It is probably impossible to classify donald trump scandals. We would be here all day! But it is certainly one of the most important from a rule of law perspective. It’s just, you know, a little late for the game. But you know what? We know it now!
OK, so let’s rewind. Remember the Mueller probe? Prosecutor Robert Müller has been hired as special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russian government agents and Donald Trump. It was an important mission because we never want people in power who are in any way beholden to foreign interests. What Russia wants and what America needs are very different perspectives – especially with a rogue killer like Vladimir Poutine responsible there.
But what did Mueller actually find? Well, this is a huge controversial topic…
The Muller Report
If you remember, Trump said it was FULL EXEMPTION. This was after his handpicked Attorney General Bill Barre released its summary letter of the Mueller report to the public. This summary absolutely gave the impression that Mueller had found no crime.
But the truth is, Mueller found a lot of crimes. He filed criminal charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, mostly Russian agents. The report made it clear that Russia absolutely acted to put the thumbs up for Trump – but that collusion on Trump’s side could not be proven. However, the report also states that the reason the collusion could not be proven is due to the whole obstruction of justice. To that end, six Trump campaign associates – George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohenand Peter Roger — have been charged with crimes of lying to Congress to witness tampering. It’s not exactly the nothing that Barr made Americans believe.
Related: Mueller Explains Yes, Trump Has Committed Crimes
As to whether Trump committed obstruction of justice? Basically, Mueller said they couldn’t charge him outright because they weren’t authorized to charge him. The team sent him to Congress for impeachment. But Congress didn’t impeach because Mueller didn’t outright indict him. It was a stupid mess. And Trump used the chaos to declare victory, calling it all a hoax.
The real witch hunt
It wasn’t enough for Trump to tell everyone he was the victim of a deep state conspiracy. He wanted it in writing. He wanted charges laid. So he asked Bill Barr to discredit the first investigation. Strikeout assigned another one investigator to investigate the first investigation. We know, this sounds incredibly silly, we can’t help it, this is our government right now.
Barr appealed to the prosecutor John Durham to find any irregularities in the Trump-Russia investigation. His job was apparently to make sure the law was obeyed. But in reality, according to a new New York Times exposed, Barr and Durham were working together to try and dig up all the dirt they could. Remember, the point of a special advocate is that they are supposed to be independent – to make sure nothing is politically motivated, it’s all about justice. So Barr and Durham drink scotch together in the back rooms while trying to prove that a conspiracy that didn’t exist is already offside. But it’s getting worse. Much worse.
Apparently, Barr had been suspicious of the Mueller investigation even before he was made AG. So he would start with the conclusion that this was a massive Deep State conspiracy and then just work to prove it – instead of going where the facts led. And holy shit, where did the facts lead…
Italy
OK, so remember Barr thought everything about Trump’s Russian aid was a lie. So because several intelligence agencies had confirmed it, he suspected the NSAthem CIA, and British intelligence had all agreed to lie. He and Durham even flew to the UK and Italy together to try to convince them to come back publicly on all their intelligence findings.
The thing is, they had no reason to do that. Their conclusions were solid. British intelligence was actually pissed at being accused of lying. (The American version of pissed off, meaning ANGRY – not drunk.) But Italy offered to help with the investigation. They had information regarding the then-president — “a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain alleged financial crimes.”
Yeah. You read correctly. Italy had some kind of proof that TRUMP HAD COMMITTED MORE CRIMES. The investigation intended to expose Mueller had just inadvertently stumbled upon other accusations from Trump. We mean, there are so many…
Related: Trump Mistakes Rape Accuser E. Jean Carroll for Ex-Wife Marla Maples in Deposition!
Apparently that was also a good tip. According to Times, Barr and Durham “decided the tip was too serious and believable to ignore”. So what did they do? Well, in addition to being independent, a special advocate is also supposed to be focused. A single investigation, in this case on the Mueller probe. But we guess Barr couldn’t risk more people finding out about YET ANOTHER Trump scandal as he went out of his way to try to protect the man…because he also turned that investigation over to Durham! What happened to THIS survey? We can’t say for sure that it’s been swept under the rug, but here’s what the Times wrote after their thorough investigation:
“Mr. Durham never filed a complaint, and it’s still unclear what level of investigation it was, what action he took, what he learned, and whether anyone in the White House l never found out.
The NYT the team never even found out what the financial crimes were! So if Durham has been said to make it disappear, he did a good job.
lie to america
OK, that brings us back to what Barr said in his BS letter about the Mueller report. Remember how he totally fooled the Americans? Heck, he didn’t even include a single full sentence from the Mueller report itself in his summary. Like when a critic calls a movie “an incredible waste of time” and just puts on the poster “…Incredible”!
Well, the subterfuge continued here. You see, the news has emerged that Durham has been given additional criminal prosecution powers. Various sources had learned that he was investigating criminal activities. But remember that the special advocate is only supposed to investigate ONE CASE. And since everyone knew he was investigating the Mueller investigation, this news was a huge gift for Trump and his supporters. The conspiracy theorists had been exonerated; they now knew the Trump-Russia investigation was a hoax, and people were going to jail for it…
Except it wasn’t a hoax. The criminal investigation focused, once again, on Trump. Even when they tried to protect him, they couldn’t help but stumble upon the crimes.
Barr, of course, did nothing to deter this public speculation. He remained silent. And it’s not like it’s his thing to shut up and carry a big stick. No, he spoke when he could mislead the American people. In December 2019, the Inspector General completed his own investigation into the Trump-Russia investigation. He confirmed that the investigation was on the level and that it had started – as previously reported – after the advice of an Australian diplomat that Trump adviser George Papadopoulos knew in advance that Russia was going to release hacked Democrat emails (suggesting he was aware of the plan and the advantageous release date for it). A few minutes before this report, Barr does issue a statement…just like with the Mueller report, it came first and hinted at the exact opposite of the truth. He said the FBI had begun its investigation “on the slightest suspicion which, in my opinion, was insufficient.” So yes, he talks when he wants. But in case people get the wrong idea about the Trump-Russia affair? Yeah, he shut up then.
The simple conclusion is that Barr wanted the American people to believe, as he did, regardless of the evidence, that Trump was innocent and that the entire Trump-Russia investigation was a hoax. In fact, the Times also revealed that just before the 2020 election he tried to get Durham publicly implicated hillary clinton was going to be in trouble for the Trump-Russia “hoax”. JFC.
Unfortunately, it mostly worked. Very few people have the time to read the Mueller report, or the IG report, let alone the much more complicated report. New York Times a. But you know what your aunt and uncle have time to do? To listen FoxNews experts. And read Trump’s tweets (or the truths we guess). They hear TOTAL EXONERATION, they hear TRUMP-RUSSIA HOAX, they hear HILLARY CLINTON, and they hear nothing else. They hear the lie.
It’s like Mark Twain said:
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth puts on its shoes.”
Only Mark Twain never said that. But it takes a lot longer to explain how that quote was probably misattributed than to say that Twain said it. And that’s the whole point. Sigh.
[Image via NBC News/ABC News/YouTube.]
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