News Politics

Robert Mueller Tempts Dems to Focus on Impeachment While Trump Focuses on Issues

Democratic presidential candidates rushed Wednesday morning to call for President Donald Trump to be impeached, after Special Counsel Robert Mueller left the door open for Congress to accuse the president of obstruction of justice.

Mueller said nothing new, other than defending Attorney General William Barr as having acted in “good faith” in his summary of the investigation’s report. He reiterated that there was “insufficient evidence” to substantiate claims of Russian collusion, and said the investigation did not reach a conclusion on obstruction: “As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.”

All of that had been said before. Yet Democrats seized on it — as well as on Mueller’s acknowledgment that he could not have charged a sitting president with a crime, as per Department of Justice policy — to demand impeachment.



Trump urges Jeanine Pirro to revisit dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case
Fed-Up NYC Homeowners Take to Court to Fight Back Against Mamdani’s New Tax ‘Debacle’
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has security clearance revoked over Air Force One disclosure
Trump-Backed Rep. Andy Ogles Loses Primary After Green Energy Group Spent Big to Unseat Him
Violent Criminal Who Was Set Free on Plea Deal Arrested After Horrific Attacks on Random Women
‘No place like Mackinac’: Mike Rogers trolls Abdul el Sayed after hot mic moment emerges
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court
Do Americans Have to Obey Laws That Will Destroy Us? Thomas Jefferson Said Absolutely Not
Missing Illinois kayakers found dead near strait called Death’s Door known for shipwrecks
Unearthed clip of El-Sayed revealing his ‘hate’ for iconic Michigan town sparks online firestorm: ‘Dark heart’
Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court ruling: DOJ
US Army offering defense firms ‘concierge access’ to test weapons at military ranges
Blanche Appears Poised for AG Confirmation as GOP Senator Announces Support
French right-wing media figure attacked by mob of antifa militants
10 Democrats and Rand Paul oppose Russia sanctions bill


Trump urges Jeanine Pirro to revisit dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case
Fed-Up NYC Homeowners Take to Court to Fight Back Against Mamdani’s New Tax ‘Debacle’
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has security clearance revoked over Air Force One disclosure
Trump-Backed Rep. Andy Ogles Loses Primary After Green Energy Group Spent Big to Unseat Him
Violent Criminal Who Was Set Free on Plea Deal Arrested After Horrific Attacks on Random Women
‘No place like Mackinac’: Mike Rogers trolls Abdul el Sayed after hot mic moment emerges
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court
Do Americans Have to Obey Laws That Will Destroy Us? Thomas Jefferson Said Absolutely Not
Missing Illinois kayakers found dead near strait called Death’s Door known for shipwrecks
Unearthed clip of El-Sayed revealing his ‘hate’ for iconic Michigan town sparks online firestorm: ‘Dark heart’
Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court ruling: DOJ
US Army offering defense firms ‘concierge access’ to test weapons at military ranges
Blanche Appears Poised for AG Confirmation as GOP Senator Announces Support
French right-wing media figure attacked by mob of antifa militants
10 Democrats and Rand Paul oppose Russia sanctions bill

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi — who would need to agree to bring an impeachment vote to the floor — attempted to sidestep the issue. Yet she is under pressure from inside her caucus, many of whose members spoke out Wednesday:


Trump urges Jeanine Pirro to revisit dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case
Fed-Up NYC Homeowners Take to Court to Fight Back Against Mamdani’s New Tax ‘Debacle’
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has security clearance revoked over Air Force One disclosure
Trump-Backed Rep. Andy Ogles Loses Primary After Green Energy Group Spent Big to Unseat Him
Violent Criminal Who Was Set Free on Plea Deal Arrested After Horrific Attacks on Random Women
‘No place like Mackinac’: Mike Rogers trolls Abdul el Sayed after hot mic moment emerges
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court
Do Americans Have to Obey Laws That Will Destroy Us? Thomas Jefferson Said Absolutely Not
Missing Illinois kayakers found dead near strait called Death’s Door known for shipwrecks
Unearthed clip of El-Sayed revealing his ‘hate’ for iconic Michigan town sparks online firestorm: ‘Dark heart’
Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court ruling: DOJ
US Army offering defense firms ‘concierge access’ to test weapons at military ranges
Blanche Appears Poised for AG Confirmation as GOP Senator Announces Support
French right-wing media figure attacked by mob of antifa militants
10 Democrats and Rand Paul oppose Russia sanctions bill
See also  ‘Oxferd Comma’ investigation being declassified by White House, with John Solomon briefing

The demands for impeachment drowned out discussion of other policy issues. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), for example, desperate to revive his campaign, launched a new immigration policy Wednesday — and was largely ignored.

That could be the pattern for the next 18 months. By holding out the possibility of impeachment, Mueller has given Democrats a temptation they cannot refuse.

That was probably not his intention. Mueller did not have to pursue an obstruction investigation, nor did he have to disclose the results of that investigation. He pointed out Wednesday that he could not indict a sitting president, but failed to note that it was also impossible to charge a retired president with obstruction of justice, for actions taken furtherance of his constitutional duties. Mueller seemed, all along, to be seeking a way to bring down the president.

The main reason Mueller declined to testify before Congress may have been that he would have faced very difficult questions about whether he had investigated the origins of the surveillance of the Trump campaign, and whether that had been linked to misinformation fed by Russia to the FBI, via former British spy Christopher Steele, the Fusion GPS opposition research firm, the Hillary Clinton campaign, and the Democratic National Committee. (If not, why not?)


Trump urges Jeanine Pirro to revisit dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case
Fed-Up NYC Homeowners Take to Court to Fight Back Against Mamdani’s New Tax ‘Debacle’
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has security clearance revoked over Air Force One disclosure
Trump-Backed Rep. Andy Ogles Loses Primary After Green Energy Group Spent Big to Unseat Him
Violent Criminal Who Was Set Free on Plea Deal Arrested After Horrific Attacks on Random Women
‘No place like Mackinac’: Mike Rogers trolls Abdul el Sayed after hot mic moment emerges
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court
Do Americans Have to Obey Laws That Will Destroy Us? Thomas Jefferson Said Absolutely Not
Missing Illinois kayakers found dead near strait called Death’s Door known for shipwrecks
Unearthed clip of El-Sayed revealing his ‘hate’ for iconic Michigan town sparks online firestorm: ‘Dark heart’
Duke Law’s alleged race-based admissions accused of defying Supreme Court ruling: DOJ
US Army offering defense firms ‘concierge access’ to test weapons at military ranges
Blanche Appears Poised for AG Confirmation as GOP Senator Announces Support
French right-wing media figure attacked by mob of antifa militants
10 Democrats and Rand Paul oppose Russia sanctions bill
See also  Races to watch in Michigan as establishment Democrats face off against challenges on their left flank

Regardless — whether Democrats impeach Trump or not, they will be consumed by the issue through 2020, while Trump discusses the economy, his foreign policy successes, and his new proposals on health care and immigration.

Mueller may have hoped to hurt Trump. Instead, he gave him a huge gift.

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter