This is what corruption looks like. This is what fascism looks like. Will Collins be let off the hook even though he traded on insider information? How is this possible?
4
The character that I call the National Disgrace, who has been degrading the office of the President for almost two years now, has no notion of how the office of Attorney General should be filled. What he wants -- and this is a throwback to the days of Tricky Dick Nixon -- is not a pubic servant charged with enforcement of the laws of the Republic that he supposedly heads, but, instead, a personally loyal consigliere of the type made famous in the "Godfather" books and films; someone who kisses his ring and, perhaps, licks his boots, but does nothing that would expose him to the operations of the legal system to which he, like any other citizen, is still subject, regardless of the office he purports to occupy.
5
I just don't understand how the American people....at least some of them...can allow this unscrupulous businessman to come in and use every unethical tact in the book to get what he wants. This country is going....no...has literally gone to the dogs.....with Russia and China salivating on the sidelines for the right time to charge in and take over...while the rest of the world laughs at us. God Bless America...we really will need it.
3
America will either continue as a democratic republic with a constitution, or it will have a KING named Donald, who is above the law.
Even if Trump fires every employee in the FBI and the Justice Department, and every Republican in Congress remains too treasonous, frightened and corrupt to act, the evidence has been gathered and will come out, just as it always eventually does. The career Justice Department agents who are faithful to the Constitutional oath that they swore will leak like the Titanic, but its Trump that will sink. His presidency is toast, no matter what and Americans will punish his Republican accomplices.
2
Wow. Trump just signaled, by this action, that he is terrified of Mueller and his investigation. There really must be something bad there.
4
It's really difficult to imagine Trump can outmaneuver Mueller, who, I'm willing to wager, has a plan B from day one.
3
If Mueller has, in fact, found something indicating that Trump is beholden to malign Russian influence, it would be nice to know this sometime before 2020 or 2024. If he hasn't found anything, he should say so, so the country can move on.
2
How long is this investigation going to be allowed to Proceed? Isn’t two years enough are are the Mueller group just incompetent?
1
'The American people have a right to know if their President is a crook ...'
- Nixon
8
If Mueller is fired he should be hired by the relevant House committees to continue with the investigation. Congressional committees have subpoena authority and can refer to grand juries.
This can happen as soon as the new House members take office and the committee reorganizations are in place.
7
Mueller knew this was coming. Sessions' sacking on Nov. 7 was predicted (I think by an NYT writer?) months ago. Hopefully Mueller set up contingencies for justice. Then again, justice is not always served. Sometimes wrong people rise to power and they hold on to it long enough to do great damage to people's lives, to an entire country. I fear we are well along on that path, and the outcome is nearly inevitable. Whatever the outcome is ... we all gotta get better at political chess. Anticipate moves 5 steps ahead so we can see potential outcomes. Respond in kind to circumvent the worst outcomes. Democrats need to play chess better. The public needs to understand they're the pawns in this game in the first place. Instead, we write about Trump tweets. Focus on where the real action is, please.
4
"It’s not even clear Mr. Whitaker may legally hold the post of acting attorney general, since he has never been confirmed by the Senate."
He certainly cannot. It's not as though I am a great fan of Rod Rosenstein, but he is Deputy Attorney General and was so appointed by this president and Congress. He should be the interim AG. If Trump wants to appoint someone else, he can follow the Constitution and nominate a candidate to Congress.
Trump supporters seem utterly ignorant of this fact, but the Department of Justice is not the president's personal legal team. That it is part of the executive branch does not mean Trump owns it.
5
All this fuss about losing Jeff Sessions seems more about stirring up a toxic mix than dire consequences. He was awful. A racist to his core, willing to lie to Congress to be confirmed and loving the AG title so much he endured the president's taunts. Whether his chief of staff, with minimal qualifications is much better, remains to be seen.
And Robert Mueller? The last person I worry about. All along, he's known the politics of his situation and has indicted many, no doubt more ready to go, a report for Congress even if not totally complete. With so many Trump aides having already testified and been sentenced, this is hardly a crisis. Oh sure, there will be House vs. Trump fights and foot stomping and base rallying, everyone is now playing the game. But this is hardly the end of the world.
The curtain just went down on the first act. The second act will keep our attention with a lot of noise but I expect a satisfying ending. The election showed that the majority of citizens are still engaged in protecting its values.
3
If Trump or Whitaker attempt to interfere with SC Mueller’s investigation into Russian intereference in the 2016 Presidential election, all patriotic Americans will immediately initiate a boycott of all nonessential purchases. Until such actions are reversed, we will not buy anything that is not necessary for survival
They may be able to gerrymander the ballot box; let’s see them gerrymander the economy.
Time for the gloves to come off.
3
We're not sure what to think of this.
We know we're entering new times. I've been personally connected by aliens to carry forward a message of peace.
Yes, it was unnerving. It was hard, but it had to happen. Aliens are all around us, and they want us to succeed. I can give my personal account of it.
They don't want us to use the nukes.
2
It’s a deeply concerning that the President of the United States and his backers, by using their positions of power to appoint Whitaker as AG, are able to continue obstructing justice to undermine the investigation into their previous obstruction of justice and their possible collusion with Russia.
Perhaps it’s time to bring out a civics class vocabulary word: coup d’etat.
If any other country experiences similar events, it sends off red flags in the press and world organizations about a coup.
With Whitaker’s appointment, they are advancing a coup of the Judicial Branch of our government: from McConnell and the republicans blocking Obama’s SCOTUS appointee to installing two conservative justices groomed by the federalist movement, with Kavanaugh chosen to protect Trump’s interests if a case reaches SCOTUS, to usurping now the Attorney General’s office in order to prevent the proper investigation of serious concerns about obstruction of justice and Russia controlling and influencing our government officials, including Trump.
It’s time to start using our words to accurately describe what is happening: a barely disguised coup of our Justice Branch of government. Maybe then, more people will recognize and comprehend what is happening. Without proper acknowledgement of a problem, it’s hard to implement a proper solution.
5
America
Gangster state.
Global disgrace.
7
Watching the post election press conference yesterday it became clear to me what the most fundamental belief Trump has: "I am a victim and being treated unfairly." White people in his base echo this in trying to find and highlight cases of reverse racism and the victim-hood of white men in particular. There is no attempt at balance only justification of being a victim. He even talks of the country as being a victim of bad trade deals to justify his tariffs.
This is sad and dangerous for the country because it will allow very little true clear thinking to be used when making pivotal decisions and has no room for compromise. The myth of victim-hood is emotionally appealing especially when combined with the promotion of fear. I hope this playbook, seeded with false statements, by Mr. Trump does not lead to the destruction of our country. I also hope that some of his supporters can wake up to the danger we are in and love the country more than their tribe.
3
Immediately upon the firing of Mueller, the House should begin an inquiry into the impeachment of the President. If however Mueller is not fired, the House should do no such thing without his report.
1
The fact that Mueller took so long is a real calamity. He had plenty of time to come out with a report before the elections and the obvious firing of Sessions hours after the GOP lost the House. I and thousands of others sent in comments to the Times over the past months to this effect. The answers were that Mueller is doing a thorough job and that there are no short cuts in a true Democracy.
We are not a true Democracy by no stretch of imagination. We are living in an era where McConnell singlehandedly stonewalls a legitimate nominee to the Supreme Court.
You should push for Mueller to come out with something today! Also, agitate so that a Patriot leaks out whatever we have so far. It is our tax dollars and country.
3
The Editorial Board is exactly right -- the Special Counsel has had 540 days, and he's now out of time.
Mr. Mueller needs to announce immediately a date in the next 30-60 days when he will provide at least a preliminary report on his findings. That's the only thing that will prevent the President from quashing the investigation.
5
And if after 540 days he submits his preliminary report and has nothing regarding a 2016 election fixing conspiracy involving at least one administration member and at least one Russian, what should happen to the investigation?
If the Mueller team knew or should have known there was no there there, but continued the investigation anyway, what should happen?
1
@John That's a fair point, John. If Mueller's team truly has nothing after a year and a half, then the DOJ needs to wind up the investigation.
On the other hand, if Mueller has developed credible evidence of criminal activity and can demonstrate that that evidence is likely to lead to further indictments, he should absolutely be permitted to continue.
My point is that Congress and the American people need some idea of where this investigation stands.
3
The 'troubling' theme of this article for me is the assumption that EVERYTHING done by POTUS Trump must automatically be bad and EVIL. thus must be blocked and investigated.
EVERYTHING done by angelic Hillary Clinton must be good and WORSHIPED.
So, since POTUS Trump has cell phones, THOSE must be subpoenaed and searched. (in the fervent prayer that he might have sent a message to Putin)
Since POTUS Trump supports preventing HORDES of illegal aliens from swamping our borders, he should be impeached for following his Constitutional duty of Protecting the citizens of America from bad people, and being overwhelmed with taxes to support free medical care, free schooling, free housing, free everything for illegals at the expense of hard working taxpayers.
Since POTUS Trump supports Preventing Iran from developing Nukes, he should be imprisoned and tortured.
Since POTUS Trump doesn't want WAR with N. Korea he should be driven from office and deported from the U.S.
Since POTUS Trump - supports common American citizens who DO NOT LIVE IN NYC, OR L.A. he should be removed from office and forbidden from sending out TWEETS. These alone are PROOF that he is actually Hitler reborn.
2
I’m a regular American citizen who doesn’t like in NYC or LA and never has. It so happens that I think Donald Trump is a lying, ignorant greedhead who’s flipping out because he’s hearing footsteps and should be, and that you have a real problem with capital letters as well as parroting what you’re told to say.
4
@George Park
Here here.
I'm on the black list today so I'll support other comments.
When a child is born he or she spends many years learning. First from their parents and then from organized education. Eventually the child can choose to keep learning and go to college and grad school. Somewhere along this process the child grew up. The child took responsibility for their words and behaviors. It’s time the snarky and childish person here grows up. Being an adult isn’t always something to look forward to because of many very serious reasons. Having a president interfere in an investigation the way he is is a very serious constitutional crisis. If you don’t understand why I’m afraid you never will.
3
Mueller has already long since established a very firm basis for any future prosecutions. With convictions, the investigation is on solid legal ground. The indictment of Russian citizens also supports further investigation, and may of itself produce more evidence, with or without Presidential approval. The NY investigations can stand on their own merits, so blocking Mueller from investigating is basically pointless.
A yes man who has no opinions but those of the President and at best a pretty dubious legal footing for calling any halt to investigations is hardly the person to oppose this process. "Reducing the budget" means nothing when a few phone calls can do a lot of the investigating. (It's pretty obvious where this guy learned his backwoods idea of how to find information.)
Conservatives should also note that the epic and very zealous Ken Starr investigation is a perfectly good precedent for ongoing investigations in to a President on any level. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the ghost of a reason as to exactly what is so fantastically Golly Gosh Gee great about allegations of Presidential complicity in foreign tampering with a US election. Is this what the GOP is about now, "Anything's OK, even treason, as long as it gets our guy in the White House"? Whose side are you on, GOP?
4
It’s entirely possible that the Special Counsel will be gone by next week and all documents related to the investigation will be seized and destroyed. It will happen fast. Trump has been waiting for this moment since day one. He must have been chomping at the bit to fire Jeff Sessions at midnight on Tuesday but was probably restrained to hold back a few hours. He will need to complete the massacre while he has a majority in both houses to provide cover and backing. I believe that Mr. Mueller has a Plan B in the event that this happens, but the American public may never know, unless some brave patriot leaks like a sieve. How is it that a majority of the country doesn’t care about the investigation? How is it possible that people are so complacent?
269
@Frau Greta: I have no doubt that Mueller has copies of all documents in a place only he (and perhaps a close confidante in case something happens to him) knows about. Trump and his flunkies cannot stop this anymore. Firing sessions is a clear admission of guilt.
27
@Frau Greta What is it that you think we're supposed to do? We support the investigation. We appreciate the lack of leaks. We are appalled at each indictment and trial. We await the results. Numerous commenters have offered to taste Mueller's food for him. Everything hinges on his doing a great, unhindered job, and we await the results.
16
@Frau Greta
That's easy to answer: Fox and right wing airwaves. Preaching skewed half-truths 24/7. And the fact that real journalism and honest media never strike at them directly for their intentional misdirection and disregard for the whole truth. Especially when it matters. When good people say and do nothing...
9
Please tell me that the Democratic members of Congress have a plan ready to put into action on how to protect Mueller's investigation. All of America saw this firing/resignation coming. It meant one thing, that Trump would be gunning for Mueller next. And the Dems knew they were most likely to take the House and again have some power. So please tell me they are ready to act.
1
Times up; wrap it up Mueller! If you got something, show it to the American people. If all you got is paying women to keep consensual affairs where they belong (between the consenting adults in question) and meetings by underlings with Russians to talk about dirt on Hillary, that clearly does not suffice for impeachment, and it's time we moved on from the 2016 election. I'll grant you that Trump probably breached some election rules. Based on the potential violations we know about to date, I say, so what? Maybe they would justify some kind of fine, like the $375K fine Obama paid for his campaign rule violation...Also, lest we forget, Hillary not only went to foreigners to get dirt on Trump, that dirt somehow was used to get a FISA warrant to spy on the opposition. Are we really pretending that one doesn't stink to high heaven? She also received the debate questions before the debate in order to get an unfair advantage on her competition. It's all disgusting on some level, but who are we kidding? This is the human race, not some sort of angelic race that always does the right thing. If there isn't strong evidence that something much worse happened than what we currently know about it's time to admit that Hillary, in spite of all her many many many advantages, simply couldn't get the job done.
The silver lining is that if Dems get over it as a party, maybe there's a slight chance they can put forth a candidate that actually has a chance of displacing Trump in two years.
2
Um, as much as one appreciates seeing Hillary Clinton dragged out and shrieked at yet again, it really doesn’t do much to paper over the 30-odd indictments.
Let alone the way that Trump’s campaign manager, personal lawyer, NSA adviser, as well as about eight other senior staffers have all copped pleas.
And we ain’t even gotten to, say, Ryan Zinke.
3
At this point the rules shown to be violated are incredibly uninteresting. Essentially, shady conduct that may or may not have even constituted a crime until the perps lied about it. Ticky tac stuff. I expect that when you investigate someone you’ll find they did some things they shouldn’t have. It’s called human nature. It’s so hard to keep one’s hands out of the old cookie jar as delicious as those cookies are known to be...
It seems to me that the most salient fact about Roy Cohen wasn't his being a mob lawyer. (Criminals are entitled to legal representation, no?) What made Cohen infamous was his being advisor to Senator Joe McCarthy, who rounded up American 'Lefties', labeling them all communists, &, at the very least, ruining their careers. A large percent of those whose careers were destroyed were Jewish. So was Cohen, who was especially hated in neighborhoods like the Jewish neighborhood I grew up in, in the Bronx.
3
Senators Collins and Romney have already warned agent orange about firing Mueller.
Don't be so sure the senate will cave in on this for him.
Trump has completely overplayed his hand if he thinks most senators are a moral and intellectual carbon copy of the heretofore GOP dominated house where the majority of congress was a gaggle of witless trump acolytes.
And -they should be acutely aware based on the mid-terms that ALL across America there is an awakening of zero tolerance for trump's trammeling on decency and our core institutions of justice and tolerance for all.
2
Please point me to your critical opinion piece about President Obama's servant in the Justice Dept., Eric Holder. Both Trump and Obama are wrong but your organization never sees the failings of the Progressive Left, who you support. Please stop and think about your blindness to any improper acts or behavior of your philosophical brethren on the Left. Your political leanings are clear.
@AustinStan
So you say that corruption begats more corruption?
Clearly, you set the bar very low for your government.
It is likely that the last two years
have been a prelude to the
core of a drama that will
commence soon. Mueller
is a smart man who must
have known that the midterms
would mark a point of a change
in leadership at the DOJ. Trump
will do whatever is possible to
discredit the investigation but
the “train has left the station”.
I still have faith in our democracy
in view of the orderly change in
the leadership of the House.
The report on the news
now is that Mueller is writing his final
report. The next period of time
will be unpleasant if Trump is a wounded
animal flaying for his life or the life of
his family. He will do anything to survive.
We saw the (continued) ugliness yesterday
in the manner in which Trump addressed the press.
We must not become undone.
We must not turn on each other.
The NYTimes recently reported that the Russians and Chinese are listening on Trump's unsecured phone calls to learn how to influence Trump. One such way is through those close to Trump, like his family. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/us/politics/trump-phone-security.html
Low and behold, China gives Ivanka Trump patents.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/business/ivanka-trump-china-trademarks.html
Thus, for national security, Mueller has to investigate Trump's finances, and those of his family members' finances. Our national interest matters more than their personal profit.
4
The entire concept of this investigation is nebulous at best. Mueller's highly trained and expensive fleet of Democratic donors (I meant lawyers) have labored in the quarry's long enough without providing even a glimpse of wrongdoing.
I realise the many progressive liberal whiners out there wish this to continue indefinitely , why not from there point of view, they feel as though they have a protector. Robert Mueller is as valuble as a pocket protector , he is like the proverbially grasshopper fiddeling the summer sunshine away.
It is time for him to put up or get out of the way !
2
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
History check. Watergate was into its THIRD year of the investigation and that was with bipartisan support and without constant interference from an "enabling" Congress and paranoid President.
The reality is that had Nixon not resigned, they expected it to take another year before it was completed.
2
For some reason editors, writers, and people commenting are missing the fact that Trump cannot take any action to interfere with any investigation involved himself.
Therefore, I am puzzled as to why a change at the top of the DOJ is bothering everyone so much.
The minute his appointee undertakes any act to thwart the investigation he will face legal consequences including an effort to remove him from his position by members of Congress.
No one in or out of government can act to interfere with a justice department investigation absent legal consequences which will likely be criminal in nature. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1509
1
I came to this country in 1975 with the hope of living in a free and democratic country, where people (especially the government) respect law and order. Even in my wildest dream, I'd never imagined the President would call the press "enemy of the people" his opponent "crooked Hillary" the Hispanic "rapist, drug traffickers" and yet 40% of the US public have cheered him.
3
@Michelle Do
The problem with democracy is that it is always very fragile with really no default protection mechanism in place. Those in power are elected to interpret it all,be morally responsible and do the right thing for its constituents. In America, there has been a gradual "Corporate coup d'etat" which has allowed large corporations to now pull the levers of power and control the agenda at the expense of everyone else.
