Quote:
Originally Posted by Adder
Why do you think that's a stretch? Seems like the challenge would be in proving that intent, but if you can, they were attempting to interfere with an investigation. Seem like there might be some other public integrity issues too, but I don't know the details.
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You provided my answer. There's clearly intent to smear Mueller. But Mueller is a public figure. He's smeared in various outlets all day long. (One defense lawyer even wrote an article calling him unethical. I can't find it, but he claimed Mueller tried to entrap his client using tactics outside the ethics code.)
It's hard to separate Mueller from the investigation, so if I'm prosecuting, I'm thinking,
Shit. The defense can argue that there are a million smears against Mueller every week, and all of them could be argued to potentially negatively impact the investigation. The President's own lawyers are calling it a witch hunt on national TV. How is having some woman lie about Mueller worse than those people amassing millions of viewers to believe Mueller has no credibility?
You could lose that case. And the feds never take a case they think they can lose.
Unless there's some crime out there for paying a third party to lie where you yourself would be privileged to lie without criminal consequence. I'm not aware of one, but it'll be fascinating to see if they can come up with one.
I think Mueller played this beautifully, BTW. And that might be the ultimate answer. This might not be a crime, but by inviting the investigation and getting out in front of it, he shows he's nothing to hide while simultaneously scaring other people who might try the same tactic.
