Posted on 04/26/2019 3:14:13 AM PDT by knighthawk
Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. deputy attorney general who supervised the Mueller investigation, spoke publically on Thursday for the first time since the report was released, taking a swipe at the Obama administration’s real-time reaction to Russian hacking and its decision "not publicize the full story" to the American people.
Rosenstein, who was speaking in New York at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, defended his handling of the probe and criticized former officials in the process. He called out former FBI Director James Comey for alerting Congress about the investigation into Russian collusion at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign.
“The FBI disclosed classified evidence about the investigation to ranking legislators and their staffers,” he said. “Someone selectively leaked details to the news media. The FBI director [Comey] announced at a congressional hearing that there was a counterintelligence investigation that might result in criminal charges. Then the former FBI director alleged that the president pressured him to close the investigation, and the president denied that the conversation occurred.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I hope you will all go back and read the memos.....which were Classified....
yet Comey leaked to the media.
In those memos, Comey told the President .....more than once....that he (The President) could fire him at any time.
So how could firing Comey be looked at as obstruction.
Trying to save his Skinny ASS!
Nor for nothing, but can anybody imaging Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy or Nixon getting all “chicken little” about Russian spying? No. It’s how the game is played. If it gets too bad you grab a few of their diplomats with a few of their identified spies and you throw them out of the country. You don’t tell the Russians to “knock it off” (and expect them to actually do it).
Yep. That is exactly what he is doing.
Poor guy is a victim.
Russian spying, Israeli spying, Italian spying, British spying, Saudi spying, you get the idea.
We do exactly the same thing.
Everybody is spying on everybody. All the time. Allies as well as enemies. It’s just how it’s done.
It’s been this way for a very long time.
Just the beginning...who will rat on who...ordering more popcorn...
All of a sudden Rosey now cares about leaks. Where was this concern when Muledeers office was leaking like a sieve?
When Fredo Rosenstein realized there was no collusion he didn’t have to OK the second memo setting up the obstruction part of the Mueller Weissmann report. And extending the investigation for another year at least. He did that not Obama not Comey.
Was the “someone” a pencil-necked geek?
In frustration with constantly hearing about “obstruction”, I looked up the actual elements of obstruction of justice under federal statute.
It’s quite disturbing. The statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1501-1521 is way overbroad. It includes any “interference with the orderly administration of law and justice”.
That is insanely broad. It makes no reference to a predicate crime having been charged; just the ‘administration’ of what the government decides ‘law and justice might require’ on any given day.
If you don’t find this concerning, consider that the statute has been interpreted to emphasize the *effect* of the act, rather than the act itself. Thus, a perfectly innocuous act can get you charged with obstruction.
On the upside, even with a statute designed to cast such a wide net, Team Jackass *still* couldn’t find a basis on which to charge President Trump with obstruction.
The Comey firing-as-obstruction is childish, narcissistic, and would be embarrassing to Cardinal Comey, if he didn’t have such a severe personality disorder.
The FBI Director serves at the pleasure of the President. The President can fire him because he doesn’t like his tie. Or for no reason at all. Period. The end.
Not firing the Comey would have been dereliction. Comey leaked classified information; he was a high security risk; he has a Cluster B personality disorder (low/no conscience), I could go on.
https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/obstruction-of-justice.html
O, the irony.
Because Cankles didn't want to upset Putin, that's why. She was a lock to win, remember? ;_)
In his favor: he physically stood behind Atty. Gen. Barr before the cameras, a very important political gesture; he affixed his signature to Barr's conclusion that no obstruction of justice was done by the president; he faults the Obama administration for its handling of Russian interference in the election, "The previous Administration chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls"; he notes that "The FBI disclosed classified evidence about the investigation to ranking legislators and their staffers"; he acknowledges, "someone selectively leaked details to the news media "; he faults James comey for his testimony before Congress concerning an ongoing investigation with potential criminal charges, "The FBI Director announced at a congressional hearing that there was a counterintelligence investigation that might result in criminal charges. ";Then the former FBI Director alleged that the President pressured him to close the investigation, and the President denied that the conversation occurred.
In his favor, he wrote the memorandum justifying the firing of James Comey.
To his discredit: he went wobbly at the knees under political pressure and unnecessarily appointed a special counsel; worse, he appointed James Comey's best friend, Robert Mueller, as special counsel; he acquiesced in the makeup of the Mueller team which at best can be described as a deeply partisan hit team whose entire ethos runs contrary to all of the high sounding rhetoric that Rosenstein delivered in his speech; he signed a FISA application which he knew or should have known was at best dubious and probably wholly spurious; he failed to recuse himself from the role of oversight of Mueller's investigation in view of the fact that he had signed the warrant application and in view of the fact that he had drafted and signed the letter authorizing the firing of James comey.
To his discredit, he is alleged to have volunteered to wear a wire to spy on the president of the United States in furtherance of a plot to remove him under the the 25th amendment. He denies this allegation, saying it was made in jest. He evidently permitted Mueller to continue his probe long after Rosenstein, Mueller, and just about everyone else involved knew that there was no "collusion" with the Russians. Further to his discredit, knowing this, he repeatedly expanded the scope of the Mueller investigation, especially to include allegations of obstruction of justice that is, to permit and obstruction of justice probe to continue in the absence of an underlying crime against a president who could not be indicted.
Placed in the scales, how does Rosenstein come out 10 years from now in the verdict of history? Was he over scrupulous? Was he genuinely of the belief that the president was a threat to the country? Did he simply act according to the principles he laid out in his speech? Did he do anything actually unethical? Has he been shown to have colluded or conspired with the forces of darkness? Was he simply a week reed blowing about in a political firestorm?
Firing Comey did not stop the investigation.
Mentioning Flynn and possibilities.....did NOT change a thing.
etc etc
Most laws are broad....it's why we have attorneys....that screw with this broadness....and why hard criminals go free.
And in hindsight, that's what this continuing saga is about....
Listen to her latest rant....and I believe the first since the report came out.
****Then the former FBI director alleged that the president pressured him to close the investigation, and the president denied that the conversation occurred.****
Isn’t that the definition of obstruction of justice??
No. The president can order any investigation started or ended. He cannot obstruct a minor executive bureau like the FBI. DOJ and FBI are in no way independent.
Has Rosenstein had a moment of lucidity?
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