Tag Archives: Russia probe

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Oops! Or so it should go for Rep. Schiff

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U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff needs to invoke a four-letter utterance made famous by a Trump Cabinet official who once ran for president of the United States.

Oops! That’s what Energy Secretary Rick Perry said when he couldn’t think of the third agency he would shut down were he elected president in 2012.

Well, Chairman Schiff is now eating his words in an “oops” moment.

Stand down, Mr. Chairman

He said that he knew of “more than circumstantial evidence” that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russians who attacked our electoral system in 2016.

Except that special counsel Robert Mueller disagreed with Schiff. He filed his report over the weekend and concluded that he didn’t have enough to charge the Trump team with collusion.

House and Senate Republicans are steamed at Schiff. They say he owes Trump and apology. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has demanded that his fellow Californian resign from his Intel Committee chairmanship, if not from the House altogether.

That is an overreach. Perhaps he could apologize whenever the president says he’s sorry for fomenting lies about Barack Obama’s birth, or for mocking the New York Times reporter’s disability, or for saying the late John McCain was a “war hero only because he was captured” during the Vietnam War.

Schiff is standing behind his belief that there’s more to learn about collusion, although he said he accepts Mueller’s judgment.

The Intelligence Committee chairman needs to stand down on this collusion matter. Robert Mueller looked high and low for criminal behavior. He didn’t find it. I get that Schiff is unhappy with the result; so are many millions of other Americans . . . me included.

But that’s what we got.

As for the obstruction of justice matter, Mueller was decidedly non-committal.

Perhaps, though, Chairman Schiff ought to just say “oops!” and go on to the next thing, whatever it is.

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Support Mueller’s work, however . . . let’s see more of it

I feel the need to reiterate with emphasis: I accept special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings regarding the president of the United States, that he didn’t “collude” with Russians who hacked our electoral system in 2016.

I trust Mueller as a man of high integrity.

However, all the work and the public expense that went into Mueller’s findings compel the attorney general to release the bulk of that effort to the public.

AG William Barr’s four-page summary of what Mueller has concluded reportedly has created an ebullient mood in the White House. At one level, I, too, am glad to know that Donald Trump didn’t commit any crimes related to collusion with Russian government goons.

Mueller, though, has concluded that the president is not “exonerated” from questions about obstruction of justice. So, let’s see the whole thing, shall we?

I have no intention of impugning Mueller’s integrity. I have sought to defend this good man, former FBI director, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War against attacks by those on the right — starting with the president of the United States. I do not believe there is anything in the details of what he uncovered that will change my view of Mueller and the effort he put forth in making his determination.

Americans just have the right to see his findings in as much detail as possible for themselves.

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We need to see more of what Mueller found

A four-page summary authored by the U.S. attorney general isn’t enough.

Americans need to see — to the furthest extent possible — more of what special counsel Robert Mueller III found that led him to clear Donald Trump of colluding with Russians or of obstructing justice.

Don’t misconstrue my point. I accept Mueller’s findings. He worked tirelessly along with his team of prosecutors to get to the truth behind the allegations that Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russian government operatives. He has determined that there is insufficient evidence to accuse the president or his campaign of collusion. Nor does he have enough evidence to accuse him of obstructing justice.

AG William Barr, though, did say that the lack of a formal criminal complaint on obstruction of justice does not “exonerate” the president.

So, let’s look at the supporting documents that Mueller used to make his determination. Congressional Democrats want the public to see them. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls it an “urgent” matter.

There appears to be some “evidence” of obstruction, just not enough to file formal charges, Mueller concluded. I get that.

I also want to see the rest of it. Or at least as much of the rest of it that won’t tar individuals who aren’t charged with wrongdoing. We don’t need to see national security-sensitive information, either.

Many Americans have been waiting for a couple of years to know what the special counsel has concluded. We have heard the executive summary as delivered by the attorney general.

There’s more to learn.

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‘No collusion, no obstruction’

I said I would accept whatever conclusion that special counsel Robert Mueller III reached regarding whether Donald Trump “colluded” with Russians who attacked our election in2016.

He has delivered his verdict: There is no evidence of collusion, no evidence of obstruction of justice.

I accept his findings. I do so not because I am happy about what the special counsel has determined. I accept it because I believe implicitly in Mueller’s thoroughness, his integrity, his professionalism.

Do I believe this is the end of the line for those who still question the president’s motivation? Does this mean there’s nothing to questions about whether Trump is profiting from dealings with foreign leaders and governments? Uh, no on both counts.

