Tags
AG Barr, Andrew McCarthy, Bill Kristol, collusion narrative, Highlander, orange man bad, President Trump, Robert Mueller, Steele Dossier, The Mueller Report, witch hunt
What lives longer than Duncan MacLeod?
Nineteen leftist Clinton donor/supporter lawyers, 40 FBI agents—some willing to violate their oaths, 2800 subpoenas, 500 witnesses, 13 information requests to foreign governments, 230 requests for communications records, and at least 50 pen register requests (wiretaps), two years/675 days, some $30 million dollars wasted, the destruction of innumerable lives and damage to the Constitution and America that may never be repaired, and all because sufficient Americans realized what a disaster Hillary Clinton would be for America.
Of course, that’s not all. An unholy alliance of the Deep State, comprised of federal bureaucrats of both parties, congresscritters of both parties, the Media, various billionaire donors, Russia and other hostile foreign governments, and Never Trumpers, are also to blame. People like Peter Strozk, Lisa Page and others were willing pawns, but no less criminally culpable for not being the brains behind an unprecedented, anti-American conspiracy and coup attempt.
One is tempted to say our long national nightmare is finally over, but of course, it is not. Democrats vow to continue to find collusion—a non-crime—Democrat federal prosecutors feverishly work to find some crime, any crime, in the business dealings of President Trump, and anyone associated with him, back to his first neighborhood lemonade stand. Democrat state attorneys general vow to continue to wage lawfare against Mr. Trump at every opportunity, and if there isn’t any reason to do that, they’ll make some up. And of course, the media’s—they are truly shameless–“orange man bad” narrative shall never die.
The horror, derangement and depression of the left, and particularly the Media, when Donald Trump won the election was at once, amazing, disgusting and pathetic, and it’s déjà vu all over again. Modern medical science has found no cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome, a progressively debilitating disease.
Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection summarizes AG Barr’s summary of the Mueller report, which—pay no attention to what the media says—completely exonerated President Trump and his campaign/staff (Jacobson added emphasis):
No Further Indictments, No Sealed Indictments
The Special Counsel obtained a number of indictments and convictions of individuals and entities in connection with his investigation, all of which have been publicly disclosed. During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action. The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public.
No Collusion with Russia
… The report outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by persons associated with the Russian government in connection with those efforts. The report further explains that a primary consideration for the Special Counsel’s investigation was whether any Americans – including individuals associated with the Trump campaign – joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election, which would be a federal crime. The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: ‘[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.’
President Trump was right. The Mueller investigation, and everything relating to it, was a witch hunt, and no less so for Mueller’s conclusion, which suggests he was unwilling to try to frame a POTUS with less than no evidence. This is hardly evidence of great integrity, but the bare minimum one must expect of any prosecutor. His report also demonstrates he was not the above reproach straight arrow his supporters have claimed:
The report’s second part addresses a number of actions by the President – most of which have been the subject of public reporting – that the Special Counsel investigated as potentially raising obstruction-of-justice concerns. After making a ‘thorough factual investigation’ into these matters, the Special Counsel considered whether to evaluate the conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as ‘difficult issues’ of law and fact concerning whether the President’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction . . The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’
The Special Prosecutor was appointed to make just these decisions. It was his job to examine the facts and the law and determine which crimes, if any, were committed and who committed them. Prosecutors do not exonerate anyone, nor do they proclaim them guilty. That’s for juries and judges to decide. They decline to prosecute or prosecute. If they decline, they don’t comment on the case. So why did Mueller exceed his authority? To keep alive Democrat/socialist/Never Trumper claims of Trump wrongdoing. Mueller and his 19 thugs knew they had nothing. They knew it before they moved into their offices, and their egos wouldn’t allow them to be completely honest. President Trump criticized Mueller for running a witch hunt. Mr. Trump was correct. Mueller tried to punish him for daring to criticize him. He couldn’t get Trump criminally, so he’s trying to get him politically.
AG Barr’s letter to the Congress may be found here.
Let us now, gentle readers, briefly visit former Federal Prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who has done fine service during the last two years providing legal perspective on the collusion hoax.
