Nolte: Mueller’s Dirty Cops Leak Innuendo to Keep Russia Hoax Alive

Newspaper front pages from around the nation are on display at the Newseum Saturday, March 23, 2019, in Washington. Special counsel Robert Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By John Nolte

The disgraceful team of partisan investigators hired by Dirty Cop Robert Mueller just disgraced themselves further through a series of unforgivable leaks to the fake news media.

Obviously angry over the fact President Trump is so innocent they could not even come up with a way to frame him, “Some of Mueller’s investigators,” the far-left New York Timesreports, “have told associates that Attorney General William P. Barr failed to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry and that they were more troubling for President Trump than Mr. Barr indicated.”

Told associates *wink-wink* — Oops, I had no idea *wink-wink* it would make the front page of the Times! *digs toe in dirt*

These sleaze bags are also leaking (through more “associates!”) to the far-left Washington Post.

“Members of Mueller’s team have complained to close associates that the evidence they gathered on obstruction was alarming and significant,” the Post reports. “‘It was much more acute than Barr suggested,’ said one person, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity.”

Of course, and just like the entire Russia Collusion Hoax, none of these complaints makes a lick of sense because it was not just Barr who signed off on the four page Mueller Report summary that cleared Trump of collusion and obstruction; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also signed off on the summary and Rosenstein, if you recall, is the original Dirty Cop who appointed Mueller in the first place.

What’s more, when you are talking about a special counsel, this kind of exoneration is almost always unprecedented. In the past, these investigations have always hit pay dirt,  always — by hook or crook — found a way to justify their existence, which was no doubt Mueller’s plan when he hired only partisan Democrats to join his hunt.

But these Dirty Cops found nothing on Trump, nada, bupkis — a big, fat, stinkin’ zero.

Oh, sure they found some old crimes no one cared about until the accused went to work for Trump.

Oh, sure they found a few Russians who spent a few bucks on Facebook ads, most of them in opposition to Trump.

Oh, sure they destroyed the life of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn by threatening his son over a contrived process crime.

Trump, however, is so freakin’ innocent they couldn’t even rig a frame for him, so now Mueller’s Dirty Stinkin’ Cops are pouting and bitter and vengeful and violating every known legal ethic to smear Trump in the court of public opinion by way of the sleaziest kind of innuendo imaginable.

You see, these Dirty Cops know how it works…

Every legal ethic and everything that makes America America says that if an individual has not been charged with a crime, the legal system does not download on that person, does not release information about the investigation against this person, does not try to makes a case against this person’s reputation  in the court of public opinion.

If you recall, this is what disgraced former FBI Director James Comey did to Hillary Clinton. This is why everyone believed she was going to be charged over her email server — because Comey downloaded on her, publicly laid out her crimes … before telling us she would not be charged.

No matter what you think of Hillary or the crimes she committed, no matter how unjust the decision was to let her off the hook, if someone is not going to be charged it is unethical and un-American for a lawman to do what Comey did — to lay out his case against her.

So what Mueller’s Dirty Cops are trying to do here is put Trump and Barr in a Catch 22.

You see, if Barr does the right thing, if he is an honorable attorney general (and American), when he does release what he can of the 400 page Mueller Report next week, other than the top-line findings (no collusion, no obstruction) nothing else will be made public about Trump or anyone else who was not charged with a crime.

We don’t do that in this country.

But now that Mueller’s Dirty Cops have left this trail of slime, the Russia Collusion Hoax can live on forever!

Don’t you see, there’s more! More, I say! More!

In a tweet late Wednesday, Trump’s legal counsel, Rudy Giuliani, got it exactly right after the leaks hit the fake media.

“The NYT story about unspecified troubling findings in report is as accurate as the NYT saying Mueller’s staff didn’t leak,” Giuliani wrote. “Who leaked this…Mueller’s unethical staff. This proves they are Angry Democrats who couldn’t find or create evidence to support collusion or obstruction.”

CAP

During a Fox News appearance, he went even further:

 [These leaks] makes the point that we’ve been making for two years: Despite all of the media reports about how holy and sanctimonious the Mueller team is, they are a bunch of sneaky, unethical leakers, and they are rabid Democrats who hate the president of the United States.

