Robert Mueller Failed To Do His Duty

[Nitram]

I am beginning to doubt my initial support of Mueller's decisions in how he handled the case. This article in the Post makes some excellent observations on that score.

...by delaying the question of Trump’s interview until month 19 of his tenure, Mueller allowed Trump to run out the clock — a grave tactical error. And second, in an investigation of this public import, getting “substantial evidence” but not the word of the president himself fails to fulfill the special responsibility of a special counsel. In a run-of-the-mill criminal case, a prosecutor’s decision to bypass questioning a difficult figure might make sense; when we are seeking to learn whether a presidential candidate worked with a hostile foreign power to win an election, the public deserves to have that candidate answer questions under oath...

Finally, some of Mueller’s other decisions should be publicly debated. His determination not to bring campaign finance charges against Trump Jr. for soliciting foreign assistance to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been blasted by one of the foremost election law experts, as it turned on a curious view that Mueller could not prove the value of the assistance Russians dangled in front of Trump Jr., and that a prosecution for solicitation of foreign election assistance raised “First Amendment concerns”...

Most important, Mueller’s decision not to also bring charges against Trump Jr. — a private citizen, not protected by any Justice Department policy against prosecution — for conspiring with WikiLeaks (either as a violation of campaign finance laws or other statutes) remains a mystery given the extensive evidence of direct interactions between Trump Jr. and the WikiLeaks team. It is this Mueller decision — which enabled Trump’s “no collusion” boast — that merits the greatest scrutiny in the days ahead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-mueller-failed-to-do-his-duty/2019/04/19/370a47d8-62a6-11e9-9412-daf3d2e67c6d_story.html?utm_term=.692da37a6c49

[Evergreen Emerald]

1. Yes I believe he was a good soldier for the Republicans

He chose, like Comey, to play politics. Here is the question: When is it time for us to head to the streets in protest?

[Nitram]

2. My reading is that Mueller's mistake was to bend over backwards NOT to make any decisions that

would be viewed by anyone as political. To avoid getting involved in politics, he punted and handed the whole thing over to congress. But as the article points out, "playing it safe" meant avoiding confronting the Trump administration head on, which he had to do to fully carry out his mission..

[lagomorph777]

25. That's the same excuse Comey used as he took brazenly political actions.

[razorman03038]

35. That is typical of

pretty much all politicians. CYA. "Success has a thousand fathers. Failure is an orphan."

[democratisphere]

28. Yesterday.

We're going to have to go after drumpf with a borage of hearings under oath and televised before the entire world.
Mueller is a rethuglicon and has made a mess out of his investigation.

[Me.]

3. It Seems To Me That Mueller Has Placed Institution Over Country

[triron]

9. Accurate observation.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Excellent piece,

well analyzed. Mueller pulled his punches; perhaps too much of a "company man."
I agree that his most grievous error was not indicting Jr.

[Nitram]

6. I think Mueller tried to hard to avoid the appearance of making "political" decisions.

[Big Blue Marble]

8. You are probably right.

It would seem he was looking over his shoulder as he wove through the evidence.

[Skittles]

13. odd how that only works in favor of republicans

[Nitram]

16. Not necessarily. Mueller laid out a clear road map for impeachment or prosecution in the future.

Mueller walked a fine line, and whether or not I agree with it, I think he gave us the evidence we need to impeach or prosecute.

[uponit7771]

19. For that one instance, yes .. Don Jr should be in jail for colluding with wikileaks

[Skittles]

21. Mueller must have known what would happen

Dems are damned if they do, damned if they don't .

[Nitram]

24. If we are damned if we do and damned if we don't, then we must DO! Impeach!

[Skittles]

33. absolutely

if ever there was a reason, that incompetent lying bastard is IT

[lagomorph777]

26. Just like Comey hid the Russia investigation to not appear political, while

publicly excoriating Hillary. Sure, that looks real apolitical.

[jrthin]

27. So in the end, by trying hard not to make a political decision, he made

political decision.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

5. Something is fishy for sure...

He kept trying to make everybody focus on this direct link connections to the Russian government when they clearly use cuttouts who keep showing up in his report and then he doesn't make the correct connection....come on man!

So much information shows Trump was compromised and Muellar missed a lot of those connections or his team downplayed them.

If you are focusing on obstruction with regard to team trump, you missed it. He obstructed because he collused or conspired however you want to view it !

[triron]

11. Why did he recommend no jail time for Flynn????

[uponit7771]

18. +1, why the narrow focus on Russian "government" officials instead of just plain Russians ?!

[Nitram]

31. Working with Russians is not treason. Working with the Russian government is.

[uponit7771]

32. Working with Russians to gimp the elections is against the law, campaign finance which is

... another thing Mueller addressed but said it would be to hard to figure out the value.

I disagree on that one

[Nitram]

34. Working with anyone to gimp any election is against the law. Working with the Russian government to

do so brings a whole mess of additional charges into play.

[Hoyt]

7. Yep. He should have said bluntly that the Ruskies interfered with our election and

without the interference trump would have like lost.

2. trump and campaign aides welcomed their help.
3. trump threatened, bullied, offered pardons, publicly criticized officials, etc., so they would lie for him.
4. trump is obviously compromised in dealing with Russia Ana some other countries.
5. trump and his family have tried to improperly enrich themselves.
6. Since DOJ protocol prohibits indicting a sitting Prez, Congress should start Impeachment proceedings immediately, and he will be glad to testify against trump and other government officials.
7. More later.

Instead, he beat around the bush and ran.

[triron]

10. Well, I agree with you.

[Peace06]

12. Mr. MUELLER'S REPORT

Seems incomplete to me. Like, maybe he was ordered to shut it down? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Would be a good question for the House to ask.

[Hoyt]

14. If so, he should have said so in the report or shouting it to media.

[wendyb-NC]

29. I wonder that also.

The investigation seemed to end, rather suddenly, after the new AG Bar, went to work, and after the interim said that it was winding down, more than once. It does seem incomplete, as if the SC, hadn't finished all the investigating the entourage of people in dt's., circle. For what it's worth, that's just the sense I get.

[RichardRay]

15. Yes, he did.

He did exactly what he was supposed to do. If the folks in Congress can’t find the guts to finish the job, that’s not on Mueller’s watch.

Have you read the report? Bobby 3Sticks all but begged Congress to do its duty. He did his.

[uponit7771]

17. The first two are easy, Mueller didn't need Trump by then and Trump Jr can LEGALLY plead stupid...

... to campaign finance and that law allows people to go free if they're stupid of campaign finance law which is screwed up on its face.

I dumb is literally a defense in campaign finance law.

The third!?

Yeah, wtf Mueller !?

[kentuck]

20. Not as much as Barr failed to do his.

Insanity.

[qdouble]

22. I think Mueller did the best he could given that he had to report to DOJ.

If he threw the book at Trump, they would have gotten rid of him and we would have never read the report. He left enough breadcrumbs for Congress to do their job.

[Solomon]

23. Since Mueller is a republican he didn't

have to worry that a decision would have appeared to be "political." He had a mistrust a democratic special counsel wouldn't have had. Actually, the fact that he didn't do what should have been done looks "political" since he went easy on the Trumps.

[Cousin Dupree]

30. He didn't do what he was supposed to do. End of story. There are no excuses for being a wuss.