The Folly of the Mueller Investigation

[Doc7505]

The Folly of the Mueller Investigation​

The Folly of the Mueller Investigation | National Review
April 4, 2019 ~ By Andrew C. McCarthy
A hysteria without a cause; a report without a point.
The pointlessness of it all. That is the major takeaway from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s much-anticipated final report on the Trump/Russia probe.
After an exhaustive 22-month investigation, Mueller found that there was no criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. This was already manifest to anyone who had closely followed the investigation — anyone, that is, who had taken note that no predicate crime was specified when Mueller was appointed (the special-counsel regulations require one), or anyone who had read the indictments Mueller filed, which demonstrated that Russia’s operations predated Trump’s entry into the 2016 campaign, that some of them were actually anti-Trump in nature, and that Russia (which is notoriously adept at espionage) neither needed nor sought American collaborators. “There is no allegation,” observed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in announcing charges against Russian operatives brought by the special counsel he had appointed, “that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity.” Never was such an allegation even hinted at against the president, nor against any of his associates, a handful of whom were charged either with crimes that had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign or with process crimes (mostly lying to investigators) that were not committed until after the campaign was over.
But there were no crimes, actual or colorably suspected, and there was no reason to appoint a special counsel — especially one who ended up kicking the can to the Justice Department anyway. The country has been taken on a pointless two-year ride.

~~~~~~
There were never any crimes. There was no Russian Collusion By Trump. There was never a reason to appoint a special counsel. There was no investigation of collusion.
Mueller's Special Council was just a two year attempt to sabotage the Trump presidency and overturn an election.
The appointment of Mueller by Rosenstein has been spun to place it in a good light by claiming, as Andy does here, that Rosenstein was able to take it out of the clutches of the corrupt McCabe and give control to the noble Mueller.
Mueller hired the same FBI team (Strzok and Page) as well as unethical rabid partisans like Weissman to staff his team. Mueller only removed Strzok and Page when evidence of their anti-Trump bias began to escape outside of the team. Mueller was part of the corruption. And it wasn’t pointless.
Communications records that might have evidenced a conspiracy among Comey, McCabe, Mueller, Rosenstein and others in the appointment of the Special Counsel and in other matters of the illegitimate government investigation of the Trump campaign have probably been purged in the ordinary course of business after the years-long delay gained by the Mueller probe in staving off an examination of the origin of the coup against Trump. The DOJ and the FBI cannot be trusted to investigate themselves.

 

[Claudette]

LMAO Well it did waste what, 20 or 30 million tax dollars all to prove what anyone with a working brain cell already knew??

Oh wait. I forgot. Lefty loons don't have working brain cells. Just the hate Trump brain cells. Never mind.

 

[Lesh]

First of all Manafort paid for it all in fines...and then some.

So blow THAT out your fat ass.

We did however pay for the moronic Hillary Clinton investigation...all of them and that bothered you tards not at all.

Second...the fact that you blithely ignore the fact that this report details a RUSSIAN ATTACK on our election process seems to bother you friggin idiots not at all...because you are invested in protecting your Dear Leader.

And then there's all that lying by all those people...ALL lying about contacts WITH Russians...while they were attacking our election process

We DESERVE answers

RELEASE THE REPORT

 

[kyzr]

1. Manafort's crimes, have nothing to do with Trump or his campaign, why did he get caught now instead of earlier?
He was found guilty of false tax returns, failure to report foreign assets, and bank fraud.
All the crimes Paul Manafort was just convicted of

2. The Russian "attack" on the US election process was routine at best, i.e. Russia always meddles in US elections. No votes were affected in 2016. Its not like when Ted Kennedy worked with the Russians to defeat Ronald Reagan, is it?
Ted Kennedy Colluded With Russia to Subvert a Presidential Election
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan

3. What part of "no collusion, no obstruction" don't you understand? You have the answer, deal with it.

The Hillary investigation was a sham conducted by the deep state actors at the FBI and DOJ. She should have been indicted for her secret server and mishandling classified material.

 

[Zorro!]

William Barr Is the Democrats' Worst Nightmare

Though they were excruciatingly obnoxious to William Barr at Tuesday's House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Dems would be well-advised to lay off the attorney general as he holds a good deal of the future of their party in his hands, positioned to make that party bleed like they haven't since the lost the Civil War. He is clearly such a straight shooter

The AG plans to release a redacted version of the Mueller report within a week with or even that those redactions color-coded and annotated to explain the reasons for the edits. Democrat Nita Lowey whined about transparency with all the hypocrisy only a politician can muster.

He also stated that he was planning to investigate the provenance of the Russia probe itself. That would include the FISA court scandal and the Steele dossier, not to mention strange--let's call them spooky-- occurrences in the UK well before the election. Barr will look into the eight criminal referrals of DOJ personnel and others coming from Devin Nunes. He said we could expect the inspector general's report on these matters in May or June.

The Mueller probe did not come up with any crimes connected to Russia collusion, but even the beginnings of an investigation of what prompted the probe in the first place has already come up with several.

Barr is redacting the Mueller report with Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller, both of whom who will be under scrutiny in the wider investigation.

The unflappable and admirable way he has been handling himself indicates that it was the suborning of justice in our country at the highest level that drove him to volunteer for this onerous task of cleaning up the corruption the manifested itself during the Obama Administration.

 

[Doc7505]

First of all Manafort paid for it all in fines...and then some.

So blow THAT out your fat ass.

We did however pay for the moronic Hillary Clinton investigation...all of them and that bothered you tards not at all.

Second...the fact that you blithely ignore the fact that this report details a RUSSIAN ATTACK on our election process seems to bother you friggin idiots not at all...because you are invested in protecting your Dear Leader.

And then there's all that lying by all those people...ALL lying about contacts WITH Russians...while they were attacking our election process

We DESERVE answers

RELEASE THE REPORT