And I can’t tell you how much false information they leaked during the course of the investigation. How many people are going to be indicted that didn’t get indicted? How many — how many blockbusters were there? Starting with Papadopoulos and ending with Cohen, who turns out to be a serial liar. I mean, how could you have any confidence in this?

If only through his presence and victory, Trump has accomplished an invaluable service in exposing the Justice Department, the F.B.I., the corporate media, and the intelligence community as an un-American cabal of venal, power-mad, entitled thugs with no respect for the rule of law or the Constitution.

Never again will these sleazy bastards be trusted, because they cannot be trusted. The corruption, the arrogance, the incompetence, the desire to rule over us, to overturn elections that do not come out their liking…

From Iraq to Trump — these monsters can all go straight to Hell.

DEMS SUBPOENA MUELLER REPORT WHAT IS BARR HIDING?

By Emily Tillett

The House Judiciary Committee voted to authorize subpoenas for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report  on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. The resolution passed Wednesday morning 24-17 in a party line vote. The committee will now also move to subpoena all underlying documents related to Mueller’s findings.

Before Wednesday’s vote, Republicans largely blasted the Democratic-led effort as violating the law, claiming the public release of the full Mueller report would present national security issues as much of the report is expected to contain redacted materials pertaining to grand jury information.

Republican members on the committee also claimed the resolution was a continuing effort to undermine the Trump presidency, with some claiming Democrats were pursuing the subpoenas as an attack on the president.

“As much as Democrats may hate the president, I would hope you love America more,” said Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck. He said that “if love trumps hate” Democrats should afford the attorney general enough time to properly release the findings.

Meanwhile, as Democrats continue to push for transparency, President Trump pushed back, calling out committee Chairman Jerry Nadler for opposing the release of independent counsel Ken Starr’s report on the investigation of former President Clinton.

“With the NO COLLUSION Mueller Report, which the Dems hate, he wants it all. NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM!” tweeted Mr. Trump on Tuesday.

Screen Shot 2019-04-03 at 10.09.14 AM

Committee spokesman Daniel Schwarz said in a statement on Tuesday that the debate in 1998 “was not about Congress receiving evidence” but rather about “what type of material from the underlying evidence in the Starr report should be made public.”

“Our expectation is that Attorney General Barr will be as forthcoming now as Mr. Starr was in 1998,” added Schwarz, saying Barr “should provide the full Mueller report to Congress, with the underlying materials, at which point we will be in a better position to understand what Special Counsel Mueller uncovered during his investigation.” 

The House already overwhelmingly voted 420-0 on a non-binding resolution to release the full Mueller report, but Sen. Lindsey Graham blocked a vote on the resolution in the Senate.

As a result of the resolution, Nadler’s committee will also issue subpoenas for a variety of Trump associates. They include former White House Counsel Donald McGahn, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former White House Counsel Chief of Staff Ann Donaldson.

They are being subpoenaed as part of the Judiciary Committee’s separate investigation into possible threats to the rule of law by the president.

“Because we may have to go to court to obtain the complete text of the Special Counsel’s report, and because the President may attempt to invoke executive privilege to withhold that evidence from us, it is imperative that the Committee take possession of these documents, and others, without delay,” explained Nadler.

Highlights from the Judiciary Committee vote below:

Nadler pushes for report release

Speaking before Wednesday’s vote, Nadler said in opening remarks that on multiple occasions, he asked Barr “to work with us to go to the court and obtain access to materials.” Nadler claimed however that Barr has “so far refused.”

“I will give him time to change his mind.  But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials. And if the Department still refuses, then it should be up to a judge—not the President or his political appointee—to decide whether or not it is appropriate for the Committee to review the complete record,” said Nadler.

Republicans blast committee probe

Ranking Member Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia, meanwhile slammed the committee’s ongoing probe of the president and investigation, saying time would best be spent on issues like the crisis on the Southern border. Collins said the asks for further documents was “reckless, irresponsible and disingenuous.”

“What’s the rush? Spring break probably, we don’t want to wait until May,” Collins suggested of Nadler’s calls for subpoenas as Barr has vowed to testify before lawmakers in early May. He claimed Democrats were simply calling for the subpoenas of documents to make headlines after Mueller didn’t make a determination as to whether Mr. Trump committed obstruction of justice.

