July 25, 2019

"If Mueller didn’t write report, as his disastrous testimony made clear, who did?"

Texted Rudy Giuliani (reported at Axios).

Not only didn't he write it, but as Alan Dershowitz says, Mueller was not "really in charge" or "very familiar with the contents of the report":



Dershowitz holds up the book and says: "We should no longer call this 'The Mueller Report.' This deserves to be called 'The Staff Report.'"

Why did Mueller accept being used as a figurehead? His dignity and honor were appropriated (or handed over).

ADDED: This would seem too cruel, but considering the massive power entrusted to him, it is gentle:

283 comments:

1 – 200 of 283   Newer›   Newest»
MayBee said...

The NYT says that Aaron Zelby was in charge. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/politics/mueller-hearings-performance.html

They just write it like everyone always knew it.

WASHINGTON — Soon after the special counsel’s office opened in 2017, some aides noticed that Robert S. Mueller III kept noticeably shorter hours than he had as F.B.I. director, when he showed up at the bureau daily at 6 a.m. and often worked nights.

He seemed to cede substantial responsibility to his top deputies, including Aaron Zebley, who managed day-to-day operations and often reported on the investigation’s progress up the chain in the Justice Department. As negotiations with President Trump’s lawyers about interviewing him dragged on, for example, Mr. Mueller took part less and less, according to people familiar with how the office worked.


I feel totally gas lit. Gas lighted.

Amichel said...

What dignity? What honor?

MayBee said...

I mean, Beach Bit and Hammers, take a bow. You are the star.

MayBee said...

Obviously the GOP knew, because they announced right off the bat they had no questions for Zebley. They wanted Mueller to show himself. I get that now.

Lucid-Ideas said...

From AceOfSpades comments yesterday and viral on Twitter:

"Old conventional wisdom: Mueller left phone in Oval Office to spy on Trump.

New conventional wisdom: Mueller left phone in the Oval Office because he forgot that he had a phone."


I quite literally fell out of my desk chair. Never before was so little done, by so few, over something so tawdry.

I await the IG's report into how this all got started in September.

INDICTMENTS!!!

Comanche Voter said...

He sold (or should I say further soiled) his reputation for a mess of pottage. And the reputation wasn't that good after putting innocent people in jail in his Massachusetts US attorney role, and pursuing the wrong man for 7 years in the anthrax case.

Yesterday was not a good day for Mueller.

Birkel said...

Zebley? He might have been the office manager.
Weismann was in charge of the legal work.
The Democratics assembled Bob Mueller.

Bob Mueller did not assemble the team.

Democratics have out-kicked their coverage.

Marshall Rose said...

Readers of Conservative Treehouse are well aware of all of this.

n.n said...

Isn't it conventional for clerks to do the yeoman's work?

Mueller is keeping something behind a wall of privacy. Perhaps his role in the Democrats' multi-trimester witch hunts and warlock trials is weighing on his conscience.

readering said...

Ken Starr didn't write the Starr Report. All these government reports written by staff. (I worked on one in the eighties.) Not that Mueller shouldn't have been better prepared to testify. I guess he's testified so often, but it was a tell when he announced shortly beforehand that an aide would be sworn in.

Kevin said...

Why did Mueller accept being used as a figurehead?

Why, for the good of the country of course!

He was assured Trump was guilty and this would secure his place in history.

Lucid-Ideas said...

$50 million is a hefty chunk o' change, but just the right amount to keep swamp-dwellers and swamp-dweller wannabes who bet the wrong horse stuffing their crops and licking their wounds.

Mueller - like a ship's figurehead - was the pretty face, the ship's 'honor', smiling and plowing through the proverbial waves at 12 knots while the rest of the crew hacked away at the rest of him for additional planking to shore up a mast they didn't have.

They realized they didn't have enough wood for a mast, but enough for a very long plank. He let them make him walk it.

LOOK OUT BELOW!

Kevin said...

Ken Starr didn't write the Starr Report. All these government reports written by staff.

Yes, but Starr actually read the report before he affixed his name to it.

Mueller can't even be sure why his own report didn't come to a conclusion on Section II.

GatorNavy said...

Mr Mueller was a shavetail who got a piece of tin for doing his job. Thousands of other shavetails were far braver and accomplished greater deeds of valor and received no recognition.

Mr Mueller persecuted an innocent man, Steve Hatfil, far after his innocence was proven and the government was forced to pay restitution.

Mr Mueller allowed inocent men to suffer in prison to cover for a known killer.

Fuck Mr Mueller and all that have covered for him all these years, may they all burn in hell.

BarrySanders20 said...

It's a hoax wrapped in a joke inside a swamp.

MayBee said...

Mueller is keeping something behind a wall of privacy.

Yeah, it's interesting how happily the press accepts that Mueller simply cannot talk about the origins of the investigation, etc. For some reason he isn't being called a stone waller.

Birkel said...

readering wishes to "broaden" the focus so as to remove the spotlight from the illegal acts of the Obama Administration.

The spying and wiretapping should be revealed.
Precious Democratics need to be prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison.

Kevin said...

Bob Mueller did not assemble the team.

That was made clear yesterday.

14 were sent over from Justice.

What was Bob to do?

MayBee said...

Ken Starr didn't write the Starr Report. All these government reports written by staff. (I worked on one in the eighties.) Not that Mueller shouldn't have been better prepared to testify.

It's not that he didn't write the report. It's that he apparently didn't run the investigation.
But you know who did? The guy who represented Hillary's IT

MayBee said...

...Hillary's IT guy.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Marine analogies are apt when dealing with Marines. Mueller's problem wasn't that he wasn't wearing his 'quatrefoil', it's that he put up the wrong flags. They thought it was a target.

But I don't buy this 'he didn't know they were using him'. He had to have known and not that long into the investigation either. What I saw yesterday was sad, like a dog that had been beaten finally into submission by a herd of cats.

MayBee said...

I don't know how any American isn't upset that people from the opposing party's presidential campaign team were spied on by the administration.
THAT is dangerous territory, mostly because it would be so easy and tempting to do. You are being led down the path that Russia invaded us by placing Facebook ads "dividing" the country. You are being led away from an absolute truth. Do you want Trump to get FISA warrants on the Dem nominee?
Please answer this question, all of you who are not bothered.

Bob Smith said...

The closest thing we’ve had to objective reporting about Mueller was the story in the LA Times almost two years ago. Not an honest man.

Michael K said...

Blogger Marshall Rose said...
Readers of Conservative Treehouse are well aware of all of this.


First place I look every day after Insty.

Mueller was cover for Weissmann, who should have been disbarred after the Arthur Anderson case,.

Narr said...

I was checking in at Althouse infrequently at the time the Mueller appointment (and for many years before). Someone on another thread went back to see who said what, which is interesting.

I would have to be rated "Cynical about the collusion charges, Naive about Mueller." Boy have I learned!

I told even my most lefty friends that there was nothing behind the collusion tale, besides continued manipulation of the Left by Moscow.

Narr
50/50

Richard Dolan said...

"Why did Mueller accept being used as a figurehead? His dignity and honor were appropriated (or handed over)."

Good question for Jim Comey and Rob Rosenstein, too, since they knew Mueller well and (presumably) knew what they wanted (Comey) and what they were getting (Rosenstein).

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hiccup

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Hillary Hacks ran the show.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

All of this. all of it - Revenge for Hillary's loss.

Dave Begley said...

I don't know why this is so hard to understand, but this thing is the biggest scandal in American history.

Hillary had collected bribes for years from various foreign countries and persons. She needed to win. In her absolute idiocy, she stores the evidence of her crimes on an unsecure private server.

Comey and the FBI point shave and sandbag the investigation of her crimes. Immunity handed out like candy in return for nothing. The details of her criminal bribery scheme are on her private server but the FBI doesn't seize it with a search warrant and then allows Hillary to destroy evidence.

Comey decides he's the prosecutor and exonerates HRC.

Hillary pays Fusion GPS (who dat?) big bucks to collect Russian lies on Trump. The money is washed through the Perkins Coie law firm. Steele hired.