~~~~~~
Really? what the Summary shows is that the lies of the Democrat Left about Trump and created by the DNC and Hillary Clinton...

 

[beautress]

First of all Manafort paid for it all in fines...and then some.

So blow THAT out your fat ass.

We did however pay for the moronic Hillary Clinton investigation...all of them and that bothered you tards not at all.

Second...the fact that you blithely ignore the fact that this report details a RUSSIAN ATTACK on our election process seems to bother you friggin idiots not at all...because you are invested in protecting your Dear Leader.

And then there's all that lying by all those people...ALL lying about contacts WITH Russians...while they were attacking our election process

We DESERVE answers

RELEASE THE REPORT

~~~~~~
Really? what the Summary shows is that the lies of the Democrat Left about Trump and created by the DNC and Hillary Clinton...

Thank you for bringing this matter up to the USMB Board, Doc7505. I don't think the leftists around here have the courage to come over here, face the facts, and Andrew C. McCarthy tells it like it is with no favoritism to either side of the ordeal the Mueller has been by leaving gaps that shouldn't have been left there that has been exploited by the same people who brought the central lie to the attention of the Justice Department at the beginning of this political travesty. I hope I'm wrong about the leftists here. I actually like some of them in spite of political differences. Many of them have gone back to the talking points that are derived from the same sources whose team(s) created the false scenario that cost this nation 2 years, untold political grief, and permanently damaged a dozen loyal American families whole loyalties span both sides of the aisle.

 

[dudmuck]

1. Manafort's crimes, have nothing to do with Trump or his campaign, why did he get caught now instead of earlier?
He was found guilty of false tax returns, failure to report foreign assets, and bank fraud.
All the crimes Paul Manafort was just convicted of

What youre saying is that Trump's judgement is so poor that he hired a man who intentionally hid the fact that he acted on behalf of Russia and Ukraine and was involved in laundering money for the same entities.
With such incompetence, wouldnt the 25th amendment be considered?

Additionally, Manafort shared private campaign polling data with Russia. Manafort was fundraiser for Trump's inauguration.

2. The Russian "attack" on the US election process was routine at best, i.e. Russia always meddles in US elections. No votes were affected in 2016. Its not like when Ted Kennedy worked with the Russians to defeat Ronald Reagan, is it?
Ted Kennedy Colluded With Russia to Subvert a Presidential Election
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan

Trump himself accepted reality of Russian meddling. Even Mcconnel considered it significant.
Russia proved they are greatest threat.

3. What part of "no collusion, no obstruction" don't you understand? You have the answer, deal with it.

I can assume you've seen unredacted Mueller report then?

The Hillary investigation was a sham conducted by the deep state actors at the FBI and DOJ. She should have been indicted for her secret server and mishandling classified material.

While you ignore Trump endangering national security only four to five times, tops.

 

[occupied]

Amazing how some people are so sure about what the Mueller report says when we may never get to see it. At this point there is no question that Barr is misrepresenting it's content and conclusions.

 

[beautress]

Amazing how some people are so sure about what the Mueller report says when we may never get to see it. At this point there is no question that Barr is misrepresenting it's content and conclusions.

Whatever Attorney General Barr says goes. And you can chalk it up to Mueller who is said to have marked each and every one of the 400 pages of the report with a recommended nondisclosure due to Federal Statutes this, that and the other. So poor Demmies are gonna get real disappointed I fear. It's okay. I stocked up on tissues last night for those who do more of that whimpering they were doing the day Mueller said that there was NO COLLUSION. I can't imagine grownup people who fooled themselves to folly weeping over not getting something nobody else gets either. And that is getting two years back for a lot of people who had better things to do than play the Demmie no-win, no-pin the tail on the donkey while bitch, bitch, bitching about every little thing that came down the pike.

 

[occupied]

Amazing how some people are so sure about what the Mueller report says when we may never get to see it. At this point there is no question that Barr is misrepresenting it's content and conclusions.

Whatever Attorney General Barr says goes. And you can chalk it up to Mueller who is said to have marked each and every one of the 400 pages of the report with a recommended nondisclosure due to Federal Statutes this, that and the other. So poor Demmies are gonna get real disappointed I fear. It's okay. I stocked up on tissues last night for those who do more of that whimpering they were doing the day Mueller said that there was NO COLLUSION. I can't imagine grownup people who fooled themselves to folly weeping over not getting something nobody else gets either. And that is getting two years back for a lot of people who had better things to do than play the Demmie no-win, no-pin the tail on the donkey while bitch, bitch, bitching about every little thing that came down the pike.

