Mueller report thread - Mueller testimony July 24

[IceSpear]

Any other president whose investigation led to dozens of indictments, including several members of his inner circle, would be doomed by this. Teflon Trump is going to spin the fact that he isn't personally leaving the White House in chains today as a win, and it looks like that narrative is going to win out.

Blame the Dem hacks who have insisted for years now that Trump was going to be literally arrested and dragged out of the White House in chains, which was obviously NEVER going to happen.

Dems are the absolute worst at managing expectations.

[Politician]

Ironic how IceSpear and Mizzouian like to attack "Dem hacks" for suggesting Trump will lose because of some negative event everybody forgets, but think Trump is a shoo-in because of some event everybody will forget

[IceSpear]

Ironic how IceSpear and Mizzouian like to attack "Dem hacks" for suggesting Trump will lose because of some negative event everybody forgets, but think Trump is a shoo-in because of some event everybody will forget

[Inmate Trump]

If the full report is not released, there can be no other reason other than they are hiding something.

[Politician]

Ironic how IceSpear and Mizzouian like to attack "Dem hacks" for suggesting Trump will lose because of some negative event everybody forgets, but think Trump is a shoo-in because of some event everybody will forget

Of course it's a strawman. It's called a taste of your own medicine, Mr. "Politician believes Elliott County is more likely to flip than Tarrant County"

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The everybody will, voters in Pa, MI and WI still remember the Clinton ethics and she was cleared by FBIand she still lost

[lfromnj]

Ironic how IceSpear and Mizzouian like to attack "Dem hacks" for suggesting Trump will lose because of some negative event everybody forgets, but think Trump is a shoo-in because of some event everybody will forget

Of course it's a strawman. It's called a taste of your own medicine, Mr. "Politician believes Elliott County is more likely to flip than Tarrant County"

You literally made a thread asking which Dem would have the best chance of beating him there in 2020 and then deleted it when you were getting roasted for unironically asking.

Don't forget when he copied Icespears name along with OSR's.

[Crumpets]

Any other president whose investigation led to dozens of indictments, including several members of his inner circle, would be doomed by this. Teflon Trump is going to spin the fact that he isn't personally leaving the White House in chains today as a win, and it looks like that narrative is going to win out.

Blame the Dem hacks who have insisted for years now that Trump was going to be literally arrested and dragged out of the White House in chains, which was obviously NEVER going to happen.

Dems are the absolute worst at managing expectations.

I agree with this up to the last few days. Not that the Democrats have improved, but the Republicans are really running an undeserved victory lap on this. The mindset has now switched so that, as more details emerge, it will only seem worse and worse for Trump because the conservatives and the media have decided that Mueller has exonnerated Trump, even though we know for a fact that he hasn't.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report to be released publicly.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked for unanimous consent for the nonbinding resolution, which cleared the House 420-0, to be passed by the Senate following Mueller's submission of his final report on Friday.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I accept Mueller's ultimate conclusion, which we now have available.  But the full report should be released.

Also, the president most certainly did attempt to obstruct justice.  Barr's personal conclusions are irrelevant and unimportant.  I want to see Mueller's full, uncensored report.

In any case, it seems like (again, without having the full report--which is a necessity) there was no collusion, and I accept that.  Provided the full report is released and confirms that, I think Trump just won reelection.

That totally ignores the fact that he has has countless other problems that come in way ahead of collusion (which many people believe did happen). He spent last week attacking a dead person, he shutdown the government and didn't even get what he wanted and the list goes on. He needs more collusion to get re-elected and collusion that involves tampering with actual votes.

Nobody cares about any of that anymore, all of that will be forgotten by American voters. Meanwhile, Trump can shape the narrative on this and bring it up whenever he wants to humiliate Democrats and delegitimize any other investigations or ethical concerns that they have. I'm still not convinced 100% that it has cemented his re-election, if this had dropped in October of next year it would have, but it unequivocally is a benefit to him. 

All of that is already baked into public perception. With that said he does something outrageous every week and there is no reason to think he will change in time to be re-elected. If anything this report will prompt him to do worse things.

That's really the only hope we have is for Trump's typical behavior to move the media narrative beyond this. It's bound to happen eventually but the sooner, the better.