But . . . Mueller’s findings, which he delivered to Attorney General William Barr this past Friday, have cleared the president of criminal behavior as it regards collusion or obstruction of justice.

On that score, I welcome the news that the president of the United States did not work in tandem with a hostile foreign power to influence the outcome of a presidential election.

However, my acceptance of Mueller’s findings notwithstanding, I want to challenge the assertion that Trump made that the authorities need to look at “the other side.” He means Democrats and their 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mr. President, they have looked carefully at Clinton, at Democrats and others on their side of the aisle. The FBI drew the same type of conclusion that Mueller has just delivered: no criminality.

There’s more investigating to be done, by Congress and by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

Mueller’s work is done. Good. He’s earned some time off.

I’ll just add that although he says there was “no collusion” or “no obstruction,” Mueller has not — contrary to what the president has said via Twitter — provided “total exoneration.”

More to come.

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‘No indictments’ do not mean ‘no trouble’

It’s a quiet Sunday in our house and I am waiting for William Barr to spill the beans on what Robert Mueller found out in his investigation into Donald J. Trump and “The Russia Thing.”

I’ll add this point and then I will be quiet until we hear from the attorney general.

Special counsel Mueller’s decision against recommending any new indictments against the president or his team does not signal the end of potential legal or political jeopardy.

Thus, the president’s Republican friends are dancing and prancing prematurely. It might be that their touchdown dance might be warranted. Then again, Mueller might have delivered the Mother of All Scolding to his good friend William Barr, who then will tell the public what the special counsel has determined.

I am staying tuned.

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Waiting for that proverbial big shoe to drop

While the nation — perhaps the world — awaits word on what Robert Mueller III concluded in his exhaustive investigation into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russians, it is good to understand what we do not yet know.

We don’t know whether special counsel Mueller found any sort of collusion between the Trump team and Russians who hacked into our election system. It’s good to understand that “collusion” is not a crime. Therefore, Mueller isn’t going to charge anyone with committing a criminal offense if they winked and nodded at Russians who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Rodham Clinton, Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent.

Nor do we know whether the president — in Mueller’s eyes — “obstructed justice” when he fired FBI director James Comey in the spring of 2017 because he was conducting a probe into that “Russia thing.” Again, there might not be any criminality involved with Comey’s firing, but there might be an intent that Mueller has identified.

Mueller has been mum on every aspect of his investigation. Thus, we don’t know if he’s going to give Trump the kind of tongue-lashing that Comey gave to Clinton when he concluded the FBI probe into her use of private e-mail servers while she was secretary of state. Do you recall how Comey said Clinton was guilty of “extreme recklessness”? It gave Republican opponents of Clinton plenty of fodder to toss at her while she sought the presidency in 2016. Will there be a similar scolding in store for the president when we see what Mueller has concluded?

It has been said in the past 24 hours that “We don’t know what we don’t know.” To put it another way, it is good to keep our traps shut and stop speculating about what Mueller has delivered to Attorney General William Barr.

Mueller had a narrow mandate when he accepted the special counsel job two years ago. It was to determine the extent — if any — of collusion between Trump’s team and the Russians. His work is done. We don’t know what he has concluded.

Is this the end of it? Does the president now slip/slide away out of the grasp of prosecutors? Umm. No. He’s still got Congress that will be hot on his trail. And let’s not dismiss those prosecutors in New York who are looking at other matters not connected to the Russians.

Mueller’s findings are still to be revealed.

Let’s just wait. Shall we?

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No high-fives, or condolences just yet

To those who support Donald Trump and those who oppose the president, I want to offer a word of caution for plainly different reasons.

The Trumpsters out there are high-fiving each other over Robert Mueller III’s submission of a report to Attorney General William Barr; he did so without recommending any further indictments into his probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians who attacked our electoral system.

They’re repeating the president’s mantra: no collusion.

Whoa! Hang on here, man!

We don’t know anything of what the special counsel’s report says.

The anti-Trump factions are expressing some level of disappointment. They wanted Mueller to deliver some heads — and maybe even some genitalia — on a platter when he turned in his report to Barr. That didn’t happen. Mueller didn’t recommend any more indictments.

To both warring camps I want to offer the same words of caution. It is premature to gloat or glower over what Mueller has completed.

We do no know a thing!

Are we clear? Good!

Join me in waiting for the AG to let Congress know what Mueller has submitted. I guarantee you that a federal government branch with 535 blabbermouths in both legislative chambers cannot possibly keep a secret.

Once they know . . . we’ll all know.

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Would the AG dare keep this report secret?

