Mueller report thread - Mueller testimony July 24

[GeorgiaModerate]

The spin on both sides right now makes me think this doesn't effect anything.

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1109907157510733830

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

It may not be "exonerating" for Trump, but clearly Democrats should focus on something else in the 2020 election.

Yeah. Like 2024.

Trump spent the past week attacking a dead man. Believing, 2020 is the end of his presidency.

Smart Dems will move on from this nonsense and concentrate on getting an electable candidate for 2020.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

This is free speech.  He said "I could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and my poll numbers wouldn't go down!" It was obviously in jest and not a threat.  If he said "I will shoot someone" well that's a threat and would have to be looked into and would've I believe.

Trump jokes a lot but people seem to want to take him seriously word-for-word anyway.

Barr and Nadler/House Dems are obviously going to spin this. There's no reason to base any inference on what they say. Their words are all meaningless.

There is no reason to take any spin other than the actual report itself. That is where the fight is headed. Try to keep up.

I don't think this is going to sway very many people either way because few people care. Democrats have been making the mistake of thinking that this will somehow to lead to a deus ex machina removal of Trump. But obviously that's wrong and will continue to be wrong no matter what the report says. Shooting someone on fifth avenue, etc.

I was saying that no matter what the report says Trump's supporters are going to support him which is what the original quote meant in its original context.

I never thought "obstruction" would have been valid anyways. Firing the Director of the FBI is executive privilege and it was difficult to argue with executive privilege. Hell, even Nixon's "Saturday night massacre" was legal.

President Hillary Clinton would have also fired James Comey the second she took office, so Comey was going to be terminated one way or another.

lmao Clinton wouldn't have fired Comey because he was potentially investigating criminal wrongdoing you very intelligent poster

I accept the summary and the conclusions that it provides. The investigation is over, and we should accept the result. That being said, this does not change the fact that I am opposed to the Trump Presidency in General.

You don't even know what the report says yet. It's been filtered entirely through Barr, journalists, and twitter.

[Hammy]

Basically it seems like Trump surrounded himself by people so loyal he didn't even have to give them direction for them to do his dirty work for him, they just did it willingly, but he was aware and did nothing to stop them (which on a technicality isn't a crime in itself).

[Horus]

I accept the summary and the conclusions that it provides. The investigation is over, and we should accept the result. That being said, this does not change the fact that I am opposed to the Trump Presidency in General.

[Skye]

Can't wait to see how Trump undermines this 'victory' by attacking McCain or some other thing.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

This is free speech.  He said "I could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and my poll numbers wouldn't go down!" It was obviously in jest and not a threat.  If he said "I will shoot someone" well that's a threat and would have to be looked into and would've I believe.

Trump jokes a lot but people seem to want to take him seriously word-for-word anyway.

Barr and Nadler/House Dems are obviously going to spin this. There's no reason to base any inference on what they say. Their words are all meaningless.

There is no reason to take any spin other than the actual report itself. That is where the fight is headed. Try to keep up.

I don't think this is going to sway very many people either way because few people care. Democrats have been making the mistake of thinking that this will somehow to lead to a deus ex machina removal of Trump. But obviously that's wrong and will continue to be wrong no matter what the report says. Shooting someone on fifth avenue, etc.

I'm pretty sure you misread what he said.

He was clearly saying that even if Trump was found guilty of something, his supporters wouldn't care, and he cited Trump's "5th Avenue" comment as an example of why they wouldn't care.

[136or142]

If Mueller didn't find evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign, then I for one accept that the evidence isn't there.  It sounds like the question of obstruction may be less clear; the letter says that Mueller laid out the evidence for it, and Barr has deemed it insufficient to charge.  I'm sure Congress will look into that further.  But I'm willing to acknowledge that at least the collusion narrative is now over.

It should also be noted that Mueller did find solid evidence of Russian interference in the election.

Just out of curiosity, would any of those on the right who've been complaining about Mueller's bias now care to retract those statements?

Mueller clearly didn't report that he didn't find evidence.  It seems reasonable to conclude (though reasonable people could conclude otherwise as well) that Mueller couldn't find *proof* of a 'quid pro quo.' 

My understanding is that this is extremely difficult for prosecutors to do.