Trump and his "enabling" partners have systematically weakened those institutions that protect democracy and more importantly, its citizens, hence, a strange scenario where, for some reason, he has convinced a rather significant portion of the population that in order to achieve what they think they want, "Authoritarianism" is the solution, NOT democracy.
The problem, is, it would be a safe guess to determine the vast majority of those supporters have no idea what Authoritarianism is and what are its eventual repercussions.
1
I’d love to see Trump and all his crooked lying cronies in jail. But enough is enough. If they haven’t found anything by now, stop wasting tax payer money.
1
Can we stop worrying about Democrats appearing too extreme yet???!!!
1
I’m stunned that people are even a tiny bit surprised by this action. If you’re guilty of money laundering for Putin supported oligarchs for decades, of assisting a foreign hostile power in undermining a presidential election, of participating in conspiring with the NRA in taking Russian money as illegal campaign contributions and in filing fraudulent tax returns for years - what else would you do as the the investigation is nearing it’s end. Duh???
1
If you don't think Robert Mueller hasn't prepared for this outcome, then you're not paying attention.
Trump cannot stop this investigation. He knows his day is coming. It is so clearly written on his face. Did you watch the press conference? He couldn't even stand still at the podium. What happens when you corner an animal?
He can slow it down by throwing public distractions in front of it, but the investigation quietly continues, as it has from day one. The Democrats have the House. They can subpoena the findings. It is only a matter of time before the public knows the truth, although, we already have a pretty good idea of how disgustingly and brazenly corrupt Donald Trump is. And even worse are the Republicans who could have put an end to this man's Presidency a year ago, which was their duty.
3
The Times is now reporting the news before it happens. You have no basis for making any prediction as to what actions, if any, Whitaker will take. It is highly doubtful he will do anything to impeded Mueller's investigation. Mueller's investigation has been underway for nearly two years now. Hardly borrowed time. I've no doubt it will continue on its merry way for years to come. Enough with the hyperbolic, paranoid flame fanning, yellow journalism.
1
So much for separation of powers. Trump thinks USA is TRUMP INC and POTUS is CEO. That's unconstitutional. But SCOTUS has already been bought.
1
The editorial board fails to justify its statement that Mueller has been running his investigation "on borrowed time." What a crock!
This is the shortest special counsel investigation in memory. Mueller has been charged with investigating several important matters, he has produced an alarming stream of indictments and convictions and he's far from finished.
It is Trump who is "on borrowed time" and his outlandish, spasmodic attempts to obstruct justice fully demonstrate that fact.
Decent Americans need to participate in voter registration drivers, fight efforts to diminish access to the ballot box, take redistricting out of the hands of politicians and refuse to countenance the destruction of our country by the sickening grifter and misfit in the Oval Office.
1
There is a battle scene in the Civil War movie "Gods and Generals" when a young Union soldier approaches his commanding officer and asks for permission to return to the rear. The officer, realizing that one of the soldier's arms has been blown off, says "permission granted."
Sessions did what he could to protect the Mueller investigation.
He deserves to return to the rear.
2
"Democrats will also soon be running the House, returning it to its place as a coequal branch of government and holding Mr. Trump to account for the first time since he took office."
Trump's policies were NOT GOP policies, yet the GOP adopted them when they thought it gave them a political advantage, even though it violated what they thought was right.
Paul Ryan will go down in history as one who fiddled while Trump destroyed America's standing worldwide and showed our young people how Americans tolerate and glorify bullies and constant liars.
As Dante wrote, in the Divine Comedy, "The hottest spot in Hell is reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, stood by and did nothing."
2
****"The good news is that no one, including Mr. Whitaker, can stop the multiple prosecutions ....
The bad news is, ... everything else. Mr. Whitaker .. has expressed ... hostility to the investigation he is now charged with overseeing. He has called it a “witch hunt” ... arguing that Mr. Mueller was coming “dangerously close” to crossing a “red line” by investigating the president’s finances. .
Conflicts of interest like this are what led Mr. Sessions to recuse " *****
Those quotes above are exactly wrong. The whole point
is that those actions are NOT conflicts of interest. They expose the conflicts between the left wing
interpretation of the Constitution and the interpretation of those, who believe that it means what it says. And it clearly says that police or other investigations should be started only on clear evidence of wrongdoing by the parties investigated. They should extend to unrelated matters.
Whitaker was just pointing out the conflict of interest between the Democrats (and the NYTimes) and the Constitution. And his job as acting Attorney General is to resolve the conflicts on the side of the Constitution and stop persecutions based on politics.
An independant prosecutor is not independant of the Constitution, the law, and those sworn to enforce those.
The persecutions should be run by elected people like Pelosi, and stopped by people appointed to enfore Constitutional law ... like Whitaker, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
Trump will be briefing Putin next week in Paris........
1
Mueller and Rosenstein should refuse to share any info with Whitaker due to his illegitimate appointment and see where that takes them, followed by refusing to step down if they are fired by Whitaker. Justice Thomas and the rest of the SC will be waiting for the case. It would be fun to see the SC adjudicate this. None of them will want the stink of Trump on them.
The Media has to stop playing Trump's fall guy and thinking that this story is about them (and their careers). The would be leaders in the Democratic party need to be encouraged to come forth and know that they won't be subjected to stupid false equivalencies and pointless gotcha questions for low information viewers. The media is largely responsible for the fact that the leadership we need now isn't stepping up to fight this constitutional battle. Stop trying to maintain creative control of the project as if it were a film, an entertainment project. The Media needs to signal clearly that it will give truth tellers shelter and a voice — no it hasn't done that yet. It has wallowed in high ratings and promoted the reality television atmosphere of this administration.
2
If this isn't obstruction of justice, what is? By appointing Whitaker, we will see Mr. Mueller handcuffed to follow through or complete his report. Perhaps we should hear what has currently been uncovered before Mueller's work is destroyed by Trump.
2
Trump's lack of knowledge regarding how the government works is truly terrifying. The fact that he doesn't know what he doesn't know (Dunning-Kruger) is dangerous.
His tax returns aren't important. They probably show he has paid no taxes for most of his life or they show he is heavily in debt to the Russians. Either way he is still a fraud.
Archibald cox, just as many others great statesmen of this country , couldn't have possibly foreseen the multi- layered damage that trump has inflicted - and IS inflicting on the notion that we are a nation of laws and not of men. all one needs to do, even today, 2 years after his election in 2016, is watch the short video clip of yesterday between trump and Mr. Acosta, the cnn reporter during a news conference in the WH. that video makes it crystal clear the extent to which we've ALLOWED trump to drag the country away from semblance of sanity, orderliness, acceptable norms of conduct and... BASIC DECENCY. the catch : congress is comprised of representatives of the American people. since congress does NOT do its job ( advise and consent, etc)- WHAT other channels do the American people have to effect matters ?!
The Mueller Report is ready, it has been written and ready for release for a while. It will be released very shortly, there is nothing left to investigate unless some new info new becomes available.
Mueller made the decision not to Comeyize the report by waiting until after the midterms for release.
And, eh... there was never any collusion by Trump or his team. There was, however, collusion and criminal activity on the other side (Clinton), it will be interesting to see if Mueller followed the evidence and addressed this aspect of the investigation.
1
Just wondering how you are privy to these details?
3
My problem with Whitaker is that he is so clearly unqualified for AG. He’s a Trump shill, and got into the WH by going on news shows and shilling for Trump.
The Senate will still confirm him. That doesn’t make him any more capable for the job.
5
It is quite alarming that the NY Times, which fashions itself as "liberal", and which publishes many arguments about the inequities in the "justice" system, is rooting for rogue prosecutors to hunt for crimes, even if they have to stretch the law or force people to snitch to make their irrelevant cases.
Folks can blame Trump for the dysfunction in our politics. I see this published argument as proof that the blame lies elsewhere.
14
@H. Torbet
Hi, just wondering if you are characterizing Robert Mueller as a rogue prosecutor? Am I understanding you correctly?
Thanks, Jane
30
@H. Torbet "Rogue prosecutors..."
By "rogue prosecutors," are you talking about Robert Mueller - a former Marine Corps veteran, former head of the FBI, career law man, duly appointed by the Deputy Attorney General after the former Attorney General recused himself, as he properly did under rules concerning conflict of interest?
When you say "stretch the law," do you mean having secured multiple convictions before duly appointed federal judges and duly sworn jurors, with the defendant having been availed of all constitutional rights, including right to counsel, right to jury, right to appeal?
When you pretend to care about justice, are you really just saying whatever you have to for Dear Leader?
30
@H. Torbet I trust that you're playing "devil's advocate" here, or trying to round out the commentary section with far-right view in the hopes of striking some type of fictitious "balance" with the prevailing view in the media, but characterizing Mueller as a "rogue prosecutor" is positively laughable.
To date Mueller has secured the following:
Indictments of 32 individuals and three companies.
Six of those individuals have pled guilty on multiple charges. Four of those individuals were Trump advisors. Two other individuals struck plea deals for investigations that Mueller began, but referred to outside judiciaries. Mueller's plea deals have resulted in substantive forfeitures resulting in a net financial gain for the government.
If you want to talk about "rogue prosecutors" let's talk about the House Select Committee investigation into Benghazi, which lasted from May 2014 until December, 2016, at a cost of $8 million. Total number of indictments: zero.
21
"He may also believe that the Republican majority in the Senate — increased on Tuesday with likely Trump loyalists — is prepared to embrace such a corrupted standard for American justice"
OK, this nonsense has now made it all the way up to the editorial page of the NY Times.
As of this moment, the GOP has gained a net TWO seats in the US Senate, which they already controlled, pending the outcome of the AZ and FL results.
The mainstream propaganda media is amplifying the Trump claim that the election was a great day for Republicans and devastating for Democrats based on this fact.
In 2016 the Democrats picked up 2 seats in the US Senate. I don't remember anyone in the mainstream propaganda media claiming or implying that was a good night for Democrats.
2
Since when did “leftists,” start complaining about accurate facts coupled with a reasonable conclusion?
1
What we have seen in these recent midterms is that a majority of Americans repudiate the vile, grotesque and repugnant presidency of the charlatan who resides in the now-defiled White House. However, we also saw moderate Democrats ousted from states that are lost to rhyme and reason for the foreseeable future. I refer not to Florida or even Texas, both of which remain in play and could possibly turn back to Blue as early as 2020, but rather to ND, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio - they are hopeless. My point is that over 25 states that make up this so-called Union are backward in thought and deed. For this reason I believe the Senate and it's power to Advise and Consent on major appointments will remain in the hands of the worst people in government (I refer to McConnell et. al.). Yes, the presidency can return to better hands and hopefully the House will remain locked to the thieves that have held power there these past 8 years but, alas, for at least another 2 years I don't see much that can be done to push back against filthy abuses of power as we're seeing happening with the appointment of this current AG. Think how disgusting it is that we should not be APPLAUDING the departure of a Neanderthal like Jeff Sessions - if that's not a sign that there is something critically wrong with this country then I don't know what is!
4
How did it come to pass that Sessions hired Whitaker as his Chief of Staff?
I suggest NY Times determine and publish findings on the ability of Congress or other authorities to gain access to/possession of the material gathered by Mueller and team, so the investigation can continue if DOJ ends Mueller's activities.
2
JFK choose his brother for Attorney General. Obama choose 2 African Americans (Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch who went on to meet Bill Clinton on the tarmac of an airport but clearly not to discuss Hillary). The idea of having a compliant Attorney General is not a new idea. The difference was that Sessions had real integrity. His Senate colleagues all knew this fact. But this didn't stop 47 Democrats from voting almost in mass to deny him confirmation for the office. Thank you Joe Manchin of WVA for being the element of reason in the Democratic caucus.
The decision to go for people's jugular lately exhibited in the Democratic treatment of Kavanaugh would convince any sane person no matter how innocent not to trust the political machinations of the Democrats or Mueller. Trump has many more reasons not to trust them.
2
Yeah, and we passed laws against that, too. Notwithstanding that on their best day ever, neither Jeff Sessions nor this Whittaker clown comes up to the tops of the soles of Bobby Kennedy’s shoes.
Thanks for reminding that sly racist insinuation is still alive and well in Ireland, though.
Is there a sale on this guff from Hannity today or something?
In one respect, if the Mueller Investigation is impeded or shut down, it ultimately could be "a blessing in disguise", especially if this Trump "shill" Whitaker refuses to divulge its contents. Obstruction of justice anyone?
In that case, I would expect, not long after democrats take control of the House, they will call forth Robert Mueller to testify before the committee and be able to "spill his guts" on what he found during his investigation.
2
Since we're on the subject, can anyone provide me a straight answer when I ask what law President Trump has broken exactly?
3
This may come as a shock, but in this country we have cops, the FBI, prosecutors and grand juries to run these investigations, submit indictments, hold trials, and figure such things out.
This also just in: we also have laws against accepting campaign help from foreign powers, using public office for private gain, taking massive money and preferments from businesses in this country and abroad in exchange for favors, and obstruction of justice.
You know...like when you try to block cops and so on from doing their job?
3
Trump is well aware that his family has committed many felonies, both massive and minor.
He could not be more transparent in his attempts to stop any honest investigation into his and his families malfeasance.
The Republican Party, and every Republican member of Congress is a knowing, cooperating member in this criminal conspiracy to evade justice, to put one person--and his family members--above the law, to aggressively sanction criminal activity.
The party that likes to think of itself as the "law and order party" is fully exposed as aiding and abetting a criminal. conspiracy.
4
Are we redeemable in the eyes of foreign powers? I'm not sure.
We always walked a line, and all of our presidents walked that with us.
I wanted this president to buck the CIA to some extent, but totally? Not really. The president needs these people.
Did they kill JFK? Most of us think so. Yes, the CIA killed JFK. But we need the CIA going forward. Hopefully it is a better organization now.
Who knows? Maybe the real role of the acting AG will not be to fire Mueller, but to prosecute Hillary over her emails and to prosecute the people involved in the Steele dossier and other aspects of the pre-Mueller portion of the Russia investigation. Maybe folks like Comey, McCabe, Ohr and Page are the real targets of the new acting AG.
2
Let's not soft peddle what is going on here: Trump has wrested control of the Mueller investigation away from Justice Dept professionals and given it to a toady who will inform him of what the Special Counsel has and is doing, and will protect the president by killing the investigation and burying the findings. There are protests planned nationwide today. Join one wherever you are and make clear to Trump and his minions that he is not above the law, and that the American people will defend our democracy.
5
'The courts will have the final say on what happens in each of those cases.'
The Kavanaugh Supreme court? Good heavens!
3
The United States is not the United States anymore not because of Donald Trump. He is merely an instrument. We are no longer the United States because half the people are permitting it, the senate and traitors like Lindsey Graham are permitting it, the new attorney general will permit it. The faction that does not want this country to be one of the supremacy of laws has won the day. The only question is how much damage they can do.
2
Where do I contribute to a fundraiser covering the Mueller team's investigative costs, should the acting AG or Mr. Trump endeavor to cut the special counsel's budget? Patriotism calls.
In the meantime, call your congressional representatives and tell them protecting the Russia investigation and Mr. Mueller is of critical importance.
3
And no one considers former Attorney Generals like Bobby Kennedy, Edwin Meese, Janet Reno (not to mention Webster Hubbell), or even Eric Holder as being partisan appointees who watched the president's back? The only solution would be a constitutional amendment making the Department of Justice under an elected Attorney General a separate branch of government, or a department within the Judiciary under the oversight of the Supreme Court -- a potential solution which creates its own set of problems. But we're making progress, at least presidents are no longer permitted to appoint family members.
2
You might consider them such. But you’d be incorrect.
1
I so agree with Al. We have long had disproportionate representation for certain less-populated states and managed to live with it when there was a semblance of bi-partisanship in Congress. But for several decades now, as the power of labor has been decimated and more liberal thinkers increasingly cluster in fewer states, the Republicans have clearly been determined to capitalize on their structural advantage and assure that this country shall be ruled by one party and that party is Republican. When that one party consistently represents a minority of voters, with no intention of compromising with the representatives of the majority, something needs to be done and we need to find the organizational ability and the leadership to find a way to fix this.
3
These are dangerous times. The full and complete takeover of the US government at the hands of a mentally unstable autocrat is upon us. It does not bode well for the democracy.
The occupant of the White House is NOT above the law. I will be dancing in the streets the day the conman is behind bars and out of office. His base has been snookered - they have been completely brainwashed.
5
Thanks Radha. I’d love to see the Orange One in an orange jumpsuit. But I’ll settle for “out of office.” 2020 awaits.......
2
The number one job requirement for Trumps next AG will be the firing of Muller.
The Second Job requirement will be that he/she will "lock her up".
1
"In forcing out Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the president seems to want a lawman he can control."
What do you mean "seems".
weak
2
Mueller has been cleaning out some of Trump's swamp...
No one else will do it.
America needs Robert Mueller.
4
If Cantaloupe Caligula fires Bobby Three Sticks, I think Adam Schiff will be hiring in the new year for the investigation by the House Intelligence Committee.
4
Mueller needs to dust off his bio and hit the lawyer rounds. Like Comey, he's soon going to be done at the high levels of society. "And Bob's your uncle."
2
It's getting awfully close to another "Night of the Long AGs", eh?
1
Session's removal is but another step towards destroying our democracy. Session's merit as AG is not the issue: the wanton interference in the Mueller investigation through intimidation by the lackey, Whittaker, is the issue!
Should this stooge move to close down the investigation, the response by the public will bring massive protests. I doubt the investigation will be terminated by such threats; but clearly obstruction of justice is being seriously considered in the White House. Such actions are criminal; our Constitution will survive the foul acts of these petty crooks!
2
The Republican Rosenstein is a true public servant and an exemplary professional. Whitaker, however, comes across as both a partisan hack and dead wrong on the merits. Whitaker even resorts to the same nutty phrases that Trump uses, e.g., "witch hunt." Trump's finances which are likely to be corrupt make him a prime candidate for Russian blackmail or control. End of story. Whitaker's comments have no basis in reality. Either Whitaker has not even read Mueller's letter of authorization, and moreover does not understand obstruction of justice, or he is simply another dishonest immoral Trump stooge. Is there anything Trump won't do to protect himself, or seize and retain power? As noted here, "The bad news is, well, pretty much everything else." Will we continue to be a government of laws?
