DOJ has just sent us a very brief letter about the Mueller report, which we will share shortly.
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
“The Special Counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’”
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
… In other words, the carefully-edited version of the Mueller Report that Trump’s hand-picked Acting AG has chosen to share, for now…
Context as you read: am told Special Counsel Robert Mueller was not consulted on this letter. This was the product of the Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, per DOJ official.
— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) March 24, 2019
Since the decision — by his own admission — not to prosecute on obstruction was AG Barr’s (and NOT Mueller’s), this makes the case for a full release of the Mueller Report even more compelling (so Congress can assess Barr’s decision).
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) March 24, 2019
65: Number of words from the Mueller report Barr includes in his 4 page letter
ZERO: Number of complete sentences from the Mueller report Barr includes in his 4 page letter
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 24, 2019
Reminder, Rep. Nadler is Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and clearly he is *not* prepared to give AG Barr — or the man who appointed Barr his consigliere — a free pass. Good for him!
But Special Counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the President, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
Also, Rep. Adam Schiff:
The Department of Justice has suggested it cannot provide Congress with evidence as to people not indicted.
Not true. It can, and it has, when the need for transparency is strong.
The DOJ gave us more than 880k pages from the Clinton email probe. It must now do the same here. pic.twitter.com/bvIKOqnLF0
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) March 24, 2019
Fine, leave Barron out of it. https://t.co/CJvDj4kz6e
— Joshua Holland ? (@JoshuaHol) March 24, 2019
If Robert Mueller's goal was to keep people pissed off about Trump's crimes all the way to the end of 2020, he definitely succeeded.
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) March 24, 2019
zhena gogolia
I like that last tweet. It’s the only thing cheering me up right now.
MJS
I hope Sinema and Jones are proud of their vote to confirm Barr. I know Manchin is.
Lapassionara
My theory is that this is the Trump administration’s way of doing a Saturday Night Massacre. Barr is confirmed; he tells Mueller to wrap up; and Mueller does what he is told.
All the loose ends may never be tied up.
FelonyGovt
I love our House Dems. I’m beginning to think this won’t get swept under the rug so quickly.
Mike in NC
Looks like somebody somewhere is going to leak Mueller’s full unredacted report. There are absolutely no secrets in Washington DC. Give it 24-48 hours, tops.
sharl
?????????
James E Powell
I’m feeling the opposite. It’s already the end of March and they haven’t done dick. Imagine what the Rs would be doing if the situations were reversed.
Ben Cisco
Our only remedy is the same one we had after election night 2016 – run him and his crew in 2020. Nothing else matters at this point.
MJS
@Mike in NC: I hope you’re right. We desperately need our own Pentagon Papers moment.
Frankensteinbeck
I certainly trust this report by the man Trump chose to exonerate him that the actual report he’s not showing us exonerates Trump.
Adam L Silverman
@Lapassionara: There are ongoing Federal criminal investigations into the President, his administration, his campaign, his business, his family, and/or his surrogates at: Southern District of NY, Eastern District of NY, Central District of CA (Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office), US District for DC, Main Justice in the National Security Division and in the Public Corruption Division. There are also ongoing criminal and/or civil investigations into the President, his administration, his campaign, his business, his family, and/or his surrogates at: the Attorney General for NY, the Attorney General for Maryland, the Attorney General for New Jersey, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (equivalent to a DA).
tobie
OT–before the Mueller report was released on Friday, it was announced that the Deputy AG for the SDNY Robert Khuzami was stepping down and an attorney named Audrey Strauss would be taking his place. The only thing I could find out about Strauss was that she was an Iran-Contra investigator. Has anyone looked into this. Our only hope is that the SDNY will continue investigations, and it’s looking more and more like Barr is hollowing the place out and installing partisans.
Suzanne
@Mike in NC: Do you have a reason to think this other than really wanting it to happen?
Is anyone truly surprised by this report: Trump and his goons possibly, even likely, committed obstruction of justice, but there isn’t enough evidence for a conviction due to the government’s high burden of proof? Shit, that always seemed like the most likely outcome to me.