Steele takes the Russian lies and tries to peddle them to the Press in order to insure Hillary's win, that is, influence the election. It doesn't really work.

The FBI takes the unverified lies and gets a FISA court spying warrant on Carter Page. The Clinton campaign used the power of the government to spy on Trump. Trump Tower was tapped.

Samantha Power and others unmask US citizens looking for dirt on Trump.

Trump wins. Surprise of the century. Hillary decides the day of the loss to blame it on "Russian interference" and tries to delegitimize Trump's win. That goes on for 2.5 years. Huge distraction from her crimes.

Comey needs to cover for his crimes so he leaks stuff and gets his buddy Mueller appointed Special Counsel.

Comey is fired. Rightly so.

Mueller hires Zebly, Wiesmann and other Hillary Dems to take down Trump. In the process, they ruin General Flynn. But it doesn't work.

Sessions out as AG. Barr in. Barr appoints US Attorney Dunham to get to the bottom of this.

The above are the main points. Lots of Dems going to jail. Dem party will be ruined for years. Trump drains the Swamp.

Rick said...

All these government reports written by staff.


Staff should be directed. They may write the words but the ideas, flow, and conclusions should be the director. It likely is rare for government to function like this but that's a symptom of its dysfunction, not a standard to hold up for the Mueller Report.

Ralph L said...

So who did assemble his staff and (un)vet them for conflicts and bias?
Who kicked out Strzok and his lover Page, and why them but not the others?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Staff. Also known as Hillary hacks and butthurt government whores.

Birkel said...

Dave Begley,

Until you admit Mueller was hired by Rosenstein, Weissmann, Zebley, Strozk, Page, and the rest...

Then your summary is deficient.

Owen said...

The SC mandate was given by Sessions to Mueller. He personally was authorized to act, including by selecting subordinates and managing their work for him and thus for the A-G. It was a chain of authority which passed through Robert Mueller and no other person. When he ceased to exercise good judgment and effective oversight of the work, the chain did not pass to another such as Weissmann. The chain snapped.

There was a distinct moment in time when the SC project lost its jurisdiction. When the A-G and Congress should have been told that Captain Bob had (mentally; professionally) died at his post, and the ship needed a new leader or some distinct instruction. It could not simply carry on without a clear assignment of authority to Mueller’s successor. It was no longer legitimate or authorized to do a damned thing except head for home port.

Insofar as that point came and went, we need to know who failed to send the distress signals, who failed to acknowledge them, who continued to drive the ship onward (boarding and sinking other vessels), who continued to submit invoices for unauthorized work (class, is this not a False Claims Act case?), and much much more. So many questions!

Mike Sylwester said...

Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller began his testimony by warning the US population that Russia was meddling in our elections.

None of the subsequent questions posed to Mueller addressed that threat. Nobody asked what actions might be taken by Congress or the Justice Department or the FBI in order to deal with that Russian threat to our elections.

Everyone in the Congressional hearing room understood that Mueller's expressed hysteria about our elections is absurd nonsense.

Instead of asking about the Russian threat to our elections, the Democrat representatives asked Mueller only about President Trump's alleged attempts to obstruct justice during Mueller's bogus "investigation" of Russian meddling.

Yancey Ward said...

I wrote in a comment yesterday that Mueller was the one subpoenaed by the House because he was the only member of his team that was nominally a "Republican". They would have been content to subpoena Rosenstein, too, but there was a problem- Rosenstein stood right there with Bill Barr and torpedoed the obstruction theories outlined in the report- thus Rosenstein could never give the Democrats what they needed.

I am quite sure Andrew Weissmann would have been more than willing to come before the House and give Nadless and Schitt whatever sound bite they wanted, but it would have been worthless coming from a Clinton donor and an attendee of Clinton's election celebrat......er.....funeral.

In the end, I think the Democrats thought that it was worth the risk- not calling Mueller wasn't going to lead to impeachment either, so they rolled the dice and came up craps.

SDaly said...

Oddly, the portrait of Mueller as an enfeebled old man used by his underlings is an effort to *protect* his reputation. It is orchestrated to deflect from how Mueller himself was appointed.

Someone yesterday compared it to Mafia bosses who show up in court in a wheelcare to gain sympathy.

Sally327 said...

I think this investigation cost something like $25 or $30 Million, which one wonders if it would have cost more or less if Mueller had been fit for command. Let's see, Jeff Sessions recused himself so it was Rod Rosenstein who appointed Mueller. Did he know Mueller was past it? Was this all plotted out back in the beginning? Building in reasons why the investigation could be discredited, why its result could be dismissed. I would think so except I don't think the people running the show in Washington are that smart.

walter said...

"When he ceased to exercise good judgment and effective oversight of the work, the chain did not pass to another such as Weissmann. The chain snapped."
--
To borrow from another post, the dogs were unleashed to run around pooping and biting.

The Mouse that Roared said...

Dave Begley said...
Lots of Dems going to jail. Dem party will be ruined for years. Trump drains the Swamp.

From your keyboard to God's ears.

Good bullet-point timeline. Hopefully a sizeable percentage of Americans come to understand this. It's Trump/some Republicans vs. The Media/Democrats at this point. With Trump's record against them so far, I am hopeful that he can prevail and make that happen.

bagoh20 said...

A much more accurate title would be "The Clinton Staff Report"

We report - you decide.

Big Mike said...

Oh c’mon Dumbocrats. Go ahead! Impeach him! Let’s see whether you can assemble 218 votes for a bill of impeachment. I don’t think you can.

Nonapod said...

Was Weissman was Mueller's puppeteer, his Wormtongue, or his keeper it certainly doesn't speak well of Robert Mueller. I almost feel sorry for him... almost. Whether he had any real agency in the investigation or if he was just a figurehead, he still theoretically signed off on everything.

Also, he's record is far from spotless. Remember that time he let two innocent people rot in jail for years and years to cover up an FBI whoopsie doodle? Or that time he drove a suspect to suicide? Good stuff.

I remember when Mueller was appointed, he was praised effusively around all corners of the MSM and Social Media. He was protrayed as beyond reproach, bursting with integrity and honor, a total straight shooter. Now he's become a laughing stock. Maybe it's fitting, I don't know.

bleh said...

As frustrating as it's been to watch the country torn apart by hysterical, phony allegations of treasonous collusion, it was sad to watch Mueller up there looking lost and confused. And really, 74 isn't that old. I thought he looked a bit feeble at his resignation press conference, so yesterday wasn't a total shocker to me. Still, I thought his performance a couple of months ago could've been fatigue, and that in the meantime he would've vacationed and recharged his batteries.

So his performance yesterday seemed to confirm there's something else going on. He's old and lost a step. He should've refused to testify, honestly. What would the Democrats do, hold him in contempt? Unlikely. It's a little disgusting, I have to say, how some Trump loyalists have been gloating and celebrating. To me, it was just sad to watch Mueller take a hit to his reputation in real time. While he may have been mostly a figurehead, I think there's a good chance his mere presence on the team kept his subordinates in line. Mueller is still lucid and intelligent, if a bit tired seeming. He would've known when his staff was going astray or veering into dangerous territory. In other words, even if he had no role in the report, he may have kept the investigation mostly on track throughout. That's important.

People are acting like this was Weekend at Bernie's.

I feel bad for him and his family to have to see all this speculation that he's demented or sick or whatever.

rehajm said...

Lots of Dems going to jail

While we’re young...

Craig said...

The Democrats are Wile E. Coyote, and Trump is the Roadrunner. The Dems bought an ACME Impeachment Kit, and yesterday it blew up in their face.

Sebastian said...

What Begley said.

But he left out John Brennan's role: the deep state Dems were coming at Trump from different angles, not just peddling Steele and his Russian disinformation but also running direct spy-ops at Papadopoulos.

But the Mueller fiasco brings us back to an old commentariat chestnut: why did the anti-Trump progs do it, when they knew they had so little to work with, when they full well knew who Mifsud and Downer were, when they knew Steele had nothin'?