5
“Mueller has nothing”. First, know one here knows what Mueller has. Second, remember Robert Fiske? He had nothing on Clinton. That didn’t stop them from appointing Ken Starr, who for years had nothing until he kidnapped Monica Lewinsky and trapped Clinton into lying about sex. Patience.
1
Looking back twenty years imagine Janet Reno terminating the ever expanding Clinton investigations. How much hysteria and vitriol would have spewed from Newt, Rush, Faux News?
Different times, different rules, and a highly hypocritical right wing machine.
3
Whitaker, who I presume has more smarts and legal education than Trump, needs to think long and hard about what accepting this even temporary appointment means - that his past, his prior dealings plus whatever comes next will be subject to intense scrutiny; something DT never figured on. Trump turns to you-know-what everything and everyone he touches.
Whitaker, what is your legal counsel telling you? Listen intently. And put aside a few cool million dollars for your defense because the stakes are huge. Is 'loyalty' to this con man worth it? History will make note of your next move. Maybe go have a talk with Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort before you go another day...
3
Once we enter the workforce, employment "at will" violates all of our Constitutional rights. Corporate autocracy does not belong in our White House.
With Trump in charge and the Supreme Court ready to stop the House of Representatives from revealing the criminality and possible treason of Trump the United States we knew is dead. But we elected them and a nation gets the government it deserves.
I'm certainly no fan of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, in fact I think he is a horrible person, but I have to say he did at least do the right thing in recusing himself from the investigation. It hearkens back to a long ago time when there were still structural constraints that were honored, even by those we completely disagree with. Those times are now gone, perhaps forever, at least within the Trumplican party.
2
@Michael That's because it's likely he's a suspect himself. If Sessions has any honor or decency left, he'll get in touch with Mueller and start telling him what he knows.
Pres. Trump wants to control ALL officials in his cabinet. He'll rid his government, not the government of the voters, of anyone who attemps to cross him. Just watch the Apprentice!! Its the same man-child running the country.
1
Trump doesn’t want a lawman he can control, he want to make up the law himself.
If we are going to stay a republic this man and his ilk need to go.
2
Why does it appear Trump is continually outsmarting us, when he is not a smart or level-headed man?
2
Time for the Dems to tell Trump if he messes with Mueller and his investigation they will investigate him.
1
There is a lunatic occupying the White House. His EGO would fit on an eye chart.
Hope I live long enough to see him one day imprisoned. He has disgraced our country in more ways than Nixon, and that's saying something.
We will need a leaker. A brave soul. A Daniel Ellsberg,and an editor brave enough to publish that which is now being suppressed.
I don't know how many more body blows this country can take, before the big slide into oblivion takes place. Like falling into a giant black hole from which nothing emerges as it was.
The United States, from its inception, has always been a part of history. Let's not make it history itself.
3
If Trump did not collude and did not commit fraud (could be true), he and his family certainly have massive conflicts of interests and practice obstruction of justice big time. He may be "hugely popular" in the USA as he says; he certainly is a disgrace to the USA, and an extremely bad example for the world.
134
@TriasNet Consultants
Trump paid over 20 million dollars to students of Trump University he defrauded in a settlement. It cannot be true that Trump did not commit fraud.
9
We can only hope that Mueller, as a vastly experienced and smart guy, made plans early in the investigation as to how his report could become public and not bottled up in secrecy for 50 years.
I'm hoping that if Whitaker goes after Mueler, as I fear he will, Adam Shiff hires Mueller to continue the investigation.
With the protection of newly-empowered Democratic Congress, he can get the job done with the protection he so deserves.
We must fight for the truth under these despotic conditions.
4
The Mueller Report would fit nicely on a USB thumb drive nicely.
1
It’s not going to matter whether NY or any other jurisdiction is working on when Kavanaugh nails the coffin shut on the states being able to bring charges that Trump has already pardoned at the federal level.
1
Trump is afraid of the truth coming out and uses justice obstructing hardball tactics to stymie the Mueller probe. The Republicans in the Senate will go along. The newly elected House is the only part of Government that will ensure the rule of law once it is seated. In the interim a lot of damage can be done, if Mr. Whitaker decides to shut down the Mueller investigation or to destroy or suppress evidence. If Mr. Whitaker takes that route, the last hope would be leaks to the free press and pushing indictments to those parts of the legal system that cannot be stifled by Trump.
∆Sessions has always been DjT's whipping boy. So Rs lost the house and Sessions pays. And it distracts from that news just dandy. We are all now focused on the successful firing, while not focusing on the failure of Rs to keep a majority.
And what kind of a Law and Order country have we become that we have to worry that an investigation that has yielded so many important results will end, now that the President's Man is in charge? This is not justice, or law, or order. It's authoritarian.
1
How many times does Trump have to say that he is not interested in stopping Mueller's investigation of the Russia hoax? His decision to get rid of Sessions stems from understandable frustration resulting from Sessions' failure to tell the president before being appointed that he will recuse himself from one of the most important cases coming under the department's aegis. It would make no sense at all to give Rosenstein (who discussed a coup against the president) overall control of the justice department.
@victor
It seems you have already forgotten all of the people involved, including Rosenstein, were Trump's "hand picked boys". When they veered off continually "genuflecting at his altar", he decides he wants to get rid of them all.
Unlike Trump, it looks like, even they have principles.
It was never the Russia thing that would get trump. It is his many financial deals that are crimes. These are the things that will get him eventually. The new AG in NY is determined to pursue this and she is exempt from Federal control. Thats where the action will be. Meanwhile, the Congress can gather lots of info she can use.
Meanwhile we will see become more furious and unhinged and embarrass the USA agin and again. It will take years to establish our reputation.
Wondering who or what will be able to stop him? A stroke of genius that sure further win accolades from his die-hard fans and at the same time left opponents scramble for strategy. Also, he timed it so well that it deprived the Dems the spotlight and time to rejoice.
Long live Democracy!!
@Pattabi
Scramble? If the Mueller probe was shut down tomorrow, once democrats take control of the house, Mueller will probably be called before the Justice Committee to testify and then he won't have to hold anything back.
Make no mistake about it, Trump's problems are just beginning and even he knows it.
Sessions' firing advances the President's agenda to protect Russia/Putin (and therefore himself) from a legitimate inquiry into electoral interference. Yates, Comey, Sessions - all fired for insubordination and disloyalty. In reality - all fired (even Sessions) for doing their jobs independently and objectively.
If there's nothing to hide - there is nothing to fear, and we're now told by the President that the reason his tax return(s) remain hidden is because they are complex, beyond our capacity to comprehend...try telling that to Paul Krugman. This is sugar-icing on a cake made of sawdust.
Controlling things is not new to Trump.
He learned somewhere down the line that he can do what he chooses as long as it is legal and no prison sentence is involved.
Last week, he decided to send unneeded troops to the Mexican border. He tells reporters to sit down if he doesn't like their question.
This week he fires his attorney general then replaces him with a less experienced person under his control.
This can shut down the Mueller investigation but Trumps action is legal.
Trump does whatever he chooses if it's legal.
We don't remember any president with that philosophy and important decisions now happen fast.
It leaves all of the "normal" people scratching our heads asking "What just happened" ?
Trump is a poor listener except to his attorneys.
He wants to do it and will---unless there is jail time involved.
One more thought, please, on our current constitutional crisis.
Archibald Cox was a brave man to stand up to Nixon. As Mueller and Rosenthal are muzzled as seems almost certain will they show a similar courage and honor? Would they resign and begin to tell us all the gory details of this administration? And when push comes to shove as this goes to our supreme court will those justices go along with this muzzle thus destroying our democracy? Dangerous times and a real constitutional crisis.
Our Justice system should never have been in the hands of a president and as it is real justice will not be served without a deep struggle to obtain it.
Apparently having enough sycophant Senators to prevent a successful impeachment isn't enough for our dear President, who must have a sycophant Attorney General to stop the Mueller investigation in its tracks. We have to assume the current congress won't lift a finger about Mr. Whitaker's status as being unconfirmed by the Senate. As the President always says, "We'll see," if these machinations prevent a report coming out from the investigation, because we just don't know if Mueller has foreseen this development, and prepared for it.
I respectfully submit that the horse is out of the barn and it is Donald J. Trump who is living on borrowed time.
1
This is indeed concerning, the Senate is unlikely to use any power it may have to counter Trump and Whitaker. Timing is everything, the majority of Americans still favor the investigation but can do little about it now that the elections are over. 2020 is a air way off and by then the investigation and the lack of any final report will have faded. Plus the Trump propaganda machine will have churned for another 18 months added by the Whitaker at the DOJ with the phrase “witch hunt”.
All we ever wanted was the truth but it seems the President is afraid of letting the truth be known.
1
"the president seems to want a lawman he can control"
Seems? Seems? Say it loud and proud: he WANTS a lawman he can control-- hence his demeaning treatment of Sessions for two years.
1
citizens have given divided verdicts - senate win for GOP and congress win for democrat. In this divided verdict, GOP, the bearer of lies, deceptions, corruptions, demeanings, and humilities for opponents will prevail over the congress. I do not see juctice for people is coming out of it. Another two years may go by before people wake up to understand their faults to let Mr. Trump run the country boasting of falsehood. Mueller may be short lived before democratic congress take over in January, 2019. If he can live another two months there may be a chance for us to see some lights.
A lot of damage can be done before now and the swearing in of the new Congress.
1
It's almost beyond belief that Trump can now get his fat hands all over the details of the investigation, and prepare his lies accordingly. Although of course he won't read any of the documents, because he doesn't read - and even if he did read, he wouldn't understand them. On the other hand, Mueller can now testify in front of Congress. It will probably be a wild ride until January 1, but after that, finally, a "beautiful" check on this runaway Presidency. Looking forward to the impeachment.
1
Seems to? Control is what Trump is all about. Two years in, he is emboldened, has figured out how to use massive power of the office. The sycophants lined up now do not have a veneer of public service or good. Trump is the game in town and the worst are lining up to support him. Trump is getting stronger, enjoying himself, while everyone else is scrambling to either support or fear this madness.
Matthew Whitaker was on the advisory board of a company, World Patent Marketing, found guilty of defrauding inventors who invested $26 million with the company. The FTC can only account for $2 million.
How do we stop this evil corrupt regime?
2
Bold and desperate move by Trump who is obviously willing to go to any lengths to kill the Muller investigation now that his GOP Congressional cover has been so substantially degraded.
Our President obviously has no compunctions what so ever when it comes to covering his own shady tracks — especially his freewheeling financial shenanigans.
The appointment of Whitaker as acting Attorney General is shameful and unabashedly self-serving and totally in keeping with how Trump has dishonorably comported himself for decades.
This affront to the rule of law is massive.
1
What a mess. Just as a technical matter, I don't think anyone is sure appointing Whitaker is even legal. There's quite a few unanswered questions about what the law says versus the stunt Trump just pulled. This debate is heading to the courts.
Everyone seems to agree though, Whitaker is obligated to seek guidance from career ethics attorneys regarding whether he should recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. This is the same process which led Jeff Sessions to recuse. The requirement is law. There's no negotiating. Whether Whitaker follows the advice determines his criminality later.
Let's assume the worst for a moment though. Whitaker is a meddling partisan obstructionist bent on sabotaging the Mueller investigation. He has plenty of tools available. However, there's still some good news.
Mueller has known for months Sessions was out after midterms. I don't think anyone expected Trump to pull the trigger quite so quickly but the move is not surprising. You almost assume Trump is attempting to goad Democrats into overreaching. He wants an investigation as a political cudgel. That might work for Trump but Congressional Republicans just collectively sighed.
Mueller is prepared. He also has Christopher Wray on his side. This is going to backfire on Trump if he moves aggressively against Mueller. The smart thing to do would be to nominate and confirm a new AG in a hurry. Mueller merely needs to breath the word obstruction and this whole scheme is going to collapse.
1
Robert Mueller doesn't work for Donald Trump, nor does he work for the Justice Department. He is working for us.
He is conducting an investigation of crimes that may have occurred during our 2016 election process, trying to identify what part the Russian government may have had in determining the outcome of the vote.
In the course of the investigation, other crimes have emerged and therein lies the source of Trump's anxiety.
If Trump directs Matthew Whitaker to fire Mueller, it would be a clear case of obstruction of justice and we should demand that our Congress take action against him.
1
And here I naively believed that the mid-term elections would restore my faith in the process and lower my anxiety.
I had high hopes. The one thing that is evident, with all the platitudes, all the historical references to what Cox said during Watergate, to the loss of the "Colin Powell and Bob Dole Republicans," all that stuff - the one thing that is clear is that Donald Trump has upended the political playbook.
A man-child, ignorant of how government works, limited in his intellectual capacity to understand anything more complex than Tweeting on his i-phone, has risen to the top of his party and is the president, the most powerful position in the world.
While a perfect political storm created the pathway for him to achieve this, it will take another perfect political storm to get him out. It will take a great Democratic candidate in 2020; a plank in the Democratic Party platform that has resonance with the voters in rural areas of the country; and lots of cash.
While it's great that the House is now under Democratic majority, I have serious doubts that even with the power of the subpoena it will come up short in keeping Trump in check. He will find a way legally or illegally to flaunt anything the Dems throw at him.
3
Not so fast Editorial Board. In my comment yesterday to another article by the board on dems take back House I sounded the alarm that the trumps have to go now. Witaker will have to recuse for GLARING conflict of interest, impeachment is now very much on the table and the stench of Watergate illegality "obstruction of justice" is now pervading Washington. There will soon be the trek of GOP leadership to the Oval Office to inform trump just as they had to tell Nixon that he will not have the protective votes in the Senate.
1
"In 2014, he headed the political campaign for Iowa state treasurer of Sam Clovis, who later became a Trump campaign aide and, more recently, a witness in the Russia investigation.
Is this alone not grounds for Whitaker to have to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia-Trump investigation? So many conflicts of interest with this bunch.
1
I recently finished the 3-part excellent documentary Watergate on the History Channel. I was immediately struck by the interviews with Republicans of that era like Lowell Weicker and Sam Ervin, who still respected rule of law, and whose consciences drove them to pursue the truth without party considerations.
That type of Republican conscience is absent today, leaving me with feelings of doom. I strive for optimism, something recently achieved with the House elections, but then I remember the pursuit of truth is unimportant to our GOP Senate members.
2
Because Mueller is investigating a campaign in which Jeff Sessions worked, the rules stated Sessions had to recuse himself from it. Further, the rules state that when an Attorney General resigns, is removed or incapacitated the Deputy Attorney General fills the void. Clearly Trump believes the rules don't apply to him. Is there anything Congress can do about his move to "appoint Whitaker" as "Acting AG"?? It clearly flouts the established rules.
3
Sessions was right to try to scale back or end DACA.
President Obama engaged in a bit of fake news when he described those whom would qualify for DACA as having been brought here as babes-in-arms who had gone on to graduate from high school. He neglected to say that DACA would also cover those who had dropped out of school in their own countries, and had eventually followed others to the U.S. These migrants did not return to school. Yet, they could qualify for DACA, the way it is currently written, if they would now enroll in a course that teaches English as a Second Language (and that has a proven record of helping immigrants either find jobs or be admitted to job training programs). An alternative way to qualify for DACA is to enroll in an elementary school program for adults.
Since the Obama Administration said DACA was restricted to those who had been brought here, through no fault of their own, and who had met an educational requirement, the media and the public assumed this meant only those who had been brought here as very young children and who had gone on to graduate from high school. Virtually all of those who applied for DACA met these criteria. But, the reality is much different. DACA was written to cover hundreds of thousands of more migrants - anyone who claims to have arrived here by age 16 who would now enroll in either an ESL class or an elementary school program.
DACA criteria are too low.
Democracy in the US has reached a dire crossroads. Do we continue down the slope to the fascist abyss or do we somehow find a foot hold and climb our way out. I really don’t know what will happen but do I know we must try. We have two near term hopes, one is that rural America will remember our country’s ideals and correct its blind faith in Trump, the wrecking ball, and return to supporting traditional American values, second, that the rest of us will continue to fight for political power, that is, not give up, work to win every special election that may arise, and even next year’s, mostly local elections, in support of those who oppose Trumpism (now practically republicans) then ultimately win in 2020. These are faint hopes at this time, I offer no rosy forecast but only effort and more effort for the foreseeable future. Our democracy, our lives and the lives of our children depend on it.
1
In the event that Mueller's funding is cut, maybe his investigation could be crowdsourced. I'd definitely support it.
6
The most important thing is to find out why Trump is so tied in with the Russians. He seems to like them much better than Democrats, that is for sure. He takes a hard line with everybody except Vladimir Putin, who Trump's body languge indicates he is afraid of. Why? I would like to know if Trump is now or ever was a Russian agent. If Mr. Whittaker shuts down or significantly interferes with the Mueller investigation, we may never get that important answer. Is it merely financial benefits Trump received or receives from the Russians, is it the "assistance' the Russians gave to Trump in the election, or is something more?
3
One effective thing that Mueller can do is forward relevant documents to other federal/state prosecutor so that they can act on the information. In the case of taxes, his team can give it to the New York Attorney General. So he is really not on borrowed time. He can toss the ball to others and let them run with it and there is little Trump can do to stop it.
Really, the Democrats are on borrowed time. They have only two years before the next elections. The tide could turn the other way. With executive privilege and other legal avenues the Trump administration can take to stall the process, the clock will run out.
4
There are two issues at play here, that over 62 million people voted to elect DT to the office of President, number one, knowing full well that his office at Trump Towers had meetings with a Russian, and the possibility of hacking into the elections. The second is that we have no clue, if other than those pleas, and indictments already rendered, whether there is anything that sticks personally to this President. Spending the next two years railing on this President, rather than concentrating on the issues of health care, gun violence, and global trade, and the affect of tariffs, will cause us to go backwards. The Senate is never going to find two thirds of them, which are necessary to vote to convict, especially since even more Republicans were voted in after the recent midterm election.
1
Of course Trump is a distraction. He'll weaken considerably if attention is shifted to issues you outline.
Trump's power stool rests on 3 legs: 1. Media coverage 2. Republican Congressional support 3. The 42%cult- base.