“This is great political theater,” he added, arguing that asking Barr to release any grand jury materials was illegal, citing potential national security issues.

Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado echoed Collins, saying the public release could “comprise intelligence sources and methods” that Barr previously expressed concerns about this to the committee.

“As much as Democrats may hate the president, I would hope you love America more,” said Buck. He said that “if love trumps hate” Democrats should afford the attorney general enough time to properly release the findings.

Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas meanwhile urged a subpoena of Robert Mueller himself, saying the committee should let Mueller speak about “whether or not he thinks the report he created should be disclosed without considerations of redactions of classified information.”

Fellow Texan Louie Gohmert blasted Democrats claiming they were the ones who colluded with the Russian government. He called the ongoing probe an “outrageous assault on the office of the president even after the truth has come out.”

“It’s time to go back and clean up the mess that’s been made,” added Gohmert.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida agreed with Gohmert, saying Democrats are in denial over Muller’s report, saying the report’s initial release is the the “death rattle of the Democrats’ Russian collusion lie.” He said they’re going through the “stages of grief” in real time over Mueller’s less-than-fruitful findings into obstruction of justice and collusion.


CBS News’ Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.

MSNBC’s Maddow keeps spinning Russian collusion hysteria, even as her OWN NETWORK corrects her

CAP

The post-Mueller comedown has been hard for many MSM journalists, but none more so than MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. The prime-time host continued to spin collusion hysteria, even as her own network corrected her live on air.

With Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report clearing President Trump of colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 election, the focus among anti-Trump types in the media and in Washington has now shifted to pushing for access to the full contents of the report, including its underlying evidence. Surely, they argue, there must be a speck of collusion in there somewhere.

Attorney General William Barr, who released a summary of its findings last Monday, has promised to turn over as much of the report as possible, “consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.”

According to Maddow, “it’s hard to believe” that Mueller would allow Barr – a Trump appointee – to pick through the report himself, deciding what passages need redaction. “They wouldn’t leave that to Barr,” she said on Sunday night. But Barr, she continued, is doing that “all by himself.”

Except he’s not. In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, Barr explicitly stated that Mueller is “assisting us” in making these redactions. Even Maddow’s own producers flashed this newsline across TV screens, as Maddow argued the opposite.

CAP

CAP

In the two years Mueller has been investigating Trump, Maddow has stood out as one of the mainstream media’s most fervent Russiagate conspiracy theorists, starring in her very own detective thriller every night on live TV. Trump, she said, was “curiously well versed” in “specific Russian talking points.” The Kremlin, meanwhile, was running a “continuing operation” to steer the US government from within, and could “flip the switch” at any time if discovered, shutting down the entire US power grid.

As Maddow saw ‘Reds under the bed,’ MSNBC covered Mueller more than any other cable network, mentioning the investigator-turned-savior of democracy almost every day last year.

Could it be that the network’s producers are finally tiring of Maddow’s tinfoil-hat proclamations? If so, it’s about time.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

 

‘Nobody is panicking!’ Rachel Maddow sheds 500,000 viewers in post-Mueller slump

See the source image

After putting all its eggs in the Russiagate conspiracy-theory ‘basket’ only to be let down by the contents (or lack thereof) of the Mueller report, MSNBC – and its top attraction, Rachel Maddow – are hemorrhaging viewers.

Russian-collusion high priestess Rachel Maddow’s nightly news show has slipped from number one in cable news to number six since Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned in his report on Friday, hemorrhaging half a million viewers in the space of a week. An MSNBC insider spilled the beans to the Daily Beast, assuring them that no one at the network was panicking.

“It was obviously a big couple of nights for Fox,” they said. MSNBC’s second-top-rated program, ‘The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,’ was also down half a million pairs of eyes.

See the source image

#Resistance media reactions to Mueller’s “no more indictments” recommendation have varied wildly, from desperate pleas to “wait and see” what’s in the full report to claims that Mueller himself was compromised, or asking the wrong questions, all along. Maddow herself seems to have chosen the “denial” route:

“Can we expect President Trump and the Trump White House to finally accept the underlying factual record that Russia did in fact attack us?” she asked on Monday, interpreting the report summary of Attorney General William Barr, which found no evidence to suggest Russian collusion, as proof that the Russian menace was even more menacing than previously believed.

