Last Men Lying

Some tried, but in the end were not able to fulfill Trump’s demands.

Michael Flynn, Peter Smith, and Barbara Ledeen were not able to deliver on Trump’s repeated demands top obtain Hillary Clinton’s private emails.

Matthew Whitaker was unable to take charge of the Mueller investigation prior to its completion.

Some stood up to Trump.

James Comey refused when Trump asked him to drop the Flynn investigation.

Jeff Sessions refused when Trump ordered him to “unrecuse” himself from the Mueller investigation and when Trump demanded that he resign.

Don McGahn refused when Trump ordered him to fire Mueller and demanded that he not share his recollection of the event.

Corey Lewandowski and Rick Dearborn refused when Trump asked him to tell Jeff Sessions to limit Mueller’s investigation to future election interference only.

KT McFarland refused when Trump ordered here to write an email saying, untruthfully, that Trump did not ask Flynn to talk to the Russian ambassador about sanctions.

And then, in his darkest day, at the eleventh hour, when all had failed him, Trump found William Barr and Rod Rosenstein.

Will the Release of the Mueller Report Make Impeachment More Likely?

The occupant of the White House hopes that tomorrow’s Easter-week release of the Mueller report will complete his immaculate resurrection after two years as a target, but the day will more likely be remembered instead as the start of impeachment hearings.

But for who?

The Mueller report may force the House to begin impeachment hearings against Trump for obstruction of justice. It’s being reported tonight that Mueller could not reach a conclusion on this charge because he couldn’t determine Trump’s motive. (Which is, without an explanation from Mueller, infuriating, given that Mueller never even tried to compel Trump to testify.) The motive piece is important for a prosecutor like Mueller whose sole context is a legal one,  but not for Congress in the middle of the decidedly political milieu of impeachment. The biggest question about the obstruction of justice impasse is who Mueller considered as the audience for his report—Barr or Congress. If it is revealed that, like previous prosecutors, Mueller thought that his job was to lay out a case for Congress, not Barr, to decide and the report makes a strong non-legal case for obstruction, then Nadler and the House Judiciary Committee will feel compelled to start impeachment hearings against Trump. “What else are we here for?”, they would justifiably ask.

I’ve always felt that impeachment hearings against Trump would be a colossal mistake. Such hearings would not change the minds of many voters. (Trump’s poll have been insanely consistent because nearly everyone has already made up their minds about him, one way or the other.) They would be a huge and potentially fatal distraction for the Democratic Party, which will have to focus relentlessly and totally on the 2020 campaign in order to beat Trump. Impeachment hearings would fire up Trump’s base to vote and to contribute money to his campaign. Most important of all, Trump will never be convicted and removed by the current Republican Senate. And that’s how it should be. We need to beat Trump at the polls in 2016, not ask the politicians to remove him for us.

But if it turns out that Mueller was making a case that he wanted Congress and not Barr to decide, then the Democrats would have a solid rationale for impeaching the Attorney General.

They could argue that Barr’s appointment was illegal, given his behavior before and since his confirmation. Barr blatantly auditioned for the Attorney General job ten months before he got was nominated by sending an unsolicited letter to the Department of Justice and Trump’s lawyers championing the notion that a sitting President could not be indicted. It’s entirely possible that an arrangement was made. Barr has certainly done everything he could since his confirmation to live up to the promises he made in his tryout.

They could charge Barr with lying to Congress if he releases a heavily redacted version of Mueller’s report, given that he told the Judiciary Committee that he would publish as much of the report as possible. They may have more evidence of this after Barr and Mueller both testify before Congress.

If Mueller’s report makes a strong case for obstruction, Congress could charge Barr himself with obstruction of justice for clearing Trump of that charge before Congress could see the evidence, giving Trump’s lawyers advance briefings on the Mueller report to help them prepare a rebuttal, coordinating with the White House on the timing and process behind the report’s release, and claiming that the Department of Justice spied on the Trump campaign in 2016 without providing any evidence.

Another potential impeachable offense by Barr would be the withholding of critical information from Congress and, by extension, the public. Barr provided his own four-page summary of the Mueller report and then, unlike previous prosecutors, withheld the release of the report for several weeks. He is not allowing Mueller or his team to participate in his press conference tomorrow, thus depriving Congress or the press the ability to question the special prosecutor.

In addition, Barr took an oath to uphold the Constitution by ensuring a non-partisan Department of Justice. Instead he preemptively cleared Trump of collusion and obstruction, briefed the White House on the report before its release, and interfered with Congressional oversight of Trump. Barr is the most partisan Attorney General since John Mitchell. (Barr might want to remind himself of Mitchell’s fate—nineteen months in prison.) Using the Department of Justice to favor one political party would be an impeachable offense.

