I agree. I understand why he felt the need to write the report as he did. But this testimony, given after he’s left the position and the department, was the opportunity to be more forthright. He should not have walked it back. He knows the truth better than anyone except the other members of his team.
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We usually call it a Freudian slip, but I think it was the conscious brain putting the pieces together and saying the conclusion out loud.
Only, the consequences of truth can be unsettling to power.
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that phone call was already made before the break. The guy was waiting for mueller in the bathroom., Directed by Barr of course.
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It will be easy for the Secret Service to protect him for 10 years if he is in a jail cell…
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It’s pretty much a distinction without a difference. Especially in light of the Report’s statement (and Mueller’s reiteration in May), “if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.” I dare say someone from Barr’s office, if not Barr himself, was apoplectic between hearings and demanding a “clarification.”
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I am not a praying person, but I pray for this. Every damned day.
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Seems America could rightfully come to the conclusion that Democrats are too weak to lead.
“When I said ‘Grab them by the pu**y. You can do anything.’, I was actually referring to women who have their pet kittens in their laps, because you know how much I love animals and how much I love to play with cats. Cats let me do anything I want when they like to be played with!” - Donald Trump, emulating Robert Mueller.
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While the Democrats can’t find a slogan for the 2020 election cycle, the GOP has a great one!
Crime pays.
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Lately have been reading some history. Are we all aware that someone has called for impeachment for almost every president?
Wasn’t it social security that made some call for FDR’s impeachment
Some called for Obama’s impeachment
Books on Abe Lincoln talk about how some called for his impeachment - and some of his actions may have even warranted it:
From the article here are prez and VPs for whom impeachment calls have been made:
| 1 | Presidents |
|---|---|
| 1.1 | John Tyler |
| 1.2 | James Buchanan |
| 1.3 | Andrew Johnson |
| 1.4 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 1.5 | Herbert Hoover |
| 1.6 | Harry S. Truman |
| 1.7 | Richard M. Nixon |
| 1.8 | Ronald Reagan |
| 1.9 | George H. W. Bush |
| 1.10 | Bill Clinton |
| 1.11 | George W. Bush |
| 1.12 | Barack Obama |
| 1.13 | Donald Trump |
| 2 | Vice Presidents |
| 2.1 | Schuyler Colfax |
| 2.2 | Spiro Agnew |
| 2.3 | George H. W. Bush |
| 2.4 | Dick Cheney |
And my info on calls for Lincoln impeachment come from Gore Vidal’s novel – so may or may not be true. Any opposition party may get steamed up about impeaching…and in some ways indicting could be the same. A historical look says that the Clinton impeachment may have taken time away from some legislative progress that could have been made, while during Nixon’s 2-year long investigation some legislative progress was made despite impeachment.
There’s no doubt that donald deserves to be impeached from the Dem side of the aisle. The question may remain though, since it’s a known – that until the tides shift away from support of donald in the Senate – he will not be removed from office, and he will use it to his advantage in the 2020 election. Sad but true. The question is also outstanding if putting a mark by donald’s name is worth losing the house over.
An added 4-years of donald with a GOP house and Senate would be a real nightmare. Some statistical analysis shows donald winning due to the electoral college as he squeaked by before – with even a larger deficit in the popular vote.
Poll announced was it today or yesterday shows Dem winning in Ohio. It’s PA, WI and MI that we need to watch. OH and TX would be nice – but sort of a dream now.
So although you are right, and donald is not getting the justice he deserves…a rabid Republican party could trump up charges against a democratic president from their alternate universe, and this DOJ memo could protect a Dem from injustice even as much as it is now protecting donald from justice…Just a consideration.
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I do not understand the disappointment with Mueller’s testimony. The fact is had any other president been determined to by culpable for the actions Mueller attributed to Trump and that president would have been impeached and convicted on the spot. Or to put in plain English, Mueller’s testimony made clear Trump is a criminal who collaborated with a foreign enemy power to steal the 2016 election.
My big gripe with Mueller was that he did not indict Trump Jr. for lying claiming the lie may have been political and not to obstruct or otherwise hide a conspiracy with the Russians. My gripe is as the lie was under oath on a material issue of fact, it does not matter why Trump Jr. lied and Mueller should have indicted him.
But as far as Mueller’s testimony, any objective review of what Mueller actually said is devastating for Trump in that anyone concerned with the facts gets that Trump is a criminal.
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There is in fact a second interpretation that Mueller could have amended his comments to and that is that the Special Council never even considered whether to indict the President because they couldn’t. And that would actually be a reasonable explanation. But that isn’t what he said the second time. He just appears to have lawyered up his first answer.
I did not see the whole hearing yesterday but did anybody ask in plain English “would you have indicted if you could.”
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I really like this Lieu fellow, despite how difficult I’ve always found it to type that word.
“It was a logical extension of me getting him to establish the three elements of obstruction of justice were met and I think it’s what he actually believes."
I loved the way he moved toward that logical conclusion. Step by step, with a nice clear chart.
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Nah, too wordy.
Lieu: Trump was not referring to a cat, is that correct?
Mueller: True.
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The various forms of vote suppression and election theft are coming at the 2020 like a large meteor. In the next few months, the GOP strategists must decide whether to accept another direct hit as in 2016 or allow a near miss and instead trash public finances, crash the economy and leave the Democrats with a massive mess to clean up. Up until a week ago, it looked like Team Trump had moved away from the trash strategy given that the GOP is likely to retain control of half of the upper house and the judiciary, but updated forecasts from the IMF and ECB point to weakness ahead.
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The Dems are not too weak. They just refuse to cheat. But it comes to the same thing in the end.
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That may very well be what Mueller believes. But the fact is he walked the statement back and that’s all that matters. Republicans win again. Republicans always win. Republicans will always win as long as Democrats are afraid of them.
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Impeachment proceedings are not cheating.
Lack of impeachment proceedings cheats the country.
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After Reagans 1984 win. Democrats have feared Republicans. Our decline shows it.
Note: our leadership is from that time.
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I realize this is a yuge can of worms, but imagine if Franken was also there with Lieu.
Holy frikkin’ cow!
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