However too much revenue to media as much entertainment as news. So we see a contamination and atrophy of the fourth estate.
1
@MaryKayKlassen, personally I’m hoping the pot hole on my way to work grows so big first that I won’t be able to climb out of it after I drive in just so I don’t have to read anymore about this nonsense.
We need to know if it's true that Whitaker is part of the patent scam at World Patent Marketing. It appears that he benefitted from the activities of the company that was sued by the FTC.
If so, Whitaker is another deviant that trump has installed into his administration; Whitaker's involvement in the scam gives trump something over Whitaker's head to get him to serve him loyally. It's what trump does with his "employees".
"Matthew Whitaker was paid to sit on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, which was ordered in May this year to pay a $26m settlement following legal action by federal authorities, which said it tricked aspiring inventors."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/07/matthew-whitaker-trump-attorney-general-us-firm
3
To hold a position in the Government of the United States, including the position of the President, an oath to “ preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" is required. There is no mention of loyalty to any person.
Mr. Trump seems to require from his appointees loyalty to himself, which he deems far more important than an allegiance to the Constitution. Using this criterion, and perceiving disloyalty, he fired Jeff Sessions who was doing a credible job as the Attorney General of the United States. He replaced him with a loyalist, Mr. Whitaker, as Acting Attorney General.
We should be greatly concerned about our Government run by Loyalists of the President rather than those who uphold the Constitution.
6
I think Jeff Sessions' greatest service to the country might be his future role of cooperating witness in the Mueller investigation.
12
Some people here blame Trump. Others blame Sessions, or Mueller, etc.
Not me. For me , the blame rests squarely on those who voted for this evil man Trump and, in spite of the wreckage he has caused since then, they continue to support him.
16
@Patrick alexander Yep. Representative government: it's a killer.
1
I blame all of the above!
With Whittaker, the rule of law ceases at DOJ. Therefore, Mueller must hide all records, refuse to provide them to him and have this battle until January. These are thugs in DC and it’s time to fight fire with fire. I never thought I’d say it, but it sadly may be the only way to right this rudderless ship with a mutinous captain.
6
I am not a politician and I knew that Trump was going to get rid of Sessions "after" the mid term elections; how in the world Robert Muller and the rest, did not anticipate it..?
I think we are for a big surprise...
3
You appoint bar bouncers as your Attorney General, you are in serious trouble.
10
Whitaker may not have to last long before Trump nominates Judge Jeanine Pirro to the AG post.
1
Congressional leaders should push to have another acting attorney general appointed immediately. Isn’t it customary to have the Deputy AG take over?
4
@Terrance Neal Congress doesn't appoint anything. That's the president's job.
@Terrance Neal Yes, it is customary to have the Deputy AG take over.
I contemplate Mr. Trump and his government--
--and my stars! the thoughts flow in.
(1) I remember the Saturday night massacre. My father had been a ardent supporter of Mr. Nixon. That support continued till the moment he resigned. At which point, poor Dad saw the light.
But going back--to that notorious Saturday night. We were both thunderstruck. "He's gonna be impeached!" I murmured. "Yes," Dad rejoined. "Yes. . . ..I think so."
I can't but think: sacking Mr. Mueller would spark a fire storm in this nation. Even among persons who (hitherto) have spent their time either yawning or murmuring the words, "Witch hunt."
There would be a profoundly GALVANIZING effect. I truly believe this.
(2) Mr. Nixon (after not one but two hasty resignations) finally pitched on someone to administer the coup de grace.
Name of Robert Bork.
That did him no good. No good at all.
Those two guys that quit--their names live on. Two illustrious refusals. They put their country first.
Mr. Bork?
Let's move on.
Mr. Whittaker should remember--like every other human being connected with Mr. Trump--
--people are gonna remember who he is. What he does. Mr. Trump's presidency--thank the Lord!--will run out. Eventually.
The man himself? Oh he'll be remembered.
Along with his fans--his supporters--his enablers--his henchmen.
Men like Roy Cohn.
The man's name stinks--even now.
Think about it, Mr. Whittaker.
Think long and hard.
2
According to the Daily Beast: "Matthew Whitaker, Acting Attorney General, Once Used His Justice Bona Fides to Tout ‘Scam’ Business
He said that 'as a former US Attorney, I would only align myself with a first class' business. The FTC said it took customers for over $25 million, with some losing 'life savings.'"
https://www.thedailybeast.com/matthew-whitaker-acting-attorney-general-once-used-his-justice-bona-fides-to-tout-scam-business
So he's nothing more than a grifter like the grifter illegally occupying the White House.
He actually makes Sessions look honorable.
6
The closing paragraph of the piece made me laugh. Matthew Whittaker is no Archibald Cox.
5
We can think of several despots around the world who are gleefully waiting to see if American democracy's system of checks and balances has any teeth. Or, if a corrupt leader, when cornered, can simply bring a wrecking crew of enablers and destroy institutions and safeguards and run free.
Anti-democratic forces are hoping that the system will finally collapse unlike once before during Watergate.
The mid-term elections have shown the resilience of a vast majority of America's citizens. They must not fail the challenge that looms ahead.
6
@AG
As a Finn, I'm a little worried about how few Americans see the Putin connection in this.
America's part and place in the world seems to be more visible to us living outside the U.S.
Observing the rule of law has not been Trump's strongest attribute as I have posted many times in past comments. He just doesn't get it. He has trashed Comey, Sessions and former Secretary of State Rex Tillotson so many times, I have lost count. Somehow, Christopher Wray, the new guy on the block for the FBI has not been attacked. It is clear he does not understand what the framers wanted in the separation of the three branches of government. And it is obvious he has never read the constitution. Yesterday he showed his blatant attacks on the free press. Hey, Mr. President, there is a reason the First Amendment is number one. If former FBI director J. Edgar Hover were still in charge, Hoover would have a massive file on Trump. On days like yesterday, I miss Hoover,
6
If Whitaker does;t recuse himself then the American Bar Association must relieve him of his license to practice.
6
Trump is an amoral, ego maniac demagogue that will do anything to profit for himself and make himself look good including ending or crippling the Mueller investigation.
I have cautioned my extra liberal friends not to have the House jump in and ASAP impeach him, only if a blatant act like what Trump may do.
If Trump does it, time to start impeachment proceeding in the House and put the onus on the republicans to agree if they don't want to lose the Senate and WH in 2020.
2
What Trump is attempting here is a Reichstag moment- a mini-coup d'é·tat. He feels confident he can roll over the Republican majority in the Senate. If the country overreacts to his abrogation of the letter and intent of the law- he may have an excuse for violent repression.
Trump now knows, that despite his attempt to pump prime the economy and have the impact of this come into full force during the elections- he remains a uniquely unpopular President- whom Clinton and others could easily defeat TODAY. With eroding popularity, a loss/erosion of Southern/Mid-West support- and and Mueller's investigation narrowing in on a variety of crimes- some of which he will be directly accused of- he is both crafty and desperate.
McConnell and others in the Senate should not assume they can duck this battle- essentially Trump is trying to drop any semblance of a balance of power- and if he is allowed to succeed-the democracy WILL fall- if not in name- in stark reality.
2
Donald Trump is a corrupt man and he appoints corrupt people in his administration to protect him and who are as lacking in morality, ethical behavior and respect for American principles as he is.
We have been reading in this newspaper the corrupt practices of Donald Trump and his family over their lifetime and of the people he does business with and associates with. The Republican Party has shown it’s corrupt proclivities in encouraging him.
Democrats do your duty for honor and country ( the generals won’t) and impeach him.
It would require the participation of Republicans in order to impeach the President, and unfortunately the party is bought and paid for and is now irredeemable.
It's evident that Trump wants to use our laws and rules to protect himself from justice.
Sessions have found himself out of the clutches of an unrestrained president and hopefully this 'Bible Clutcher' will pay attention to Matthews 6 verse 24
He was in a position to do the right things, but he chose not to because the devil is not ever satisfied.
After he has used you up, he will toss one out like trash.
1
This is MADDENING.
Despite the long paragraph of Whitaker's biases against the justice-department sanctioned special investigation, and despite the fact that he is legally unqualified to serves as AG because he has never been confirmed by Congress, there is still the realistic possibility that he will not be stopped from becoming acting AG.
And far worse, despite Trump's brazenly, unabashedly, clearly, and repeatedly stated motive in firing Sessions, which is to shield himself from the investigation his crimes, which is obviously to obstruct justice, he is not being stopped from doing it.
I can think of no other person, politician power broker, mega-billionaire white man, no one, who could get away with defiling the law right in our faces. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO STOP TRUMP??
4
When one runs an investigation on "borrowed time", and the head of that investigations knows that fact, as Robert Mueller surely does, it is incumbent on the leader of that investigation to produce results that are worthy of the exercise.
To date, Mueller has only managed to charge a bunch of Russian operatives...legitimate targets of the investigation, Paul Manfort...more on him below, and a bunch of low-level individuals whose sins were "lying to investigators", garbage indictments set forth mainly to "prove" that the investigation was "tough".
Garbage stuff, at best.
As for Manafort...So far, the indictments and convictions appear legitimate.
But if Mueller doesn't indict Tony Podesta, who a) was in it as deeply as Manafort, and b) a willing partner to all of what Manafort was doing, Mueller's credibility will sink to right through the core of the earth and come out the other side.
It's pretty clear given everything that has come out of Congress, leaked or otherwise, that there was nothing even close to being "collusion" on the part of the Trump campaign or transition committee.
It is also pretty clear given everything that has come out of Congress or anywhere else, that whatever collusion that there might have been, its is the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee that has been guilty of colluding with foreign powers to influence the 2016 election.
1
Trump views the AG as his personal attorney.
1
I read the slightly comforting news that the courts will have their say as concerns cases already being dealt with. But then I turn to Linda Greenhouse and I let the heading material speak for itself.
Opinion
Who Owns the Supreme Court?
The Trump administration is treating it like a wholly owned subsidiary.
Linda Greenhouse
By Linda Greenhouse
Contributing Opinion Writer
As Karen Garcia writes in her comment at Charles Blow (99 recommends 13:05 GMT) "I think fascism has arrived". Fascism surely entails ownership of the courts and our very own Benito comes ever closer to that achieving that goal.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
2
Assuming Mueller isn’t an idiot, one must also assume he is on the verge of (or perhaps already has issued in private) his reports on Trump’s obstruction of justice, conspiracy with Russia to influence the election and his many financial crimes. Moreover, acting on the same — I think sensible — assumption, one must expect Mueller has provided to the New York Attorney General, and perhaps the Illinois A.G., evidence of illegal money laundering and tax evasion that can be tried under state law.
Mueller knew this was coming. America hopes he was prepared.
1
Seeing all of this unfold is a lot like watching a movie about political corruption. You keep waiting for one of the good guys to appear and set things right, but they're nowhere to be found. And just when you think something good might happen, the villain strengthens his hand by appointing a biased, pugnacious guy to help keep decency and the search for truth in one thread of the plot in check. You keep hoping it will end well, but there are fewer and fewer signs that that will happen.
In spite of the Democratic takeover of the House, I have never felt more pessimistic and dismayed about what's happening in our country. My dismay is grounded in the fact that we have an unprincipled and corrupt president who seems determined to surround himself only by those who will do his bidding.
Rudy Giuliani was right: truth isn't truth anymore. If you're Trump, you don't say it, you don't look for it, and you try your damndest to keep it covered up. It truly is a sad time for our country.
1
By "embrace such a corrupted standard for American justice" is the Editorial Board referring to the 9th Circuit's bench of clerics or perhaps, Kagan, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor?
3
I think Jeff Sessions did us all a huge favor with the first line of his resignation letter. It demonstrates that he was fired and contributes to the charge of obstruction of justice.
2
If Democrats do not summon the courage to impeach this lawless President our nation will be fatally damaged. Democratic Congressmen’s eyes shouldn’t be on their next election but on the state of the republic. The majority of this country are Democrats who are sick of Trump’s abuses. If Democratic House members shy away from making a bold and justified move against Trump—that is, impeachment—they will be as responsible for America’s downfall as Trump himself. Time to stop playing electoral politics and start tending to this wounded nation.
2
I find it interesting that those who would "lay down their life" for the "Flag" have no interest in laying down their life for the Constitution!
5
You all know Trumps background and history. He’s walked a thin line verging on criminality most of his life and from his own words a racist following his father. The NYT has all the evidence needed to prove his convoluted methods to keep from paying taxes as law requires. A man known as a con-artist and a liar his whole life. And this man is president! Hardly what could be considered a ‘great moral leader’ as he claims.
So what do you think would be the result if such a man were in charge of the DOJ? Would he not do everything he could to protect himself despite his oath and the law? It’s amazing so many fail to understand and still support a criminal as their leader.
4
Mr. Mueller, please issue your report ASAP. Otherwise, it may never see the light of day. Time has run out.
4
@Susan Black Alas, the public ain't gonna see it. If Congress is lucky, some of those hot house orchids might get a peek.. in a secure room.
I am afraid we are witnessing what no foreign power has ever been able to do to this country -- the overthrow of our Democracy from within, accomplished by one of the most disgusting men in the country's history.
8
"Mueller Was Running on Borrowed Time. Has It Run Out?
The answer is simple, YES. The question is why is Mueller not acting. Trump and the Republicans are acting quickly. Where's Mueller??? He has no protection. The Dems are 2 months away and it will be all over within a few weeks. There will be a political uproar, with lots of ineffective editorials like this one, but there will be no political price. It's 2 years to 2020 and that's a political eternity.
Mueller needs to act! Now!
3
Mueller should have concentrated on finding evidence of Russians election interference first. It seems like he's done everything else. He needs to fish or cut bait.
1
"Trump Strikes at Justice"
Isn't attacking justice (or even Justice) the mark of a criminal?
Trump "seems to want a lawman he can control"?
No. Trump is a law-breaker and he wants free reign for his criminal activities, granted by toadies and sycophants. Just like some corrupt usurper king or some 20th-century right-wing dictator.
3
Think of a perp filing a motion with a judge he/she owns....
That is what we now have....
4
It's mildly interesting to me - but everyone else I know is completely oblivious to it - that a president (and his staff and his family) of the United States is so clearly guilty of conspiring with a foreign power to influence an election that was decided by about 70,000 votes one way or the other, and we sit here dithering around, wondering if anything can be done about it. Apathy has been kicked up to a whole new level.
The Nixon, the Saturday Night Massacre, association is an apt one. We've had plenty of experience with dishonest, unethical, corrupt - in Trump's case, dangerously corrupt - public officials, but we've never had the experience of a corrupt Congress (Freedom caucus) and a corrupt Senate (McConnell, et al) like we do now, supporting and enabling a corrupt incompetent president who they see as a useful idiot.
Here, in this public forum, it is common to see comments that advance the idea that the president has done nothing wrong (nothing has been proved) and that Mueller's investigation has discovered nothing (waste of time and money). But anybody - even a Trump acolyte - must see that Mueller hasn't presented his evidence, hasn't made his case yet: it's pending.
And now we're musing about how Mueller's findings can be consigned to the dustbin of history unread, or locked up in the national archives for 75 years until things cool off for Trump and his band of sycophants.
Tax cuts, anybody?
3
This editorial piece ignores the fact that the new Senate is not just composed of Trump loyalists -Montana's Tester & Mitt Romney are far more likely to temper the Trumpite actions.
2
That was a cheap shot in the is article finishing with a direct reference to Watergate. Objectivity is a virtue as well.
1
Is this the beginning of the Trumpian Armageddon and/or the end of American Democracy? Our magnificent President now controls the Supreme Court, the US Senate and the Executive Branch is under his absolute and almighty power.
What's the difference between Venezuela, Russia and China? (to mention just a few)
3
I've felt for the last year that Mueller's slow pace was rendering him toothless. It made him irrelevant, as Trump was damaging our democracy and entrenching his autocracy every day he remained in power. I've even sometimes considered him stalling to avoid direct confrontation. Trump's attacks got to him just like they get to everyone Trump verbally, relentlessly attacks.
You know the old saying about bringing a knife to a gun fight? My money is still on the Marine captain with the bronze star.
1
The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President.
The President decides who he wants in the post.
Nothing wierd or untoward here at all.
Stop kvetching about it.
See also : Obama, Holden
1
@Michael Dean Miller
The President is a servant of the country and the PEOPLE whom he has sworn to defend and protect.
That's why he took the Oath of Office.
See the U.S. Constitution.
1
Trump acts like the little kid who believes his amateur magic act has everyone so mesmerized they won't notice him sticking his hand in the forbidden cookie jar.
3
Government of the FOX, by the FOX, and for the FOX.
Jack Dorsey it's time to close the President's twitter account, the country needs an actual government, not some internet pipe dream.
3
What I do not understand is what options the republican senators think they have?
Sure, they have a majority at the moment, but if they look right and left at who fell and will continue falling at the president's behest, I would probably reckon that keeping my head low won't really help because it's not a guarantee of surviving this administration. The tone of the president and his cohort (including insignifcant others like kelly ann and sanders) is mucho macho.
What they also don't realise is that by abjecting the fact that so many newly elected are women, they are continuing to show the american public their cold shoulder when the president goes one step further in threatening the elected women by "slapping" their faces even before they got started. Elected democratic or republican women.
Not once has the administration nor the republican senate found kind words or reflected on what is happening in the states by at least congratulating the women and men who were newly elected.
I think it was attributed to Cardinal Richelieu the saying that "Betrayal is only to recognize the signs of the time."
So even if they can't find another good moral reason (like decency, civility or civil courage) to finally turn on the president, maybe Richelieu's saying could help them justify what they should have been doing all along.
As a counsellor I often ask my clients: What do you imagine people will want to write on your gravestone?
Held on till the bitter end.. is an option.
In a normal administration, there would be no “borrowed time”, Buy because one of the subjects is Trump, it must be curtailed. I truly hope Mueller has had enough time to expose the pure criminality of Trump and his merry band of marauders to put them in prison for what’s left of their regrettable lives.
1
Trump's trying to stack the deck with his own "Swamp Thangs."
No surprise there... "Fake News" morphs readily into Fake Justice."
Trump has no care, nor appreciation, nor respect for Our Constitution, Rule of Law, nor Civilization for that matter.