Maddow’s privileged status as Queen of the Russiagaters has largely insulated her from the standard journalistic responsibilities of telling the truth, fact-checking, and otherwise maintaining a reality-based narrative, but the Beast cited “many producers” at MSNBC who had noticeably backed away from other fiery preachers of the Russiagate gospel, like Malcolm Russia has been plotting to invade the US for 20 years! Also memes are cruise missiles Nance.

‘Opportunistic, xenophobic’: WikiLeaks mocks Rachel Maddow’s latest Russia scare story

Despite the temporary ratings death spiral, network insiders took the long view, speaking of a “pivot to 2020” and keeping the faith that the Trump administration would provide plenty of raw meat for its pundits in the coming months.

And Trumpworld has already begun distributing that meat, blasting a memo to all TV news producers on Monday night that was half victory lap, half threat.

“At this point, there must be introspection from the media who facilitated the reckless statements and a serious evaluation of how such guests are considered and handled in the future,” the missive chided, mentioning some of the worst offenders – including former CIA director John Brennan and Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez – by name.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Schiff Confronted in Explosive House Hearing: We ‘Urge Your Immediate Resignation’…

See the source image

BY GRACE SEGERS, OLIVIA GAZIS

Every Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is calling on Chairman Adam Schiff to resign Thursday, accusing the California Democrat of weaving a “demonstrably false” narrative of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and “undermining” the credibility of the panel.

At a hearing Thursday, Republican Rep. Mike Conaway read a letter that argued that Schiff has been “at the center of a well-orchestrated media campaign claiming, among other things, the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.”

A visibly emotional Schiff, who did not know this broadside from Republicans was coming, had a strident response. At times raising his voice, he listed a litany of known and controversial interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia – including Donald Trump, Jr’s involvement in the Trump Tower meeting and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort‘s sharing of polling data with a Russian associate.

“You might think it’s okay,” Schiff said. “I don’t.”

Since special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Trump campaign associates had colluded with the Kremlin, according to a letter sent to Congress by Attorney General William Barr, Republicans believe that Schiff’s continued investigation of Mr. Trump and his associates is an example of congressional overreach, and they accused him of abusing his position to “knowingly promote false information.”

“Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming,” said the letter read by Conaway. “The findings of the Special Counsel conclusively refute your past and present assertions and have exposed you as having abused your position to knowingly promote false information, having damaged the integrity of this Committee, and undermined faith in U.S. government institutions.”

The letter also says that Republicans have “no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.” The letter was signed by all nine Republican members of the committee, including moderate Reps. Elise Stefanik and Will Hurd.

President Trump is also picking a fight with Schiff, echoing the call on him to resign.

“Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!” Mr. Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

The committee has been riven by infighting since before Democrats took the majority in the 2018 midterm elections. The Republican-led Russia probe broke down along party lines — Republicans concluded there was no evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with the Russian government. Democrats decried the investigation as superficial and vowed to continue pulling threads they said Republicans ignored.

Asked about the sudden push by Republicans for him to step aside, Schiff told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe Wednesday, “I’m used to attacks from the president and his allies in Congress. This is really nothing new and nothing unexpected.”

Emily Tillett contributed to this report

Exclusive: Devin Nunes Sending Criminal Referral to DOJ over Spygate ‘now go on offense and track down all these dirty cops and bad players’

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 6.17.00 PM

By Kristina Wong

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) is planning to send a criminal referral next week to the Justice Department that will detail “multiple referrals on a number of different crimes,” including leaking classified information, as part of his investigation into misconduct at the Justice Department and the FBI.

“As of now, it’ll be one criminal referral but with multiple referrals on a number of different crimes,” he told Breitbart News on Wednesday in an exclusive interview. “We will have some leakers in there for sure.”

“We knew this was a joke from the beginning, and I’ve said as much for a long time. Basically from the time our report came out, which has been a year. But now, the real work begins. It’s good to not have that sitting out there. But we have to now go on offense and track down all these dirty cops and bad players,” he said.

In addition, Nunes plans to interview about 50 people—some who have never been called before Congress—who were involved or know about the pushing of the “pee dossier” within various U.S. government agencies, and its use to get a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Nunes—who took a beating from mainstream news outlets for challenging the Russian collusion narrative—wants to get to the bottom of how it all began, which he said was long before the FBI claims they officially began their investigation of the Trump campaign in late July 2016.

