Mueller's Report

[Cheetah]

Coming next week!

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/20/politics/special-counsel-conclusion-announcement/index.html

Justice Department preparing for Mueller report as early as next week
Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary of Mueller's confidential report, according to people familiar with the plans.

The preparations are the clearest indication yet that Mueller is nearly done with his almost two-year investigation.

The precise timing of the announcement is subject to change.

March is gonna be a politically very interesting month!

 

[Oerdin]

I wonder if Barr is deliberately rushing this to cut short the investigation. He gets put in place as Trump's crony then less than a week later announces the investigation is over.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Barr is a personal friend of Meuller's - something Trump did not know when he appointed him. I am not saying he will refrain from burying the report but it's not a given either.

 

[Birdjaguar]

What Barr does with the report will tell us a whole lot about his character.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

What Barr does with the report will tell us a whole lot about his character.

Short of lighting it on fire and immediate execution of all involved I don't see any way he can keep it from the house, and since the house always leaks like a sieve that puts it in the public domain within 48 hours.

I also heard that there are leaks out of the Southern District of NY saying they are considering a challenge to the "don't indict the president" policy. They have a dead lock case for campaign finance violations, if nothing else, and only the no indictment policy has kept them from going forward. So if they do challenge that we are up against "how do you then prosecute the case?"

 

[Synobun]

Looking forward to absolutely nothing happening.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Looking forward to absolutely nothing happening.

The GOP is wedded to him at this point. House leaders knew as far back as 2017 that Trump was under investigation for being a Russian asset and protected him tooth and nail through it all.

Absent massive protests, nothing will change.

 

[onejayhawk]

Looking forward to absolutely nothing happening.

I doubt that is the case. Everything has been toning down expectations. On one hand that can be a huge setup for some modest findings. On the other hand, Trump can legitimately claim vindication and that payback is coming. Whatever the outcome, the FBI's involvement of the 2016 campaign will be highlighted as the biggest scandal of the century to date.

J

 

[Synobun]

You're a funny guy.

 

[onejayhawk]

You're a funny guy.

There is nothing funny about it. Trump has been claiming that this was a witch hunt since the start. It seems he's about to get proof.

J

 

[Birdjaguar]

There is nothing funny about it. Trump has been claiming that this was a witch hunt since the start. It seems he's about to see the proof he has been hiding go public.get proof.

J

Fixed that for you

 

[Berzerker]

I'll be stunned if Mueller doesn't have a list of financial/tax crimes, and I dont mean campaign spending violations that usually get a slap on the wrist

 

[Birdjaguar]

I expect:

• Tax fraud
• Money laundering
• Obstruction of justice
• Being a foreign agent
• RICO

 

[Kaitzilla]

Coming next week!

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/20/politics/special-counsel-conclusion-announcement/index.html

March is gonna be a politically very interesting month!

Oh baby, it's the big one.
Every special prosecutor in history has nailed somebody.

Unlimited budget means everything.
Reagan's was $47 million.
Clinton's was $70 million.
Mueller's cost $15 million and is closing in on $20 million.

The current record is 238 indictments by John B. Hederson (1875).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ur-mind/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c242f35b0349



The most recent one, the Starr investigation (Clinton) for 5 years, was a real fishing expedition.
It led to 1 indictment for contempt of court? (McDougal for Whitewater)
And it reported to Congress and not DoJ? Hmm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starr_Report

https://theweek.com/articles/762398/what-starr-investigations-tells-about-muellers-probe

The 445-page document specified 11 possible grounds for impeachment, mostly related to the coverup. In December, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives voted almost entirely along party lines to impeach Clinton for perjury, 228-206, and obstruction of justice, 221-212. (Two other charges were voted down.) But after a five-week trial in the Senate, Clinton was acquitted on both charges. All 45 Democratic senators voted "not guilty" on the obstruction charge, along with five Republicans, and the 50 "guilty" votes fell far short of the 67 required to oust Clinton from office. On the perjury charge, 55 senators voted "not guilty."

 

[Berzerker]

Long time ago I read Grant's administration was about the most corrupt. Maybe that was a feature of reconstruction - and being drunk. I'll have to peruse that link.

Bummer, I used my free wapost articles. I'll look for a free site.

 

[Dachs]

Long time ago I read Grant's administration was about the most corrupt. Maybe that was a feature of reconstruction. I'll have to peruse that link.

It was more a feature of the postwar rail boom and of the pre-1882 spoils system.

Harding's admin would've been more corrupt than Grant's if Harding hadn't died so early in his term.

 

[Berzerker]

yeah, RR corruption rings a bell now

 

[Gori the Grey]

I expect:

• Tax fraud
• Money laundering
• Obstruction of justice
• Being a foreign agent
• RICO

Of these, I expect only obstruction of justice. I expect him to stick pretty close to his initial charge, reading the "arise directly" as a serious limiter. I expect that if he's found elements of the others, he'll get them mentioned somewhere in the report, directing other prosecutors to follow them up.

So, two things: what evidence there is of collusion and the evidence there is of obstruction framed up as a case for obstruction of justice.

 

[Kaitzilla]

What Barr does with the report will tell us a whole lot about his character.

If the DoJ doesn't release it.....
They better release it.

Short of lighting it on fire and immediate execution of all involved I don't see any way he can keep it from the house, and since the house always leaks like a sieve that puts it in the public domain within 48 hours.

I also heard that there are leaks out of the Southern District of NY saying they are considering a challenge to the "don't indict the president" policy. They have a dead lock case for campaign finance violations, if nothing else, and only the no indictment policy has kept them from going forward. So if they do challenge that we are up against "how do you then prosecute the case?"

I'd say campaign finance and obstruction of justice.


But then again, the President should be able to fire the FBI head.
It is part of his job.
Comey told Trump that he was not under investigation by the FBI, so when he later got fired I fail to see how that could be obstruction of justice.

And we know the #2 McCabe at the FBI started an investigation into Trump as an insurance policy so that firing him could be charged as another obstruction of justice against Trump.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...l_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

Using just such a strategy to avoid being fired at the FBI really weakens the case for obstruction of justice.

McCabe was fired from the FBI for being a liar.
Hard to say how strong the 25th Amendment coup plot was, but as soon as it came out Rosenstein was headed for the exits in March.
Whichever 2 cabinet members that were onboard have probably already been fired through sheer attrition.
8 cabinet members are required to declare the President unfit.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...ls-were-ready-to-support-effort-to-oust-trump

I guess if Trump leaned hard on the Cohen investigation, that could be obstruction.


The campaign finance charges have to stick!
Dead lock indeed.
It is the one thing Trump is 100% certainly guilty.

 

[BenitoChavez]

I'm with Syn on this one. Every so often the news gets some whiff of something and all of a sudden it's "The investigation is nearing it's end", "The report is coming out any week now", "Mueller is wrapping up".

Wake me when the report actually comes out.