One thing aboit Trump may be true: If he's born again, he's most definitely stuck in the terrible two's.
Here in Europe we have seen several countries take the slippery slope into authoritarian quasi-facist terrain in recent years. How disconcerting that the U.S. seems to be now on the inexorable slide. The midterm success of Democrats in the House of Representatives is a significant move to provide a balance to a government that seemed to unite on sowing disunity and division in its populace when controlled by the Republican Party. It is somewhat sad to see a dedicated career law-maker such as Jeffrey Sessions exit under an abject cloud of derision from the President. Still he can hold his head high because he recused himself from areas of investigation in which he clearly was conflicted. As much as one tends not to want to make the Hitler analogy, or the Nixon analogy for that matter, Trump's long knives and Saturday night massacre are right there for all to see.
200
@Kevin in Recusing himself was about the only honorable thing Sessions has ever done in his long, hateful life. And he probably did it to save his own reputation rather than out of any personal conviction.
We will never forget the war he waged on immigrants and asylum seekers, his cold hearted determination to see families broken up and lives ruined over petty offenses or no offense at all. And those were just his most recent offenses; he has been a lifelong opponent of civil rights in virtually all spheres.
We're glad he recused himself. But we would have been gladder still had he never been put in charge of the JD with his presence to begin with.
47
@Kevin in: Great post. The U.S. has flirted with fascism in the past. We are now in it; it's a matter of degree how much more control of the government that trump obtains.
Our heartland trump voters are voting for fascism. True, Fox Noise and trump lie to them, but they lack the education to understand that.
Democracies depend on having an educated electorate. Our electoral system, with its Electoral College and Senate, is biased to the uneducated. And not only that, our presidential primary system nominated trump out of seventeen Republican primary candidates, all of whom were better than he was. Our trump heartlanders nominated the lying, traitorous, egomaniacal, fascist lunatic trump as their presidential candidate.
The U.S. is in a race to the bottom, and it has won.
27
@Charles
Sessions cannot hold his head high on any account thanks to his implementation of the policy of jailing children at the border. Sessions is a lifelong racist, that was the prime reason he was chosen by Trump to become attorney general. Yes, it was fortunate that Rosenstein came in - extremely fortunate - but Sessions proved himself over two years to be the sadist we all suspected he was.
28
Could we please remember that the president is the employee of the people, in the White House to serve the public. I don't care what he wants. If the people want gun control, we have to start applying political pressure to all politicians at every level.
3
@Bonnie...
People have been applying it to politicians for far longer than my memory of the issue.
You need to start looking for the reasons why, when the politicians actually engage in creating firearm legislation, few of them have any stomach for applying additional limits...
And please don't tot out the power of the National Rifle Association...Any power that they have can, and would, be easily counterbalanced by a well-organized and funded lobby operation that opposes their viewpoint.
Note, today, that we have another idiot with a gun shooting up a gathering of people trying to have some fun...And he got that gun LEGALLY in California, a state with some of the most restrictive fire-arm regulations in the nation.
Ask yourself, and honestly answer the question, just what laws are going to prevent someone with no interest in obeying the laws on the books from doing illegal things...
I'd be interested in your answer...but I doubt that it would be an honest assessment of the situation, let alone the issue of the illegal use of a firearm.
At some point, hopefully in the very near future, the large corporate donors and PACs will realize that their profits and power will be severely impaired by the association with a corrupt and amoral Republican party. When they do, there will be a shift in the Rebuplican members of the House and the Senate since their offices are dependent upon corporate sponsorship. Once the members of Congress start to oppose the abuses of power comitted by Trump and his administration, they will influence the base, who will then turn against him. Only then will "Lock HIM up" have some real meaning and momentum.
How can anybody not see this as a act of obstruction of justice wow! Loyalty is one thing but you must be partners in crime as well to hook up with the Trump gang. This is going to come down to the Senate and we know who pulls the strings there I will not hold my breath, as for law abiding Republicans to do the right thing he's there man that is as long as he rubber stamps what they want and the money keeps flowing up. We can hope that Mueller has the goods and gets it out ASAP! Trump is sweating and wants to stop this at all costs what dose he have to lose. His base has a false sense of power and like it and will turn there heads, Is there justice or not in this country.
I think the importance of letting Sessions go is that the so-called "Russia investigation" alluded to at the top of the op-ed has gone beyond "Russia" and into everything and anything. While Trump haters no doubt cheer this, Whitacker could legitimately apply some much-needed boundaries to the investigation.
He should. It's gotten out of hand. Sessions, rightly or wrongly, recused himself from all things Russia. The downside has been a "Russia" investigation that's "caught" minor Trump campaign people "lying" to the FBI, that's destroyed the reputation and financial life of a decorated US military leader, that's driven other peripheral individuals to near economic ruin over legal costs (See Michael Caputo), and as far as other indictments go, hit a bunch of Russians Mueller had no intention of hauling into court (how could he?). Thus far there's been no Russia-Trump connection coming out of the Mueller investigation. Some say we have to "wait and see."
How long!?!?!?!
Reign it in, Mr. Whitacker.
Of course it's run out. Even just what we're able to see happening publicly shows that they're thoroughly convinced they've just had a landslide election and it's time to consolidate power brutally. Look at what they're doing. Unindicted Co-conspirator publicly threatened that there'll be investigations against the Democrats if the House starts investigation of him. You can be certain they know it's a serious threat since the dirty ads they made for this campaign show clearly that they'll make stuff up and make it stick in the public mind. Sessions is fired and Mueller compromised, whether or not he's fired. He's already constrained in what he can do if he has evidence. Their planned ambush of Acosta last night is a clear, and effective, constraint on the press.
This is all surprising only if you've steadfastly refused to acknowledge that this administration is fascist.
The weaknesses in the American constitution have become very clear. So long as he has his party onside, a malign presence in the White House can override the rule of law by using such banana republic tactics as installing loyalists in key Justice positions, stacking the courts, and undermining the national police force. The Senate majority of Trump loyalists will turn a blind eye to Trump's abuse of power and in the process destroy the last vestiges of checks and balances. Despite the reassurances of some optimists in politics and the media, it is clear that American institutions are are not strong enough to survive an autocratic leader like Trump. Real democracy has become a relic of history.
1
“Whether we shall continue to be a government of laws, and not of men, is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.” Good luck with that!
1
I would like to think Mitt Romney will move to the center of those precious few Senate Republicans who will not follow Trump to the gates of perdition. I am not a Republican, but I believe Romney is a decent man, and I think he will be seen as beacon of stability as Trump goes into his “warlike posture” with the House. The country needs some semblance of stability in the worst way. Not the unglued plethoric, egomaniacal madman on display yesterday.
1
Plainly, Trump is scared. Has he got something to hide? -- Probably. He's a crooked guy, as are all people who put no interests above their own. Either you put serving something like love or truth or the Golden Rule (or maybe even country) above serving your own interests or you don't--and, if you don't, you're more compass is a best whacky. Surely, whether you approve of Trump's Presidency or not, we can all agree that Trump's moral compass is more than a few degrees off.
Mathew Whitaker is just one more fox in the henhouse (a.k.a. the Trump administration). But operating with little, if any, regard for the rule of law, ethics, empathy or compassion for anyone outside their own craven mission, Mr. Whitaker will never feel compelled to obey the law. Protecting Trump is, and has been, his primary task. this won't change anytime soon.
That said, here's the thing: Robert Mueller is nobody's fool. If anyone can protect the investigation from Trump's determination to end it, it is TeamMueller. Yes, cutting the budget of the investigation could endanger the long-term future of Mueller's progress. But I must believe Mueller has already had a Plan B prepared given the constant threats from Trump and his goofy legal team.
I have confidence that Robert Mueller III will make sure the new Democratic majority in the House will have all they need to end this madness.
If Trump wants war, he will lose.
We have a mobster trained president, who wants his own massacre remembrance day, the "Wednesday Daytime Massacre of 2018."
Mueller needs to borrow Al Gore's "lock-box" to stash all the evidence, sealed indictments and notes from his investigation and give it all to the Dems for safe keeping until they take control of the House. That way the Dems can restart the investigation without missing a beat. Otherwise it will all be destroyed - and two months is a long time to do so.
Sessions did absolutely everything trump wanted with a vengeance - and yet that was not good enough for trump? No tears for Sessons here but he was canned for one and only one reason - to obstruct justice by sabotaging the Muller investigation - just as Mr. Whitaker has suggested.
Mr. Whitaker is essentially trump's inside "leaker" and snitch in Justice and is replacing Sessions for the one thing Sessions can't do - sabotage the Muller investigation.
Perhaps Congress under the Dems can reduce the budget of the WH and slow it to a grinding halt - no more 747 flights to his incitement rallies or trump properties and no more government paid diet cola.
PS: The destruction of the free press is proceeding with the revocation of Jim Acosta's WH press credentials. The press should boycott the WH until his credentials are restored. They can continue to report on the WH misdeeds but block their malicious messaging to the world through them.
Trump will avoid the long arm of the law, as he has always done. Nothing is going to stop this guy from destroying the institutions that threaten his criminal enterprise. Where is our Lee Harvey Oswald when we need him?
I’m a sixty-ish white male, not exactly the personification of a revolutionary. What would compel someone like me to take to the streets (figuratively & literally)? Fire or otherwise subvert Mueller.
1
Since the Times is so intent on getting individuals to recuse themselves from any involvement in the Mueller investigation, then why isn't the Times demanding that Mueller himself step aside? Mueller was the Director of the FBI. The same FBI which conducted the biased and flawed investigation of Clinton. The same agency that promoted Peter Strzok, an agent that was promoted during Mueller's tenure. Mueller had a close relationship with Comey, who not only orchestrated the flawed investigation of Clinton, but apparently altered the conclusions of the investigators and violated FBI policy repeatedly before he was fired. Mueller was also responsible for the promotions of McCabe, who was fired for lying to investigators and violating FBI policies. So Mueller has more significant ties to individuals who were directly involved in critical investigations or who had violated the law or policies involving the Trump Administration. The Times obviously has 2 different standards. One for people they support and a different one for those they oppose.
1
I don’t understand. Can’t the Congress order the continuation of the Mueller probe (if Trump & Co. terminates it)?
1
Shutting down investigations, exiling members of the Press. Making up lies to justify his actions. Threatening the House with retaliatory investigations and grid-lock if they investigate his questionable activities. Publicly ridiculing Republicans who lost, and blaming it on not endorsing him. These are all earmarks of a leader striving for unchallenged power.
What is the need for a Supreme Court other than to act as rubber stamp for the Republican agenda?
Greed and desire for more power have no bounds, and justice and morality have no place in the present day Trumpian kleptocracy, which is fueled by the wealthy oligarchical upperclass.
1
In the Trump loyalist Whitaker, the Fake President believes that he has found his Devin Nunes and his Brett Kavanaugh. If possible jurisdictionally, a broad and vigorous federal investigation of Sessions’s firing should be immediately commenced, via a Mueller referral, by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. It would come as no surprise that this treacherous move, occurring post-midterms, has the fingerprints of Giuliani all over it. Let the subpoenas fly to get to the bottom of this deeply threatening attack on the rule of law and yet another instance of obstruction of justice by the corrupt and criminally-minded Trump. This cannot stand!
It has been obvious from the start that Trump would need to operate outside the bounds of the Law in order to do the things he wants to do. Established law is an inconvenience for any budding fascist. He cant help himself and there are always people coming up the ladder that will do his bidding. The real crime is happening in the Republican party - these are the people that are sitting on their hands and taking the things they can get while they are in power while this farce drags on. By the time this is all over there will be even less confidence in our institutions than when it all began.
The unintended benefit of the trump phenomenon could be the stimulation it is adding to the national learning curve. Erratic as it may be, I sense a growing impatience with leadership committed to learning the hard way... over and again. Not only is it beginning to rattle the GOP, even the Democrats are finally demonstrating an organised application of brains and spine.
I am especially encouraged by the emerging potency of women who are sick and tired of the adolescent indulgence and malfeasance of what has been allowed to pass for government. I was first stunned by their overwhelming protest demonstration the day after that dismal inauguration. And a mere 2 years later we see the growing gravity of their determination in this midterm
election. God speed, Ladies, as you go about teaching this dysfunctional nation to heal itself.
Matthew Whitaker will become the Devin Nunes of the Department of Justice.
1
Ask yourself this: is Trump behaving like someone who is guilty or innocent?
1
Trump should welcome a thorough investigation to clear his good name.
1
One day in the near future, Democrats will win the Executive Branch. They should direct the FBI and Attorney General to investigate every act of malfeasance by all current and retired Republicans -- back to Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, the whole lot. That is how its done.
Watching the deranged Trump’s deplorable performance as he berated Republicans who failed to “embrace” him in Tuesday’s election, it was clear that we have reached a new low in American politics. Trump’s extreme narcissism, paranoia, cruelty, constant lying and divisiveness are unmatched in presidential history. What lies ahead is anyone’s guess, but there is no doubt that Donald Trump is unfit for office and should be removed ASAP.
Referring to Roy Cohn as an "infamous mob lawyer and fixer" is like referring to Winston Churchill as a painter. Roy Cohn was the right hand and brains of the HUAC committee in its persecution of the American left. By invoking his name, Trump identified himself not with mobsters, but with Joe McCarthy.
It’s not on Mueller to have rushed things along in any way. Watergate was much less complex, and took a lot more time. Congress and the Washington environment was more cooperative too overall.
Mueller is doing his job thoroughly, well, and impartially. This is why he should continue. It’s on Congress (a separate and co-equal branch of government) to protect this investigation: something they have promised to do, but have so far failed miserably at. If Congress rolls over and becomes a servile lapdog to Trump’s deluded grandeur and autocratic sensibilities, that’s on them!
Let’s all remember that they all took oaths too, which many of them are in grievous violation of! It’s not just Trump that could be guilty of collusion, or crime. Note that History is ultimately a fair, but ruthless judge of character. History is watching - and so is the world! If Congress does not step up to do it’s job, Law, and the Constitution will take crippling hits. Mueller is doing his job, but Congress is not doing theirs.
We all knew this day would come! Your move Congress!
Answer to Title Question....”President” Trump assumes in his
Presidential Premise that All Direction is totally under His direct
demise and direction. He also apparently assumes to hold and
carry the Staff of Private preferential presence....no questions asked.....as in Any position held by a Sociopathic Personality
Disorder.
Trump believes only in himself, and the Republicans in Congress are complicit in this utter corruption of our Justice Department. Whitaker is a lackey, a Trump stooge, who is a hybrid of Devon Nunes and Ronnie Jackson. Under Trump the government has been corrupted absolutely. The only reason that Sessions was fired was a perceived lack of loyalty to the President. Let us hope that Sessions becomes the next Michael Cohen.
There are no ethical people in this Ruspublican administration. From McConnell to Grassley and other soldiers for the trump syndicate there is no government of law much less ethics. And now we have a hit man/fixer as the AG who once he has done his hit will be taken into protective custody in the machinations of the white house and considered untouchable. Next will be the parade of sycophants vying for the AG title. Of course the parade is for show, the selection has already been or he wouldn`t have gotten little Jeff out of the way. trump thinks he can have his way with the law but I think Mister Mueller and a Democratic house may have a say in that.
“Seems” is putting it rather mildly.
So Trump wants something like the Obama-Holder "wing man" situation?
If you didn't complain during the Obama years it's a little rich to be complaining now.
@John T
We never watched Fox News during the Obama years and we're not starting now.
Maybe everyone at the Justice department should just walkout in protest. :)
With the blatant illegality of appointing this know nothing to be acting AG, trump is basically telling the country that he believes himself above the law and is willing to do anything to ensure he's allowed to continue to flout the laws of this land for as long as he lives. His statement that he now 'owns' the Senate and will use their powers to prosecute any democrat who tries to reign him in should provoke terror among law abiding citizens. He's a psychopath who is out of control and ready to do real harm.
Contemptuous of the separation of powers, disdainful of checks and balances, the unrepentant scofflaw is, and is going to be, forcing the resilience of the republic like nothing that has come before...and a pet AG is not going to be helpful.
The AG is the president's personal lawyer... What a joke! But I guess the airhead reality show host (well, crooked and not so successful real-estates investor) really meant it, and hence fired his early supporter.
jeff sessions is another horrible person like trump and deserves no compassion. by 2020 every one of trump's staff will either have been fired or left.only kushner and ivanka will remain. trump is toxic.he took a shellacking loosing 30 house seats, seven governors posts and costing his party a generation of minority voters. under trump, the gop has become radioactive to women and minorities. the senate races happened to mosty take place in deep red states with a large number of extremely paranoid white and uneducated republican voters who think the martians are about to invade america. the republicans would have lost many more races if it were not for voter suppression and gerrymandering, trump voters supported him earlier because he was winning.now the tide has turned.his popularity with his party is about to take a huge hit. he is running scared now that his massive tax fraud, the slush fund that the trump foundation is, and all of his, kusher's and ivanka's shady businesses are about to be exposed. his collusion with putin is about to be uncovered as well.the democrats should demand that he discloses his taxes.
Every day that goes by with this Presidency, and this cowardly Congress, is a day the American taxpayer is punished (unfortunately, so many of them don't seem to care this administration is working against their interest). What a waste of our money and time. What an egregious form of governance, if you could even call it that.
1
This is a pretty namby-pamby editorial just narrating what happened yesterday. Most of what I've read and viewed about this firing and appointment characterizes it as an emergency or a crisis. I sense none of that urgency in your editorial. As usual the New York Times is giving Trump more than the benefit of the doubt. There will be demonstrations all over the country against this firing and replacement later today. It seems the American people sense the urgency and possible crisis much more than the experienced journalists who penned this "oh, dear, look what he's done now" piece. I think it's time that this publication got woke.
Mr. Rosenstein’s leadership, the investigation Mr. Mueller took over has resulted in the felony conviction of the president’s former campaign chairman, guilty pleas from multiple other top Trump aides and associates and the indictments of dozens of Russian government operatives for interfering in the 2016 election. http://election.result.pk/allresults/
I'm actually glad this has happened, because it will force all of Trump's lackeys in Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court to take a good, long look in the mirror and ask themselves, are they loyal to this nationalist, white supremacist autocrat, or are they loyal to the United States and the U.S. Constitution? The bill is coming due, and they will either have to pay up or sneak out the back door and leave the check on the table.