“It all stems from the fact that we know that this investigation started long before the end of July,” he said. “We are quite confident that this investigation started long before they told us that it did.”

He said it reaches all the way to the Obama White House, though it is not yet clear how involved former President Barack Obama was.

“Look, there’s big problems — big problems that the public needs to know about. Maximum transparency is the best thing here,” he said.

Nunes said he believes Barr will have to act on his criminal referral. “There’ll be things in there that cannot be ignored. There will be crimes … so they have to be dealt with,” he told Breitbart News.

He told Fox News on Tuesday he would target “people who lied to Congress, perjury, [and] criminal conspiracy.”

As far as his Democrat colleagues who have not given up on the idea that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, he said, referring to the mythical beast, “These guys are chasing Chupacabra.”

“That really is what they’re looking for … unicorns, the Lochness monster—they’re interchangeable,” he said.

Nunes said the question of whether his Democrat colleague, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), should resign as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, should be directed to Democrat leadership.

“I’ll let our leadership speak to that. My job is to work with whoever is there. At the end of the day, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi makes the decision. But I’ll just say that I think more real journalists need to ask real questions to Team Chupacabra,” he said.

Russiagate diehards can’t let the collusion narrative go, come up with new theories instead

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 3.59.18 PM

The conspiracy known as ‘Russiagate’ should have ended with the news that, after intense investigation, no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia was found — but die-hard collusion truthers are finding it hard to move on.

Attorney General William Barr sent a four-page letter summarizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings to Congress on March 24. Quoting the report directly Barr wrote that the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government” in 2016.

That unambiguous conclusion was reached with the help of 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts and forensic accountants, among other professionals. In pursuit of any evidence to prove Trump colluded with Moscow, Mueller issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.

But none of that was enough to satisfy or dent the resolve of the Russiagate true believers (on social media or in the mainstream media) who are still convinced that they were right all along and are coming up with new theories in a last-ditch effort to prove it.

‘Barr is lying for Trump!’

Following the letter, the first instinct of the Russiagaters was to cast Barr as the new villain. It was too early to turn on Mueller (who had been held up for two years as a Messiah-like figure who would save them from the Trump presidency).

“Barr is a Trump appointee!” they shouted on Twitter, suggesting that the AG lied or misconstrued the contents of Mueller’s report while he sat by and said nothing. Former Hillary Clinton adviser Adam Parkhomenko even accused Barr of engineering a “coverup” of Mueller’s real evidence.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.02.57 PM

This was followed by demands for the release of the report in its entirety, which is a fair request. Trump himself in the past has said he would have “no problem” with the full report being released, so time will tell whether he’ll stick to that position or not. Regardless, what the Russiagaters are expecting to find in the full report is a bit of a mystery, since we already know there was no evidence of collusion established by Mueller.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.03.52 PM

‘Mueller didn’t investigate the right things!’

Perhaps realizing that accusing Barr of spinning the report in Trump’s favor wasn’t going to cut it, collusion enthusiasts finally began to set their sights on Mueller himself. A piece in the New York Times noted the “sense of mourning” that had set in among “disappointed Mueller fans” who were now beginning to “rethink the pedestal they built for him.”

“Mueller’s scope was too narrow!” the former fans insisted, after pledging their hopes on his investigative skills for two years and hanging on every “bombshell” and “turning point” the media — including the Times — had offered them. Some were so disillusioned that they decided the whole thing must have been “a setup” from day one.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.05.11 PM

‘Forget Mueller, the evidence is in plain sight!’

Others maintained that Mueller (“a Republican!”) was simply ignoring all the “evidence” of collusion that was in “plain sight.” The “plain sight” narrative was boosted by the unrelenting Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the Democrats’ collusion charge and even claimed that he seen the evidence of collusion himself. Yet, on Tuesday, Schiff told CNN that the problem was an inability to establish proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” and promised that Congress would continue its own investigations of Trump to prove that he was “compromised” by Russia.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.06.05 PM

Some did stick by Mueller, however, insisting that they trust him and will accept whatever is in the report. Whether they will stand by that assessment if they are disappointed by the contents of the full report remains to be seen.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.06.58 PM

‘But what about *insert theory*?’

