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[LessinSF]

I haven't watched any of the Mueller testimony, but a liberal criminal defense trial attorney friend of mine posted this on Facebook. Thoughts?

My take away from the first three hours of the Mueller testimony:

(1) The dog and pony show orchestrated by the Dems essentially blew up in their faces (shame on them) and the Republicans' toxic and unjustified smear of Mueller, as well as their insistence on trying to characterize him as wrongfully withholding information in response to questions they knew he couldn't answer because Republican AG William Barr had instructed him he couldn't answer, was similarly obnoxious;
(2) Rumors that Mueller's recalcitrance to speak pubilcly may have been due in no small part to Mueller's declining cognitive functioning were bolstered today, and could very well explain in part why Mueller was very comfortable NOT going beyond anything already in the report;
(2) Mueller's intentional refusal to ever speak the word "impeachment" was pretty obvious, even though his report couldn't be more clear that that's what he was talking about. As a result, the Dems shot themselves in the foot;
(3) As a result, the American people were betrayed in this hearing by both parties and, inadvertently and sadly by Mueller himself who was in no position to testify competently as to the day of the week, let alone the lengthy, sophisticated and nuanced report his team had issued. The Dems should have recognized that Mueller had no capacity (in light of his clear cognitive struggles) or willingness (In light of the instructions from the DOJ not to go beyond the letter of the report) to do anything but parrot the language of the report AT BEST. At that point, they were reduced to only one effective tactic -- read to him the specific most damning portions of the report, assure him the words are in the report, and have him verify their truth (he did that every time). They should have stopped asking him ANY hypothetical questions or even open-ended questions because he either wasn't going to answer or couldn't answer (who was the idiot who asked him which Republican Presidents appointed him to which jobs? HE COULDN'T FUCKING REMEMBER AND ENDED UP LOOKING IMPAIRED. Just say, "Isn't it true Ronald Reagan appointed you as US Attorney?" "Yes." Don't ask him who appointed him because it was clear he couldn't independently remember who was President on Tuesday, Jesus!! The Republicans, on the other hand, disgraced themselves by posing a series of totally legitimate questions but questions they KNEW from Barr's instructions Mueller couldn't answer and then piled on with sanctimonious vigor when Mueller refused to answer, as if Mueller was totally voluntarily concealing shit. That made my blood boil. And for God's sake, before trotting Mueller into the most publicized hearing in recent history, could someone have made a concerted effort to figure out the guy's mental state? The whole thing was horrific.

LessinSaoPaulo