Essentially, for wealthy or powerful people anyway, bribery is basically legal.

That's my understanding anyway.

[Reaganfan]

President Trump to speak shortly, per CNN.

[HisGrace]

IDK how you can say they did not collude when his campaign met with Russian operatives under the premise of getting dirt on Clinton.

The summary says that the report does not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice but fails to provide any other details. One of the reasons the whole report needs to be mad public with minimal redactions.

I think all the Republicans who are now claiming victory with this report owe Mueller a big apology for smearing him as a partisan hack for all this time. 100% projection on their part.

[QAnonKelly]

This was always going to be a bit of a letdown. Trump has definitely done some borderline crimes in office but a lot of it is really hard to prove and isn’t illegal outright. The report even says that it hasn’t found any crimes but it also isn’t an exoneration. I’m just glad it’s over with so everyone can just move on.

[136or142]

This was always going to be a bit of a letdown. I’m just glad it’s over with so everyone can just move on.

Let's wait to see what the report says.  Impeachment and conviction is a political act, not a legal one.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Looks like Democrats must find another hero.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

This is free speech.  He said "I could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and my poll numbers wouldn't go down!" It was obviously in jest and not a threat.  If he said "I will shoot someone" well that's a threat and would have to be looked into and would've I believe.

Trump jokes a lot but people seem to want to take him seriously word-for-word anyway.

Barr and Nadler/House Dems are obviously going to spin this. There's no reason to base any inference on what they say. Their words are all meaningless.

There is no reason to take any spin other than the actual report itself. That is where the fight is headed. Try to keep up.

I don't think this is going to sway very many people either way because few people care. Democrats have been making the mistake of thinking that this will somehow to lead to a deus ex machina removal of Trump. But obviously that's wrong and will continue to be wrong no matter what the report says. Shooting someone on fifth avenue, etc.

I'm pretty sure you misread what he said.

He was clearly saying that even if Trump was found guilty of something, his supporters wouldn't care, and he cited Trump's "5th Avenue" comment as an example of why they wouldn't care.

Ok, that wasn't clear but yes probably a good portion of them would blow it off.

[Thatkat04]

The spin on both sides right now makes me think this doesn't effect anything.

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1109907157510733830

You have to wonder how many voters were actively disapproving of Trump just because of Mueller. Cant imagine its that many.

[Silent Hunter]

Mueller is going to be asked to testify about this to House Judiciary, so I'll take his words over a Trump appointee like Barr.

The lack of an exoneration over obstruction of justice is quite a key bit.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Donald Trump just won re-election.

[Illiniwek]

Donald Trump just won re-election.

[7,052,770]

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.

[Thatkat04]

Warning, very hot take incoming:

In a way, Barr's vagueness may have given this whole shebang a second wind. Congressional democrats are almost certain to get Barr, Rosenstein and even Mueller to testify. I'm not sure if thats a good thing or bad things for dems politically, but its pretty clear this isnt over.

[Horus]

Warning, very hot take incoming:

In a way, Barr's vagueness may have given this whole shebang a second wind. Congressional democrats are almost certain to get Barr, Rosenstein and even Mueller to testify. I'm not sure if thats a good thing or bad things for dems politically, but its pretty clear this isnt over.

Probably a bad thing. Most people don't care about this and it's time to move on.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

I see we got some high quality hot takes here

[DaWN]

Warning, very hot take incoming:

In a way, Barr's vagueness may have given this whole shebang a second wind. Congressional democrats are almost certain to get Barr, Rosenstein and even Mueller to testify. I'm not sure if thats a good thing or bad things for dems politically, but its pretty clear this isnt over.

Probably a bad thing. Most people don't care about this and it's time to move on.

Completely agree with this. Democrats should just take the l on this one and move on. If they let it fade, it's likely nobody will care in a month, let alone by November 2020. Dragging it out when it probably isn't going to yield much with exponentially increasing risk is a bad idea.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Donald Trump just won re-election.

That depends on whether Russia decides to help him again or not, now doesn't it?

But given how useful he's been to Putin, and how he and the GOP have refused to secure our elections, you're probably right that Russia will once again hand him victory.

[QAnonKelly]

This is going to change no one’s vote either way in an election that’s over a year and a half away.