Mueller’s statement today may have seemed like old news, a repeat of his own report. But, it was much more than that. He just gave the Dems, and more specifically Nadler and Pelosi, the gift of complete and total cover for initiation of an impeachment committee investigation.
For the first time, Mueller said on record, before cameras, in tv friendly soundbites, that:
If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so. … Under long standing department policy, the president cannot be charged with a crime while he is in office. … Special counsel was bound by that policy. Charging the president with a crime was an option that we could not consider. … [T]he Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrong doing.
In short, Mueller just said that there are grounds for impeachment and it is up to Congress to act. This tv friendly footage is a gift to the Dems!
Nadler knows how good a gift this was and the cover it provides. Nadler immediately said after Mueller concluded:
Although Department of Justice policy prevented the Special Counsel from bringing criminal charges against the President, the Special Counsel has clearly demonstrated that President Trump is lying about the Special Counsel’s findings, lying about the testimony of key witnesses in the Special Counsel’s report, and is lying in saying that the Special Counsel found no obstruction and no collusion.
Given that Special Counsel Mueller was unable to pursue criminal charges against the President, it falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump – and we will do so. No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law.
Nadler’s instantaneous response to Mueller’s statement indicates that the Dem leadership, which has been slow walking the impeachment effort, have been waiting for an opportunity like this, and they will take it. Expect the Dems to swiftly institute an impeachment investigation. Don’t expect that investigation to be swift.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 · 5:13:00 PM +00:00 · cityduck
UPDATE: The Presidential Candidates See The Cover Mueller Has Provided!
Since his statement, a number of Presidential candidates have said Congress must now act: Booker, Buttigieg, Harris, O’Rourke, Warren, and others. Booker may be the canary in the coal mine. He had previously said impeachment talk was premature. After Mueller’s statement, he now says:
We have one remaining path to ensure justice is served. It is our legal and moral obligation to hold those who have committed crimes accountable. It’s clear that the House must begin impeachment proceedings. No one is above the law.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 · 5:33:13 PM +00:00 · cityduck
SECOND UPDATE: Pelosi Issues Statement
Pelosi is not ruling anything in or out yet. This statement is a Rorschach blot:
It is with the greatest respect for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the deepest disappointment in the Department of Justice holding the President above the law, that I thank Special Counsel Mueller for the work he and his team did to provide a record for future action both in the Congress and in the courts regarding the Trump Administration involvement in Russian interference and obstruction of the investigation.
Special Counsel Mueller made clear that he did not exonerate the President when he stated, “If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
He stated that the decision not to indict stemmed directly from the Department of Justice’s policy that a sitting President cannot be indicted. Despite Department of Justice policy to the contrary, no one is above the law – not even the President.
The Special Counsel’s report revealed that the President’s campaign welcomed Russian interference in the election, and laid out eleven instances of the President’s obstruction of the investigation. The Congress holds sacred its constitutional responsibility to investigate and hold the President accountable for his abuse of power.
The Congress will continue to investigate and legislate to protect our elections and secure our democracy. The American people must have the truth. We call upon the Senate to pass H.R. 1, the For The People Act, to protect our election systems.
We salute Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team for his patriotic duty to seek the truth.
I see this as a placeholder. We’ll see within a week, I think.