Mueller Investigation pt 6

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According to some reports, Mueller doesn't want to testify before Congress publicly.
If that's the case, my respect for him is going down another few notches: presenting his report before Congress is part of his job.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
According to some reports, Mueller doesn't want to testify before Congress publicly.
If that's the case, my respect for him is going down another few notches: presenting his report before Congress is part of his job.
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Actually, that is a matter of dispute. His job as special counsel was to prepare a report for the Attorney General.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
According to some reports, Mueller doesn't want to testify before Congress publicly.
If that's the case, my respect for him is going down another few notches: presenting his report before Congress is part of his job.
Click to expand...

I don't really care if he does it publicly or not. Information finds a way to get out, and transcripts can still be made available or read into the record. If that's what makes him feel better, I say let him have it.

What you say makes sense to me though. He can't bitch about how his information is being portrayed while also not portraying his own information the way it's intended.
 
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Bob001 said:
Actually, that is a matter of dispute. His job as special counsel was to prepare a report for the Attorney General.
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And then Trump, in a correct democracy (it seems to me), should order Attorney General Barr to release the (unredacted) report to Members of Congress first, and to the general public later, to bring this matter to a close.

Even though he claims to be "very transparent", by doing otherwise, he can be suspected of a cover-up, like Nancy Pelosi is saying.
 
Bob001 said:
According to some reports, Mueller doesn't want to testify before Congress publicly.
If that's the case, my respect for him is going down another few notches: presenting his report before Congress is part of his job.
Click to expand...
Actually, that is a matter of dispute. His job as special counsel was to prepare a report for the Attorney General.
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Even if technically his job involved only presenting the report to the Attorney General, he should have realized that in the existing political climate, speaking to various congressional committees would be a strong possibility.

Its like a sports star or actor who doesn't want to sign autographs or promote their team/movie... granted, those things may not be written down as a requirement, but it is an expectation that they will do at least some of that.
 
Michel H said:
And then Trump, in a correct democracy (it seems to me), should order Attorney General Barr to release the (unredacted) report to Members of Congress first, and to the general public later, to bring this matter to a close.

Even though he claims to be "very transparent", by doing otherwise, he can be suspected of a cover-up, like Nancy Pelosi is saying.
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The president "ordering" the AG to do anything in this context is somewhat problematic.
 
Minoosh said:
The president "ordering" the AG to do anything in this context is somewhat problematic.
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I don't think it is problematic if it is in the interest of rigor and transparency (what would be problematic is, for example, altering the contents of the report). "Redacting" a report is a highly dubious procedure. In principle, the Attorney General should be neutral and impartial, but I think it is clear to almost everybody that this is pure illusion (particularly in Trump's era), and that he is protecting Trump, who is demanding "loyalty" (and perhaps even more now than before).

According to wikipedia,
The Cabinet's role, inferred from the language of the Opinion Clause (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1) of the Constitution, is to serve as an advisory body to the President of the United States.
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(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_the_United_States/)
So it is possible that the real authority in the executive branch belongs to the president. I would be surprised if Trump (who can fire the AG) did not have the hard, soft, or implied power to convince Barr to release the Mueller report.

If you don't like the word "order" in this context, it can be replaced by the word "ask", which is more gentle, I suppose.
 
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smartcooky said:
Someone on that Mueller team needs to do a Mark Felt, and leak the entire unredacted report to WaPo or the NYT.
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This administration is on course to triple the number of charges of violating the espionage act by an administration (Obama holds the record).

If you include the 18 counts for Assange today, they've already blown the record out of the water.

That does give people pause (and why it's shameful to use this law this way).
 
Delphic Oracle said:
This administration is on course to triple the number of charges of violating the espionage act by an administration (Obama holds the record).

If you include the 18 counts for Assange today, they've already blown the record out of the water.

That does give people pause (and why it's shameful to use this law this way).
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There are two things I have seen on the News today that I find terrifying

1. I have no love for Assange, but the nature of charges against him are a direct attack on the 1A Freedom of the Press - if you make those charges stick, then that sets a precedent that will allow the Government to use such charges to silence critical news media such as WaPo or NYT. Trump has already called such media the "enemy of the people", so the only media left untouched will be Trump Propaganda Arms such as Faux News.

2. Trump's decision to declassify intelligence matters will effectively neuter the US intelligence community. It will allow Trump to deal directly with America's enemies (Putin, Kim) with out any observation or oversight, and it is sure to get intelligence sources killed. If I was a CIA source living in Russia right now, I would be crapping my pants.

These are the acts of a tyrant, and are precursors to Trump making himself King.
 
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smartcooky said:
1. I have no love for Assange, but the nature of charges against him are a direct attack on the 1A Freedom of the Press -
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If he is considered to have assisted Manning in getting hold of the docs then the 1st doesn't really count. That's been the crux of this for a while.

You can publish stuff, but you can't get involved in actually nicking it.
 
Trump Tweets

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities....

....during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information....


....Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.”
@PressSec
 
Trump Retweeted

Tom Fitton
@TomFitton
FBI refuses to search text messages under FOIA. Director Wray needs to step up and stop this stonewalling that protects corrupt former FBI officials Comey. McCabe, Page, Strzok....

BIG:
@realDonaldTrump
authorizes AG Barr to declassify #Spygate docs from all agencies! Coming up!
 
Trump Tweets

“Intelligence Agencies were used against an American President.”
@DevinNunes @ShannonBream @FoxNews
This should NEVER happen to a President again! Dems are furious at Robert Mueller for his findings - NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Now they should go back to work and legislate!
 
JoeMorgue said:
I love how he's basically bragging that he would have a 65% approval rating in some theoretical universe where loved him.
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The ratings are off-the-charts for Donnie's latest Reality TV show: The Presidency. Wow, what a mega block buster. Everybody's talking about it. Forget The Apprentice. The Presidency is a monster. Who knew it would be THIS big.
 
Tolls said:
If he is considered to have assisted Manning in getting hold of the docs then the 1st doesn't really count. That's been the crux of this for a while.

You can publish stuff, but you can't get involved in actually nicking it.
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But they have also indicted him under the espionage act for publishing classified information. IMO, they are doing this as a precursor to try to set a precedent so that they can go after Trump-unfriendly media outlets under the same law.
 
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