Part 1 – American Democracy Being Tested & On the Line!

When the prez keeps barking out no collusion, no obstruction, he is obviously lying about all that.  And Trump’s only defense to the Mueller report was typical, he blasted & blamed his accusers.  It’s despicable & dishonest, but that’s what Trump does, & as is so clearly illustrated in the report, he instructs his lapdogs to do likewise.  So the barrage of lies from Team-Trump will keep bashing the investigators, FBI, Dems, courts, media, Hillary, Obama & anyone else they can demonize that their brainwashed base have been programmed to hate.  But the Trumpian lying is so incredibly transparent, only his low-information supporters could possibly believe whatever he says as they remain emphatic in backing him.  It’s obvious the report spelled out an abundance of obstruction of justice, which is a crime even without the underlying crimes.  There was no evidence Nixon knew of the break-in into DNC headquarters during Watergate, but it was the obstruction which brought down his presidency. 

 

Giving a pass to a president engaged in felonies is the surest way to lose our American democracy.  The Mueller report is full of details & instances of both collusion & obstruction, but the special counsel did not recommend bringing charges based mostly on the opinion (not legal mandate) by the OLC (the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel) determining a sitting president should not be indictable.  There’s a legal difference of opinion on that & I think such an opinion is bogus, since it essentially puts a president above the law.  It brings to mind that Trump quote of shooting somebody on 5th Avenue & Trumpeters wouldn’t mind.  Not to be vindictive but just in following the letter of the law, don’t be surprised if Trump’s arrest comes the day after leaving office, since the evidence is so compelling.  He’s also credibly accused of felony campaign finance crimes which is part of the reason Michael Cohen was sentenced to 3 years.  The Mueller report was indeed so damning, it could be viewed as nothing short of a president betraying his country.  The Dems are after the whole report including the redacted parts, classified info & grand jury info.

 

That OLC opinion about a president can’t be indicted is clearly AG Barr’s view too, so Mueller may have determined such doctrine had to be adhered to or Barr would simply shoot down any charges against Trump.  And I still have my suspicions Barr forced Mueller to close up shop before his probing was complete.  From the ridiculous spin he put on things prior to releasing the Mueller report, it appears the AG has been as compromised by Trump as Trump looks to be by Putin.  Another factor in Mueller not coming to conclusions was in the constrictions placed upon him by the narrow lane he operated under, sticking to his mandate of only probing evidence related to the Russian election interference.  But following the international money trail is where the proof of conspiracy is likely to be found, which is what congressional House committees are now doing.  It’s clear from the report Mueller’s findings were directed at Congress, so they can pick up the ball & run with it.

 

I was also disappointed the Mueller report mostly contained evidence we were already made aware of from media reports over the past couple years.  So yes, there were lots of actions that were unquestionably illegal acts of obstruction, conspiracy & corruption, but no real bombshells to elevate the criminality in persuading GOP congresspeople to abandon their cultish loyalty to their leader.  And it was deemed to not rise to the level of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  But Mueller did provide a roadmap not only for Congress, as further investigations were designated for separate jurisdictions, so uncovering the smoking guns of criminality serious enough to change minds may be yet to come.  Of particular intrigue are those 12 criminal cases that were redacted in the report but handed over to other prosecutors, which we have yet to know what’s behind those cases. 

 

As we put in our Part 3 post on Saturday at the bottom, the song Only the Beginning applies to the Mueller probe & beyond, since his report signals the handoff to numerous investigations of potential criminal conduct which are still in their early exploratory stages: thehill.com/policy/national-security/end-of-mueller-shifts-focus-to-existing-probes.  There’s no doubt some awfully incriminating stuff is probably contained deep within the Trump-world financial records, which is why they’re working so frantically to hide those records: msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-trump-organization-sues-the-chairman-of-the-house-oversight-committee-to-block-subpoena-of-trumps-financial-records. 

 

Be fully aware it’s highly likely the worst of the crimes are yet to come out, & as they do, there’ll be a higher likelihood impeachment would result in a successful outcome when at least 20 GOP senators could finally turn on their leader.  But it appears it would take horrible crimes backed by irrefutable evidence to change the GOP mindset.  And public congressional hearings could really help move the needle as such compelling testimonies tend to resonate with the public, especially a hearing with Mueller would spark huge interest.  Americans shouldn’t be numb to these ongoing probes, but rather pay attention & actually welcome the additional scrutiny, fully embracing the fact protecting our American democracy can sometimes require hard work.

 

Pelosi has a conference call today with her Dem caucus to powwow over strategies on impeachment & try to organize some sort of consensus.  She prefers a more restrained step-by-step approach but there’s a big split among Dems.  Some of the more aggressive progressives are favoring impeachment right away, & perhaps they’re right that impeachment inquiries should commence based on the large amount of obstruction of justice by Trump contained within the report.  It’s unfortunate there’s still no bipartisan support on the GOP side to pursue impeachment, barring new dramatic evidence emerging.  That’s why impeachment could be an exercise in futility until the various probes uncover solid proof of more serious crimes.  So let’s just allow the investigations to play out, which the GOP should quit complaining & stop trying to prevent the facts from coming out.  If the prez were really innocent, they’d have nothing to worry about stemming from all those related investigations.  Preserving the Constitution & American democracy, we should welcome the facts being uncovered no matter where they lead. 

 

More cautious Dems prefer waiting for the worst of the evidence to come out or holding off till 2020 & have the American people decide to vote him out.  They’re fearful of the same backlash the GOP received two decades ago when their impeachment of President Clinton was perceived as overreaching, but we should fully understand Trump’s illegalities are so far beyond Clinton’s they’re not even in the same league.  Lying over a sex act isn’t comparable to lying over bad foreign actors tainting our presidential election.  Dem House committee chairs have become more open about the possibility of pursuing impeachment since the AG finally released the Mueller report.  Among Dem candidates, Elizabeth Warren did just call for impeachment probably to put a spark into her fledgling campaign: businessinsider.com/elizabeth-warren-calls-for-trumps-impeachment-over-the-mueller-report.  But she has other challenges in trying to go up against Trump: thevoracs.com/elizabeth-warren-decides-to-run.

 

The prez is now lashing out at White House staff who cooperated with Mueller’s team, but that’s exactly what his lawyers at the time instructed them to do.  Former White House lawyer Don McGahn may have saved Trump’s presidency by not following orders to fire Mueller, but a vindictive prez & his minions are directing their wrath at McGahn.  Their playbook always features knee-jerk reactions for slandering & bringing down those perceived as the opposition.  Certain far-right congressmen & echo pundits are so in the tank for their leader, they make frenzied arguments on Trump’s behalf no matter how flimsy, dishonest or illogical they need to be.  And they all echo Trump’s lies in unison as if choreographed.  The GOP overall looks to have become so corrupted & so embedded within the cult of Trump, they’re likely beyond repair.  The party needs burned to the ground so out of the ashes we can start all over with a clean slate.