Since before Robert Mueller was appointed, I have been contending that there was no legal basis for the appointment of a special counsel because there was no evidence that the president had committed a crime. For nearly a year and a half, I’ve maintained that Mueller had nothing close to an actionable ‘collusion’ case, that he had no prosecutable obstruction case, and that this exercise was an impeachment investigation geared more toward rendering Trump unelectable in 2020 than toward actually removing him from office.
No kidding.
Here, the issue was solely the president. The Justice Department and FBI did not need a special counsel to conduct a counterintelligence investigation of Russia, or a criminal investigation of, say, Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort. Indeed, such investigations were underway before Mueller’s appointment. A special counsel would have been needed only for the president, on the rationale that the president cannot credibly be investigated by his own Justice Department. That is fine: The president is not above the law, and if there is evidence that he committed a crime, he should be investigated. But there has to be evidence that he committed a crime.
And Mueller grudgingly admitted it.
There wasn’t. Even in his shocking public announcement that the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign for possible ‘coordination’ in Russia’s election interference, former FBI director James Comey never actually accused the president of a crime. While privately assuring Trump that he was not a suspect, Comey publicly stated that the FBI was conducting a counterintelligence probe. You can believe, as I do, that this was a pretext for a criminal investigation that lacked a crime; but for present purposes, that’s irrelevant. The point is: There was no crime.
None. There will be a very great deal more written about this, but for now, just a few observations:
*Mueller and company left no stone unturned. They were true believers. They just knew Trump was a criminal, even a traitor, and they just knew it would be easy to find voluminous evidence of that treachery. They wanted to get Trump, oh so badly. But lo and behold, early on, they found nothing, so they employed increasingly desperate, unethical and abusive tactics. That they had to admit they found no evidence means they found the opposite: nothing but evidence of Mr. Trump’s innocence.
*Democrats, for two years proclaimed Mueller the epitome of prosecutorial virtue in order to justify their continuing witch hunting. Some are actually claiming the Russians got to him, otherwise how could he possibly fail to hang Trump?
*As McCarthy notes, Rod Rosenstein violated DOJ policy, and arguably the law, by appointing a special prosecutor despite the fact there was no crime for him to examine. In so doing, he legitimized a witch hunt with the full force and power of the Federal government behind it.
*The “collusion/Russia” narrative was always an attempt to draw attention away from the great many and extraordinarily serious crimes—many affecting national security—by the Obama Administration. Does any intelligent being really believe Barack Obama didn’t have a direct hand in this? Strozk/Page e-mails say he did, and there is no doubt he was fully briefed on the dossier. Surely, so were Hillary Clinton, congressional Democrats, the Media, and a variety of other malign actors.
*Any continuing anti-Trump “investigations” will have the same purpose: to cover up Democrat’s crimes and coup attempt. Political advantage is important, but secondary.
*Hillary Clinton knows where many of the skeletons are buried. She buried them herself. Self-imagined elite Washington knows if she goes down, she’ll take them with her.
*Mueller and his gang of Democrat cutthroats knew, at some early point, there was no collusion—everything they did was fraudulent—yet they put the nation through turmoil far beyond that point. They were true believers.
*Of course Russia “meddled” in our election. They meddle in every election and in everything else they possibly can. They’re Russians. That’s what they do. What is missing is any evidence their “meddling” had the slightest effect on the outcome of the 2016 election, or any other election. Democrat “vote harvesting,” certainly; Russian “meddling?” Let’s see the evidence, please. Anything Adam Schiff or Gerald Nadler have to say does not qualify.
*The idea the Russians wanted Donald Trump to be president is idiocy of the highest order. Hillary Clinton was a Marxist from girlhood. Her pathetic “reset” attempts, if nothing else, must have convinced the Russians she was the most useful sort of “useful idiot,” a foreigner who can be easily manipulated to betray their own people. As Secretary of State, she cozied up to the Russians, giving them control over a substantial portion of our uranium reserves in exchange for Clinton cash, an act—approved by Barack Obama–of almost unbelievable stupidity. The Russians, as with virtually all Americans, did not for a moment think Donald Trump would be elected. Why would they act against their own interests in opposing Hillary? In Hillary Clinton, they knew they had a fellow traveler, and a sickly, doddering drunkard they could easily hoodwink should she, for some unfathomable reason, ever seek to put American first. Hillary Clinton was a known, and pliable quantity. Donald Trump was not.