The only way forward has always, ALWAYS been at the ballot box.
wonkie
I don’t know how this will shake out in the long run but in the short run it is a disaster. What the public is seeing is “exonerated”. That will discredit all of the other investigations,
Ironically it will have no effect on the credibility of those hwo smeared Mueller and cried out about Deep State. That will all go down the memory hole.
And in the coming weeks as the actual report dribbles out my guess is that there will be details that indicate that Trump tried to collude but no smoking gun that he succeeded. But the fact that he tried will be obscured by the “exoneration”.
And this wil not help the Dems in 2020
Emerald
@Mike in NC:
As Malcom Nance (hope he’s on his meds today) and our own Adam have said: it will accidentally fall off a truck right on the doorstep of the Washington Post.
Adam L Silverman
@Emerald: Stuff will start to leak.
Emerald
@tobie:
Barr is one of the few actually competent officials Twitler has installed. I expect he is doing exactly what he was hired to do, just as he did with the Iran-Contra criminals.
Immanentize
@Adam L Silverman:
There are also, it seems, at least 20ish Indictments not yet served.
Mr Stagger Lee
C’mon good friends what AG would recommend charges against a sitting president, forgive me for the bothsiderism, but a Democratic AG would do the same damn thing, impeachment is not happening, and would never happen. Just like “Fitzmas”, “Mueller Time” a fool’s errand, the House will investigate, but until then how about concentrating on the elections and get rid of the Dotard.
Immanentize
@Adam L Silverman:
I agree about the leaks. Especially if Barr has mischaracterized the findings.
tobie
@wonkie: I feel this way, too, but I’m trying to keep my fraught nerves together right now and one thing I do find comforting is that 2020 is still some time away and so much other garbage is going to happen between now and then that there will be tons of outrage at the mendacity of Republicans going into the general election. Also: Barr’s unilateral exoneration of Trump on obstruction is not playing quite as well as you think.
Jay
@wonkie:
The Public is seeing that Barr didn’t exonerate the Needy Amin.
RWNJ’s are still chanting “No Collusion” and “Lock Her Up”,
And months and months more of hearings to come.
The Fat Lady isn’t even at the Theatre yet, let alone warming up backstage.
tobie
@Emerald: That’s why I’m trying to get a read on who Audrey Strauss is and there’s not a lot out there:
Immanentize
@Mr Stagger Lee:
I have always believed that the impeachment route is best saved for after the 2020 election.
guachi
@Immanentize: AFAIK, there are no sealed indictments.
People who thought Mueller would save them were not being realistic. And it’s clear large segments of America, including most of the media, are easily played by Trump.
The only upside is that most of the people opposed to Trump were opposed before any though of collusion with Trump came up. The massive marches the Saturday after the inauguration show that.
eemom
I can’t believe y’all chicken littles. I honestly fucking can’t.
Maybe this will help. After 30+ years in my justly reviled profession, I assure you that nothing comes more easily and naturally to the Barrs of this world than twisting written words to make them sound like the opposite of what they mean. Especially when there is 0 price to be paid for doing so.
So calm the fuck down.
Peale
Like that Ari Fleischer has jumped on board the “prosecute Obama” bandwagon over the report. If they would limit themselves to making 2020 about locking Hillary Up over this report they might go unnoticed. Make it about Locking Obama Up and I think they lose in places they haven’t thought about losing since 1980.
MJS
@Immanentize: That’s the problem – it will be leaked. Not one fucking person with the integrity to stand up and say, right fucking now, “Barr is lying. That’s not what the report says at all.” Not one. Cowards all.
FelonyGovt
@eemom: As another member of your justly reviled profession, I agree.
Emerald
@eemom:
Thanks, eemom. I needed that.
MJS
@eemom: Then we should be seeing a statement from Mueller contradicting Barr any minute now, right? Or does decorum dictate he let Barr lie about his (Mueller’s) work?
Immanentize
@guachi: I’m not talking about sealed Indictments, although there could be — I’m talking about twelve Indictments filed the days before Stone was indicted with no reports of others being served. That kind of thing
Also, agree generally with eemom but I don’t believe Bar is lying, just very carefully spinning.
ETA. Barr’s letter is obviously a political document, not a legal one. His top line exhoneration will endure politically for some time
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@MJS:
Doom and gloom
Kathleen
@eemom: Thank you!
