Discussion: Rosenstein: I Think AG Barr 'Is Going To Make The Right Decision' On Mueller Report

Rosenstein implies that those not charged with a crime should not have their name released in any final Mueller report. However, itā€™s quite possible ā€” and even likely ā€” that Trump will be an unindicted co-conspirator wlth other defendants but not himself charged with crimes under DOJ rules since he is ā€œpresidentā€. Under this circumstance, Trumpā€™s name needs to be released to allow for impeachment proceedings to occur.

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A real brave answer! Doesnā€™t mean s#!t. More pandering to his boss.

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ā€œIf we arenā€™t prepared to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt in court, then we have no business making allegations against American citizens,ā€ Rosenstein saidā€¦

ā€œMy own view about it is that weā€™re better off following the rules and ensuring that our employees respect their obligations to conduct their investigations in confidence.ā€

One gets the impression he really really didnā€™t like Comeyā€™s grandstanding in 2016.

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You raise an important point. I assume that Rosenstein was referring to the DOJ internal rule about not naming uncharged individuals within the context of prosecutorial actions against others. I also assume that this rule is not applicable to Special Councel final reportsā€¦but perhaps Iā€™m being naive.

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If it is redacted, then everyone, Republican or Democrat, will presume that itā€™s hiding evidence of Individual-1ā€™s guilt.

So itā€™s really to everyoneā€™s interests that the full report comes out. And I think, insofar as Individual-1 is concerned, theyā€™ll make every effort to do so.

Yeah, especially because that and the aftermath of that (requests from Congress for DOJ materials on the case, which they did provide) created a precedent of providing a shitload of material about an uncharged personā€¦

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If asked, doesnā€™t everybody claim they made the ā€œrightā€ decision?

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Dearest Mr. Rosenstein,

Is it at all possible for you to email Tena and I the cell phone number of your weed dealer? Because we would really, really like to sample that product.

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The report may not name those who havenā€™t been charged (yet) with a crime, but it should have references to Individual 1, Individual 2 etc that will not be difficult to figure out. The report would make no sense as a narrative otherwise. These things didnā€™t happen in a vacuum.

And if itā€™s not clear enough, the Dems in the House can just subpoena the damn thing. And get now-private-citizen Meuller on the stand to explain it.

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Wow, I am so much less optimistic after reading this article. At first I thought, ā€˜oh good, encouraging words from Rod Rosenstein.ā€™ After reading it, the good feeling is gone.

How can he possibly say that we will look back on this period of history and be happy with who the president appointed? Not at all sure about that.:flushed:
On the other had, Iā€™d love to be wrongā€¦

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Thinking that a Republican will ā€œmake the right decisionā€ is like thinking that a Trump family member can figure out a math problem.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-proof-that-donald-trump-really-sucks-at-math_us_576a4dffe4b065534f484015

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Other than that Mueller is a life-long Republicanā€¦

Yeah, I donā€™t like this one bit. It suggests (1) that the OSC will take a very narrow view of its remit and issue a report that will view the Trump-Russia links purely from a criminal law point of view and not from the point of view of what might be morally or politically beyond the pale (eg indirectly encouraging and taking the benefit of foreign intervention in an election); and (2) that the substance of the report will leave Trump in clear and, if thatā€™s so, will not need to mention him. This is the bit that worries me:

ā€œIā€™m very confident that when we look back in the long run on this era of the Department of Justice, weā€™ll be proud of the way the departmentā€™s conducted itself, and the President will deserve credit for the folks that he appointed to run the department,ā€ Rosenstein said at one point

Itā€™s ambiguous, as itā€™s intended to be, about the short-run perception of the DOJ. But you donā€™t conjure scenarios of the ā€œlong runā€ and ā€œthe President deserving creditā€ if in the short-term the president is about to go under. Speaking for myself, Iā€™m bracing for a nasty disappointment. I certainly hope that our House Ds have a plan for what to do in that event. The hyper-cautious rhetoric will have blown up in their faces if Mueller doesnā€™t deliver, because it will by then be a bit late to start calling him a criminal.

Itā€™s going to come down to voting this guy out of office.

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Rosenstein is simply providing standard FBI policy. Not much to argue about there.

That said, this is not a standard case with many policy implications, which is why Congress really has to have its own investigations. What Mueller has found will be a good starting point for that, and this will be far from over.

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Iā€™m very cautiously optimistic. My understanding is that Barr and Mueller have a long time friendship and that they attended their respective daughtersā€™ weddings. Also, Matt Miller, someone who clearly wants PP taken down, seems very confident in Barr and believes heā€™ll do whatā€™s right for the country. I also canā€™t imagine Rosenstein stuck around all this time, put up with all the abuse he has, because he wanted to help cover for PP.

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And that would be appropriate. Itā€™s up to Congress to impeach the guy, not Mueller. His stuff may well be high crimes and misdemeanors, yet not violate a specific Statute allowing charges to be filed.

Weā€™ve got to stop looking to Mueller as the magic bullet that is going to take Trump down personally.

And just bask in the moment that Jr. and Jared are taken down as the last actions.

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If we arenā€™t prepared to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt in court, then we have no business making allegations against American citizens. Except Hillary Clinton.

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Thereā€™s two ways to look at that. It could be that Rosenstein is saying, ā€œJust remember that the asshole did it to himself. He picked the very people who are taking his ass down and we should give him credit for that.ā€ He could also simply be doing what everyone in this administration does which is to give PP a verbal hand job every time they speak in public.

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Iā€™m going to vote for this interpretation, but with the caveat that itā€™s meant to be heard that way by Individual-1, while everyone else is snickering that Louis XIV is being praised for picking out the best executioner ever.

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ā€œSit down, boy ya bother me!ā€ Venial Trumpism.

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