Does this still count when it’s a written answer?
3 Likes
Funny prospect indeed…
Very likely…
5 Likes
Aww, just let him go…he’s a good guy…what’s a few dozen impeachable offenses among friends?
7 Likes
And the barn is on fire… no going back.
4 Likes
Mueller’s report will be leaked by dems in Congress. After Mueller’s team wraps up, leaks won’t matter.
4 Likes
And you can bet the farm that Mueller’s team will not ask a single question that they do not already know the answer to, based upon multiple corroborating sources. The written format allows us to be spared Donald Trump’s absolute inability to talk without self referential blather. And I bet you he will have to take The Fifth if he answers the complete written interrogatory.
14 Likes
What are the odds Trump even sees, much less writes the answers?
It certainly looks like Mueller follows the Fool’s Advice (from Lear): he has more than he shows, and speaks less than he knows. (Not that this is a high bar for him, since he hasn’t said anything.) Asking for written answers is a hard move for the President to counter, even if he does agree.
It’s not clear how truthful answers can avoid admitting to criminal conspiracy, e.g., the Trump campaign met with Russian agents to plan how to exploit property stolen from Democrats. Denying that does no good. Affirming the truth would be a confession. He may very well take the Fifth – then deny it.
So it looks like the only play would be for the President to sign off on truthy answers, then deny he is responsible for 'em – to avoid the POLITICAL problem of impeachment.
9 Likes
What color crayons will the president be allowed to use?
5 Likes
8 Likes
Perhaps Trump doesn’t see his money-laundering, bribe-taking, non-disclosure or emolument-clause-violations as criminal, yet Mueller and his forensic accountant investigators were likely looking into these violations from the earliest days of the investigation. It’s like in Trump’s simple world all this Witch-hunt gets down to a single charge of obstruction. Nothing about his crime family or the fact that domestic persons or entities may have cooperated with the Russians to throw the election. It may be that Mueller no longer even needs to talk with Trump on anything, the weight of the evidence against Trump is so overwhelming. Rather this is a courtesy.
12 Likes
Coming to a beloved country near you!
2 Likes
And even easier to prosecute. Momma always said never write something down you wouldn’t want others to read.
3 Likes
Does this mean we can expect to get an initial report from Mueller soon? On top of some NY State indictments rolling in soon? Is it too early to be eating popcorn???
2 Likes
Someone may ghost write the answer, but will that someone know the truth? Mueller will know.
When Trump signs that statement he will own it.
12 Likes
My students always hated essay questions, I imagine Spanky is no different.
OT, but essay questions, even at the college level, are self-inflicted wounds for the instructor. My brain hurt and I could barely walk after grading a large stack of them.
8 Likes
I doubt it ends up that way. Trump will receive questions from Mueller that Mueller already knows the answer to and is asking more out of thoroughness than investigation. Trump will not write the answers. No way. The answers will be leak ready and probably written with the hope they are leaked. It will end up to be nothing. I imagine in time Mueller will sit Trump down and have at him.
4 Likes
Even if Trump’s lawyers provide the answers, so long as Trump scrawls his name at the bottom, as long as it is an “official response”, Trump can’t wiggle out of it. He is still responsible for whatever is on the paper.
That is my understanding.
Lawyers. help here, please.
10 Likes
Not hard for t Rump. He lies in print daily… sometimes a dozen times a day. They’re called tweets!
8 Likes
I doubt that he could read the responses crafted by his lawyers and comprehend them in his current state of mind. We may see more resignations from his legal team if he tries to get involved in the answers. Maybe they should put the questions in True/False and multiple choice formats. It makes it easier to answer and even if you don’t know how to answer, you can still put one down. My guess is that all the answers will be (e) None of the above.
1 Like
This avoids even the attempt to pull a Dubya/Chaney a la 9/11 commission…
Can’t be off the record in writing…in writing oath us a moot point.
1 Like