The first steps, surely, were intended to prevent Trump's election by dishing dirt. But then the manufacture of the investigation was a tremendous gamble. So, why?

One favorite theory around here has been that it wasn't about Trump: it was about Hillary (and Obama): the investigation was the cover-up. A second theory is that the process is the punishment: the deep state hamstrung Trump and hurt his allies, actual and potential. The third is that nothing is something, provided that the MSM and the Dems will do your bidding--hence the obstruction narrative after collusion collapses.

And perhaps the gamble is not a real gamble when the Brennans, Comeys, and Weissmans et al. need not fear accountability. Perhaps they figure they could get away with anything -- and perhaps they still will, even as Mueller's performance draws back the curtain just a bit further.

Anyway, moral of the story: we cynical conservatives were still not cynical enough.

bagoh20 said...

"Trump drains the Swamp."

I sure hope so, but I'm not confident.
Even Nostradamus never could have guessed this would be how it happened. Trump is the bait, and the swamp creatures bit hard - the whole swamp full, and they're still chomping on it.

FullMoon said...

Someone else commented that Barr read the report and created a summary in 48 hours.
Mueller has it somewhere on his reading list

bagoh20 said...

You know, Trump really could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue now. If Fox News didn't report it, nobody would believe it.

Yancey Ward said...

The elderly can decline quickly- I have seen it with my own eyes. It is entirely possible that the Mueller of yesterday is a shadow of the man from May 2017. However, all in all, I think it more plausible that Mueller's deficits were part of the reason he was selected in the first place- it makes him more malleable by the staff who, it is now completely obvious, self-selected themselves to be on the Special Counsel team. I think if Mueller had been in complete control of his mental faculties, he never would have allowed the team to be staffed by the people who ended up on it, and, if for no other reason, that getting rid of Trump required the team to be ideologically balanced so that a criminal finding could be accepted on a bipartisan basis. As staffed, no criminal finding was going to be accepted that had broad support. As it turns out, even a biased staff couldn't make up a crime or coerce someone into lying about one against Trump.

FullMoon said...

Lots of Dems going to jail
I will believe it when I see it.

So far, book deals, cable news shows and fake 'go fund me' payouts seem to be the norm.

rcocean said...

Francis Mueller -he's very popular. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads--they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.

I'm not surprised he was a figure head. Remember the Comey's story about AG Ashcroft, and Gonzales/Andy Card? According to Comey, he told Mueller to meet him at the Hospital and Mueller dropped everything and did so. At no time, in the whole incident did Mueller "Take charge" or say anything significant - he just supported Comey and did whatever Comey wanted.

Hardly, the mark of a "Great Man".

Bruce Hayden said...

@Owen - AG Sessions recused himself (under pressure from the Dems/MSM) in all things related to the Russian collusion investigation. This was because, as a Senator he met (along with other Senators) the Russian ambassador at least twice in the summer of 2016. Something routinely done by members of the Armed Services Committee. Once, he was in a gaggle of other Senators. The other, he had staff present. He was convinced by the MSM to recuse himself for appearances sake. It wasn’t long after that that Comey was fired, and his deputy, Andrew McCabe, took the SC paperwork, that his people (Strzok, Page, etc) had ready to go, across the street to AG Sessions’ deputy, DAG Rosenstein, acting as AG in Russian collusion matters. The rest is history.

I should note that Mueller’s lead prosecutor, Andrew Weissman, had been introduced into McCabe’s cabal the previous August (2016) by his boss, AAG Bruce Ohr, when he introduced McCabe’s cabal to two guys his wife was working with: Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson, head of Fusion GPS (funded by Crooked Hillary and her financially captive DNC).

gilbar said...

Let’s see whether you can assemble 218 votes for a bill of impeachment. I don’t think you can.

I hadn't thought of that before
What is the only thing that would be Worse for the dems, than impeaching Trump? Trying and Failing to impeach Trump. Then, they're not just vicious vengeful fools; they're incompetent vicious vengeful fools

ThunderChick said...

Mueller is a lawyer and I guarantee he knew exactly what was going on during the Trump witch hunt. He let the disgraceful Weissmann run the show and I'm sure, collected a nice paycheck for serving as the SC. He is one of the bottom dwellers in the swamp.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hillary's corrupt tentacles spread far and wide. Like her fat ass.

rcocean said...

When have we seen any support for the "Myth of Mueller". The great man who is the soul of honor and competence?

Only from the pens of the MSM, and the mouths of people like Mueller. I follow politics and i didn't know him from Jack Shit until the Comey kerfuffle. he was the FBI Director under Bush/Obama? Who knew?

Mike Sylwester said...

The purpose of appointing a Special Counsel is to assure the public that a controversial issue will be investigated and reported in a non-partisan manner that will be somewhat independent of the established bureaucracy.

This appointment, however, was preposterous. The former FBI Director was appointed, and his staff was filled with current DOJ/FBI officials. A key example is Peter Strzok, the FBI official who already had been and would have continued to manage the investigation even if a Special Counsel had not been appointed.

The Special Counsel's staff and extremely partisan, and the investigation was extremely tendentious.

The investigation was conducted secretly, and the secrecy remains after the investigation is concluded. Reasonable questions about the investigation are dismissed, because they are not in anyone's "purview".

Neither Rod Rosenstein nor Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller gave a rat's ass about the consideration that a Special Counsel investigation is supposed to be perceived as non-partisan and fair by the entire population.

The DOJ/FBI leadership has been conducting itself like the Mafia.

SDaly said...

Mueller certainly didn't seem feeble at his press conference a few months ago. I wonder if the Epstein matter blowing up in between that press conference is relevant here. Maybe yesterday was a show of submission by Mueller to Trump -- making the Democrats look bad, undermining his own investigation, and giving Trump breathing room -- as an offering to try to deflect the Epstein investigation away from Mueller's role as head of the FBI at the time.

MayBee said...

Mike Sylwester said..
None of the subsequent questions posed to Mueller addressed that threat. Nobody asked what actions might be taken by Congress or the Justice Department or the FBI in order to deal with that Russian threat to our elections.

One guy did...GOP from Texas Hurt or Hurst.

Mueller had no idea. He thought something inter-agency would be good.

rcocean said...

This guy hires 14 Pro_Hillary democrats for his team, and then gets all self-righteous when asked about it.

"I don't ask about their politics - only their competence" Mueller thundered. Except this wasn't a criminal investigation it was a political investigation. And politics matter. Mueller was going after some Tax fraud where only need is someone hard working and technically competent.

rcocean said...

"Mueller certainly didn't seem feeble at his press conference a few months ago."

You mean where he got up and read from a prepared text, and took no questions? I

Bill Harshaw said...

Do you think Trump writes his speeches (not the rants to rallies, but the ones where he attempts to be presidential)? Do you think Obama wrote his speeches? Do you think GWB wrote his?

TJM said...

Is Inga the Loon still pushing that yesterday was bad for President Trump?

chuck said...

> even if he had no role in the report, he may have kept the investigation mostly on track throughout.

The investigation was off track from the start, the people brought on board were almost all partisan Democrats. The failure to investigate the Clinton involvement was a glaring omission. I don't think Mueller did anything to keep things on track. He should never have taken on the assignment. Blame Sessions and Rosenstein if you are looking for the fundamental failures but don't blame the rest of us for noticing Mueller's incapacity. Do you think that was a secret? In DC?

Birkel said...

Mueller was hired to head an existent team.

This FACT seems to escape the attention of too many of you.

Seeing Red said...

Do you think Obama wrote his speeches?

IIIIIII

How hard is that?

tim in vermont said...

Bleach Bit and Hammers is the new “Mick."

Bay Area Guy said...

Compare Ken Starr to Bob Mueller. They're about the same age.

Starr can articulate the substance, detail, legal nuances and context of the Clinton scandal/impeachment - with ease, 20+ years after the fact.

Mueller didn't reach a decision on obstruction, can't testify without an aide, doesn't know key points in his own report, and refuses to stray beyond the narrow confines of his narrow report, obviously written by others.

Quite embarrassing.

rcocean said...