Actually this would be a good time for the Democrats to take a page out of Trump's distraction book and convince Biden to announce his candidacy or something. He's really the only major candidate left and him announcing would attract quite a bit of media attention. Maybe not enough to completely push this development out of the cycle, but it would at least diminish it.

[Hammy]

McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report to be released publicly.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked for unanimous consent for the nonbinding resolution, which cleared the House 420-0, to be passed by the Senate following Mueller's submission of his final report on Friday.

Remember back when the GOP obsessed over surveillance and collecting private information (some of which could be sold publicly) while claiming "only those who are guilty have something to hide?" There is no reason at all for them to withhold a public release unless there's something damning in it.

[Progressive Pessimist]

McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report to be released publicly.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked for unanimous consent for the nonbinding resolution, which cleared the House 420-0, to be passed by the Senate following Mueller's submission of his final report on Friday.

Remember back when the GOP obsessed over surveillance and collecting private information (some of which could be sold publicly) while claiming "only those who are guilty have something to hide?" There is no reason at all for them to withhold a public release unless there's something damning in it.

Agreed. This actually might thankfully give Democrats an opening in reversing the optics of this dilemma.

[Frodo]

Had to share this with you all:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1098364052047306754

[Reaganfan]

Had to share this with you all:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1098364052047306754

That's great! I love our Prez.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Any other president whose investigation led to dozens of indictments, including several members of his inner circle, would be doomed by this. Teflon Trump is going to spin the fact that he isn't personally leaving the White House in chains today as a win, and it looks like that narrative is going to win out.

Blame the Dem hacks who have insisted for years now that Trump was going to be literally arrested and dragged out of the White House in chains, which was obviously NEVER going to happen.

Dems are the absolute worst at managing expectations.

No one will believe the worst about Trump if it comes from them.  They are permanently entrenched in our politics as Wolf Criers of the highest order.

Now if the Democrats get off of Trump and onto issues, they might win in 2020.  Trump's hardly got it made.  Fortunately for Trump, the Democrats will provide the unexpected help.

[pbrower2a]

Any other president whose investigation led to dozens of indictments, including several members of his inner circle, would be doomed by this. Teflon Trump is going to spin the fact that he isn't personally leaving the White House in chains today as a win, and it looks like that narrative is going to win out.

Blame the Dem hacks who have insisted for years now that Trump was going to be literally arrested and dragged out of the White House in chains, which was obviously NEVER going to happen.

Dems are the absolute worst at managing expectations.

No one will believe the worst about Trump if it comes from them.  They are permanently entrenched in our politics as Wolf Criers of the highest order.

Now if the Democrats get off of Trump and onto issues, they might win in 2020.  Trump's hardly got it made.  Fortunately for Trump, the Democrats will provide the unexpected help.

Donald Trump is an issue in himself for his recklessness, corruption, cruelty, and reactionary ideology.

We need to see what is in that report unless disclosure puts Americans at risk or jeopardizes criminal trials. I am willing to find out, should such be so, that Donald Trump is a man of pure honor and integrity who deserves re-election and who will find that he wi9ns because only the most partisan of hacks can vote against him. I went along with him making his economic case and hoped for the best in "making America great again".

Whatever chance I gave him I no longer give him. I am not the sort who gets conned, but if someone cheated me once I would never give him a second chance.

Just watch the polls. By the middle of next month we should see whether the President has gained enough trust to be on track for re-election and perhaps even winning back the House majority and picking off a few Democratic Senate seats.

At this stage I have less faith in the President than I have had in any President except perhaps when Nixon's administration was in a death spiral and when Dubya was experiencing a double-whammy with an economic meltdown while reverses in Iraq and Afghanistan became obvious. Things are nearly that bad with this President.

Yeah, sure -- make America great again -- if you want a return to the economic and political norms of the 1920s. I have known people who lived through the 1920s -- and the only nostalgia that they had about that slum of a decade was that they were still young.

[Rookie Yinzer]

The way the lamestream media is covering this is deplorable. They are so thirsty for Trump’s approval and love. It’s sick. WE don’t know what Mueller found just what Barr INTERPRETED.

[T'Chenka]

McConnell blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be released publicly

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report to be released publicly.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked for unanimous consent for the nonbinding resolution, which cleared the House 420-0, to be passed by the Senate following Mueller's submission of his final report on Friday.

