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RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
Tue Jan 30, 2018, 06:11 PM Jan 2018

"There's No Way Mueller Will Indict Trump" - A dose of reality?

There's No Way Mueller Will Indict Trump
Those hoping the special counsel will prosecute the president are engaging in fantasy.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/even-if-trump-is-found-guilty-mueller-wouldnt-be-the-indictment-decision-maker/551753/

The latest revelations about President Trump have, once again, excited the interest of the public, leading to speculation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may have amassed sufficient evidence to charge the president with obstruction of justice. Trump’s attempt to fire Mueller (which happened last June, but is only now being publicly reported) is, under this line of thinking, the final straw.

Color me deeply skeptical.

Mueller will not indict Trump for obstruction of justice or for any other crime. Period. Full stop. End of story. Speculations to the contrary are just fantasy.


He won’t do it for the good and sufficient reason that the Department of Justice has a long-standing legal opinion that sitting presidents may not be indicted. First issued in 1973 during the Nixon era, the policy was reaffirmed in 2000, during the Clinton era. These rules bind all Department of Justice employees, and Mueller, in the end, is a Department of Justice employee. More to the point, if we know anything about Mueller, we think we know that he follows the rules—all of them. Even the ones that restrict him in ways he would prefer they not. And if he were to choose not to follow the rules, that, in turn, would be a reasonable justification for firing him. So … the special counsel will not indict the president.

ETA: Just want to say I really hope this analysis is wrong. However, I posted it because I thought the part I just bolded was information we all should be aware of. AND, even if Mueller feels he can't indict because of that rule, there's still impeachment, and we all still plan on producing a huge turnout in November.
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Lurks Often

(5,455 posts)
6. Unknown, there is no legal precedent I am aware of
Tue Jan 30, 2018, 06:45 PM
Jan 2018

It would end up before SCOTUS.

And do you really think the Secret Service would allow police to arrest ANY President?

 

RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
7. Well, they have no power over Federal issues
Tue Jan 30, 2018, 06:45 PM
Jan 2018

such as the President, but where state crimes are concerned (e.g., money laundering), no constraints at all tho they have to wait til he's out of office to make a play, I think. Jared and Ivanka are probably fair game before then, tho.

SWBTATTReg

(21,859 posts)
3. Then what is Mueller and his team still doing? There are ...
Tue Jan 30, 2018, 06:20 PM
Jan 2018

roughly 15 or so working in various aspects of this investigation, and w/ the last set of indictments and pled out agreements several months old already, why didn't he wrap up his investigation then? Obviously there are still lots of things going on that we're not aware of. I suspect that the next series of events (indictments etc.) will be (done in cooperation w/ those who already pled out, e.g., wiretapping etc.) will be especially juicy.

Demsrule86

(68,348 posts)
9. We will have to wait and see. No president should ever be above the law...after Trump is gone...laws
Tue Jan 30, 2018, 07:12 PM
Jan 2018

will be needed to stop such a thing from ever happening again.

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