MIke is absolutely right. And Trump had every reason to be upset. Comey's firing is part of the investigation, so you hire Comey's FRIEND to head up the investigation. You put someone who was denied the job of FBI director as the Head of the investigation?

Trump was perfectly correct that Mueller should be fired and replaced with someone with less conflicts. but of course all his lawyers wimped out and wouldn't do it. I'm looking forward to Trump's book where he explains why he didn't fire Sessions in the Summer of 2017, because he constantly REFUSED to help Trump.

Yancey Ward said...

Rosenstein should have set a time limit of 6 months- if you don't come up with evidence supporting collusion with the Russians, you shut it down. As it turned out, Mueller and his team pretty much stopped investigating the collusion angle in that first 6 months- they only returned to it in the Roger Stone/Wikileaks theories in September of 2018, and I think that return was a direct result of Barr's memo to Rosenstein- Mueller and his team now knew that obstruction wasn't going to work without proving the underlying criminal predicate. They failed, and I could have told them they would fail because I actually read both Wikileaks' and Roger Stone's Twitter feeds during the Summer/Fall of 2016- I knew that Stone had literally no contact with Assange because Stone was either reposting Wikileak's own tweets, or he was wrong every time he made a prediction about Wikileaks- only every single time. And yet, if you read the Mueller Report, you get the feeling that the staff only read Roger Stone's tweets in isolation, not noticing that the man was completely full of shit.

traditionalguy said...

John Nolte has an article on Mueller that I could have written . He is a dirty cop that was unable to withstand an uncorrupt power in the room that challenge him. He is as corrupt as Hillary.

rcocean said...

Stork and Page just slide right over from the FBI to the Special Counsel Team. And Stork wasn't fired until August 2017. And we didn't know he was fired until a year later.

Steven said...

Remember in May when Bob Barr described Mueller's letter to him as "snitty" and probably not even written by Mueller but by his staff? Barr said that when he talked to Mueller on the phone Mueller didn't object to the way Barr released the report. Everyone (media, congressmen) gave Barr a hard time about that and said that Barr was being disingenuous. Now it seems obvious that it was true.

rcocean said...

If the purpose of the probe was Russian Collusion then everything that happened after January 2017, should have been OFF THE TABLE. Rosenstein could've easily limited Mueller to looking at collusion. Instead, he was given a blank check.

Because the real purpose wasn't to investigate Russian Collusion, it wast to GET TRUMP.

Anonymous said...

Is Inga the Loon still pushing that yesterday was bad for President Trump?

#waitingformaddowtoweighin
#absolutelydelusional
#ingastrong

Seeing Red said...

A smart person reads the speech beforehand to make corrections.

Like RR did with Tear Down This Wall. I think it was Powell that kept taking it out and he kept putting it back in.

tim in vermont said...

NYT: “I thought *everybody* knew this was a banana republic."

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Mueller certainly didn't seem feeble at his press conference a few months ago.

Really? I remember thinking that he did seem somewhat feeble. Nothing like what I expected. Especially after hearing about what a superhero he was.

Brian said...

so they rolled the dice and came up craps.

Which is why I figured they could never actually call Mueller. It was a bluff. They were hoping that Trump would have forbidden it. But Trump has balls of steel. He just doesn't care.

And now they are even in a worse place. They underestimated their hole cards.

rcocean said...

100-1 all the bullshit about Mueller will be proven to be false, just like it was with Comey.

tcrosse said...

It reminds me of Vinnie "The Chin" Gigante, the Mafia boss who feigned insanity.

Michael K said...

but the ones where he attempts to be presidential)?

Well, we know who you voted for. Most of Trump's speeches sound like him but good speechwriters learn to sound like their boss.

You could read "Nixon's White House Wars" by Pat Buchanan, to learn how speechwriters really function.

But you won't.

Bay Area Guy said...

@gilbar,

"What is the only thing that would be Worse for the dems, than impeaching Trump? Trying and Failing to impeach Trump. Then, they're not just vicious vengeful fools; they're incompetent vicious vengeful fools."

I buy this and think this is where Nancy Pants is. There's 41 somewhat moderate House Dems who won in Trump districts in 2018.

These folks are drowned out by AOC and the Jihad Squad. But they have voting strength, don't wanna lose their seats, and, thus, don't wanna vote for a bullshit impeachment. Democracy in action!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Were "The Hillary Staff" and Rachel Maddow sap-sucking each other with bogus info?

You bet they were.

Jim at said...

Ken Starr didn't write the Starr Report.

So that's the new spin?
Fine. You go with that.

Achilles said...

Readers of "Trashy" websites already knew all of this Ann.

Have fun in your little bubble.

WisRich said...

Birkel said...
Mueller was hired to head an existent team.

This FACT seems to escape the attention of too many of you.

7/25/19, 1:19 PM
----------

That's what I'm reading. In addition, that team, if I understand correctly, was hired by none other than Andrew McCabe.

Bay Area Guy said...

"Mueller was hired to head an existent team."

True with a quick edit:

"Mueller was hired AS FIGUREHEAD OF an existent team."



Hagar said...

With all the anchors - including Bret Baier - still going on about the Russian "collusion< and "election interference," I was beginning to think I must have missed something, but Mueller confirmed it: they still mean the release to Wikileaks of Hillary! and DNC's emails though both of these acts have long been shown much more convincingly to have come from our native anti-Clinton underground - and probably of the left-wing variety at that.

I think the Russian intelligence agencies certainly must be sniffing around our election procedures - not to mention the Chinese - to see what mischief they can cause, but I don't think they had anything much, if anything, to do with what the Democrats are screaming about.

And the Russians and the Chinese are only our "major power" wannabe competitors so far, while we are actually at war with the Shia and Sunni extremist factions of the Middle East.

What happened to Hillary's IT managers? Were those guys just private tech-savvy "immigrants" or, say, Iranian operatives?

bleh said...

"Mueller certainly didn't seem feeble at his press conference a few months ago."

Seriously, watch it again.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mueller was the token "republican" giving cover to the long list of democratic-staff whores seeking revenge for Hillary.

but but but - Republican.

rcocean said...

Quit calling it a "Press Conference"! All Mueller did was READ FROM A TEXT. He did not answer questions.

Hagar said...

And, oh yeah, whoever provided the material to Wikileaks, we owe them a big thank you!

Bruce Hayden said...

“This appointment, however, was preposterous. The former FBI Director was appointed, and his staff was filled with current DOJ/FBI officials. A key example is Peter Strzok, the FBI official who already had been and would have continued to manage the investigation even if a Special Counsel had not been appointed. ”

Keep this in mind. Strzok and Page were involved in the drafting of the SC paperwork. McCabe sat on it until Comey was fired, making him acting FBI Director, at which time, he took it over to DAG Rosenstein at Main Justice across the street. The SC paperwork had been ready to go for some time. Strzok ad Page are suitably happy, in their text messages back and forth, when it finally came time to pull the pin. Throw I their relationship with Weissman (and all their relationships with Steele and Simpson) and the conclusion is fairly obvious.

But keep in mind too, that probably the main purpose of the Mueller investigation was to keep the details of Spygate out of the public eye, and away fro the (then) Republican Congress (and even from OIG). The same people (McCabe, Strzok Page etc) who had used the Steele Dossier to support FISA warrants to spy on at least Carter Page (and through the two hop rule, most of the Trump campaign and transition) were the exact same people who set up the Mueller SC investigation. And it worked - when they were all brought before Congressional committees to testify about Spygate, in late 2018, they all refused to answer questions about Spygate because it involved an ongoing criminal investigation - the Mueller investigation, that they, themselves, had set up.

Jersey Fled said...

Going back to David Begley's timeline, the first seven bullets happened before the election when everyone on earth though Hillary would walk to a win. This never made sense to me. Why break so many laws and put so many people in legal jeapardy to win an election that was already won? Too much happened before the big surprise of 11/11 to have simply snapped int place on 11/12 over Shake Shack milkshakes.

My theory is that Hillary being the vindictive bitch that she is always planned to put Trump and everyone around him in jail ONCE THE ELECTION WAS WON! Imagine what things would be like had Hillary not only had the partisan left and the media on her side, but all of the levers of power of the federal government at her disposal, completely unchecked by anyone.