Yutsano
@Immanentize: I’m coming to the conclusion this letter had an audience of one. It was solely meant to appease Dolt45 and no one else. The already in motion investigations prove this. This is fortunately nowhere near the end.
Jay
@MJS:
Meuller’s life depends on process being followed.
Reality Winner???????????????
And the process is testimony, both public and private to the House Commitees.
The engraved invitations are being pressed as we speak.
geg6
I give up on this country. We are living in a dictatorship ruled by the mad puppet of Vladimir Putin. Get used to it or get out. I’m going to try to figure out what to do now. Hopefully, I have a couple of years to get plans into place before they come for us all.
I know this sounds desperate and crazy, but I don’t know what else to feel. I have no faith left in any of our “leaders” or institutions.
MJS
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Yep, but it’s completely new for me. You think today’s a good day?
Immanentize
@Yutsano: That is mostly my conclusion too. The facts will come out, but probably in the summer. Trump is stabilized for a few days. But I see his son is already blabbing — “Collusion Truthers.”
J R in WV
I just want tell ya’ll this:
Even an acquital by a jury is not “Found Innocent” — it is found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt!
I served on two capital murder trials in October and December many years ago. My wife covered probably a hundred serious trials as a reporter for 30+ years, so I heard a whole lot about the goings on in courts.
So when I say no trial ever found a defendant “innocent” ever never — I know what I’m talking about. Also, it is impossible according to the laws of logic to prove a negative case. To say at Bill Clinton’s rally in town (way back in the day) that “No Republicans attended” is ipso facto impossible and wrong. Especially when a big donor to the Rs is on TV on the stage…!
So all anyone can say about those not yet indicted is:
Which is a long way from exonerated. Also too, just because some things are (barely) legal doesn’t make them legitimate and moral.
All that said, I’m disappointed so far. No surprise, there, I guess, ever since fall of 2016.
Also, all those oldsters who died without seeing the “Mueller Report” — that’s a good thing, kinda.
MJS
@Jay: A statement of, “AG Barr’s statements with regard to the report are misleading” would represent no violation of the law.
Belafon
@James E Powell:
And what would they be doing if Democrats were in control of the Senate and supported a president who ignored anything coming out of the House?
We don’t have a reverse, because Democrats still care about following rules and the Constitution
James E Powell
@Yutsano:
The audiences were the press/media, then the great mass of American people who don’t really follow this stuff closely and who will assume that whatever CNN tells them is true.
Although some people like to deprecate Sarah Kendzior, she poses questions that Democrats should be asking out loud. For one, if this is all Mueller got, why was he offering sweet plea deals. What did he get that was worth letting people off?
sharl
As is kinda obvious from the article title, here’s an almost gushing* piece from a courthouse reporter who works the SDNY beat: Lawyer Who Bested Roy Cohn Tapped for Big Gig in SDNY
*The reporter (Adam Klasfeld) normally has a more staid approach to his writing, based on my limited reading of his work. I don’t know if he’s beat-sweetening here, or is just genuinely very positive on her. Anyhoo, his piece is pretty good about offering the basics of her background.
Jay
@MJS:
Nope, but while it would slightly calm all the Eeores contemplating suicide or survivalism, it would have the reverse impact of Comey’s Emailz Risotto investigation.
The move would be completely and overtly political.
It would further politicise the Investigation and it’s results amongst the RWNJ’s and the Screaming Pundit Class.
It’s not Meullers job to pat your hand and say “there, there, suck it up, Buttercup”.
John Revolta
Everybody takes some deep breaths. All we got is a Trump employee telling us what he wants us to hear. Even if y’all don’t remember how all unfolded in 1973-74, rest assured there’s plenty in DC who do. It ain’t a sprint.
tobie
@geg6: The description I would use would be banana republic.
Yutsano
@James E Powell: Joe Scarborough (I know) of all people was wondering if there really was no collusion then why did so many people around him lie? Why did the President himself lie about his Russian contacts? What happened in that meeting where he shared top secret intelligence with Russians where no American reporters were allowed? Why are there still many stones still left unturned? Something is still quite rotten and the Barr letter definitely isn’t helping.
