Quote:
Originally Posted by Adder
I don't know how you can have observed even the last two years of history, much less any more of it, and believe this. Barr has already set the GOP's beliefs in stone. Like you, they will yell "exonerated" and "no evidence of collusion," regardless of what facts are in the report. Trump has done it with the backup of Fox News on countless issues already. They have immunity by senate majority and they are not afraid to use it.
And they did it with Iran Contra too.
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I'm not saying he's exonerated. That's again you, assuming. I'm saying there was a finding that there was not a conspiracy between Trump and the Russian Govt. If you consider that exonerated, great. I consider it what Mueller said it was (paraphrased by Barr), which I just stated.
Mueller explicitly said Trump was "not exonerated" on the obstruction stuff. That means there is evidence that one could say supports a criminal charge of obstruction. But on that point, it was all done in plain sight. Are you suggesting a public figure should not have the right to say anything he damn well pleases about his investigators? Perhaps Mueller was faced with an issue of first impression: Do I make law by deciding it's a crime to say bad things about a Special Counsel or an investigation? Do I decide that a President firing an FBI director, which he has the right to do for any reason, is a crime because he did so because that Director might investigate his ties to Russia? ...And how in the hell do I prove motive there, where the other side of my investigation has uncovered that there was no conspiracy with Russian Govt?
Maybe that was Mueller's dilemma. Maybe he's a man of such principle he decided he had no choice but to leave this to Congress. I suspect that's what he did. But again -- That Is Not a Conviction of Trump. At best, that is a suggestion that under some novel criminal theory or in a political setting Trump
might be charged for obstruction.
Your point about Barr's letter casting exoneration in stone for Trumpers and Fox fans it true. I think that's part of his calculation. However, as I noted earlier, that's insanely dangerous if Barr is misstating the report's contents, because the Mueller Report will come out in full (sans GJ testimony). Also, what benefit is that to Trump? He already has the GOP and the Fox watchers. If Mueller came out with a recommendation of criminal charges after Trump leaves office, Fox and the GOP already had talking points to brand Mueller's quest a "witch hunt" and reject all of its findings.