Trump would not have had a chance.

Yancey Ward said...

Yes, McCabe was the acting FBI Director during the time of the creation of Mueller's team. You can be certain that he approved every single FBI agent assigned, and had strong input on all the other DoJ personnel assigned, but there I think Weissmann was primarily the guy since he was the most senior of the DoJ people on the team- he was selected first, then he selected everyone else.

Eleanor said...

It's apparent if you listen to Mueller's testimony yesterday, he's suffering from some cognitive impairment. It has probably got worse over the length of the investigation, but the people who pressured for him to get the position probably knew it and knew how to make it work for them. As far as Mueller himself goes, most people go through a period of denial, particularly people who have been high-functioning. Being asked to take this position probably reinforced his denial there was something not right. Getting up, putting on his suit, and going to a nice office probably made him feel like he's still highly competent. I'm guessing after yesterday he's going to need some help adjusting to reality. Love him or hate him, what he's going through is tough. I'm not going to dump on him.

Beasts of England said...

'This would seem too cruel, but considering the massive power entrusted to him, it is gentle'

Too gentle, for sure. I hope he spends his golden years enjoying the same kind of lawfare his team deployed upon those they persecuted. Predicate crime? We don't need no steenkin' predicate crime... Vámanos!!

Yancey Ward said...

"Why break so many laws and put so many people in legal jeapardy to win an election that was already won?

Maybe they saw the real internal polls? During the election campaign, I never understood Trump's focus on WI, MI, MN, and PA, but I can now see that he had access to better data than I had at the time- I was forced to rely on Democrat media polls which are just about the only public ones available.

doctrev said...

https://www.c-span.org/video/?115500-1/impeachment-inquiry-pt-2

Back when men were men, and women were slutty. The difference between Starr and Mueller are night and day. Only the utter shamelessness of the Clintons made the idea of staying in office possible: yet I am grateful, for they sowed the seeds of the total nationalist takeover.

tim in vermont said...

“they still mean the release to Wikileaks of Hillary! “

How dare anybody tell American voters the truth!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I recall Rachel Maddow losing her mind when McCabe was fired.

rcocean said...

The main purpose of the Mueller investigation was NOT to cover up for Comey. It was to dig through EVERYTHING Trump and his associates did from the Campaign all the way through May 2017, and try to find something Criminal that could be used to GET TRUMP.

That was also the purpose of the surveillance of the Trump campaign by Comey. It was just an EXCUSE. And the purpose of the interview with Trump was to spring a Perjury Trap. Cohen and Manafort were treated roughly because the purpose was to FLIP Them to get dirt on Trump.

Just change the name from the Mueller investigation to the GET TRUMP investigation.

tim in vermont said...

“"Why break so many laws and put so many people in legal jeapardy to win an election that was already won?”

Why break into the Watergate Hotel when you are on track to win 49 states.

rcocean said...

Now we know why Mueller never talked to the Press in 2 years. Unlike Ken Star and Walsh and Fitzgerald.

Original Mike said...

"Why did Mueller accept being used as a figurehead?"

How much was he paid?

tim in vermont said...

Imagine what things would be like had Hillary not only had the partisan left and the media on her side, but all of the levers of power of the federal government at her disposal, completely unchecked by anyone.

“From your lips to God’s ear” - Harvey Weinstein

Beasts of England said...

There is little doubt that Trump was going to be investigated for some Russian collusion crap - win or lose. He risked his freedom and fortune to run for president. And I think he knew that.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Carpe Donktum -
quick! Twitter and Godgle and Assbook and Youtube- you better ban! We can't have heresy around here.

Clyde said...

If you haven't seen this one yet, enjoy!

Hitler Discovers Robert Mueller Knows Nothing

"Horowitz knows everything. Durham knows everything. Barr knows everything."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

...Even heresy in his own bumbling republican words.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim in vermont said...

“He risked his freedom and fortune to run for president. And I think he knew that.”

I don’t. But I think he figured it out pretty quick and was probably shocked to see his old pal Hillary turn on him like that.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

There is no one - NO ONE - more corrupt that Hillary Rodham Clinton. That she isn't in prison is a clue that we are living in Rachel Maddow's banana republic.

MayBee said...

From everybody knowing Trump shouldn't do a speech in front of the CIA wall of stars, to everybody knowing it isn't ok for President Trump to meet alone with FBI director Comey, to everybody knowing Sessions met with a Russian even thought he denied it, to everybody knowing Mueller would steer the ship of partisan yet professional investigators-- it just feels to me that everybody suddenly knows things that aren't true, and then we are rubes if we don't know how true it is, then we always always always find out the opposite was true.

Do the media figures that push this stuff think we do not have memories or what?

bagoh20 said...

" It's a little disgusting, I have to say, how some Trump loyalists have been gloating and celebrating. To me, it was just sad to watch Mueller take a hit to his reputation in real time. "

It was sad to see anyone subjected to that embarrassment just for growing old, but this is a man who chose to ruin the lives of many for political reasons, tried to assist the overthrow of an election, picked political sides in an incredibly important investigation, and stretched it out to squeeze more money from it while damaging a President and with him all the lost effort and momentum he represented in American policy abroad and at home. The damage is incalculable to every American and our allies in lost opportunity over two full years, and for what?

It is sad that a man can ruin himself so thoroughly and then look bad doing it, but he's not the real victim in all this. We are.

rcocean said...

Watching CNN and MNBC it seems the MSM already has their slanted headlines:

Republicans pounce. R's Celebrate Mueller's Testimony.

tim in vermont said...

I think there's a good chance his mere presence on the team kept his subordinates in line. Mueller is still lucid and intelligent, if a bit tired seeming. He would've known when his staff was going astray or veering into dangerous territory. In other words, even if he had no role in the report, he may have kept the investigation mostly on track throughout. That's important.

Complete bullshit. Obviously his staff was never kept “in line.” If you think he is still lucid and intelligent, watch him forget that he was originally appointed by Reagan.

https://youtu.be/C65RZZzM4As

If you don’t think “We can’t prove he’s innocent so we are going to smear him as if that says he’s guilty” is dangerous territory, you are in banana republic land.

“ he may have kept the investigation mostly on track throughout”

Did he? When did he know there was no evidence of collusion? Why did he keep it going for months and months hoping to provoke an obstruction charge? Was his purview to get to the bottom of "collusion” or to get something, anything on Trump.

Democrats at the FBI chose this doddering fool for their own reasons, be angry at them, not us. It’s not like he reads the internet.

narciso said...

the silent coup theory, was john dean was concerned about his girlfriend, Maureen biner, who had connections of an unsavory sort, remember he picked the plumbers, now he may told them some other reasons, re larry O'Brien and the hughes loan to Nixon's brother, or mcgoverns ties to cuba, apparently it was a setup as McCord who was the security chief, also worked for the company's office of security,

Bilwick said...

Maybe it should be called the "Barack-Hillary Report"? Just spitballing, of course.

rcocean said...

I say it for one last time. We were told again and again back in 2016 and early 2017 that Comey was a "honorable man" and a "Life Long Republican" and the soul of virtue.

And finally we discovered the truth.

I fully expect that when we discover the truth about Mueller we will find he is nether a "mainstream Republican" nor a man of "Honor".

doctrev said...

bagoh20 said...

It was sad to see anyone subjected to that embarrassment just for growing old, but this is a man who chose to ruin the lives of many for political reasons, tried to assist the overthrow of an election, picked political sides in an incredibly important investigation, and stretched it out to squeeze more money from it while damaging a President and with him all the lost effort and momentum he represented in American policy abroad and at home. The damage is incalculable to every American and our allies in lost opportunity over two full years, and for what?

7/25/19, 2:10 PM

Mueller's had 74 years to learn that if you're going to play the game, don't whine when you so obviously fail at it. May this be the first of his many, many embarrassments. Mental decline? Good. He won't recognize how uncomfortable prison is. Anyone who calls my conduct disgusting by comparison can go fuck themselves with a razor dildo: me and mine are hyped for blood, and we're probably going to get it.