James E Powell
@Belafon:
They’d be on cable and radio every day calling the president a traitor, a crook, and a demon. Their house committees would be conducting non-stop investigations. They would definitely have Hillary Clinton’s tax returns and they’d be public. They’d be leaking rumors, innuendo, and outright lies to the NYT. The NYT would report each one breathlessly and the cable shows would take up the chant so that every one of their accusations would be fixed as fact in the voters’ minds by the election which they would win.
What they wouldn’t be doing is nothing.
Jay
@John Revolta:
Yup, ???????
Adam L Silverman
@Immanentize: If the report really exonerated the president and his family and business and campaign and surrogates than Barr would have released the whole thing by now.
chopper
given the long term DOJ policy that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted, barr’s statement that the evidence of obstruction doesn’t rise to the level of prosecuting is completely meaningless. there is literally no evidence no matter how bad that would compel barr to prosecute. especially given the fact that barr was specifically put into this position to hamstring this specific process.
we need to see the actual evidence here.
MJS
@Jay: Fuck off, smart ass. It also wasn’t Mueller’s job to submit a report without interviewing the subject of the investigation in person. And it is his job to ensure his efforts are accurately represented, regardless of what the press and RWNJs have to say about it.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Immanentize: If it used to strip the Dotard of the benefits as President, I’m game. especially if the Trumpanzees want to plant Dotard at Arlington Next to JFK’s resting spot.
B.B.A.
Just remember, if Russia hadn’t interfered in the election, President Kaine would have an empty Cabinet and would be desperately trying to pass a budget through the Republican Congress that just impeached and removed his predecessor for “doing Benghazi on her emails,” to quote the third article of impeachment.
Another Scott
PopeHat at TheAtlantic:
The Mueller process isn’t over.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
I feel like it’s deja vu all over again. I feel this is more and more like Iran-Contra.
Ohio Mom
@tobie: Yes, for a long time (even before Trump), I have thought that banana republic is where we were heading. And why not? We invented the concept.
Jay
@James E Powell:
The House Commitees arn’t “doing nothing”.
And a huge part of the reason the ReThugs are the party of treason, is because of the “win” at all costs tactics they embrace.
It’s not a road any Democrats should ever walk down.
It leads to a complete moral abyss.
tobie
@sharl: Thanks for the link. I found it reassuring that someone like Mimi Rocah, who used to work at the SDNY doesn’t find the staff change that unusual.
Tim C.
@geg6: Take a walk. I mean that literally, get out an walk. We aren’t in as bad a shape as we were two years ago. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We all wanted a smoking gun and absolute proof to collapse the Republican party. That ain’t happening and was never in the cards. Yeah, it might go badly and the stress of being in the position of things not being settled is hard. It’s super hard. I’ve already vomited twice about it today and probably will again. But this isn’t over and there are sub-investigations to be worked out. But here’s what, I think, we need to give up on.
1) The pee-tape or whatever doesn’t exist. Likewise any major magic-bullet instant resignation fantasy needs to be put to bed now. I’d like that just as much as anyone, but it’s not happening.
2) There isn’t going to be anything left in those sub-investigations that probably will produce anything like in point 1
3) The rank-and-file GOP will never be swayed by this. Maybe if Trump invaded a South American country, maybe if the economy tanks, but not this stuff. It’s going to be a long slog, so fight.
Other people with better insights than me have covered the rest and I always thought direct collusion was unlikely and the major players in it stayed shut up. There are dozens of other crimes out there, Our “party line” now needs to be “We got 880k Pages on Clinton’s Emails, why can’t we read the report?” and “Why won’t you release what’s in the report?”
My fingers are shaking as I type this, but to quote Herbet, “Fear is the mind-killer”
plato
@James E Powell:
Yup, bbc’s 24 point headline now – Trump ‘did not conspire with Russia’. The best day of trump’s presidency.
The drumbeat has begun.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@James E Powell:
That wouldn’t be too hard, the Clinton’s tax returns were public in 2016 going back almost 40 years.
Now…Get a hold of yourselves.
The Dangerman
UCF giving Duke all they want; under 12 timeout now.
They’re mixing up their D nicely; sometimes straight zone, I think I saw a Box and 1, and the color guy called out a triangle and 2 a couple minutes ago. Zoning Duke is the only way to beat them.
