Redacted Mueller Report Released

Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back is Congresswoman Jackie Speier's account of her life, her surviving being shot multiple times at Jonestown only a short portion. It is a straightforward down to earth account that is under two hundred pages. She spells out her life in public service and her personal life, which had many personal tragedies.

It is probably a good read for these times. The new Sandra Day O'Connor (half-way through it) is pretty good too.  In effect, it's an authorized version since she provided a lot of key materials etc.

[AOC supports this impeachment resolution.]

The issue before us is not just whether Barr eventually lets us know whether Mueller ultimately determined that the president unlawfully conspired with Russian agents to sway the 2016 election, or whether he attempted to obstruct inquiries into related investigations. The issue before us is (or at least, includes): whether Donald Trump has dangled pardons to obtain illegal outcomes, removed officials for their refusal to break the law, rewarded or pardoned others for breaking the law, threatened judges for legal conclusions they have made, violated campaign finance laws, violated tax laws, punished and threatened the free press, incited violence against Muslims, misused his charitable foundation, incited violence against political opponents, violated the Emoluments Clause, directed others to make illegal campaign payments, declined to seek redress for the brutal murder of a journalist by a foreign power, forced family separations at the border, attempted to change the asylum law at the border, banned trans service members, attempted to revoke Dreamers’ status, had conflicts of interest with Russia and other oligarchs worldwide, persistently lied about his conflicts of interest during the campaign and thereafter, used his twitter feed to incite retributive acts against critics … this list could go on and on. And on.

Dahlia Lithwick before today's release of the redacted form of the Mueller Report reminded us that there is so much else beyond that.  On a basic level, waiting for it (and Democrats did begin to investigate things now that they control the House)  to release was foolhardy. It was but a limited part of the problem, Trump's wrongs were out there in the open and this holds true even if Mueller wasn't going to prosecute Trump (and certain others) given the high standard of proof, their own corruption of the investigation and so forth. And, the basic idea a sitting POTUS can be prosecuted. The ball is in your court, Congress!

First, I'm sickened (and usually temperate people like Rick Hasen, who thinks Mueller flubbed the campaign crime portion, at least involving Don Jr., not even interviewing the guy!, agree) by Attorney General Barr.  His pre-release spin job, which had it's intended function, started things. The NYT website at the time (about two weeks ago) references the belief that when the release of the report was announced that it was a good day for Trump. This basically based on a sham short summary.  His testimony afterwards to Congress has a few charming aspects including talk of Trump being "spied" upon. Today, Barr had pre-release press conference this morning.  This really pissed people off even before the report showed how much of a sham it was.  Hasen, e.g., said there is no reason why we should trust Barr's redactions were honestly applied.  Given Barr's past actions back to the Iran-Contra days, this is all unsurprising. Still, harder in real time.

Second, the report has a lot of stuff that damns Trump et. al.  See, e.g., an article spelling out how Trump obstructed justice.  The report also is not only limited in scope as to subject matter (see excerpt) but approach. See, e.g., here noting the prosecutor lens (which helps explains, not without some reason for pushback, certain prosecution related choices). There is also supposed to be an intel briefing to Congress.  Suffice to say that this should not rely merely on Barr providing it.  Mueller in fact appears to be a future witness in front of Congress, which will help clarify some things. And, the public deserves to be informed of this aspect.

And, the full picture has to be kept in mind. Trump et. al. were not exonerated, even to the degree the report spells out a case for prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt was deemed to be a problem. Trump himself is a special problem given current policy (there is some dissent to this but it seems a reasonable take) that the special prosecutor can not indict a sitting POTUS (or whatever Trump is). This led Mueller to determine even accusing him of crimes was problematic though not only did the facts not make a full exoneration impossible (even the Barr spin job let that slip out) but has so many details that a good case against Trump. And, that is without further details, which the report says might come out. 

Russia's interference with our elections is clear the Mueller investigating helping to clarify some details and  bring prosecution to various Trump campaign officials and related individuals.  Knowing what happened there is very important and provides a means to protect our national security.  Trump et. al. acted repeatedly in plain sight here.  The fact that some of the behavior, including aiding and abetting the overall process, might not be criminal or at least open to prosecution doesn't change the horrible nature of it all.  The fact one political party wants this guy to be in power until 2025 (at least publicly) is horrendous.  The Republicans deserve to die as a party with a credible one arises from its ashes. This is not hyperbole. It is my firm belief while watching the events proceed in front of my eyes. Instead, it is seen as acceptable (if perhaps a tad unfortunate) if they retain the Senate after 2020.

We have yet to hear the full story and there are even ongoing prosecutions (a key reason for many of the redactions, at least allegedly).  So, that is part of the next steps. The final is the infamous "i" word.  The release of the report is a key moment, even if it perhaps was given more weight than it deserved.  OTOH, we now are seeking the whole unredacted report, which can run out the clock even more. The attorney general aiding in the obstruction of justice only worsens the situation here.  The House Judiciary chair himself did not take impeachment off the table.  All of this far from surprising, it underlines my anger at Pelosi pro-actively putting a thumb on the scales against impeachment before the process barely begun.

If impeachment is not appropriate in this case, including for lesser officials [e.g., Barr was a Bush41 guy; removal by impeachment can block future federal employment], I'm not really sure why it is there.  Know the arguments. I think he should be impeached.