MayBee said...

I feel bad for him and his family to have to see all this speculation that he's demented or sick or whatever.

Do you know how much it cost people to get lawyers so they could have legal advice when they appeared in front of the SC? What do you think Papadopolous or Carter Page or Jerome Corsi think? You don't have to like any of those people to realize Mueller could have made other choices.

narciso said...

it costs a few million even if you win, if you lose probably your liberty for a certain period of time, disbarment in the case of lewis libby, a victim of Mueller's associate, pat fitzgerald,



https://theamericanchronicle.blogspot.com/2014/03/was-watergate-really-about-sex.html

eddie willers said...

Why break into the Watergate Hotel when you are on track to win 49 states.

That really was so unfathomable that I buy into G. Gordon Liddy's story of the break-in being to remove evidence of John Dean's wife, Mo, being a hooker.

narciso said...

According to paul sperry, joseph farah, had a stroke from his run in, with Mueller's men, Jerome corsi was less physically inconvenienced,

MayBee said...

Exactly, narciso. Someone said yesterday you don't get obstruction charges if there's no underlying crime, but Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby can attest otherwise (all thanks to Comey). At the very least, this is what they wanted to do to Trump. Thus they "we can't exonerate him of obstruction" line.

285exp said...

Ralph, the reason only Strzok and Page were taken off the investigation is that they were the only ones stupid enough to document their bias in thousands of texts. The rest of the Hillary lovers could only be accused of bias, those two dumbasses proved theirs.

If Trump had ordered the whole thing shut down, he would have been toast. The Democrats and Socialists would have hammered him the whole rest of his term, saying that it proved his guilt. Now, after 3 years of investigating, all they’ve got is a ridiculous obstruction allegation for a crime that didn’t exist, and the investigation was conducted by obviously partisan Democrats, so they can’t plausibly claim that was rigged, like Hillary’s was. People can complain that it should never have happened, and that’s true, but the only way for the whole stupid Russian collusion story to be discredited was for the investigation to go the way it did. It’s disgusting that they ruined and besmirched some good people in their quest to get Trump, and we can only hope that some of the real criminals in this saga get what they deserve after Barr is through.

rcocean said...

Its amazing how often the American people have been lied to.

We were told Wilson was just a little tired and hard at work in the White House in 1920. We were told FDR was the picture of health in 1944. We were told JFK was full of "vigor" and the ultimate family man. And that the North Vietnamese viciously attacked American ships in Gulf of Tonkin.

Joe McCarthy was a rabid witch hunter imagining communists everywhere. Alger Hiss was innocent. Joe stalin was "Good ol' Uncle Joe". The Iraq was going to pay for itself. Weapons of mass destruction. Read my lips, no new taxes. You can keep your health plan.

And then there's Trump - who on the whole has been the most honest POTUS in my lifetime.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

If Mueller didn’t write report, as his disastrous testimony made clear, who did?

Just a second! Be right with you!
(...as Weissmann frantically thumbs through his DNC approved list of faux life long Republicans...)

narciso said...

of course, john Solomon turns up the fact, that Weissman tried to flip Dimitri firtash, the oligarch in glenn simpson's series back in 2006-7, against the big bad boss of the bratva, this conflicted with an extradition request from Austria, for bribery charges in india, to that effect, he hired a full compliment of attorneys including lanny davis, and Michael Chertoff, the head of the kristol/hayden deplatforming effort,

bagoh20 said...

There were a lot of points where I thought Trump should have shut it down, fired people, claimed executive privilege, and other assorted resistance just because he could and most others would have. Once again, I was wrong and Trump was right. I'm getting confused about the whole "tired of winning" thing. I keep getting it wrong, but still winning. I ain't no ways tyaaard.

Comanche Voter said...

Lawyers have egos (who knew?) and infighting for the lead on a multilawyer team can be vicious. As a young pup three years out of law school I was third chair on a major eminent domain case (trial took place over two years) in Southern California. Lead guy was a famous trial lawyer, with awards and judgments out the kazoo and a reputation to match. He was also an alcoholic and his best trial days were five or more years behind him. Second chair was a partner with 20 years experience--a perfectionist and a very large ego. Trial prep--depositions, experts, property viewing etc took a couple of years before the trial actually started. Three days before the trial started the second chair made his move. He told the client that he was "off the team" unless he could be lead counsel/first chair. The famous trial lawyer sat through the trial like a potted plant/figurehead. The legs had been cut from under him. He was there for his name and reputation--which was good among the local bench.

I think that Weissman and others on the Mueller "team" probably did something similar to Mueller.

narciso said...

that's just part of the hall of mirrors, like mueller trying to extract documents from deutsche bank, when they were long term retainers for his firm, the same one zebley worked for, once upon a time, zebley worked the counter terror beat, investigating the likes of embassy bomber al ghailani, with future soufan associate, gaudin, the one who didn't complain about waterboarding, because he had undergone it as part of his sere training,

narciso said...

Ah William lerach, I vaguely recall him, I don't think that's what mueller was doing yesterday,

Michael K said...

That really was so unfathomable that I buy into G. Gordon Liddy's story of the break-in being to remove evidence of John Dean's wife, Mo, being a hooker.<

I've read that theory, too. Pat Buchanan in his book says Nixon would blow off steam in private and the inner circle knew he would call the next morning and cancel whatever it was. He said "some asshole" just did not understand and went out and did it.

Michael K said...

this is a man who chose to ruin the lives of many for political reasons, tried to assist the overthrow of an election, picked political sides in an incredibly important investigation, and stretched it out to squeeze more money from it while damaging a President and with him all the lost effort and momentum he represented in American policy abroad and at home.

Yes. I would ask Stephen Hatfill and Bruce Ivins' family how honorable he is. Not to mention the innocent men in Boston who were sent to prison to protect Whitey Bulgar, especially the two who died in prison.

Mary Beth said...

Mr Mueller persecuted an innocent man, Steve Hatfil, far after his innocence was proven and the government was forced to pay restitution.

Taxpayers were forced to pay restitution.

narciso said...

its rather striking how sparse that information is, unless you're Howie carr in the second instance, or Edward Epstein in the first instance, and carl cannon, who followed up,

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

2nd in the corruption ring? Weissman.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Did he? When did he know there was no evidence of collusion? Why did he keep it going for months and months hoping to provoke an obstruction charge? Was his purview to get to the bottom of "collusion” or to get something, anything on Trump.”

They kept it going to protect the people who had used FISA, etc to spy on America citizens, starting maybe as early as 2012. And definitely the ones who had spied on the Trump campaign using FISA Title I wiretap warrants. Ostensibly, they were looking for Russian Collusion, but that was always BS. Lead prosecutor Weissman knew from 9 months or so before the SC investigation was initiated (8/2016) that the Steele Dossier was fabricated nonsense. After that, it was Obstruction of Justice which means somehow catching Trump or someone close to him in a process Crime. But from the time of Barr’s memo to DAG Rosenstein in June of 2018 they knew that they weren’t going to get that either. Barr shut it down by separating Collusion from Obstruction, and forcing the DoJ (and Barr) statutory interpretation on Mueller, that there was no Obstruction w/o an underlying crime, and without Collusion, there could be no Obstruction.

narciso said...

and the hatfill incident was prodded by Nicholas Kristof who named him as suspect x, based on some crazy microbiologists, meryl nass and susan hatch Rosenberg who thought he was some south African affiliated rightist, because he had served in the Rhodesian medical corps, or something,

narciso said...

My latest theory is that the narrative is so strong, it has to be a full spectrum projection, if it was merely plato's cave, people could eventually recognize reality, but the see the fusion gps recipient at the times, Schmidt goldman, as with the journal, and the post, repeating the same line, along with the ap,

Bruce Hayden said...

“Yes, McCabe was the acting FBI Director during the time of the creation of Mueller's team. You can be certain that he approved every single FBI agent assigned, and had strong input on all the other DoJ personnel assigned, but there I think Weissmann was primarily the guy since he was the most senior of the DoJ people on the team- he was selected first, then he selected everyone else.”

