The Barr Report on the Mueller Report
Megan Willome wrote a nice little haiku about the Mueller report yesterday:
Dear Mr. Mueller,
You could've summarized the
whole in a haiku.
She's right, too. I've got some thoughts on the Mueller Report (in addition to what I have said here and here):
1) Regarding a conspiracy with Russians to influence the election, it seems clear that Mueller found insufficient evidence to recommend charges or impeachment. That's not totally surprising. From what we already knew, it seems that events like the Trump Tower meeting the Russians approached people in the Trump organization, talked about some stuff, but the Trump people never agreed to participate in the activity in any active way-- and that agreement is the essence of conspiracy. Sure, it turns out that the Russians went and did stuff to help Trump on their own, but that does not make it a conspiracy.
2) On obstruction, there is the legitimate question of "obstructing what?" I may disagree with the Barr analysis on this, but I can't say until and if we get to see the full Mueller report.
3) It also wasn't surprising that Mueller did not make a recommendation. He was in the role of investigator and the AG was the prosecutor. It is the prosecutor who decides whether to decline a case or advance it.
4) Finally, Democrats probably should be glad for this outcome. A recommendation of impeachment, followed by a House vote that might lead to a trial in the Senate that would almost certainly lead to acquittal was not going to be good for their prospects, or for the nation. These political issues need to be determined at the ballot box-- and will be!
Dear Mr. Mueller,
You could've summarized the
whole in a haiku.
She's right, too. I've got some thoughts on the Mueller Report (in addition to what I have said here and here):
1) Regarding a conspiracy with Russians to influence the election, it seems clear that Mueller found insufficient evidence to recommend charges or impeachment. That's not totally surprising. From what we already knew, it seems that events like the Trump Tower meeting the Russians approached people in the Trump organization, talked about some stuff, but the Trump people never agreed to participate in the activity in any active way-- and that agreement is the essence of conspiracy. Sure, it turns out that the Russians went and did stuff to help Trump on their own, but that does not make it a conspiracy.
2) On obstruction, there is the legitimate question of "obstructing what?" I may disagree with the Barr analysis on this, but I can't say until and if we get to see the full Mueller report.
3) It also wasn't surprising that Mueller did not make a recommendation. He was in the role of investigator and the AG was the prosecutor. It is the prosecutor who decides whether to decline a case or advance it.
4) Finally, Democrats probably should be glad for this outcome. A recommendation of impeachment, followed by a House vote that might lead to a trial in the Senate that would almost certainly lead to acquittal was not going to be good for their prospects, or for the nation. These political issues need to be determined at the ballot box-- and will be!
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