The excuses grow more lame as the days go by. At this point there has been ample time to honestly redact the report. What we will eventually get will be 400 pages of cover-up.

 

[kyzr]

1. Manafort's crimes, have nothing to do with Trump or his campaign, why did he get caught now instead of earlier?
He was found guilty of false tax returns, failure to report foreign assets, and bank fraud.
All the crimes Paul Manafort was just convicted of

What youre saying is that Trump's judgement is so poor that he hired a man who intentionally hid the fact that he acted on behalf of Russia and Ukraine and was involved in laundering money for the same entities.
With such incompetence, wouldnt the 25th amendment be considered?

Additionally, Manafort shared private campaign polling data with Russia. Manafort was fundraiser for Trump's inauguration.

2. The Russian "attack" on the US election process was routine at best, i.e. Russia always meddles in US elections. No votes were affected in 2016. Its not like when Ted Kennedy worked with the Russians to defeat Ronald Reagan, is it?
Ted Kennedy Colluded With Russia to Subvert a Presidential Election
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan

Trump himself accepted reality of Russian meddling. Even Mcconnel considered it significant.
Russia proved they are greatest threat.

3. What part of "no collusion, no obstruction" don't you understand? You have the answer, deal with it.

I can assume you've seen unredacted Mueller report then?

The Hillary investigation was a sham conducted by the deep state actors at the FBI and DOJ. She should have been indicted for her secret server and mishandling classified material.

While you ignore Trump endangering national security only four to five times, tops.

1. Manafort was hired to manage votes during the GOP convention based on his experience. Why wasn't he in jail already if his crimes were so obvious?

2. Who was in-charge of security during the 2016 election? Wasn't it the Obama administration? Who is to blame for Russian meddling? That's right, the Obama admin.

3. I have a direct quote from the Mueller Report that says "no collusion". WTF do you have ? Lies and propaganda.

4. Trump is doing a much better job of national security than the Obama admin, including proper funding for the military, defeating ISIS, negotiating with NK, hammering out a fair deal with China, and keeping the US economy strong.

 

[Crixus]

First of all Manafort paid for it all in fines...and then some.

So blow THAT out your fat ass.

We did however pay for the moronic Hillary Clinton investigation...all of them and that bothered you tards not at all.

Second...the fact that you blithely ignore the fact that this report details a RUSSIAN ATTACK on our election process seems to bother you friggin idiots not at all...because you are invested in protecting your Dear Leader.

And then there's all that lying by all those people...ALL lying about contacts WITH Russians...while they were attacking our election process

We DESERVE answers

RELEASE THE REPORT

Manifort payed for the laws he broke which’s had zero to do with Trump and Russia. No link whatsoever. Matter of fact, I do believe the Podesta bros May get stuck with the same charges them selves, and then there is Gregory B. Craig who has been indicted for the same shit. So buy default, Greg Craig helped Trump collude with Russia to win in 2016. Y’all are crazy. And not regular crazy, but Alex Jones, Clyde Lewis, George Noory type crazy.

 

[georgephillip]

The Folly of the Mueller Investigation​

The Folly of the Mueller Investigation | National Review
April 4, 2019 ~ By Andrew C. McCarthy
A hysteria without a cause; a report without a point.
The pointlessness of it all. That is the major takeaway from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s much-anticipated final report on the Trump/Russia probe.
After an exhaustive 22-month investigation, Mueller found that there was no criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. This was already manifest to anyone who had closely followed the investigation — anyone, that is, who had taken note that no predicate crime was specified when Mueller was appointed (the special-counsel regulations require one), or anyone who had read the indictments Mueller filed, which demonstrated that Russia’s operations predated Trump’s entry into the 2016 campaign, that some of them were actually anti-Trump in nature, and that Russia (which is notoriously adept at espionage) neither needed nor sought American collaborators. “There is no allegation,” observed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in announcing charges against Russian operatives brought by the special counsel he had appointed, “that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity.” Never was such an allegation even hinted at against the president, nor against any of his associates, a handful of whom were charged either with crimes that had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign or with process crimes (mostly lying to investigators) that were not committed until after the campaign was over.
But there were no crimes, actual or colorably suspected, and there was no reason to appoint a special counsel — especially one who ended up kicking the can to the Justice Department anyway. The country has been taken on a pointless two-year ride.