Maybe, but Strzok was their boss until his text messages were disclosed and he was forced off the SC investigation. And I think that Weissman was the one really picking the prosecutors.

But this is all nit picking. The three of them had worked together since at least maybe 8/2016 on the Steele Dossier. Weissman was, very likely by then, a member of McCabe’s cabal.

stever said...

To the extent there was any professional neutrality in this, the "Staff" report means something written by deep state HRC voters. And yet.....

narciso said...

it's a Russian nesting doll, curiously enough, mueller, Weissman, strzok, et al,

Michael K said...

Where is the damned OIG Report?

This circus was planned to get ahead of the OIG.

narciso said...

this was the cox/Jaworski model of doing things, my friend clarice, beat one of these wastrels on appeal, on a secondary case, in the 70s, years later, Lawrence walsh would do a similar thing hiring young jeff toobin,

dreams said...

"Where is the damned OIG Report?

This circus was planned to get ahead of the OIG."

It's been delayed because after the appointment of US Attorney John Durham, a lot FBI people who Horowitz had already interviewed requested to be interviewed again because they know they perjured themselves and are now trying to cover their crooked asses.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/joe-digenova-inspector-general-horowitz-and-john-durham-have-both-already-interviewed-joseph-mifsud-video/

Martin said...

The day Mueller was appointed, it was obvious that there was a conspiracy between Comey, Rosenstien and Mueller to bring down Trump by way of a special counsel report. Mueller (and the other two) certainly knew Mueller's limitations a she aged, and the deal all along was that he would be the GOP establishment figurehead to lend a faux air of legitimacy to the proceedings, but would not really be in charge.

I mean, c'mon!! A mediocre retired FBI director who was not very good as a USA or at FBI, getting on in years, coming out of retirement on one or two days' notice for a job like this? It never made sense on the up-and-up.

If I could see it, I have to figure it was pretty obvious to a LOT of people, but the media drumbeat and social pressure started about how Mueller was this incorruptible brilliant investigator, which nothing in his past justified, but anybody with doubts quickly learned to STFU for their own good. Alan Dershowitz and a small handful of others tried to say what we all really knew, and paid a stiff price.

And now, here we are... it has been proven, in public, that the emperor has no clothes, and the media and Democrats are still ooh-ing and aaah-ing about his fabulous wardrobe.

We're doomed; no country can survive if its leadership class both (a) hates it, and (b) is stupid. One can only imagine Xi and Putin meeting with their leadership teams, discussing whether Americans are really that stupid. And, our allies are probably having similar conversations but with a different emotional valence.

Jim at said...

It is sad that a man can ruin himself so thoroughly and then look bad doing it, but he's not the real victim in all this. We are.

Bears repeating.

bagoh20 said...

You know, this whole shit show of corruption would have worked to stop anybody but Trump. I had no idea what I was electing when I voted. It must have been divine intervention. The whole thing is so unlikely, there is no other explanation. This is killing my carefully coddled agnosticism.

bagoh20 said...

" a lot FBI people who Horowitz had already interviewed requested to be interviewed again because they know they perjured themselves and are now trying to cover their crooked asses."

So how does that work? You can take a mulligan on lying to the Feds? How long do you get to recant?

narciso said...

word,


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/06/08/after_mueller_comes_up_empty_his_targets_speak_out_140524.html

I'm Full of Soup said...

I bet nothing comes up the IG report nor the Barr investigations. We've been hearing the IG report would be done soon blah blah blah but it still ain't.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Narr said...

The DS effort worked backwards and forwards--while they moved forward with outlandish theories designed to gain time (and mayhap provoke a certain man of irascible temper) they also worked backward, covering their tracks and trying to get their alibis straight.

I think the theory of Hillary Hardball proposed earlier explains it--once she won it would be open season on Trump and anyone who supported him: evidence conveniently to hand and fully indexed!

Narr
Clinton Cuntpower?

PB said...

Investigate the investigators.

steve uhr said...

So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?

Joe said...

My theory is that Hillary being the vindictive bitch that she is always planned to put Trump and everyone around him in jail ONCE THE ELECTION WAS WON!

Exactly.

This becomes more clear when you realize Hillary likely has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and almost every accusation she makes, she is guilty of--it's blatant psychological projection.

With that in mind, realize that it wouldn't have stopped at Trump. She would have tried to be a non-charismatic Chavez. The worse wouldn't be her, but all the vindictive, leftists bastards she would have appointed. The US dodged a genuine crisis by not electing her.

pacwest said...

"Follow the money."

For those who question the why of the coup attempt or want to think it was some sort of Hillary vendetta for her loss, it is much simpler than that. Just consider the amount in the Clinton slush fund, aka Clinton Foundation. Look at how civil servant Comey became a millionare. If you remain unconvinced watch the body count mount as the investigators get closer to the truth. To say that this was the most momentus scandal in the history of the Republic is understating by a factor of 10.

bagoh20 said...

"So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect"

Nobody is saying there are outright lies in there. That would be too easy to debunk, destroying the whole effort. The lawyers aren't idiots. Here's an example of the kind of thing that is in there.

Steve, may have beat his wife, there is some evidence for that, and Joe Blow (a convicted liar) said his brother told him Steve beat his wife. We cannot exonerate Steve on this charge.

DanTheMan said...

>>So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?

Could someone point to a single precinct in the entire country that went from Hillary to Trump due to Russian collusion?

Birkel said...

steve uhr:
It is my understanding that the Special Counsel accurately cited the WaPo and NYT more than 200 times as part of its legal investigation.

Also, the DOJ has admitted it cannot prove in court that the DNC computers were hacked by Russians.

Still, it just must be true that $100,000 in Facebook ads by the Russians swung an election that Democrats spent $2 Billion to win. We agree. Democrats are spendthrifts with bad strategy.

100,000 > 2,000,000,000
QED

Jon Ericson said...

Thanks Ann, for beating back Inga today.

DavidUW said...

I thought it was telling it said he seemed to lose interest when he couldn’t interview trump. So given his prior record of perverting justice by persecuting innocent men and protecting murdering thugs, he clearly wanted one last go at being famous for bringing down trump, an innocent man, on trumped up charges. When that didn’t happen he just gave up.

narciso said...

you can work backwards from here:

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/07/23/the_mueller_reports_footnotes_to_contradictory_119658.html

Original Mike said...

"So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?"

That Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election.

Oh, wait! It doesn't allege that.

Michael K said...

Blogger steve uhr said...
So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?


Look at the footnotes, Steve,. Here.

If Robert Mueller is going to defend his document, he will have to be prepared to defend the footnotes too. It is there where the strengths and weaknesses of the Mueller report are most clearly on display. Come Wednesday’s hearings, the advantage may go to the questioners who know where to look.

The Comey Memos

One of the bedrock decisions investigators must make in complex probes filled with incomplete and contradictory accounts is whom to believe. Dozens of footnotes in the Mueller report make it clear that the special counsel placed absolute faith in former FBI Director James Comey.

Dozens of the footnotes refer to memos Comey wrote recording his account of meetings and phone calls with President Trump. These include memos dated Jan. 7 and Jan. 28, 2017, as well as notes from Feb. 14, March 30 and April 11. Those memoranda were treated as the evidentiary gold standard by Mueller. Long stretches of the special counsel’s report hang almost exclusively on Comey’s say-so. One or another of Comey’s memos are cited some three dozen times in Volume II alone, which addresses possible obstruction by Trump. Mueller relies on Comey memos in footnotes 109, 110, 111, and 112, and then in footnotes 172, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182 and so on.

Comey was also interviewed by the FBI and numerous are the footnotes — 68, 108, 109-112, 176-78, 180-82 and more — anchoring the narrative in his testimony.


More here.

Mueller acknowledges that Comey arranged to have several of the aforementioned memos leaked: “Comey testified that he deliberately caused his memorandum documenting the February 14, 2017 meeting [with the president] to be leaked to the New York Times,” the footnote reads, “because he thought sharing the memorandum with a reporter ‘might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.’”