Barr also swore to uphold the law. Instead he has put his Department of Justice on the side of repealing a lawful act of Congress—the Affordable Care Act—and just this week announced his department’s decision to hold asylum seekers at the border in indefinite detention, which is illegal according to both U.S. and international laws.

There is no chance that William Barr would be convicted and removed by the current Republican Senate, but after tomorrow there will probably be a strong case for Barr’s impeachment, and Congressional Democrats could pursue it without the considerable risks and downsides associated with an attempt to impeach his boss and master.

A Complete Chronology of the Incredible Democratic Witch Hunt

Fox News and Congressional Republicans have made an aggressive case for nearly two years that the special prosecutor’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the election was a completely biased witch hunt launched and run by the Democrats.

I was initially skeptical of this claim, but now that the Mueller investigation had ended, it’s perfectly obvious that his probe was nothing but a carefully orchestrated Democratic smear campaign. Don’t believe me? Just look at the following facts and timeline, going back to the start:

The Republican head of a special House committee spends 28 straight months conducting multiple investigations into Hillary Clinton’s actions in the Benghazi incident. No charges are filed.

The Republican head of the FBI leads an investigation into claims that Clinton improperly stored and transmitted information on a personal email server and decides that no charges are warranted.

The Republican head of the FBI launches an investigation into whether Russian operatives colluded with the Republican presidential campaign to influence the upcoming election after receiving a tip that a Republican foreign policy advisor of the Republican Presidential candidate had bragged about such a partnership.

The Republican former director of intelligence, who is secretly meeting with Russians, appears at the Republican national convention and leads the Republican delegates in chants of “lock her up, lock her up.”

The Republican head of the FBI announces just days before the election that the Clinton email investigation is being reopened. No charges are filed, but the news throws the Clinton campaign on the defensive and helps swing the election to the Republican candidate.

The newly elected Republican President appoints the Republican former director of intelligence as national security advisor, a Republican former member of his transition team as attorney general, and another Republican as deputy attorney general.

 The Republican national security advisor meets secretly with the Russians and discusses the lifting of sanctions and lies to the FBI about those meetings.

The new Republican White House counsel is informed by the Justice Department that the Republican national security advisor has lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.

Weeks later, news reports appear detailing meetings between the Republican national security advisor and the Russians.

The Republican President fires the Republican national security advisor, saying that he did so because the Republican national security advisor had lied to the Republican Vice President.

The Republican attorney general testifies before Congress that he had no contacts with Russians during the campaign. When that statement is proven to be inaccurate, the Republican attorney general amends his testimony and recuses himself from any Russian investigations. This means that the Republican deputy attorney general will direct such investigations going forward.

In testimony to Congress, the Republican head of the FBI reveals that his agency has been investigating Russian interference with the election and possible collusion with the Republican presidential campaign.

The Republican President meets with the Republican director of the FBI and asks the Republican director whether the Republican President was a target of the investigation and requests that the Republican director end the FBI’s investigation of the Republican national security advisor.

The Republican President lets the Republican attorney general and the Republican deputy attorney general know that he is going to fire the Republican head of the FBI and asks them to prepare a written justification for that firing.

The Republican President fires the Republican director of the FBI, using a letter from the Republican attorney general and the Republican deputy attorney general as justification.

The Republican President goes on national television and states that he had decided to fire the Republican director of the FBI before hearing from the Republican attorney general and the Republican deputy attorney general and that the Russian investigation was a factor in that decision.

The Republican President meets with the Russian ambassador and discusses the firing of the Republican director of the FBI, calling him “a nut job” and noting that “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

A week after the Republican President fires the Republican director of the FBI, the Republican deputy attorney general announces the appointment of a prominent, lifeliong Republican as a special prosecutor to look into Russian interference with the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Several Congressional Republicans state publicly that the Republican special prosecutor is an ideal choice for the role.

The Republican special prosecutor moves quickly, and within five months files charges against the Republican former chairman of the campaign of the Republican President, the Republican former deputy of the Republican former campaign chairman, the Republican former national security advisor, and the Republican foreign policy advisor to the campaign of the Republican President.

The Republican former national security advisor, the Republican foreign policy advisor, and the Republican former assistant manager of the campaign of the Republican President all plead guilty to knowingly lying to the FBI and agree to cooperate with the Republican special prosecutor by telling what they know about the activities of other Republicans.

The Republican President repeatedly insists that no one in his election team or administration had any contacts with the Russians.

It is revealed that the following members of the Republican President’s team had meetings with the Russians before or after the election: the Republican President himself, the Republican son of the Republican President, the  Republican Secretary of State, the Republican Secretary of Commerce, the Republican campaign manager, the Republican deputy of the Republican campaign manager, the Republican attorney general, three Republican foreign policy advisors, a Republican campaign advisor, the Republican President’s Republican lawyer, the Republican real estate advisor to the Republican President, and the Republican brother of the Republican Secretary of Education.