~~~~~~
There were never any crimes. There was no Russian Collusion By Trump. There was never a reason to appoint a special counsel. There was no investigation of collusion.
Mueller's Special Council was just a two year attempt to sabotage the Trump presidency and overturn an election.
The appointment of Mueller by Rosenstein has been spun to place it in a good light by claiming, as Andy does here, that Rosenstein was able to take it out of the clutches of the corrupt McCabe and give control to the noble Mueller.
Mueller hired the same FBI team (Strzok and Page) as well as unethical rabid partisans like Weissman to staff his team. Mueller only removed Strzok and Page when evidence of their anti-Trump bias began to escape outside of the team. Mueller was part of the corruption. And it wasn’t pointless.
Communications records that might have evidenced a conspiracy among Comey, McCabe, Mueller, Rosenstein and others in the appointment of the Special Counsel and in other matters of the illegitimate government investigation of the Trump campaign have probably been purged in the ordinary course of business after the years-long delay gained by the Mueller probe in staving off an examination of the origin of the coup against Trump. The DOJ and the FBI cannot be trusted to investigate themselves.

There were never any crimes. There was no Russian Collusion By Trump. There was never a reason to appoint a special counsel. There was no investigation of collusion.
Mueller's Special Council was just a two year attempt to sabotage the Trump presidency and overturn an election.

Why would life-long Republicans "...attempt to sabotage the Trump presidency and overturn an election"?

Your link:

"Mueller was even arguably needed to answer only one question: Did President Trump obstruct justice? On that, Mueller abdicated, refusing to render a prosecutorial judgment. This dereliction of duty in his final act further elucidated that there was neither a legal basis nor a practical need for the appointment of a special counsel."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...justice/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4d092be871d3
When Trump fired Comey he committed obstruction of justice, at least in all minds not belonging to career Republican partisans concerned only with elevating the interests of their party over national interests.

 

[beautress]

Amazing how some people are so sure about what the Mueller report says when we may never get to see it. At this point there is no question that Barr is misrepresenting it's content and conclusions.

Whatever Attorney General Barr says goes. And you can chalk it up to Mueller who is said to have marked each and every one of the 400 pages of the report with a recommended nondisclosure due to Federal Statutes this, that and the other. So poor Demmies are gonna get real disappointed I fear. It's okay. I stocked up on tissues last night for those who do more of that whimpering they were doing the day Mueller said that there was NO COLLUSION. I can't imagine grownup people who fooled themselves to folly weeping over not getting something nobody else gets either. And that is getting two years back for a lot of people who had better things to do than play the Demmie no-win, no-pin the tail on the donkey while bitch, bitch, bitching about every little thing that came down the pike.

The excuses grow more lame as the days go by. At this point there has been ample time to honestly redact the report. What we will eventually get will be 400 pages of cover-up.

What did you not understand that it is against the law to publish information that is recommended by the Special Counsel not to be disclosed? Barr cannot disclose information to anyone with those kinds of limitations that were entrusted to his care for lawful disbursement? In the face of non-disclosure tags on each page, he cannot and should not disclose it until the year 2120. And that's the way it is.

 

[dudmuck]

1. Manafort's crimes, have nothing to do with Trump or his campaign, why did he get caught now instead of earlier?
He was found guilty of false tax returns, failure to report foreign assets, and bank fraud.
All the crimes Paul Manafort was just convicted of

What youre saying is that Trump's judgement is so poor that he hired a man who intentionally hid the fact that he acted on behalf of Russia and Ukraine and was involved in laundering money for the same entities.
With such incompetence, wouldnt the 25th amendment be considered?

Additionally, Manafort shared private campaign polling data with Russia. Manafort was fundraiser for Trump's inauguration.

