He played Sgt. Schultz yesterday, when he testified before the house he portrayed himself as eyeball deep in the operation. Constant comms with Mueller and his team. Meetings, breifings etc.
#123 Let’s also not forget who it was that fought with the Republican led investigation in 17-18 led by Devin Nunez.
Yeah, Rat Rosenstein.
He’s dirty Jim. Sesspool dirty.