Remember back when the GOP obsessed over surveillance and collecting private information (some of which could be sold publicly) while claiming "only those who are guilty have something to hide?" There is no reason at all for them to withhold a public release unless there's something damning in it.

At this point I'm 100% convinced that the Republican Party has NO principles. They merely believe in ideologies and policies when it is convenient and benefits them, and do complete 180s on issues constantly when it no longer serves their interests. I feel REALLY REALLY bad for principled conservatives who have to choose between voting for their policies or voting for non-garbage.

[anvi]

Well, I am a little surprised by the result.  I have a few lingering questions about it, like why Mueller, if he thought the obstruction case was ambiguous and had at least some incriminating evidence, did not attempt to interview Trump to at least probe about intent, especially when he admitted at least once in a television interview that he dismissed Comey because of the ongoing Russia investigation.  I'm also puzzled about why Trump's public request at a summer, '16 press conference for Russia to produce Clinton emails doesn't seem to weigh at all in considerations of coordination.  That such statements as were made in the interview and press conference happened "in public view" does not seem to me to render them irrelevant, as Barr's letter appears to suggest.  I also think as much of the report that does not breech national security concerns as possible should be release to the public.  Still, Mueller ran a thoroughly professional investigation and produced a large number of important and just convictions, so I trust his legal judgement. 

Politically, this leaves the Democrats where they have been all along. For 2020, they have to produce a candidate that will draw as many of their supporters to the polls as possible, and they need that candidate to be more appealing to the public than Trump.  So far, incredibly and sadly, I don't think the prospects look promising at all on this front.

[Virginiá]

Well, I am a little surprised by the result.  I have a few lingering questions about it, like why Mueller, if he thought the obstruction case was ambiguous and had at least some incriminating evidence, did not attempt to interview Trump to at least probe about intent, especially when he admitted at least once in a television interview that he dismissed Comey because of the ongoing Russia investigation.

It could be a constitutional question that made him hesitate. What we read was the result of Mueller punting the decision to Barr/Rosenstein, and the decision was predictable.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Had to share this with you all:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1098364052047306754

This is why there is no conservative daily show.

[anvi]

Well, I am a little surprised by the result.  I have a few lingering questions about it, like why Mueller, if he thought the obstruction case was ambiguous and had at least some incriminating evidence, did not attempt to interview Trump to at least probe about intent, especially when he admitted at least once in a television interview that he dismissed Comey because of the ongoing Russia investigation.

It could be a constitutional question that made him hesitate. What we read was the result of Mueller punting the decision to Barr/Rosenstein, and the decision was predictable.

I'm no lawyer, so that is of course possible.  But on the face of it, while there is a lingering Constitutional ambiguity regarding whether a sitting president can be indicted, I know of no legal ambiguity in calling a president in for questioning under oath in a federal investigation of activities of his own campaign.  If there is no such legal ambiguity, the decision not to interview Trump was Mueller's call, and it would be nice to know what his basis was for making it.  I completely agree that punting the decision to pursue an obstruction case to Barr left the result predictable.

[Badger]

the Democrats outdid them with their Russian nonsense.

No, they really didn't.

[Hollywood]

2+ years of the Mueller investigation yields nothing, but the Ukranian AG finds tangible evidence against Hillary Clinton of collusion with a Ukranian citizen to influence the U.S. elections.

Okay.  So no collusion.  Now we pin our hopes to obstruction of justice.  A crime for which we have no concrete evidence to substantiate aside from our own opinions and emotional outbursts.  We base our allegations on body language examinations and poker psychoanalysis we conducted while Whitaker was testifying before congress. We Democrats are no more credible or detestable than Nancy Grace.  Hope we win in 2020.  All of our candidates are now toxic, but hopefully white man, I mean Biden, will save us. 

[Hollywood]

the Democrats outdid them with their Russian nonsense.

No, they really didn't.

Of course they did.  The Democrat spokesperson, Adam Schiff, stated that he saw evidence of Russian collusion.  This was a total lie.  Numerous Democrats and left-wing media members have fabricated claims of evidence, bombshells and indictments pertaining to Trump Russia collusion conspiracy.