1
I look forward to counting how many times the MSM predicted during the past 2 years that Trump would fire Mueller. It never happens and never will. It is another example of the relentlessly anti Trump narratives that have consumed the MSM. Russian collusion. Autocratic police state. Bigot and (especially laughable) anti-Semite. The MSM’s failure to report news and eliminate their own bias is far more responsible for the divided nature of this country than Trump is. Physician, heal thyself.
Jim Jones was crazy.
His followers "admired the strongman".
It happened in Germany in the 1930's.
The "people" admired the strongman.
Donald Trump is mentally ill.
His followers "admire the strongman"
America is on a collision course with a would be dictator. If "we the people" don't shut him down - either through our elected representatives or massive street demonstrations when his minions clip Mueller.
I'm 70 and want to join my brothers and sisters in the street because that's what it's coming to...
"A corrupted standard for American justice" is "injustice."
Spooky!
Good thing Robert Mueller is frighteningly intelligent and composed. Bless your hearts to all of Trump’s sycophants.
Some well known & distinguished law professor (e.g. Tribe) should write a column addressing the likelihood of Whitaker having the appearance of bias, and conflict of interest, & thus he better recuse himself quickly otherwise his legal career will be in danger. If Whitaker believes he can be the next Roy Cohn he needs to be disabused of that fact. He also will never be nominated as a judge if he adopts the unethical route.
Won the GOP primaries, won the 2016 general, increased his loyalists in the Senate; those Russians are incredible.
Taking a page from the Pentagon Papers, the Mueller team, if shut down by Trump, should turn over all information to the New York Times, other media outlets, and Congress.
An angry, abusive, grandiose and frustrated President Trump today acted out at an 87 minute press conference unlike anything we'd ever seen from a president. Simultaneously pronouncing himself a "great moral leader," Trump mocked lawmakers who showed disloyalty to him, again complained about the unfairness of the press and heaped ugly abuse on three respected journalists who dared to ask him questions he thought were impertinent, calling one, an African-American, "racist."
Now that the Democrats have taken back the House and can investigate and stymy Donald Trump, Trump is weaponizing the government to wage war against the Democratic Congress, the Department of Justice and the media. He kicked things off by firing his beleaguered Attorney General, who obeyed ethical concerns by recusing himself from the Russia Investigation Trump will now use the engines of government and propaganda to destroy.
Pray for the survival of our beloved democracy.
281
@fast/furious praying does nothing. Protesting in the streets, camping out at your reps office, phone calls, letters that’s what we do!
29
@fast/furious
If more leaders would step up BOLDLY, it would not be so hopeless. Is there any reason Jeff Sessions should not TALK and tell Americans what he witnessed during the first two years of Trump? Enlighten his base. And why do reporters stand there and "accept" Trump berating them? There is a wealth of responses that would humiliate Trump in public. Yes, risk your job to shame him, and begin to tear down his leadership. Continue to expose him at his worst, and perhaps there will be a "tipping point" where enough Americans want him out of office. If we remain silent or complacent, we get nowhere.
24
@fast/furious
I sometimes wonder if The Resistance is watching a movie about Trump rather than what's actually in front of them. I mean "Pray for the survival of our beloved democracy."? Please.
4
Fortunately, the investigation seems to be nearing its end. Information before the election suggested that Mr. Mueller has just about wrapped it up and wanted to wait until after the midterms to release his findings. If that's the case, Democrats need to make certain that the pending report is put in a safe place until its unveiling.
Every one knows Trump. He is a showman of the wanna be dictator. Trump's act could get him a banana republic seal of approval.
When you have high crimes to hide - one will do nearly anything to hide those crimes.
1
Mr. Mueller, let's get this show on the road. It's time to bring justice back to America, before Trump takes action against your investigation. We simply can't wait until the new Congress is sworn in.
If Sessions had any backbone or integrity he would have refused to tender his resignation and forced Trump to fire him. In that case Rosenstein would have become the AG and the Mueller Investigation would have continued its natural course.
While I admire Sessions for having recused himself (and for little else) he had an opportunity to show us his true colors when asked to resign. Unfortunately, he showed them.
4
Mueller likely anticipated something like this to occur. I am hoping that Trump and his Trump businesses are linked to NY state courts (and other courts systems beyond the scope of the Federal courts) and he is out maneuvered. Prepare yourselves for a constitutional crisis, like the US has never experienced. It will be difficult and messy but I believe that with the House now in Democratic control that democracy will again prevail.
1
"Mueller Was Running on Borrowed Time"
" Senator Joe Manchin was quoted as saying: Ousting Sessions was ‘a big mistake’ that puts the country on verge of a constitutional crisis"
If Trump or "his" new Attorney General restricts the Special Counsel investigation in any way, including cutting funding, there will be a reaction from Americans that will make "The Saturday night Massacre" of the Nixon Watergate years seem like a small tremor.
To do anything to obstruct or cut the Mueller Special Counsel investigation will be a Trump admission of guilt and yes it is that simple. An innocent person has nothing to hide and no reason to fear an investigation. Trump has been doing everything he can to kill off the investigation while claiming his innocence of any wrong doing. Trump can not have it both ways.
If Trump tries anything to restrict or kill off the Mueller investigation, the new Democratic House should obtain a complete copy of the findings and release them for all Americans to see the real story of the Russian involvement with Trump and all of his people.
2
@RetiredGuy
"there will be a reaction from Americans that will make "The Saturday night Massacre" of the Nixon Watergate years seem like a small tremor."
Mueller's and Congress's investigations have already been obstructed, and we just had the reaction. Unindicted Co-conspirator and his loyal team firmly believe they've been given the red light.
1
Sessions firing calls for space exploration.
The exploration would start as a call for Republicans, particularly, to rebuke an act that - as the editorial Board of the Times points out - recalls the Saturday Night Massacre (but is more deft, really). Why only Republicans? At the time - in 1973 - without non-partisan concern for enforcing the law by members of the then-current Senate, the Presidential abuse of power would not have been countered. Unfortunately, the current political climate, as many commenters point out, has frozen the aisle - our elected officials are desperate not to slip.
The question then arises - how will Democrats handle this?
Perhaps by looking out to space.
In space, we might find that Martian who would ask what our government is intended to do - solve problems or win internal fights for power? The Martian would surely point out our country has fallen into the latter; and more-so, that the current binary - Democratic/Republican - seems severely limiting.
This Martian might suggest ending the binary - a new Party based on rational and logical thinking to actually solve National problems (i.e. it is not logical to enforce immigration laws at the Mexican border when the influx of illegal immigration is higher at airports). Democrats might think they are this already, but the Martian would say, despite midterm wins, they've become sadly ineffective - and poach both Democrats and Republicans who want to start something new.
I am surely not sorry to see Sessions go. He twisted and manipulated the spirit of the law to fit his right wing ideology. This is what the Supreme Court does and what the lower courts increasingly do. This is what Republicans want and it has been obvious since at least the Clinton years, and especially during the Obama years. Republicans in Congress have no interest in following the spirit of our Constitution, which tried to create a system of government meant to ensure that power could not be abused. So much for that. And they regularly lie to, and manipulate their constituencies, who are too busy, or too tired. or too unmotivated to pursue the truth.
Comey ought to be losing sleep. Mueller has been quiet for months. Trump clearly obstructed justice - his statements alone indicate his intent, and he and his family have obvious ethical conflicts of interest - Trump was quoted as saying that the Saudis pay him millions of dollars for his apartments and so, duh, how could he dislike them?
Come on. All of this is SO OBVIOUS, and has been for months. Republicans will not participate in holding Trump accountable and that seems unlikely to change. If Mueller has something big to say, I hope he does so soon. Or, we should move on, and support Democrats in creating legislation that has meaning and helps us all.
1
One of the more chilling moments on an icy-cold post-Midterm elections day was when the President spoke of failed Republican candidates who lost because they did not seek or accept "the embrace." Could there be a more Mafiosa/"Godfather"-like idea or image, figurative or literal? Where is his Roy Cohn, indeed? Where is impartiality, the rule of law, concern for the Constitution, and willingness to place country above party? Where are we, and where are we headed? As things devolve and unravel even further than they already have in the coming weeks and months, if anyone is wondering from where the faint echo of delighted and derisive laughter is emanating, one need look no further than the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's man cave. Whatever degree of success Russian interference may have had on the 2016 election, what is transpiring in America right now is his victory; his triumph. We may now be about to exceed even his greatest expectations as the man he holds in thrall secures his hold on the Department of Justice as his Republican enablers continue to cower and capitulate.
1
How many lessons does the American public need to understand that we are living under an undemocratic constitution. Our system of government is considered by many constitutional scholars as the least democratic of all the major Western democracies. When Archibald Cox issued his statement he was living in a far different time. With the US Senate about to shift even more rightward the American public truly will have no voice in the perilous days ahead. The house can vote to impeach but this will never contact.If we were a majoritarian system our government would look far different however. A small number of senators most from blue states represent millions more Americans than do the rest of the senators put together. Now that the mid terms are behind us Americans must begin to wake up to the fact we need to tackle deep reforms to our system. The House may impeach but this Senate will never convict.
1
lucky for us in CA, we have two very fine Senators. that's one for about every 16 million people.
in MT, they have one for every 400,000 or so.
The Fourth Amendment is supposed to prevent fishing expeditions by requiring probable cause and limiting the scope of searches.
Investigations are supposed to Target a crime, searching for the people who committed it. This one seems to target the Trump admin in search of any crime that might be detected after putting admin officials under a "collusion" microscope and rigorously applying the law perhaps where it would not have in the absence of politics.
Not one of the guilty pleas or indictments mentioned in the article are for 2016 election collusion between an Admin official as I understand things. There are also serious questions about the proper application of the FISA process.
Mueller found things, but not things related to thy he original purpose and I wonder if this was the intent of those behind the investigation.
@John
"as I understand things." A clear admission that you're aware that everyone outside of the right wing propaganda bubble can clearly see the prosecution of conspiracy (note: not "collusion") and the other plea deals meant to produce cooperation.
"serious questions about the proper application of the FISA process."
"Serious" only in that the right wing propaganda campaign really really wants to discredit the courts and law enforcement.
2
Trump can spin as much as he wants to no avail. Despite Trump's brashness, all indications are that Trump is too frightened to be interviewed by Mueller. There is a good reason. The problem for Trump is that he doesn't realize Mueller is asking him questions that Mueller's team already has the answers to.
If Mr. Whitaker impedes Mueller, then he too will be charged with obstruction as well, so be it.
4
Trump can pardon any of his henchmen, in advance, if necessary. and, Trump believes, he can pardon himself.
they all know this. it's like one of those sure cure hangover preventing patent medicines.
so, let the conspiracy and obstruction party roll!
So many negative comments, so much whining about the amount of time Mr. Mueller has spent on the investigation with what some believe is little progress. I'm not concerned about the amount of time spent thus far; Mueller's investigation began on May 17th, 2017, a year and a half ago, and since that time, has issued over 100 criminal counts against 32 people connected to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.
Bringing charges against a sitting president must be conducted with the utmost care, and Mueller is clearly cautious in doing so. Americans may demand immediate gratification in many things, but we must remember the ancient proverb: "The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine."
Trump may believe that he is omnipotent, but he is a deeply flawed individual, and despite his bravado and all his attempts to deflect blame on what many believe are his "crimes", justice will prevail.
I encourage Mr. Mueller to continue at all costs - we the people deserve the truth.
Fiat justitia, ruat caelum.
Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.
7
Last night the title for this op-ed was stronger. I forget the exact words exactly. But, this morning I believe it was changed to what I consider a weaker "borrowed time" headline. Am I right about the change? If so, why? This happens too often with online articles. Why? For this one, I'd much prefer a stronger, more critical headline than one about Mueller borrowing time. It's a good op-ed, an important one, timely. But the title needs to reflect it's purpose, I argue.
3
@PE
Why? Because while the good guys are standing up for the rule of law and freedom of the press the smart ones will be carefully looking out of traps. The Acosta ambush last night shows that they're still convinced that they're much more clever than the rest of us. If the press steps in it we're all doomed.
Most people here are unaware that Special Counsel Robert Mueller could not legally make any public disclosures 60 days prior to an election - in this case - midterm elections. Donald Trump is well aware that indictments are coming for his son and the Special Counsel's office probably has all of Donald's tax returns - thus- the first comment coming from him when the Democrats won the House to the effect of : "I can work with Democrats - just don't start investigating my taxes." Is Donald Trump's lying not transparent enough - investigating his taxes - when he said on the 2016 campaign trail that he would disclose them after an IRS audit was completed. Donald Trump has plenty to worry about but Special Counsel Mueller certainly knows how to protect his investigation. Expect Donald tweets at 3:00 am going forward due to sleeplessness and anxiety.
6
With enough evidences and sensitive information about Trump's collusion with Russia at its command the Robert Mueller investigation has gone so far a distance that it will be quite a a tough and risky job for Trump to ease out Robert Mueller as he has done with the AG Jeff Sessions, specially after the changed political situation caused by the midterm elections.
2
I don't know for sure if this was ever real. I do think that this president was compromised by Putin, but was it in a legally provable way? I'm not sure.
Clearly that isn't holding sway over his presidency at this point. He's willing to point the nuclear arm right at Putin's head, and in that way, ok, he's one of us. But not ok, don't point it in a threatening way, sir!
Backing out of the arms agreement with Russia was a huge mistake. He should not have done this. But he doesn't make hard decisions well, he makes them like a child would. Impulsively.
Can we undo this? I think Trump will win in 2022. He was willing to do what nobody before him was willing to do, and that is to treat this nation as a nation rather than a global pushover.
1
This is a big deal. Since President Trump took office some wise observers have said we need to be aware of what a path to fascism would look like, and then check off each time our president takes us on a step down it. The pace at which President Trump seems to be trying to travel down that road is accelerating, even if all his efforts are not successful.
All of us but of course especially the new Democratic majority in Congress now need to be extra vigilant, and we need to be watching for his next move and be ready to counter it.
3
Now we have a front row seat to watch if the new elected House will join the Senate in enabling Trump. Democrats must remember that they were elected to check and balance a borderline totalitarian WH with a President who acts above the law.
If Democrats negotiate with the Senate little agendas and Trump gets away with obstructing justice, they will be ousted and history will judge them. That includes Nancy Pelosi.
4
Mueller's whole inquiry seems to be predicated on a fraud perpetrated by the Democratic party and self-interested officials in the previous administration. Mueller should at least do us all a favor and issue some sort of an update to clear the air. As it is, he's doing great damage to the fabric of the country.
It’s not Mr. Mueller doing great harm to the country it’s Mr. Trump. H
"Under Mr. Rosenstein’s leadership, the investigation Mr. Mueller took over has resulted in the felony conviction of the president’s former campaign chairman, guilty pleas from multiple other top Trump aides and associates and the indictments of dozens of Russian government operatives for interfering in the 2016 election."
Not one of the above involve illegal election collusion between the administration and Russia. Not one! I believe Manaford is charged relative to acts before he became part of the Admin. There are questions relative to the FISA warrant.
Too me this appears to be an investigation that was never truly about finding illegal election collusion between the Admin or Russia but rather an excuse to conduct an investigation of enormous scale in hope of generating process crimes and uncovering unrelated crimes such as what Mr. Manafort may have done separate from the Admin.
2
@John
That and generating a black cloud and lots of (all too eager) bad press to impede the effectiveness of the Trump Admin. There will not be a conclusion just another year or two of hints of scandal. It's just a strategy. With anyone else it would have been effective. Now I'll give you that Trump is no angle but he did not "collude" with Russia to steal the election. That is pure fantasy.
1
Look, it's been a year and a half, hundreds of thousands of hours and tens of millions of dollars that have been spent on this investigation. How much more time does Mueller need anyway? To meander on indefinitely, accountable to no one isn't acceptable. It's time for show and tell!
2
Mr. Sessions's politics are not mine, but he seems to me to be a decent man at base, and I wonder how he could ever have gone so far wrong as to get mixed up with a man like Trump in the first place. Political ambition is one thing. but getting in bed with a man as crude and corrupt as Trump is another.
3
This was a cowardly act. As he dodged the draft at the time of the Vietnam war, today Trump waited for after the elections to do something American voters – even most republican voters – disapprove. If Trump were so strong, courageous, and in-tune with the American people as he boasts to be, he would have fired Session before the elections and asked the American voters to express their opinion on this. But of course, Trump is just a dishonest person. If democrats were smart, they would start using Trump’s tactics on him right now: just continuously repeating these words – coward, liar, and dishonest like the worst politician because of firing Session after the elections. These are words that resonate with Trump’s voters and to which they cannot find satisfying excuses or conspiracy theories, because the only excuse is that other “politicians” do it. Democrats should start just continuously repeating this mantra and don’t leave themselves distracted by the daily scandals surrounding Trump.
3
@JS
"This was a cowardly act."
No, this was a fascist act. It's important to bear in mind that they believe they're weaving a clever plot.
Trump is accused of following the law when enforcing the immigration laws. Now he is accused of not following laws that do not even exist when he fires the attorney general. If we do not agree with the law or think we have to have certain laws, there is a right way to do it, and that’s through Congress. There seems to be hate for Trump and people are mad. But we have to be rational. An attorney once told me that if you want to find the truth about someone get him mad or get him drunk. Well Trump has gotten people mad and they are showing their true colors.
1
No one has accused Mr. Trump of enforcing the law on any issue. He operates outside of the law, doing as he sees fit to enrich his family. If other white guys do well too, that’s just great!
Why is there so much fear about the investigation? If Mr. Trump has done nothing wrong, the investigation will vindicate him. The entire world will see in black and white the report with all the explanations and proofs that he is an upstanding citizen who has done nothing wrong. If he really and truly did nothing wrong, the world will know. But the objections are so vociferous. Without proof, the objections are the greatest indicators of guilt. They know it. Every time they voice objections, they remind the world about the investigation and keep drawing attention to it. If they just shut up, maybe people will forget and it will go away. Then they might get away with whatever it is they did. Every time they say something stupid, they increase the likelihood of being charged and being convicted. That would satisfy sensible people.
Back in May of this year, Rudy Giuliani (remember him?) said Trump wouldn't fire Jeff Sessions before the Mueller probe was over...