2. The Russian "attack" on the US election process was routine at best, i.e. Russia always meddles in US elections. No votes were affected in 2016. Its not like when Ted Kennedy worked with the Russians to defeat Ronald Reagan, is it?
Ted Kennedy Colluded With Russia to Subvert a Presidential Election
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan

Trump himself accepted reality of Russian meddling. Even Mcconnel considered it significant.
Russia proved they are greatest threat.

3. What part of "no collusion, no obstruction" don't you understand? You have the answer, deal with it.

I can assume you've seen unredacted Mueller report then?

The Hillary investigation was a sham conducted by the deep state actors at the FBI and DOJ. She should have been indicted for her secret server and mishandling classified material.

While you ignore Trump endangering national security only four to five times, tops.

1. Manafort was hired to manage votes during the GOP convention based on his experience. Why wasn't he in jail already if his crimes were so obvious?

Our due process of law: investigate, trial by jury, sentencing.

2. Who was in-charge of security during the 2016 election? Wasn't it the Obama administration? Who is to blame for Russian meddling? That's right, the Obama admin.

Had Obama did something, the orange man would have been ranting on Obama's "interference" in the elections. You people are already accusing Obama of a "deep state coup". Obama had done some stuff, like putting sanctions on Russia. But Trump removed those sanctions.

3. I have a direct quote from the Mueller Report that says "no collusion". WTF do you have ? Lies and propaganda.

Then show us the unredacted report.

4. Trump is doing a much better job of national security than the Obama admin, including proper funding for the military, defeating ISIS, negotiating with NK, hammering out a fair deal with China, and keeping the US economy strong.

Trump is doing a great job on national security, only endangering it 4 to 5 times. Military funding jeopardized by border wall. Defeating ISIS? by pulling Troops out, ISIS refounded. Trump aint negotiating with NK, he's just letting them have their way. Trump is being played by NK. China trade? Janet Yellen says Trump lacks basic economic understanding. Strong economy? half the country cant afford a $400 expense.

 

[Zorro!]

Bill Barr’s press conference regarding the Mueller Report release was notable for both style and substance.

On style, he reminded us that in an age of shrieking media hysteria and out-of-control twitter-pols, there is still a place for stolid, stodgy, rule-following bureaucrats. Standing at the lectern with his lieutenants behind him, he calmly and carefully explained what was in the report, what had been redacted and why, and what the applicable laws and rules were. He didn’t play to the media, or to the social media. In tone and manner he was, well, boring.

It was refreshing.

On substance, he made clear that, after two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and endless media speculation, the “Russian collusion” story was, as some of us had noted all along, a story about nothing. No member of Trump’s campaign — and in fact, no American anywhere — colluded with the Russians to influence the campaign.

In Barr’s words: “As the Special Counsel’s report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election. But thanks to the Special Counsel’s thorough investigation, we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign – or the knowing assistance of any other Americans for that matter. That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed. “

Nor do fallback claims of “obstruction” hold water: “In assessing the President’s actions discussed in the report, it is important to bear in mind the context. President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as President, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office, and the conduct of some of his associates. At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the President’s personal culpability. Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. And as the Special Counsel’s report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks. Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation.”

Barr also noted that the White House did not ask for any redactions in the report, and President Trump chose not to exert Executive Privilege, even though, in Barr’s words, “he would have been well within his rights to do so.” What redactions were made in the report were made by the Department of Justice attorneys and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s staff, and were designed to protect ongoing investigations and prosecutions, and some national security matters.

So no collusion, and no obstruction, and no serious grounds for complaining about the redactions. No doubt some politicians, eager to keep their base heated up, will try to pretend otherwise, and some cable news channels and media outlets, desperate for viewers and clicks, will go along.

But normal people should be pleased and relieved that there was no collusion, even as they should be angry that a huge chunk of our political class seriously maintained that the President of the United States was a Russian puppet. That claim, based more on a desire to undo the 2016 election than on any actual evidence, was a poisonous corruption of our political discourse, and those involved should be — but won’t be — ashamed.

They should, however, be ignored in the future.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » OKAY, I WROTE THIS FOR USA TODAY right after the Barr press conference, but they don’t want to run i…

 

[Zorro!]

HOW MUELLER AND THE DEMOCRATS GAVE RUSSIA WHAT IT WANTED:

“What could possibly sow discord in the U.S. political system more than suggesting the president broke the law and stole an election by treacherously teaming up with a hostile foreign power? This was the essence of the charge made by former F.B.I. director James Comey, former CIA Director James Brennan, and their subordinates using the scandalous Steele dossier. This incredibly corrosive tale converted what were run-of-the-mill hacking and public relations operations, similar to those undertaken by many other nations—including the United States—into an act of war.”