You're welcome.

Bay Area Guy said...

"So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect"

Oh please. Those aren't "factual allegations" (weasel words), they are "allegations offered by the Prosecution.

Had Mueller the balls to indict (for collusion or obstruction), those "allegations" would have been tested in court, subject to cross examination, and maybe 60-70% would have been established as facts.

Mueller's charge wasn't to do a book report. It was to gather evidence and indict, try the case and convict. He didn't even get to 1st Base.

The guy was a figurehead, who allowed zealots like Weissman run wild. They got a few scalps, but hit a brick wall.

Rabel said...

This is Robert Mueller giving the commence address at his granddaughter's high school graduation.

That was May, 2017 - one month after his appointment as Special Council.

He was fine. A 73 year old man with a strong voice and a clear mind.

The idea that he was initially chosen as uninvolved figurehead is wrong.

His mental state deteriorated during his term. Possibly due to a somewhat rapid onset of senile dementia or possibly due to a more acute cause such as a circulatory issue.

Anonymous said...

If Joe Biden had not had more face lifts than Meg Ryan and Faye Dunaway combined he would look very much like Robert Mueller only more stunned because he never had much in the way fo smarts to begin with. I was sorry to see a fellow former Marine look so devastated as Mueller did yesterday. As many point out, the mental decline in the aging can be surprisingly rapid. I think that was Mueller's problem yesterday, but I also think that he has most likely been ineffective during his entire tour as SC. No one with even a particle of common sense, -or, truth be told, a sense of honor - would have allowed himself to be manipulated as Mueller clearly was from staffing right through the completion of the report.

I also think that Sessions has gotten off pretty lightly for his failure to man up right from the beginning. He was, perhaps, the only person at DOJ/FBI who could have blown the whistle on the treachery there and he took himself out of the game.

I don't know if Barr will ever be all to prosecute all those who should be prosecuted - even as guilty as so many are - it will smell of political trials if all those we think/know were involved are charged.

stevew said...

It is just amazing and perplexing to me that Nadler went through with the Mueller appearance and questioning. Did he really not know any of this stuff before hand? And what an incompetent boob he is if he did not. Pelosi, who I disagree with on pretty much everything, is a smart and competent Washington politician. How did she ever let this thing happen like this? TDS is the easy answer but really they are better than to succumb to that.

WaPo and the NYT are scrambling now to further undermine Mueller so that they can, hopefully, revive the Collusion & Obstruction talking points.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Figurehead to the corrupt D-shit show might also take a mental toll.

bagoh20 said...

If you think the Righties are being cruel to Mueler, just wait till the Dems finally accept what happened yesterday, and how it kills their dreams.

narciso said...

well mariotti who tried to outflank Haitian Obama for Illinois attorney general, and chaitred, among others already have their matrix narrative, and that's all they need,

tim in vermont said...

"So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?”

I think calling Huckabee Sanders a liar for saying “countless” when she meant “many” skates pretty close to that line. Then if you look at the supporting footnote, it’s kind of a logical mish mash that proves nothing. Of course, that part may have been written by Mueller himself!

But one real problem is the stuff he didn’t look at, the omissions. Oh yeah, and the extremely aggressive take on obstruction. Where is that founded in law.

When was the last time you got a “could not exonerate” out of a prosecutor? The partisan Democrats on the staff were obviously trying to whip up an impeachment even though they knew the whole thing was based on a campaign smear by Hillary, something that they resolutely refused to investigate.

Half the truth, carefully selected for partisan gain, is basically no different than a lie. The whole second part is a lie.

tim in vermont said...

If Mueller was faking, he never saw Tropic Thunder, obviously.

Equipment Maintenance said...

I think the real motivation for this whole thing is a lot scarier than the accepted reason; that they (the deep state FBI, NSA, etc.) wanted Hillary to win because they agreed with her politically. They indeed wanted her to win, but because they would then OWN her. Do what we tell you to do, give us all the money we want, Madam President, or we make public those emails you thought you deleted, and you can see how you like prison.
They're furious because they don't own Trump.

Rabel said...

You never go full dotard.

tim in vermont said...

"I also think that Sessions has gotten off pretty lightly for his failure to man up right from the beginning. He was, perhaps, the only person at DOJ/FBI who could have blown the whistle on the treachery there and he took himself out of the game.”

One of the obstruction “charges" was that Trump complained about this.

Rabel said...

"They indeed wanted her to win, but because they would then OWN her."

Yes.

Drago said...

steve uhr: "So could somebody tell me one specific factual allegation in the 400+ page report that is incorrect?"

At some point we will be forced to consider the possibility that Steve Uhr is not simply playing dumb......

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Equipment Maintenance - *

Leftwing government whores seek money and power. Little else.
Hillary was their cash cow. No doubt.

narciso said...

this was from a post I had back last year,

So some interesting developments arise out of this investigation, it appears that this ‘russian’ investigation, points mostly elsewhere, https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/06/03/following-the-money-in-spygates-london-connection-a-small-but-crucial-piece-of-the-puzzle/ to London, rome, Riyadh et al,. we further learn, that one of the innocent players, who was alleging dark doings against the trump campaign was introduced by one of the above players to Papadopoulos, and now apparently the Israel connnections predominate,https://dailycaller.com/2018/06/04/mangiante-papadopoulos-collusion/ and their ties to Greece and Cyprus, now who is interested in stigmatizing the gulf states and Israel in the great policy circles, through their media ties, well none other than iran, and Qatar,

Comanche Voter said...

Sad but true. Nadler is definitely not the sharpest tool in the Congressional box. Sometimes a dullard floats to the top via seniority.

Original Mike said...

"At some point we will be forced to consider the possibility that Steve Uhr is not simply playing dumb......"

I believe he is a former DOJ prosecuter (please correct me if I'm wrong, steve). I wonder if he ever told the court "I am unable to exonerate the suspect."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Steve Uhr

Please educate us on what a "Factual allegation" is? OK.

Is that like when you accused the Covington Teen of harassing someone, even though it never happened?

Michael K said...

They're furious because they don't own Trump.

I think that is a fair assessment. The FBI, since Hoover, had been the invisible hand in US governance. Nixon defied them and they destroyed him. The CIA came out with "Plan B" assessment of Iran and concluded Bush had no justification for sanctions.

These people have been the hidden rulers for 50 years. Certainly since 9/11 when Bush gave them even more power.

narciso said...

Indeed and they relied almost entirely on general ashghari, who as the revolutionary guards chief in Baalbek, in the 80s, was the one who ordered the bombing of the American embassy, and the kidnapping of William buckley,

tim in vermont said...

“They're furious because they don't own Trump”

That’s the same thing that scared them about Sarah Palin.

Matt Sablan said...

"While he may have been mostly a figurehead, I think there's a good chance his mere presence on the team kept his subordinates in line."

-- Considering his staff withheld information from him and did not follow up obvious leads like Powers claiming her government credentials to access secure systems were stolen, and at least two of them were fired for blatant improprieties (and actually, McCabe probably counts to for three) and lied to judges in their FISA requests I'd hate to see an investigation with staff that wasn't "in line."

Bob Smith said...

Tuesday: Robert Mueller is a man of unimpeachable integrity who must not be criticized for anything
Wednesday: Oh crap.
Thursday: Robert Mueller had some problems it’s true but he still nailed Orangeman to the wall.
Tomorrow: Robert Mueller is clearly a Trump operative and we knew it all the time. Impeach Trump now.

Shouting Thomas said...

Inga the Oracle mysteriously AWOL today!

Gospace said...

al•le•ga•tion noun - a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof
********
By definition an allegation is NOT a fact. So perhaps Steve Uhr, you could locate one of the allegations that is a probable fact. But first, you'll actually have to locate a clearly defined allegation in the report. Democrats have been looking for one, and so far, all I've seen come out of the report is innuendo..

Birkel said...

In defense of Royal ass Inga:

We still don't know what Robert Mueller knows.

Matt Sablan said...

"We still don't know what Robert Mueller knows."

-- In our defense: Neither does he.

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