So, maybe Giuliani never actually had any clue what he was talking about, and that's why he has (apparently) been sent away?
Or, maybe the Mueller probe is, in fact, now over? And justice is about to be served, I hope? (One can hope.)
2
Trump in his firing of Jeff Sessions and appointing a flunky to over see Mr. Mueller in a blatant attempt to muzzle the truth, Trump has taken a page out of Nixon's dirty tricks manual. And Trump if he sees it all thinks he is entitled as President to do anything he needs to do to protect his royal behind. But why not? His base does not care so why should he care.
We have many things to accomplish in this country, but ignoring Trump's offenses is not one of them. Eventually some republicans saw Nixon's depravity and took action to impeach him. Perhaps our sense of what is right and wrong in this country has finally failed us, but I for one can not ignore what is happening and without a thorough report from Mr. Mueller that is what we are bound to do unless our newly minted Democratic majority in the House can do the job no matter where the evidence leads.
1
Cox's statement is correct, but the press in his time was the voice of the American people. And the press has abdicated its responsibility these days. Failing to step up and defend the truth. It's not taking sides. It's defending the country from corruption and lies. There is a nationwide call for protests today at 5 PM. Where is the news of that in this newspaper? Just report on it. You don't have to endorse it. And stop acting like the president has a single good intention. You say the president "seems" to want a lawman he can control. Were you born yesterday? Is the pileup of facts not enough to convince you? There's a news article that says the Democrats shouldn't overreach. You seem to be able to say that on the news pages. That sounds like an opinion to me. But even here, you're afraid to speak truth to power when that's exactly what you're supposed to be here for.
5
I don't feel sorry for Jeff Sessions at all. In fact, he's a perfect example of how his desire for the AG office blinded him to his own ethics. Talking with Russians and then subsequently forgetting that he---talked with not just any Russian but the Russian Ambassador? Wow indeed. Sessions didn't recuse himself because he wanted to---he had no choice in the matter. Similarly, Lindsey Graham is at this point checking and double checking his text messages, surely Trump will appoint him AG, or will Bush make him Ambassador to Russia? Supreme Court? Graham's in love with himself all over again. Peachy.
3
Many weak and weasel minded characters in history have become the legal twisters and henchmen for autocrats in the past. Those include those who came up with bizarre legal opinions to justify horrible policy choices, such as slavery, torture, discrimination of minorities, racism.
I cannot recall, however, a legal patsy being elevated solely to protect a criminal presidency. Be alert, Democratic congress.
The concept of Presidency as a temporary king is clearly outdated and belongs to the 18th century. We ought to revisit that. We won't though, ever. It would be to some folk like rewriting the bible - which - btw - was written by humans.
2
To call Jim Acosta "an enemy of the people"? Ridiculous. When the pushy aide grabbed for his microphone- Mr. Acosta showed restraint. To enforce this heinous overreach--"Coup d'etat" ?
2
Session made a mistake recusing himself, it let the deep state have free reign to undermine a duly elected president of the United States. The entire Russian collusion investigation is a fraud. The corrupt FBI agents, the incompetent Comey and people in the state department set the President up, their illegal goal was to harm the presidency or ultimately attempt to remove him from office. The corrupt people behind this are a severe detriment to American citizens and the United States.
1
"Mr. Sessions was among the president’s most effective and loyal foot soldiers."
Not really. Trump's approach to immigration policy is in line with Sessions' so it wasn't necessarily loyalty to Trump as much as believing in the cause.
I don't understand how the same people who drive themselves crazy thinking of a refugee breaking our border laws can sit idly by and allow the President to be so corrupt. This is blatant obstruction of justice. The Republican party is full of so many oxymorons and contradictions it is dizzying.
5
Mueller’s time has indeed run out. If he does not act now he will be the next to get fired. The Dems do not take House power till new year and cannot save the day just yet.
If the Dejs have not thought of this then they don’t deserve to be the majority in anything. It will only bring back painful memories of fumbling single-payer universal healthcare when they had the majority in both Houses.
The power of an investigation of a politician lies in the ability to remove from office, as the Watergate investigation isolated Nixon and drove him to resign. Trump’s loyal following of 40% of the population and his domination of the Republican Party, meant the Mueller investigation was toothless from the start. The Democrats and commercial media’s obsession with Mueller have obscured Trump’s power grab. Sessions may have recused himself from the Russian investigation to give Trump legal protection. He didn’t get that his job is consigliere, to break the law for Trump. When Trump gets a yes-man for Attorney General, possibly for FBI Director, approved by the Senate, he will have the power to investigate, indict, and convict Democrats for corruption and the media for libel. As long as Justice Department lawyers cloak it in originalist lingo, the Supreme Court will approve. Trump is going to teach us how to use the Constitution against itself to rise to power. I hope we don’t learn too late.
157
It’s already too late. The courts are stacked with federalist society ideologues.
11
@Bruce Shigeura
But it was so funny to ignore the forgotten man and stereotype him as Archie Bunker and endlessly complain about white men, insisting they have no problems, they're just mansplainin'.
Was so funny to pass NAFTA and sell out their jobs, so funny to just do nothing for people, gut welfare, no labor laws, gut banking regulation and let the free market attack us all. All of these things Democrats were supported by Democrats and wouldn't have happened without their significant support.
Trump is the backlash from white America and the heartland. Now they're not going to stop. Should have thought about that when it was so funny.
3
Although I agree with most of the commenters, I do worry that the Dems are between a rock and a hard place. If they avidly pursue Trump's corruption, then they will be accused of being impediments to working on bipartisan solutions. but on the other hand, if they aren't' vigilant in pursing Trump's many violations of law and ethics, then any vestige of a democracy can slip away. I'd opt for the latter. Too much is at stake.
1
Whitaker is reported to have been on the board of World Patent Marketing, which recently paid a $26 million penalty to the government for investor fraud. He'll fit right in with the inner circle with other business scam artists like the Trumps, DeVos, Zinke, Kris Kobach, Kushner, Ross et. al.
1
This doesn't look good for the country at all, but we saw it coming for a very long time. Trump either cannot understand or, more likely, doesn't care that Sessions had no choice other than to recuse in the Russia investigation. I also suspect that as awful a racist cracker Sessions may be, he respected the investigative process too much to disrupt it by resigning, so I'm wondering just what leverage Trump used to shove him out.
1
The founders of our country baked in a weakness: unequal representation, as manifested by having 2 senators from each state, regardless of the population of that state. Thus, Wyoming, pop 600K: 2 senators. California, pop 38M: 2 senators. So, sparse, rural populations get more say in our government than urbanites. What we really need, is a constitutional convention, that corrects this flaw in our government. Will the Senate every support that?
3
We are looking more and more like a banana republic being ruled by a mob boss. If this doesn't rise to the level of a constitutional crisis what does? As long as Trump is emboldened and enabled, this will continue to get worse. If Trump has nothing to hide, why is he trying so hard to shut this down instead of allowing the truth to come out? I've been saying from the very beginning that DT is a clear and present danger, and on many levels. He needs to be constrained asap.
I bet where jurisdictions permit, Mueller has already passed pertinent data and information to local, state and federal investigators to ensure the investigation proceeds even if his efforts are slowed or ended.
3
Please explain how what Trump is doing with respect to Mueller is different from what Bill Clinton did with respect to Ken Starr. Did Bill Clinton want a lawman he could control? Maybe the only difference is that Congress (Democrats included) did not renew the special counsel law under which Starr was appointed after they realized that these special counsels were out of control. Congress (Democrats included) realized that having a special counsel who spent an indeterminate amount of time just looking for crimes to prosecute was not in the country's best interests.
Remember, Mueller was appointed only after Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation. If Sessions did not recuse himself, Mueller would not have been appointed.
Calling Senators Flake, Corker, Collins, Murkowski, and the ghost of John McCain. Anybody home? You folks available to vote with the current Democrats in the Senate to help determine "whether we shall be a government of laws, and not of men . . . ?"
4
A nation of laws. The Republican led Congress of the last couple of years seems to have forgotten that...and their Constitutional oath. We can expect that nothing will alter that for them. The change will have to come from the American people...those of us who still believe in the rule of law, that is.
4
If Whitaker-trump fire Mueller or render him ineffective this is clearly an act of sabotage, an obstruction of justice. Trump is more afraid of the probes into his personal and business finances,it is the smoking gun. It is a safe bet that like his son-in-law and daughter that he has paid no taxes, obtained capital and financing from questionable sources and that he will stop at nothing from that being made public. It is up to we the people to demand that the rule of law applies.
6
This is a Constitutional crisis -- and these efforts to subvert the rule of law had been anticipated by MoveOn and others.
These groups have planned nationwide protests today to oppose Whitaker's appointment and the support the rule of law.
We don't have to sit by as this happens. By exercising our first amendment rights to peacefully assemble and protest we can oppose this.
4
Voting is and was always the answer. We're not done with just one midterm, people. We have an entire branch of government who began handing its Constitution powers back years ago. If you want a fully functioning government, you're going to have to rely on more than just Judicial to provide the change we need to prosper as a whole nation. If you believe the purpose of government is to serve the people...you're at the beginning of this work, not the end.
4
This is a major bump in the road. The truth is still out there and the American People deserve to know what it is, it may just take longer to get to it. With the Democrats having subpoena power Mr Whitaker may have to answer a lot of questions regarding his relationship with Trump and the legality of his appointment.
1
Whether or not it's the exact wording, but Mr. Mueller is the one to decide how to investigate…he plays his cards close to the vest…and what. People often make up their minds about what needs to be done without regard that they have few "facts" and no
authority to act as if they are the judge and jury.
Mostly, the investigation must be done by an independent Councilor, that is, one who has been given specific parameters and concerns and who it is that supervises him.
His character, credibility and courage have already been established and accepted.
He has been perfect. Where bhe could appropriately end cases to partners such as the Southern District of New York, for further investigation and prosecution. These suitable steps only make the issued of this investigation simpler and quicker. I remember Ken Starr going on the radio to broadcast his unproven theories and to spill trial sensitive material out into the world. Fortunately, President Clinton was able to complete his two terms.
Mr Trump has no standing to direct any part of this monumental exercise of our stature in the world, which has been sadly wounded by actors associated with the current president and his appointees. He has not even established the references and credibility and creativity to successfully execute his duties and responsibilities of the Office of President.
1
There is no mystery as to what will happen. Special Counsel Robert Mueller was expected to issue findings on core aspects of the Russian investigation soon after the midterm elections. What’s unknown is whether he will present the report immediately or wait until newly elected Democratic representatives take over the House on Jan. 3. But it doesn’t really matter. The transformed House might vote for impeachment, even if the Muller report absolves Trump, but unless Muller presents “smoking gun” evidence equivalent to the “Smoking Gun Tape” that drove Nixon from office, the Senate will not convict, even if the Muller report incriminates Trump.
I have no sympathy for Sessions, but he has to be wondering how he got himself into this mess. Sessions got to watch as his Senate seat went to a Democrat, Alabama Republicans exposed their hypocrisy to the nation via Roy Moore, and his own power and prestige in Washington was used up by Trump.
Of course, anyone who knows Trump knows that servants like Sessions will easily be cast aside by that family.
Sessions ought to be be commended for his half-hearted attempt to keep the Justice department from becoming Trump’s enforcement division, for a little while at least. I suppose he’ll settle in on K Street or at some conservative think tanks, where he’ll write about Republican values I’d like to see him speak out about Trump, but a good servant doesn’t betray his master.
So, this is how it ends..... Mueller gets fired or forced to do without a staff when the new AG's budget axe falls....
Then in January, 2019, Congressman Nader's committee subpoenas the records of the Special Prosecutor and the search goes on .. oh, for another extended period.
Trump is impeached in the House, acquitted in the Senate and another even more chaotic year ensues.
The GOP re-nominates Trump, well before 2020, and the rallies increase in number, frequency and size.
The National Guard will become a standard feature of the Conventions, if not the rallies.
The DOJ prepares a draft of a presidential declaration of national emergency and declares martial law for Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.
The Census is suspended and the election of 2020 is postponed indefinitely.
2
What the Times and many in the commentariat fail to recognize is there is no crime that has occurred. Unlike in Watergate where there was a break-in and clear evidence that Nixon conspired to cover it up, and unlike when Bill Clinton perjured himself, there is no evidence at all that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. None. If Mueller has anything, he needs to proceed or else conclude his investigation. The indictments and guilty pleas he has obtained have nothing to do with Trump or the campaign. They were attempts to squeeze people but so far, nothing.
Sessions had no reason to recuse himself. He talked to the Russian ambassador as part of his duties as a senator and briefly talked with a Russian after he gave a speech - in a public forum. Neither was grounds for him to recuse himself.
3
@Ralphie
What about the email that little Donny Jr. replied to that stated clearly that the Russian govt. wants to assist the Trump campaign?
What I want to know now is: assuming Trump via the new Atty. General fires Mueller, what happens to all the documents copied and/or generated by the investigators? If they are confiscated, maybe destroyed, by the Atty. General's office, is any of it archived somewhere in the ethernet or the back of someone's closet? Hope so.
1
Assuming that Muell will now be forced to produce his report against a short deadline, what will become of the report? It will be delivered to DOJ, which I think is likely to suppress it. The House Judiciary Committee will subpoena it, and the White House would defy the subpoena. Then what?
1
Democrats are appalled at the Trump political rally chants of "Lock her up." Yet, this is essentially the political strategy the Democrats are trying to use against someone who beat them at the polls. Criminalizing political opposition is a feature of non-democratic societies of which both Trump and Democrats seem to be happy promoters of.
It's odd that when Republicans control the presidency, the Justice Department needs to be fully independent. When Democrats like Obama are president, the Justice Department is allowed to become fully weaponized to promote a liberal agenda.
3
To all those who feel that the Mueller investigation has gone on "too long" I ask you to remember Watergate, Whitewater, and Benghazi.
The investigation is going to take as long as it needs to. Mueller has proven himself to be no partisan hack; indeed he is respected by both sides. In the name of the law, let him finish his work. I'm sure he would like to be done with it as soon as possible as well.
1
Looking at the video of how Trump treats Mr.Acosta, the disgraceful confirmation of Mr. Kavanaug, now Mueller investigation in danger and, today, more gun deaths, I don't know where to turn to feel I am living in a democracy and safe.
1
Lindsay Graham's interest in protecting the Mueller investigation seems to have only gone as far as Tuesday's election. The strategy appears to be one of slow administrative strangulation, or perhaps at first simply the threat of it. Although Mueller himself will likely survive, the investigation will be choked off one way or another. In short, keep Mueller; kill off his investigation.
Collectively, Republicans from the President to the members of his Administration, to Congressional Republicans including, notably, McConnell and Grassley, they talk about appointing judges who “follow the law” and “uphold, not interpret, the Constitution.”
Now we will see how well they apply the same standard to themselves. Donald Trump has appointed an acting Attorney General who is conflicted with respect to the Mueller investigation. Does he recuse himself? The investigation is legal, legitimate, on-going and has produced a number of indictments, convictions and plea agreements. If the President or his newly appointed acting Attorney General interfers with the investigation whether by firing Mueller, denying Mueller the authority to seek additional indictments, starves the investigation or money or in some other way, do the Republicans stand up for the rule of law and ensure the investigation continues unimpeded?
We have witnessed a lot of hypocrisy. McConnell telling newly empowered Democrats not harass Trump. The President and Congressional Republicans blowing up the debt after railing against deficit spending. Efforts to supress minority voter turnout after Complaining that a couple of members of the New Black Panthers were harassing Whote voters at one precint years ago.
We are about to see these people who swore to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law are people of integrity or hacks.
1
Mueller likely has been waiting for the election to deliver his report. It should happen soon. He won't need much further financial support. And we'll probably never see the report. We would though see additional indictments. So the concern about shutting Mueller down maybe this turn out to be much ado about nothing. Any fireworks about Trump possible criminal behavior will dribble out with a Dem House doing various inquires into his camouflaged past behavior. But Trump so far has been immune to criticism. The indictment of his son is another matter, if it happens. I am looking forward to some degree of revenge by Dems. Is there another person on earth who deserves it more than our President,
What can we do to preserve the rule of law and government accountability in the Trump era? I am genuinely afraid Trump and his minions will be able to quash investigations Trump obviously fears, and that we will never know why he's so afraid.
2
They have nappies for old folks who are fretting as much as Trump is about the Mueller investigation.
The sooner Mueller reveals what he has discovered, the sooner impeachment proceedings can begin. The farce of Trump’s trying to turn a democracy into a dictatorship has lasted too long already.
I really like the idea of the House as Mueller's new employer so that this would-be corrupt dictator and his minions can remain fully accountable under the law. There should continue to be plenty of questions, and the press should continue to ask them despite DT's attempts to silence reporters who do so.
There is no separating trump's multiple bankruptcies from his indebtedness to Russian Oligarchs (and Putin). There is no red line separating Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in our elections from trump's financial misdeeds, as they are connected. The obstruction and conspiracy are real, as are the guilty pleas and indictments.
The Baby King makes Nixon look like an amateur. Like Nixon, trump's ship is sinking. GOP rats will abandon him with a rapidity that will shock only those who have not been paying close attention to Mueller's progress. What is known is but the tip of the iceberg. trump is very afraid and for good reason.
Who's going to protect Mueller now? The press, all well-informed citizens, Democrat office holders, and, reluctantly, Republicans who will belatedly place country before party.
2
Mr. Mueller has been at this for a long time. The country is very divided about the investigation. People shout "this investigation is a fraud" or "it is evident that the President is Putin's puppet"
etc. It is time for Mr. Mueller to make a preliminary report to the american people showing the status of the investigation and whether there is a need to continue.
2
Can Mueller and staff be relocated to another entity outside the reach of the Acting AG? And thus this POTUS? Public? Private?