*Hillary Clinton, the DNC, various American lawyers, our intelligence apparatus, the Obama Administration, the DOJ, the FBI and others actually conspired with the Russians to stage a coup.
*The reputation of the FBI and DOJ has been badly damaged. Using the Steele dossier, which they knew to be a fraud bought and paid for by Clinton and the DNC, they leaked it to the press, and then cited news stories based on their leaks to support, among other things, FISA warrants. They knowingly participated in a coup attempt.
*No president may obstruct justice by exercising his express authorities under the Constitution. Even if this were not so, in the Russia/collusion narrative, there was no underlying crime. No underlying crime, no obstruction. One would think a lawyer and former FBI director—Mueller—might know that.
*Criticizing Mueller and others for operating a witch hunt is not obstruction of justice. Even the execrable Rosenstein admitted there was no obstruction.
Complete and competent investigations must be undertaken to uncover the plotters and myriad crimes associated with a thus-far failed attempt to overthrow a lawfully elected president. Anyone involved—in any way—should be fully prosecuted. In the case of Hillary Clinton, however, this will be more than usually difficult. The Obama Administration allowed her to destroy evidence, gave unwarranted immunity to Clinton toadies, and did all they could to cover their own tracks. That does not mean a successful prosecution is not possible, just that it will be unnecessarily difficult. These actions, unlike those of Mr. Trump, do amount to obstruction of justice and conspiracy, and likely, many other crimes.
Mr. Trump should pardon everyone persecuted by Mueller. He should also direct the DOJ to reimburse those so persecuted for all attorney fees and other expenses. Even Paul Manafort, who was thoroughly investigated before the Mueller witch hunt and not then prosecuted, should, at the least, have his sentence commuted. He had many Democrat partners in his schemes, and none of them have been prosecuted. I wonder why not?
Absent complete exposure and prosecution of every conspirator in an unprecedented attempt to depose a lawfully elected President, there can be no confidence in vital institutions. It should go without saying that the Lamestream Media’s credibility is entirely shot, and it’s doubtful it is possible to ever restore public trust, which may very well turn out to be one of the good things to come out of this debacle. We can now be certain when they’re lying: their lips are moving, or they’ve produced text. Paul Mirengoff of Powerline noted:
Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone goes even further:
‘Nobody wants to hear this, but news that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is headed home without issuing new charges is a death-blow for the reputation of the American news media,’ Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi wrote in a column published Saturday, a day before Barr nailed the collusion coffin shut. He added: ‘Nothing Trump is accused of from now on by the press will be believed by huge chunks of the population.
They believed the press before?!
Oh, and Democrats? Who among them has not exposed themselves as a liar far more concerned with dishonorable political revenge than the welfare of America? I’m sure it’s a very exclusive group. Americans ought to remember that.
The battle between socialism/social justice and the Constitution/rule of law, continues apace. What lives longer than Duncan MacLeod? Democrat investigations of Donald Trump, if they continue to have their way.
A court in Ukraine has found that Ukrainian officials colluded to interfere in the 2016 election to damage Trump, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/world/europe/ukraine-paul-manafort.html
Other articles I have read name a Ukrainian attorney living in the US that has worked for and with the DNC who had a personal grudge against Manafort as being involved in this. If Mueller was charged with finding foreign collusion in the 2016 election, why was this not investigated? Could it be that his vicious gang of unscrupulous prosecutors were not interested in collusion if it was to help Hillary?
The DOJ, FBI, and IC need to be ripped out by the roots and everyone there banned from working for the federal government.
(There are longer and more comprehensive articles about the Ukrainian collusion out there. I picked the NYT article because if they are acknowledging the story and it is possible damaging to progressives, it has to be big.)
Dear Occasional Thinker:
Thanks for the link. Interesting indeed.
There was collusion with the russians.
.
And the 19 thugs know it.
.
They just dont want to indict anyone other than Trump.
.
The demonic dems colluded with the russians, the brits, the french, the aussies and a few others, but the deep state scum wont indict the dems or the hilary cabal
Dear Coolpeople:
That has certainly been the case thus far. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Trump can extend the restoration of the rule of law this far.
you know what this is all about? imho, it’s as simple as “how dare you proles go against what we have decided is for us? I mean you…you”
Dear onto iran:
Indeed. Our elite betters are soooooo disappointed in us.