Then there were those who went back to basics and dug up all the old theories. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia Evelyn Farkas suggested that maybe Trump secretly owes buckets of money to Russians “close to Putin.”

What about that Trump Tower meeting? What about WikiLeaks? What about Trump saying nice things about Putin? Come on, there must be something they can catch him on.

Screen Shot 2019-03-27 at 4.07.48 PM

Media madness

US media has taken two different approaches to the Mueller news. There are the ones who are eager to move on and forget Russiagate ever happened (no need to reflect on the role journalists played in hyping the conspiracy) — and there are those who are doubling down.

READ MORE: Mueller’s report, finding no Russia collusion or conspiracy, is a major indictment of US media

Preferring the ‘let’s all move on’ option, two CNN reporters penned an unintentionally funny article suggesting that the finding of no collusion was an opportunity to quickly “move past a dark period,” but worried that the president “isn’t prepared to let go.” One assumes they haven’t recently encountered any of the congressional Democrats who are insisting that investigations of Trump will continue indefinitely.

Coming as a surprise to no one, MSNBC’s chief Russiagate prophet Rachel Maddow is one who has opted to double down, barely acknowledging on her Monday night show that no collusion had been found and pouring ample skepticism on Barr’s letter. Poor, desperate Maddow was then unironically dubbed the “queen of collusion” in the Washington Post, which was hardly a beacon of reason and moderation over the last two years.

Anyway, best to stay tuned; who knows what new theories the Russiagate devotees will come up with next.

Danielle Ryan RT

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

Richard Blumenthal: Democrats May Subpoena Full Mueller Report If It’s Not Released

By Josh Hammer

On Thursday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) confirmed that congressional Democrats may seek to subpoena the impending full report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in the event newly confirmed Attorney General William Barr chooses to redact or otherwise only partially release the much-anticipated document.

Bloomberg reports:

“The public will feel rightly that there is a coverup” if details are withheld, [Blumenthal] told CNN Thursday.

Blumenthal, who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he hopes the Republican-led panel would be among the congressional committees that seek to compel the release of any details that aren’t forthcoming. The subpoenas could seek the full report or even Mueller himself. “A Senate or House committee can subpoena anyone,” he said.

As Bloomberg notes, Mueller is expected to submit his report’s final prosecutorial decisions to Barr as early as next week. Barr, as Attorney General, then retains ultimate discretion as to how to act (or not) upon the report’s conclusions and recommendations.

As Roll Call notes, Barr has been noncommittal as to whether he would permit Mueller to testify before Congress, as well as whether he would resist a hypothetical subpoena for Mueller’s report.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, echoed Barr’s comments last month. As CNN reported, at the time, Nadler told Anderson Cooper at the time: “If necessary, our committee will subpoena the report. If necessary, we’ll get Mueller to testify. The American people need the information here.”

As The Daily Wire reported earlier today, CNN appears to be actively attempting to lower its viewers’ expectations as to what to expect from the Mueller report’s impending release:

Asked by “New Day” host Alisyn Camerota Wednesday if he believed the Mueller investigation would find “enough” to take down Trump, former National Intelligence Director and rabid anti-Trump CNN analyst James Clapper attempted to temper the audience’s expectations.

“That’s the big question,” Clapper said. …”I think the hope is that the Mueller investigation will clear the air on this issue once and for all. I’m really not sure it will, and the investigation, when completed, could turn out to be quite anti-climactic and not draw a conclusion about that.”

The Mueller investigation has been dominating news cycles for much of the past week, due in no small part to the firestorm caused by fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s remarkable “60 Minutes” interview with Scott Pelley, in which McCabe claims that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had openly discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment after President Trump’s firing of then-FBI Director James Comey. Last week, The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti reported:

The New York Times reports that McCabe claims “top Justice Department officials were so alarmed by President Trump’s decision in May 2017 to fire James B. Comey, the bureau’s director,” that they reached out to individual Cabinet members to judge their receptiveness to triggering the removal clause of the 25th Amendment, which allows the Cabinet to “vote out” a president who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to fulfill the duties of his job.

McCabe also claims that Comey’s firing “prompted Mr. McCabe to order the bureau’s team investigating Russia’s election interference to expand their scope to also investigate whether Mr. Trump had obstructed justice.”

 

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