What if Robert Mueller does not give Democrats what they want?



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L Most of the Democratic leaders present at Capitol Hill have the position that lawmakers are waiting for Trump-Russia's special advocate, Robert Mueller, to present his report before deciding to dismiss President Trump. But what if Mueller does not accuse the president of wrongdoing, or at least unforgivable? Could Democrats say, "No matter", dispel your impeachment ideas and move on to the next item on their agenda?

This seems unlikely. Many Democrats are deeply and emotionally committed to resisting Trump. Sixty-six Democrats in the House voted to allow the articles on impeachment to go ahead a year ago. Now, with the House in the hands of the Democrats and after another year of mediatized allegations between Trump and Russia, there is no reason to believe that the Democrats would abandon the problem of Russia, no matter what what does Mueller do?

Also, some Democrats warn that the public might not see Mueller's entire report. The Department of Justice's rules do not require it, and the candidate for Attorney General William Barr, at recent confirmation hearings, has not promised to disclose the whole thing.

So we are now talking about opening a new Trump-Russia House survey that would basically duplicate what Mueller is doing, but with the assurance that the appropriate (anti-Trump) result would be achieved and that it could be used for removal purposes.

When Mueller poured water into the BuzzFeed report claiming that Trump had ordered strategist Michael Cohen to lie in Congress, the representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House's intelligence committee, said committed to taking back where BuzzFeed stopped, no matter what Mueller said.

"Will you still investigate the claims?" Schiff was interviewed on CBS "Face the Nation".

"Absolutely, absolutely," said Schiff.

Later in the program, Schiff said that whatever Mueller does, Congress must fend for itself. "We must conduct our own investigations," he said, "because in the end, if the Justice Department tries to prevent the release of this report for whatever reason, the American people will need to know what happened, and we will have to move on. "

But this is not just a powerful House committee chairman who is talking about a parallel investigation. A few days ago, former CIA chief Michael Hayden and former Solicitor General Neal Katyal went to the Washington Post to request a new "investigation into the appropriateness of the dismissal." . "

Hayden and Katyal suggested that Mueller might not be able to satisfactorily investigate the subject covered by the BuzzFeed report, namely, whether Trump had ordered Cohen to lie:

The recent statement from the special board office contesting the article BuzzFeed itself highlights the need for a congressional investigation. The BuzzFeed article claims that Trump ordered Cohen to lie to Congress. Congress is of course the most involved entity in this type of crime. No entity is better prepared to discover the truth and reveal the facts to the American people.

The president and his advisers have already tried to prevent the government from investigating these issues. They blamed special advocate Robert S. Mueller III for participating in a "witch hunt" and attacked Cohen as a "rat" and liar. Trump's lawyers have threatened to claim the executive's privilege of blocking answers to Mueller's questions and blocking the publication of Mueller's report. One senator indicated that he would not pursue the notes of the interpreter because of the privilege of the executive. All this raises the danger of grave danger: in the absence of an investigation into the indictment, there will be no process to discover the truth and report it to the American people.

It is difficult to understand what evidence Congress, which does not have law enforcement powers, could find that Mueller's office, which has these powers, could not. Instead, it seems that the utility of a new congressional investigation would be to maintain a Mueller investigation even if it fails.

Of course, House Democrats are already starting or promising to launch all kinds of investigations into the President and his affairs. What seems different in the recent speech is that he is considering an investigation specifically designed to result in an impeachment – what the Democrats thought Mueller was doing for them.

In any discussion of the Trump-Russia affair, it is important to say that we do not know what Mueller will do. As far as we know, he could plan a dramatic action in the next 24 hours or put the finishing touches on an "anti-climactic" report.

The second possibility could leave the Democrats in a very difficult situation. Party leaders have invested heavily in their widespread opposition to the president. If Mueller does not propose something that supports what the Democratic legislators want to do, they will have to do it themselves.

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