I’ll admit readily to being wrong more than I am right.

Still, I have to wonder about the concerns of those who believe Attorney General William Barr might keep Robert Mueller’s findings secret, that he won’t allow any release of his findings to the public that has a legitimate right to know what the special counsel has determined.

We hear the gripes from folks who suggest that since Barr is a Donald Trump appointee that he will run interference for the president. Mueller spent two years examining allegations of collusion and conspiracy, not to mention obstruction of justice involving the president’s campaign and Russians who attacked our electoral system.

I have faith that Barr is going to do right by the public. He will hear the calls to release the results. Trump says he’s fine with the public knowing what Mueller has determined; then again, the president might change his mind . . . you know?

I believe William Barr is a stand-up guy who will heed the calls from leaders of both political parties. They want the results released. Members of the public want them released, too. After all, Mueller spent millions of dollars of our money to get to the root of the questions that have swirled all over the Trump administration.

Yes, I could be wrong. I recognize that I am far from the political center of gravity. I am just one American living out here in the middle of the country trying to make sense of what is happening in our nation’s capital.

I cannot believe the AG is arrogant enough — or stupid enough — to keep these results a secret.

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Thank you for serving our nation, Robert Mueller

Robert S. Mueller III — a man of enormous skill and accomplishment — doesn’t need a word of thanks from chump bloggers such as me, but he’s going to get one anyway.

The special counsel has completed his work, handed it to Attorney General William Barr and this morning he might be sleeping in a little. He deserves the rest.

Mueller has spent much of his adult life serving the United States of America. He took on a huge task in early 2017 when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed him special counsel to examine that “Russia Thing” alluded to by Donald John Trump.

He accepted the bipartisan praise that came his way upon the appointment. Mueller then assembled a first-class legal team to examine allegations that Trump’s presidential campaign “colluded” with Russians who had attacked our electoral system in 2016.

He had to deal eventually with Trump’s incessant blathering of recriminations against him, his team. The president challenged Mueller’s integrity, his honesty, his commitment to fairness, the legality of his work.

Through it all, Mueller kept quiet. He was stone-cold quiet. Mueller’s operation was leak-proof in the extreme. Mueller went about his work. He indicted more than 30 individuals. Mueller secured convictions (including guilty pleas) from about a half-dozen top Trump aides.

The man’s commitment to public service is well-known: service during the Vietnam War as a combat Marine; as a federal prosecutor; as an assistant attorney general in a Justice Department led by William Barr; as director of the FBI under two presidential administrations, one Republican and one Democratic.

He conducted himself with professionalism and dignity, which in my view was in stark and glaring contrast to the conduct exhibited by the nation’s 45th president.

I have declared my intention to accept whatever findings Mueller has reached. If he exonerates the president of wrongdoing, then so be it. I would accept those results not because I want the president cleared of any funny business, but because of my implicit trust in the special counsel and the work he has done on our behalf.

The probe that Robert Mueller conducted was not a “witch hunt.” It was a search for the truth. I believe he has found it, in whatever form it takes.

Forgive the cliché, but thank you, Robert Mueller, for your lifetime of service to the nation.

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Wide range of conclusions to draw from Mueller findings

Robert Mueller’s submission today of a final report on alleged “collusion” involving the Donald Trump presidential campaign is fraught with peril or is brimming with joy, depending on whose side you’re on.

The special counsel has turned over a tightly sealed report to Attorney General William Barr. He said he would recommend no further indictments. Donald Trump Jr. is off the hook; so is son-in-law Jared Kushner. By “off the hook,” I mean that Mueller isn’t going to issue any indictments.

We can run all over the field trying to determine what Mueller has produced.

He might have produced a finding of no criminality, no wrongdoing, no unethical conduct, no collusion, no conspiracy. Nothing! Zero. The president can high-five what’s left of his White House staff, unlimber his Twitter fingers and blast away at Mueller.

Or . . . Mueller has determined something quite different. He might find that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian goons who attacked our electoral system in 2016. He might conclude there was conspiracy to collude. He might have found an obstruction of justice at any number of stops along the way.

There might indeed be nothing worth prosecuting, but there might be enough in that report to conclude that the president has committed an “impeachable offense” or three, maybe four.

Whatever we learn in due course — and I hope it’s soon — I am prepared to accept whatever Robert Mueller has concluded. He is a professional. His integrity is intact. Mueller is a former FBI director whose tenure was extended past the term of a Republican president (George W. Bush) for two more years by his Democratic successor (Barack H. Obama).

I just want the AG to let us know quickly.