The Republican assistant attorney general and the Republican special counsel approve a raid of the home, motel room, and office of the Republican President’s personal attorney.

The Republican former manager of the campaign of the Republican President is found guilty on eight counts of fraud.

The Republican former manager of the campaign of the Republican President pleads guilty to all charges brought by the Republican special prosecutor and agrees to cooperate with the Republican special prosecutor.

A Republican former attorney general submits an unsolicited memo to the Republican-controlled Department of Justice and the Republican lawyers of the Republican President that calls any investigation of the Republican President for obstruction of justice “fatally misconceived” if no collusion is proved, because then there would be no criminal motive for obstructing justice.

The personal attorney of the Republican President pleads guilty to tax fraud and campaign finance charges and agrees to cooperate with the Republican special prosecutor who is investigating the Republican President.

The Republican Attorney General, after months of withering complaints from the Republican President, resigns at the request of the Republican President.

The Republican President appoints a Republican as acting attorney general.

The Republican lawyers for the Republican President submit written answers to questions from the Republican special counsel.

The Republican President appoints the Republican former attorney general who wrote the memo saying that an obstruction of justice charge against the President would be “fatally misconceived” to serve as attorney general.

The Republican former attorney general is approved to serve as attorney general by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.

The personal attorney of the Republican President pleads guilty to lying to Congress and tells the court that the Republican President directed him to violate campaign finance laws and that the Republican President lied about not having any business dealings in Russia.

A Republican former advisor to the campaign of the Republican President who communicated with Russian hackers and Wikileaks is indicted by the Republican special prosecutor on seven counts, including one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.

The Republican attorney general receives the final report from the Republican special prosecutor. The Republican special prosecutor does not find that anyone in the campaign of the Republican President conspired with Russians. The Republican special prosecutor does not reach a conclusion on the obstruction charge.

The Republican attorney general and the Republican assistant attorney general decide that there is not enough evidence to charge the Republican President with obstruction of justice, claiming, just as the Republican attorney general noted in his unsolicited memo from ten months earlier, that there can be no criminal motive for obstruction if it was decided that there was no case for collusion.

After reviewing the report by the Republican special prosecutor and making his decision on the obstruction charge, the Republican attorney general does not release the Republican special prosecutor’s report to Congress or the public. instead, the Republican attorney general releases a four-page summary that states that while the Republican special prosecutor did not reach a conclusion on obstruction, the Republican special prosecutor “did not exonerate” the Republican President

The Republican attorney general officially closes the investigation of the Republican special prosecutor.

 Which brings us to the critical juncture that we have reached today, when the Republican attorney general’s report on the Republican special counsel’s report makes it clear completely to the entire world that there was zero substance to the Russian investigation, that the investigation did not accomplish a damn thing, that there was absolutely no contact between the Republican President’s campaign and the Russians, that the Republican President has been completely exonerated, and that this whole mess was just another plot by the lamestream media and the traitorous Democrats to ensure that America never becomes great again.

 It's easy, people: It’s not a witch hunt if the Republicans are running it!

Mueller Speaks

The reports of an imminent end to the Mueller investigation seem more substantial than the rumors we’ve heard every day for a year and a half. It will be an experience to live without the mystery and anticipation surrounding it.

None of us know what Mueller will tell us. We don’t even know whether he will be allowed to tell us anything.

It is possible that Mueller’s report will document treason and obstruction of justice by the President of the United States and that it will be accompanied by one or several additional indictments that had been previously sealed.

It is also possible that Mueller will find no evidence linking Trump directly to either the Russians or obstruction of justice and that Roger Stone will turn out to be Mueller’s last indictment.

It was never smart to think that we could outsource our responsibility to fix our monstrous 2016 mistake to Mueller or to bet that he would provide the ironclad case for impeachment that we’ve dreamed about. It’s more likely that nightmare elections can only be cured by another election, and that Mueller’s findings will not be the end of Trump.

We have three things to be thankful for—the 2016 midterms, the arrival of Bill Barr, and Robert Mueller.

If the Democrats hadn’t won by a sizeable margin last year, the Republicans would have had a relatively easy time burying or lying about Mueller’s report in advance of the 2020 election. But things are different with Sheriff Pelosi in town. If Barr quashes or selectively edits the report, the Democrats can subpoena it and/or have Mueller testify about it public. If the report turns out to be too narrow, the Democrats can launch their own investigations. If the report lays out a strong case for impeachment, that process starts with Pelosi and Nadler..

