\nSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation and submitted\nhis report to Attorney General (AG) William Barr. The Mueller Investigation was thorough and\nprofessional. Thank you to Mr. Mueller\nand his team for staying focused and steadfast despite the ongoing attacks at\nsubterfuge by President Trump and his Russia Caucus in Congress. The nation should accept Mueller\u2019s findings\nthat there was not evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during\nthe 2016 Presidential Election and that while there was evidence of Trump\u2019s\nhighly inappropriate conduct during the investigation, there was not sufficient\nadmissible evidence to support an indictment for obstruction of justice. That said, there are remaining critical questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction, but merely concluded\nthat the team did not feel they had sufficient admissible evidence to prove\nobstruction beyond a reasonable doubt. They\ndid not feel there was enough evidence to support an indictment, even if AG\nBarr would allow it. They left that\ndecision open and deferred action to Barr. \nBarr and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein decided against proceeding on\nobstruction. However, it is not for the\nAG to make this call. Previously (Nixon\nand Clinton) it fell to Congress, not the AG, to determine whether to move\nforward on obstruction of justice. Congress\nshould now determine what, if any, action to pursue against Trump in this\nmatter. The standard of proof for\nimpeachment is by no means the same as to prove a criminal case. However, it behooves Congress to acknowledge\nthe evidentiary requirements and challenges with such a case and proceed with\ncaution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis investigation began as a critical counter-intelligence\ninvestigation. Our intelligence and\nnational security agencies discovered Russian interference in the 2016 election. Although there may not have been a conspiracy\nbetween members of the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, there is\nindisputable proof Russia interfered in the election. The nation must hold Russia accountable,\ndissuade further such acts, and ensure the sanctity of all future elections\nthrough improved infrastructure, counter intelligence, etc. Thus far, the Trump administration has been\nunwilling to make the necessary improvements to safeguard our elections and it\nis paramount that this occur immediately. \nRussia continues to meddle in our elections as well as our allies\u2019\nelections threatening the outcome, the voice of the people, and the future of\nour democracies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nMueller\u2019s charter was focused on Russian interference and whether there\nwas any connection to the Trump campaign. \nThere are open investigations and pending cases in U.S. Attorney\u2019s\noffices in New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, not to mention state cases. Thus, it is not over. The country may still learn about corruption,\nmoney laundering, improper financial dealings, etc. Accepting Mueller\u2019s findings, there was no\ncollusion between Trump and Russia, but there remains an imperative counter-intelligence\nmatter. The question remains as to why\nRussia favored Trump in 2016 and more importantly why Trump favors Putin and\nRussia, denigrates our steadfast NATO allies, weakens the alliance, and why he\nseems to repeatedly act in Russia\u2019s strategic interests and against our own\nnational security and strategic interests. There are significant concerns that Russia exerts\nimproper influence over Trump because of a history of money laundering, questionable\nfinancial dealings with oligarchs and criminal enterprises, or other\ncompromising information they can hold over his head. Arguably collusion would have been the\nsimpler answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe crucial immediate question is for Congress, specifically the House\nof Representatives. The House must\nreceive a complete copy of the Mueller investigation in order to perform its\nConstitutionally mandated duty of oversight. \nI agree with Trump attorney Jay Sekulow on this one point \u2013 there is no\nreason for Congress to duplicate the extensive, comprehensive efforts of the\nMueller team. There were 2800 subpoenas,\n500 search warrants, 500 witnesses, 37 indictments on 199 charges, not to\nmention the convictions of several Trump senior campaign officials. Trump claims he was vindicated, and this\nproves he was subject to a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d \nRegardless of the findings with respect to Trump himself, this was a\nmajor counter-intelligence investigation into irrefutable evidence of foreign\ninterference in our elections systems and social media communications by an\nadversary, if not enemy power. The\nindictments and counter-intelligence findings are in no way a witch hunt,\nunless of course you support Putin and Russia over the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nCongress should be able to utilize the evidence from the Mueller\ninvestigation to efficiently conduct and conclude its own required oversight rather\nthan squander millions of dollars and countless hours recreating what is\notherwise readily and rightfully available to them. We have heard multiple members of Congress state\nthey can \u201cwalk and chew gum at the same time,\u201d meaning they can conduct their\noversight responsibilities while simultaneously working on legislation. For the good of the country I hope this\nproves to be true. Unlike the rest of\nus, when Congress is in session, they work an average of 3 days per week. The other days they spend traveling to and\nfrom their home districts and Washington, DC, meeting with constituents, lobbyists,\ndonors, and attending events. In the\nlimited time they have in session, Congress must address the national debt, comprehensive\nimmigration reform, the environment, and national security challenges around\nthe world to name just some of the pressing business. If Congress errs on the side of too much\ninvestigation, it will hurt them in upcoming elections unless the\ninvestigations produce clear and important results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic leaders have rightfully and logically determined that impeachment should only take place upon strong evidence of significant violations and in a bipartisan manner. Republicans suffered electoral setbacks after the Clinton impeachment process. Although by no means identical situations, the lesson is nonetheless valid. If Democrats are seen as overreaching, especially if the Senate fails to conduct a hearing or take action, they will suffer intense blowback in upcoming elections. The Senate will not even conduct a hearing let alone vote to remove the President (requires 67 votes) unless there is an overwhelming case that even Mitch McConnell cannot overlook. Thus far President Trump\u2019s deficiencies have been more along the lines of leadership, moral, policy, and performance failures. He is unfit to serve as President for many reasons. This is important but would not suffice as a basis to impeach Trump under the current climate. In fact, Trump stands a decent chance to win reelection in 2020 if Democrats do not handle these matters correctly in the eyes of the American people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President and his allies can take their victory lap, spike the football, claim vindication, etc., but that is foolish and unprofessional. There remain critical questions about Russian influence, the President\u2019s performance in office, his promotion of hate, division, and violence, and his incessant campaign of dishonesty. This is the most corrupt administration in history. More officials from the Trump administration have been indicted (Mueller Investigation) or forced to resign due to rampant corruption than any other. We the people must accept the results from Mueller and move forward but remain ever vigilant in the continuing investigations. Our national security and future of our democracy is at risk if we become complacent and succumb to investigation fatigue. I do not relish the prospect of any President committing crimes and being tried or impeached for those crimes. I want all our leaders to succeed for the good of the nation. But when the evidence is there, we must put politics aside and does what needs to be done to address their transgressions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation and submitted his report to Attorney General (AG) William Barr. The Mueller Investigation was thorough and professional. Thank you to Mr. Mueller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[194,225,237,245,274],"class_list":["post-371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-mueller-report","tag-president-trump","tag-robert-mueller","tag-russian-collusion","tag-special-counsel-investigation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}