I don’t trust that the whole report will be released, especially if it makes trump look bad. So does Mueller just throw up his hands and does nothing even though his report is being manipulated to favor the president?
I feel like that’s such a dereliction of duty. How can you just be like “oh well” while seeing this happen if, in fact, the truth is being twisted.
Post by dutchgirl678 on Mar 25, 2019 10:56:45 GMT -5
Mueller worked on this expansive report for two years. 37 people have been indicted and there are at least 12 different cases ongoing. This is not the end. I have to believe that Mueller won't let his work be buried by Barr. He and his team worked too hard on that. I have to stay optimistic and trust in Congress to subpoena the Mueller document and the underlying evidence and to hold hearings interviewing Mueller, Barr, Rosenstein.
Just yesterday Rep Swallwell said that Hope Hicks is cooperating and has testified in a closed hearing that she lied for the President. So this is not over by a long shot. But I was pretty angry and depressed yesterday when Barr's letter was made public. I am especially angry at the media who is all to happy to help spin the exoneration narrative for Trump.
Mueller worked on this expansive report for two years. 37 people have been indicted and there are at least 12 different cases ongoing. This is not the end. I have to believe that Mueller won't let his work be buried by Barr. He and his team worked too hard on that. I have to stay optimistic and trust in Congress to subpoena the Mueller document and the underlying evidence and to hold hearings interviewing Mueller, Barr, Rosenstein.
Just yesterday Rep Swallwell said that Hope Hicks is cooperating and has testified in a closed hearing that she lied for the President. So this is not over by a long shot. But I was pretty angry and depressed yesterday when Barr's letter was made public. I am especially angry at the media who is all to happy to help spin the exoneration narrative for Trump.
This, for sure.
Reporting Barr's letter is of course newsworthy. Reporting it as if it says everything Mueller's report says is sloppy.
Post by Velar Fricative on Mar 25, 2019 11:06:32 GMT -5
I can't speak for TV media so yeah, if they are spinning this all as over and done, shame on them. I'm sure that's what Fox News is doing but if the rest are too, that sucks. The NYT has been pretty solid in its coverage - both in talking about the spin (let's face it, it's pretty much an exoneration in the eyes of Trump and his cronies and supporters) but also mentioning that there is more to come. I just hate how any conversation about other opportunities to challenge Trump are dismissed as "sour grapes" among the deplorables. I know I need to tune them out but unfortunately they do vote.
Post by sparrowsong on Mar 25, 2019 11:22:33 GMT -5
Why is this how things work? Mueller spend two years investigating and someone with known bias spends one day and interprets the report however he wants and gives his own summery? What a waste of time.
Why is this how things work? Mueller spend two years investigating and someone with known bias spends one day and interprets the report however he wants and gives his own summery? What a waste of time.
The whole point of a SC is to take the bias out. Mueller was supposed to make a decision. It is being spun that Mueller chose not to make that decision. I don't buy it. I think either Barr said he was making the call, or he tried to pressure Mueller to rule there was no obstruction and Mueller said he wouldn't do it so instead of that he left it open.
Post by downtoearth on Mar 25, 2019 11:47:39 GMT -5
I never thought there was a true link that would lead to criminal charges against a sitting president, doesn't mean I didn't hope for that, but I wasn't optimistically expecting that ever. However, I do think this is a much bigger win for Trump than the posts in this thread are giving it credit. I think that republicans who were turning against Trump will use this to say, "Okay, he's a hot head and I wish he wouldn't tweet, but he's getting our agenda done and if we can keep or win some more house seats in 2020, we'll stick with him over Harris/Warren/Biden/Buttigieg/Bernie."
I also wandered over to fivethirtyeight and I agree with Nate... it's a Trump win even if he is on a fine line between criminal obstruction of justice and not really, totally "exonerated" because he's shady as F&$K. We will need to fight that much harder in 2020. At least this is coming out WAY before the election so it might get lost in other terrible tweets and shady/racist/liar comments that Trump will say between now and the election.
What we can say, however, is that a number of really bad outcomes have been removed from the table for Trump: ◾There’s no previously unknown smoking gun linking Trump to Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign. ◾Trump wasn’t indicted, and none of his family members were indicted. ◾Trump didn’t pardon anyone before the investigation concluded. ◾Trump didn’t fire Mueller.
...Removing these extremely negative outcomes is a pretty big win for Trump.
But my guess is that where this will help Trump the most is not with traditional swing voters but with Trump-skeptical Republicans. Even Republicans who don’t love Trump tend to be critical of the news media, and they’d already thought that the media was devoting too much attention to Russia-related matters. If the investigation now looks to them like a wild goose chase — or a “WITCH HUNT,” to use Trump’s preferred term — it will create greater solidarity between them and the rest of the Republican Party. While this isn’t a huge group of voters, every little bit helps in an election that could shape up as another 50-50 affair."
Post by bohemianmango on Mar 25, 2019 11:55:38 GMT -5
I didn’t think I’d say this but I’m okay with not seeing the full report anytime soon. A heavily redacted report would suffice for now. I hope the evidence found in this investigation will lead to indictments in other investigations.
I think it’s ridiculous that GOP leaders and Trump supporters are celebrating Barr’s summary. They don’t know the complete, unbiased findings yet. It was implicitly expressed that foreign interference and national security were major issues in the 2016 election in Barr’s summary. Trump may not have conspired or coordinated with Russia but he played a role. To me, right now, Trump just looks like a weak “King” in a chess match needing to be constantly protected by his people and Russia was the chess player calling the shots. This is not good for America.
I thought this article was an interesting look at the language Barr used in his summary. I had assumed that Mueller would go broader due to the "any matters arising from this" language in the document Rosenstein wrote when he was appointed but unless Barr is way misrepresenting the report it seems clear now that he viewed his scope as very narrow. I certainly didn't think Donald Trump was directly talking to the Internet Research Agency at any point, FFS.
“In its election interference activities.” This phrase is included in the same excerpt.
It reflects the structure of the investigation. Mueller started with a counterintelligence probe of two specific Russian government operations: the production of online propaganda to influence the 2016 U.S. election, and the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. These are the two operations Mueller targeted in his indictments of Russians last year. If Barr’s letter is accurate, Mueller seems to have decided to confine his examination of American complicity to those two operations. In fact, Barr’s letter specifically cites those operations as the contexts in which Mueller didn’t find conspiracy or coordination. Other contacts between Trump associates and Russians, such as Trump’s Moscow tower project and Michael Flynn’s secret talks about easing sanctions, have been set aside.
Schumer introduced a resolution to release the full report and McConnell blocked it. U scared, Mitch?
Asshole.
At least we have the House
House committee chairs demand full Mueller report by April 2 deadline
In a three-page letter to Barr, they wrote that his summary of the Mueller report “is not sufficient for Congress.”
“We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day,” the letter said.
Schumer introduced a resolution to release the full report and McConnell blocked it. U scared, Mitch?
Asshole.
At least we have the House
House committee chairs demand full Mueller report by April 2 deadline
In a three-page letter to Barr, they wrote that his summary of the Mueller report “is not sufficient for Congress.”
“We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day,” the letter said.