If Matt Whitaker were still acting Attorney General, we would soon learn exactly what he meant when he told friends that his job description was to “jump on a hand grenade” for Donald Trump. We know from Whitaker’s recent performance on the Hill that he is dumb enough and partisan enough to attempt to completely quash Mueller’s report. Barr is definitely partisan, but he is not stupid enough to put himself in legal jeopardy, and with him in as Attorney General we at least have a chance of seeing most of Mueller’s report. Many Democrats in D.C. vouch for Barr’s integrity, he is not an enemy of the DOJ or the FBI, and he’s known Robert Mueller fir decades. Hopefully we will find that Trump has woefully misjudged Barr. It may be that Mueller waited to release his report until Barr was in place.

It’s hard to imagine a better person for the impossible role of special prosecutor than Robert Mueller, and he has certainly lived up to his reviews when it comes to running this investigation. Nearly two years without a leak from his team. That’s unreal. Just imagine the legions of aggressive, brilliant reporters who have trued to crack that cone of silence. Mueller is also a patriot who cares deeply about the rule of law, the FBI and the DOJ. If Mueller thinks that Trump is a traitor or has obstructed justice, Trump is in big trouble.

There is a contradiction built into Mueller’s investigation that will be key to how this all plays out.

Mueller is a prosecutor conducting a legal investigation and bringing indictments when justified. He is a Department of Justice employee and a known stickler for following the rules and precedents. He will likely follow the DOJ guidelines that hold that a sitting President cannot be indicted. Another standard DOJ practice is to not report on evidence gathered during an investigation that does not lead to a criminal indictment, which makes sense from a strictly legal perspective. If Mueller follows that standard, his report will not include evidence that could be damaging politically but doesn’t meet the threshold of indictment. Mueller and Barr will probably follow the legal requirement to not share information that comes from secret grand jury proceedings, that compromises national security, or that might compromise future prosecutions. Adhering to these standards would narrow Mueller’s report substantially.

But Mueller’s investigation is also political. If Trump can’t be indicted while President and Mueller’s report contains evidence that Trump broke the law, the audience for the report is not just the Attorney General but Congress and the American people. We don’t know if Mueller will name Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator, like Leon Jaworski did with Richard Nixon, or let him off completely. Mueller understands that there is a political dimension to his investgation. How he decides to handle it will impact the history of this country.

We may be disappointed by Mueller’s findings on a criminal conspiracy (remember that collusion is not a crime and that Mueller is a prosecutor) between Trump and the Russians to influence the 2016 elections, in the sense that the trail will not lead to Trump himself. Mueller did not break Paul Manafort, who is clearly risking the rest if his life in prison to angle for a pardon, and Manafort is the one who can tie Trump directly to an election conspiracy involving the Russians. Mueller will show that many of Trump’s people worked with the Russians, but he may not be able to prove that Trump had personal role in those dirty tricks

I’m more hopeful about the obstruction of justice case, given Mueller’s background and the fact that Trump has obstructed justice on many occasions right out in the open and has no doubt made other attempts behind the scenes that Mueller knows about. I cannot imagine how someone like Robert Mueller could not find that Trump has obstructed justice.

Obstruction of justice, specially by a President who technically runs most of the government, is all about proving intent. Why, then, didn’t Mueller subpoena Trump and force him to testify? Without that testimony, how does Mueller prove intent?

People tend to forget that Nixon would never have faced the prospect of impeachment had it not been for the tapes. Without them, it was Nixon’s word against John Dean’s, and we know who would have won that fight. Does Mueller have the luxury of not asking for Trump’s testimony to prove intent because he has tapes or phone taps of Trump?

In the end I think we will learn that this was all about a real estate developer and media star whose biggest dream was not to be President but to have his name on an apartment tower in Moscow that would net him $500 million. He starts pursuing this goal in the 1990s, around the time he begins borrowing millions from Russian banks. He runs for President in 2015 after his television show is cancelled, not to actually win—even he doesn’t believe that will happen—but to reenergize his brand. He continues to pursue the Trump Tower Moscow deal because he doesn’t think he will win. But he DOES win, and he continues to pursue the deal because that’s still what’s most important to him. He first step as President is to make sure that the Trump business cashes in on him being President. He makes it clear even before the inauguration that the entire U.S. government is for sale. He licks Putin’s boots because he needs Putin to get his stupid tower built in Moscow and because, like most weak bullies, he has a thing for real tyrants. The Russians get their patsy in the White House. The government gets sold off. Trump makes war on the press, the FBI, the CIA, and the DOJ because he fears that they have the goods on him, and forty percent of Americans support him in this. The Republican Party’s transformation into a white supremacist party is completed during the first year of Trump’s term. America, seemingly, hits rock bottom.

It could actually get worse. If Mueller makes a case for Trump conspiring with the Russians or obstructing justice, or both, the Democratic House will vote to approve articles of impeachment and Trump will be tried in the Senate. That could lead to a truly rock-bottom, we-can’t-sink-any-lower-as-a-country moment in which the Republicans in the Senate officially vote to acquit a treasonous and criminal President.