Zion is a stud (duh) and this Fall character can play in the league, too (if Manute Bol can play for a decade, this guy can, too).
Jay
@MJS:
Back atcha with a rusty rebar,
Meuller has perfectly good reasons to not interview the Insane Clown POSus,
#1, the White House would fight it through the Courts to the ReThug dominated Supremes. Guess which way they would vote and set precedent?
#2, it’s the Insane Clown POSus, so all you are going to get is shitstirring and a tornado vomit of free association. All you are going to get is “Caravans, Electoral College, Who elected Meuller?” ad naseaum and the only “evidence” it will provide is for a deminished mental capacity defence.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@eemom: Indeed; thanks for saying this. Calm the fuck down. Early days – my expectation is that OSC referred a ship ton of these out, and there are sealed indictments in several jurisdictions. This isn’t Mueller’s first rodeo.
@Immanentize: ETA: I agree with your ETA. Very carefully parsed words by Barr. Parsed in incomplete sentences, no less.
Also, too, sent you an email.
plato
Apparently, barr’s justification for no obstruction of justice conclusion was that the totus thug has been angrily tweeting about it publicly. Unbelievable.
Jay
@plato:
The BBC can’t even report correctly on Brexit, or lost dogs stories anymore, so big deal.
prostratedragon
@The Dangerman: Never heard of Tacko Fall until this week, and have trouble figuring out why the standard commentary is to question whether such a tall player can be NBA-viable when there have already been a couple of others, and Fall seems to be a better athlete than they were. Are the writers all 18?
HinTN
@Adam L Silverman: Yep
ETA – Thanks to eemom for laying it out there, too.
SFAW
Info for all you Pats haters out there: Gronk has apparently announced his retirement
Apologies if this info has already appeared elsewhere in this joint.
MJS
@Jay: Buttercup, you shouldn’t worry so much about Trump’s reaction to things. That’s how abusers control things.
Jay
@MJS:
And you should just kill yourself and get it all over with Eeore.
Unsurprising that a new nym is busy trolling and never read any of the multiple FP’s, comments and expert links on how to deal with a malignant narcissist.
MJS
New nym? Nice research. Now I know to ignore anything you post going forward.
Immanentize
@SFAW: That man beat his body to bits. His head too, I fear.
sukabi
@James E Powell: yes, deranged gunmen can do a fuckton of damage in a short amount of time.
It takes a bit more effort and time to actually make shit work.
SFAW
@Immanentize:
I’ve been a Jets fan for 55-plus years, and don’t have a lot of love for the Pats. That said, Gronk was an outstanding player, and I’m sorry he kept getting hurt. As with you, I expect that’s a big driver for his decision.
geg6
@Tim C.:
I’m not afraid. I’ve been furious. But now I’m just done. I don’t believe that it’s ever going to be all right. I don’t believe our institutions can handle this. I don’t believe the 2020 election will have any result other than Trump’s re-election. I think all the happy talk here in these last few threads is whistling into the wind. 60 Minutes just said the president was completely exonerated. It’s over. Get used to it.
Tim C.
@geg6: you have a right to that,and I’m not saying things won’t get worse before they get better.
Chris Johnson
@Tim C.:
How do you know? We are not seeing a single complete sentence out of Mueller’s report.
Tim C.
@Chris Johnson: I don’t with absolute certainty. So that’s a fair question. All I can say is my working model of Barr is that he’s a corrupt loyalist to the GOP who wouldn’t bet his future on burying something of that magnitude that might get out. That model maybe flawed as well. I’m just giving up on magic bullets at this point.
oldgold
Given that I have spent months pissing and moaning about the pace of the Mueller probe, it is strange that I am critical of Barr moving so quickly.
Has anyone ever seen such speed? The report is filed on Friday afternoon and before the sun sets on Sunday he has resolved the open obstruction matter. Ridiculous!
Why? To set the damn political narrative.
Trump and his cronies, including Barr, have always seen and played this game as a political matter, as opposed to a legal one. And, it appears they have won.
In some respects, it is very close to what happened in terms of the contested 2000 Presidential election.
Suzanne
@Jay:
Completely unacceptable.