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.



ICE arrests illegal immigrants convicted of child rape, sexual assault, drug trafficking
Former Connecticut police chief arrested for allegedly stealing $85K in public funds
CIA retracts, revises 19 past intelligence assessments deemed politically biased
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Targeted attack’ vandalizes Trump-Kennedy Center outdoor ice rink, forces performance cancellation
Twisted: Little Girl Tells Mom She’s Afraid Trans Teacher Will Eat Her at Night, Then Mom Learns What He’s Telling Kindergartners at School
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Kavanaugh rips Supreme Court majority’s ‘illogical’ line on tariffs
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling


ICE arrests illegal immigrants convicted of child rape, sexual assault, drug trafficking
Former Connecticut police chief arrested for allegedly stealing $85K in public funds
CIA retracts, revises 19 past intelligence assessments deemed politically biased
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Targeted attack’ vandalizes Trump-Kennedy Center outdoor ice rink, forces performance cancellation
Twisted: Little Girl Tells Mom She’s Afraid Trans Teacher Will Eat Her at Night, Then Mom Learns What He’s Telling Kindergartners at School
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Kavanaugh rips Supreme Court majority’s ‘illogical’ line on tariffs
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling

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:


ICE arrests illegal immigrants convicted of child rape, sexual assault, drug trafficking
Former Connecticut police chief arrested for allegedly stealing $85K in public funds
CIA retracts, revises 19 past intelligence assessments deemed politically biased
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Targeted attack’ vandalizes Trump-Kennedy Center outdoor ice rink, forces performance cancellation
Twisted: Little Girl Tells Mom She’s Afraid Trans Teacher Will Eat Her at Night, Then Mom Learns What He’s Telling Kindergartners at School
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Kavanaugh rips Supreme Court majority’s ‘illogical’ line on tariffs
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling
See also  FBI Director Patel says investigators have found antifa funding sources

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?)


ICE arrests illegal immigrants convicted of child rape, sexual assault, drug trafficking
Former Connecticut police chief arrested for allegedly stealing $85K in public funds
CIA retracts, revises 19 past intelligence assessments deemed politically biased
Campus Radicals Newsletter: Teacher who lost job over 2-word post breaks silence, Chicago ‘racial segregation’
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Targeted attack’ vandalizes Trump-Kennedy Center outdoor ice rink, forces performance cancellation
Twisted: Little Girl Tells Mom She’s Afraid Trans Teacher Will Eat Her at Night, Then Mom Learns What He’s Telling Kindergartners at School
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Kavanaugh rips Supreme Court majority’s ‘illogical’ line on tariffs
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling
See also  Vance and Rubio would give GOP ‘potent one-two punch’ for 2028 ticket: Joe Concha

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