The Soviet Union and today's dictatorships can point to many convictions as well. The indictments and convictions of anyone associated Trump have had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with any sort of collusion with Russia, its representatives or with any other foreign power, even in the most limited sense. The media has worn itself out trying to find something, anything, that might make this link for two years. Mueller's probe has gone on almost that long, and yet, nothing, nothing, nothing. The best the media can do now is to say democracy will be proteced if Mueller is allowed to continue investigating, one assumes through the 2020 election. Democrats in the House also want to investigate the same thing over and over. Yet the only tangible evidence of interference in the 2016 election besides indicted and never to be tried Russian hackers, is the confirmed payment by the HRC campaign and the DNC to create a false and salacious dossier to damage their political challenger, and the multiple confirmed efforts by Obama era political and administration officials to distribute the content of that dossier and use it to justify obtaining approval to spy on the Trump campaign. Those are the verifiable, fact-based outcomes of this ridiculous witch hunt. It should end. It should end now. This and the unfounded attempt at the character assassination of Justice Kavanaugh are the real and quite transparent threats to our democracy.
1
When are the Republicans in the Senate and the House going to step up and do their duty and make Trump understand that he is not a king?
Robert Mueller is no fool and my guess is he's made plans to deal with the 'borrowed time' he's been given and has made sure everything's in place for the investigation to be either wrapped up or proceed without him.
Having said that, I have a sneaking suspicion the results will be as lukewarm as those handed the country on Tuesday. But the good news is, the nation will not be saved or ruined by any one person, act, or event. This is a long term struggle.
The Democrats now need to turn their attention to develop policies that will speak to the needs of everyone in the country. The speckles of blue in a sea or red do not get to set the whole agenda for what still is the United States of America. Ignore the red at your peril. You came darn close this time.
Stop with the outrage against the outrage that sits at the helm and get to work. The people did a great job of voting. Now comes the hard part - the part that doesn't make it to the top left corner of the front page of the Times.
My pretty little head is not worried about this.
First, I trust Mueller is smart enough to have managed his time well, and that there are enough people in the Justice Department throughout this nation who are independent enough that a loyalist temporary AG will not foil them.
I also know that this is one issue where many Democrats don't mind living up to the low expectations of our fellow citizens and forming a mob.
Go ahead, Saturday Night Massacre and see what you get.
We seem to be witnessing obstruction of justice in plan sight. I hope the Democrats can subpoena Whittaker and ask him under oath if he has had any conversations to sabotage the Mueller investigation with Trump. Thank God for last night's flipping of the House because it's clear Republicans in the Senate will offer no oversight of this reckless president.
Of course, he waited to fire Sessions until after the mid-terms. This move is pitifully transparent and shows a person who apparently has a lot to hide.
1
Whitaker . . . "The New Nunez" !
Trump loyalists; "Trumpians", are the largest threat to our Democracy, America has experienced.
As a "wanna-be-dictator" - Trump is getting frightening closer every day.
For however long Whitaker has his "Unconfirmed by the Senate" hands on the reins of the Mueller investigation, there will be tremendous damage done to it.
We can easily assume that the once hidden treasures of evidence Mueller has gathered during the course of his investigation, will be delivered directly to Trump and his legal team.
Trump's greatest fear of the investigation rests in the fact that; he and his legal team do not know just what Mueller knows and what evidence he has to back it up.
That fear will evaporate as the evidence is available to Whitaker and then on to the White House.
People, like Whitaker, who have publicly called the Mueller Russian Investigation a "Witch Hunt" . . . MUST recuse themselves from involvement with Mueller !
But of course, Whitaker is exactly the type of person Trump wants in the ring.
Trump has always thought that our Attorney General should act as his personal attorney and work towards protecting him in all matters.
It appears that the now even "More Trumpian" Senate will accommodate Trump in his pursuit to confirm a permanent AG as his personal attack dog.
We cannot let this happen !
The House win this past Tuesday was one small step towards getting out country back.
This will be a long and bloody war !
1
Well, The Godfather has appointed his consigliere. We will see if there is any respect for the law remaining in the republican senate. I doubt it.
1
Now the question will be answered: Is there anyone above the law in the United States of America?
2
can anybody really believe President Trump wants a government of laws and not a government of Trump?
if Trump wasn't so obsessed with reducing and evading taxes, he would know our Revolution was mainly about getting out from under the autocratic thumb of a mad king, George III.
and now we're well on our way to having a bargain basement mad king of our very own.
1
Mr. Trump, I believe you’ve met Chairman Schiff, Chairman Cummings, and Chairman Nadler.
Welcome to Democratic subpoena power, sir!
Emboldened by the gain in Senate seats and with the complicity of Mitch Mc Cornell and the other silent enablers of this disgraceful slide into lawlessness , Trump has crossed yet another line in his quest to turn our Country into an authoritarian state.
As the saying goes; all that is necessary for evil to advance is for good people to stand silently by.
This alone is an impeachable offense.
History will remember and judge the spineless cowards that today pass for legislators as traitors to the American People and the Constitution.
1
Sessions did the right thing and recused himself, it was not a betrayal. Trump has no legal understanding other than wanting to end investigations about himself
Is this a slow motion "Saturday night massacre?"
Oh Republicans, they cannot govern....
Mueller's game is simple: create a conflict of interest between your paymaster and your firing. Congress won't touch him after Whitaker sends him packing.
Why President Trump's persistent fears about an investigation delving into his business, his finances? Simple: because his business and finances are literally founded on dirty money ... dirty in the sense of being connected to rogue figures whose last interest is a peaceful, democratic America.
The president is a scourge on our institutions, and deserves to be brought to task. If we end up with a religious zealot like Mike Pence, then so be it. But at least we will have walked the line.
2
If Trump eventually fires Mueller, could the House Intelligence Committee, soon to be headed by Democrats, call Mueller as a witness to testify as to what he found out?
Mueller was waiting for the midterm elections to be over. It's a matter of days now.
Mueller had better put Plan B into effect pronto. There is no more time. The republic is at stake. A desperate Trump and his minions are prepared to subvert our democracy now.
Whitaker can go to prison just as easily as Trump. Obstruction is a felony. If he's smart he will mind the law. If not, there's plenty of stainless steel bunks.
1
When I heard today that Trump fired Sessions, my first thought was -- Nikki Haley. And a scenario I entertained when she resigned a month ago. A broader play:
-Trump fires Sessions;
-Trump nominates Lindsay Graham for AG;
*may explain Graham’s outsized outrage and outbursts during the Kavanaugh hearings
*Plus, Graham is now super-Senate-approvable, after yesterday’s midterms and the R Senate gains;
-Graham’s SC Senate seat is now open;
*Trump-backed SC Gov. McMaster won/retained his seat in yesterday’s midterms;
*Keep in mind, Trump cleared the way for ally McMaster’s ascendency from Lt. Gov. to Gov. when he picked then-SC Gov. Nikki Haley to serve as his UN Ambassador;
-McMaster appoints Nikki Haley to fill Graham’s open SC senate seat;
-Haley holds seat until end of Graham’s unfinished term, which is 2020;
-Haley runs for SC Senate seat in 2020;
-Haley is teed up to run for President in 2024.
Far fetched, maybe. But Interesting times are conducive to interesting speculation, as we try to make sense of it all.
1
This slow moving coup started before #45 was elected and while it has not picked up speed, it continues to spread its reach.
2
This same Editorial Board whined loud and long when Sessions was nominated for this position, claiming that he was a racist mysoginist nightmare.
Now they are whining because he is being replaced.
Anything for a few more mouse clicks, I suppose.
More that one President has requested the resignation, of more than one cabinet member.
All cabinet and White House staff members serve at the President's discretion.
Obama’s White House saw turnover in 41 percent of such positions by the end of his second year.
There has been - zero - evidence of any intent to bring Mueller's activites to a premature end, and for the Board to imply that Trump is preparing to do so is dishonest.
Raise hand if surprised.
2
Mr. Whitaker was four years old when the “Saturday Night Maasacre” took place. Subsequently, he would have taken (at a minimum) hundreds of sub-concussive blows to the head.
So it won’t be surprising if he decides to become his generation’s Robert Bork.
But then - will the people stand for it?
1
The most underreported story of this midterm election was and is the election of Leticia James as the New York State Attorney General.
The Republicans in the U.S. Congress are spineless, complicit cowards who will do absolutely nothing to stop this constant abuse of power. And that same U.S. Senate just approved another self-serving cult member to sit on the Supreme Court for life. That same cult member will probably end up being the deciding vote on any federal legal action directed towards the criminal living in our White House. So, in other words, it's up to the states to prosecute most of the Trump family and the minions that have aided in their many crimes. Leticia James has and will have even more ammunition in her prosecutorial arsenal. She is the most powerful woman in the U.S.A..
The United States of America with it's Democracy and Judicial System of checks and balances of presidential power is being tested in the most severest way with Trump performing as a president.
Why do Americans support a guy who fundamentally believes in a way of governing that is a Dictatorship for America?
I invite people who still possess the ability to read and learn from literature to read "The Grand Inquisitor" chapter in Dostoyevsky's The Brother's Karamasov.
Sessions showed backbone just now. I wish he had shown brains back when Mr. MeMeMeMe offered him the job of AG. There are times when you "serve at the pleasure of the President" and there are times when you know this one is not Presidential.
It will be Republicans who save us from Trump and their time for doing so may soon be at hand.
Trump elevated loyalist Whitaker above Rosenstein, who would normally become Acting Attorney General.
Whitaker is on Trump's staff and has taken public positions hostile to Mueller's investigation. It is clearly obstruction of justice if Whitaker does not recuse himself from the investigation (and it is unlikely that Trump would have put him in that position without a promise that he will not recuse himself).
Trump must know or have been advised of this. So, it appears Trump will force a constitutional crisis. Apparently he didn't receive the message voters sent about wanting checks and balances by flipping the House.
1
The Democrats better hold Trump accountable because no one else will or can. There is going to be a reckoning with them if they don't. History will see them as cowards rather than as pragmatic.
185
@David Macauley
It is the GOP in the Senate who need to make the call on Trump. The Democrats don't have the power.
23
@David Macauley
Unfortunately, we have weak and ineffective leadership in Schumer and Pelosi. Both have been complacent since the inauguration. We need to see a groundswell of Democrats demanding they resign. We need new, bold leadership in the House and Senate.
5
@deggy24 I agree wholeheartedly with @david Macauley. Dems, do what’s right for U.S. hold trump accountable for his hubris and corrupt behavior.
5
Trump may find the Senate less pliable than he expects. The next two years will include a slow dribble (or fast waterfall) of bad publicity for Trump as the House investigations pursue his multiple shady deals and questionable ethics, reducing his already diminished brand and, by extension, his ability to help the large number of Republican Senators up for reelection in 2020. He may not realize it yet, but Trump's influence peaked Monday night.
Matthew Whitaker was Chief of Staff to AG Sessions and that is not a position that requires Senate Confirmation. It follows that Whitaker was never confirmed by the Senate and with his appointment he is now serving in a job the requires Senate Confirmation. That seems illegal. What is the penalty and if there is none why isTrump's process for appointing him the way to circumvent the need for Senate Confirmation for all executive positions?
1
FBI investigations can take months, if not years to get to the bottom of the things they look into. They aren't in the business of trying to keep up with news cycles or elections.
But I do wish they could step on the pedal, under the circumstances.
1
I have believed all along that Mr. Trump's main concern with any investigation of his family's relationships with Russia is that evidence of money laundering by the entire family would surface. He cannot be too concerned with obstruction of justice because he has done it so openly. I remain uncertain is collusion is a crime, although lying about it under oath would be (Don Jr.). But money laundering is a serious crime and I think he feels he must build a firewall against any of the evidence Mueller has found.
1
Collusion per se may not be illegal, but I would think that colluding with a foreign power to illegally obtain information from DNC servers, with the intention of influencing the election, is a crime. The whole timing of Trump's public request to the Russians to find Hillary's emails, the hacking of the DNC server, the release of sensitive information thus obtained via Wikileaks and others and the subsequent changes in focus of the Republican election campaign strongly suggest this sort of collusion, in my opinion.
I posted a comment last night about the massive demonstration planned tonight, November 8, at 5 pm by Trump Is Not Above The Law. org. Numerous democratic organizations have been planning it for months if The Con Don fired Sessions. He did and Rachel Maddow reported last night (MSNBC 9 pm ET weeknights) that the demonstration is on for tonight at 900 locations across OUR United States.
A link is below. In response to my post one person asked how you join the group. Go to the "partners" portion of the web site and sign up with one of the groups for updated information. For today you don't have to sign up. Simply show up at the place nearest you or the one you think will have the most impact.
No One Is Above The Law. Every American citizen who values our democratic form of governance must hit the streets and voice our anger so even The Con Don can hear.
This must not stand in OUR United States of America. Not now. Not ever.
https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/?from=@
6
Please copy this post and get it to everyone you know.
@njglea
New Yorkers! -- that means Times Square tonight.
Let's remind Donald Trump again why he doesn't like to come back to his own home-town.
Power to the PEOPLE!
1
I can only think that Rosenstein and Mueller had, had, had, HAD to see this coming, and prepared for it. I want to think that the investigation is largely complete and they have been sitting on major moves until after the midterm, in which case it's time to make those moves.
In the meantime I think it's a certainty that in the days that his stooge is acting AG, that DJT will get a full report of everything that Mueller currently has on him.
6
Unless they reverse course from the path they've followed since Trump was installed as President, the Republicans will be complicit in delivering the final blow to our democracy. Even without an official report from Mr. Mueller, it's abundantly clear, both from the circumstantial evidence, and Trump's actions, that he's guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors", and likely worse, and yet the Republicans, more concerned with their partisan power than in upholding their sworn oath to protect and defend the United States and to uphold the Constitution, are allowing him to consolidate and expand his tyrannical grip on our country. Our Founders would dumbfounded that we've come to this.
We are on the cusp of a fracturing of our republic, not faced since the Civil War. Trump's firing of Sessions may well be looked back upon another Fort Sumter.
10
If Robert Mueller knew he was living on borrowed time, why in the world did he not make sure to complete his investigation at least one month prior to the election and release his findings at that time? Perhaps worse, is it also possible the public will never see the results of his investigation?
Still, the entire process and the attacks on his credibility have been outrageous. After all, Ken Starr spent 6 years investigating Bill Clinton, morphing from a Whitewater investigation through to Monica Lewinsky in the final year. And the Lewinsky investigation only commenced at the point where Starr was about to wrap up the investigation and return to academia. So how is there any legitimacy to Republicans chomping at the bit to end Mueller's work? However, if it is ended and Mueller has not finished the work, it is in part his own self-imposed delays in not only failing to complete it but also keeping so much of it from the public along the way. And of course a failure to complete it would be a terrible shame and extremely detrimental to the credibility of our country and our government.
2
@Peter Lobel Law enforcement never releases information regarding an ongoing investigation.
I don’t think most Americans care any more about this, that their Republic is in real peril. And certainly not Republicans.
3
I disagree with the idea that Sessions failed in showing his loyalty to the president. He was the first to loudly proclaim his support for trump and continued to do so even as he was ridiculed by his fellow senators. His loyalty failure happened when he chose to cling to a vestige of his soul by choosing legal ethics over rescuing trump. He should stand as a warning to the other republicans who decided to fall in line with trump's wishes (think Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz). Their decision to put trump first must become their daily pledge.
6
Trump - for a man who seems so historically illiterate - has launched relentless attacks on the structure of American government. He - and his sycophants - are always prodding and poking, looking for weak spots to exploit - and to undermine rule of law -- while pretending that it is the rule of law which motivates, say, their anti immigration initiatives.
If the Senate, especially does not stay on top of Whitaker, and doesn't assure that the Mueller investigation will go on unmolested by those determined to destroy government- like Whitaker - it will essentially be castrating itself.
10
The new AG will have to recuse himself, just as Sessions did, or face a public outcry to make today's 5pm nationwide demonstrations look like a small gathering of friends.
As to the time frame of the investigation; Investigations are not on a time limit, but to those who complain of the duration of the probe, there are comparables in the Watergate, Whitewater and multiple Benghazi investigations. The Mueller investigation has borne more indictments and guilty pleas than all but the Watergate investigation.
Sessions was fired, as "resigning at the request of..." is tantamount to being fired, so it's questionable that even if Whitaker is installed as acting AG that he will remain. Rod Rosenstein is the legitimate successor to Sessions, based on the firing.
Mueller must complete his investigation, and if there is still a real democracy in America, he will. Millions will take to the streets today as a show of support, but every patriotic American will be there in spirit.
10
It's a farce to have a special counsel under the authority of the AG--which Trump appoints--investigate and prosecute matters involving the president himself and his family. The independent counsel law needs to be brought back and strengthened--even made permanent. And the law should be made part of the U.S. Constitution.
But wait--the U.S. Constitution is considered a sacred document, which is virtually impossible to amend. And this is the underlying problem--as we have seen over the past two years: The checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution do not really work. One party can take control of all three branches of government.
It pains me to say this, but perhaps the Founding Fathers were not so wise. They were not demigods, as we were led to believe. Remember, many of them were slaveholders. And, in any case, the document they wrote is more than 200 years old. Much of it is truly inspired, such as the First Amendment. But the U.S. needs a modern constitution with modern protections.
8
We clearly are in a Constitutional crisis when to paraphrase Archibald Cox we have a blatant attempt to replace "a nation of laws" with the rule of Trump. And with chief "willing accomplice" Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell standing in the wings and Brett Kavanaugh sitting on the Supreme Court the peril to our Republic is very grave. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker clearly has a massive conflict of interest which should be challenged by the Justice Department's ethics office which ironically is controlled by Rod Rosenstein. It's time for the Justice Department officials to push back on the legality of this questionable appointment and for Republicans finally to put country and the Constitution over party and power.
441
@Paul Wortman Foolish as it almost certainly is, I am going to hope that Rod Rosenstein is capable of the kind of courage and honesty that would be required to come down hard on Mr. Trump's violation of just about every point of ethics I can think of.
15
@Paul Wortman "It's time for...Republicans finally to put country and the Constitution over party and power." Folks, this is never, ever going to happen. The midterms only solidified Republican support behind Donald Trump. They will never challenge him. Ever. Democrats need to keep pushing, hard, with the goal of keeping the House, flipping the Senate and taking the White House in 2020. That is the only solution to this problem.
14
Trump has once again obstructed justice and I don't know who or what is overseeing our security at this point, but they need to realize that Trump will do or say anything to stop any investigations against him and his family. He is the bad seed who will keep obstructing justice; destroying relationships and international treaties with our allies and foreign entities; destroying our institutions such as the FBI, intelligence community and the free press; shaming any public figure who doesn’t support him; terrorizing immigrants who are seeking asylum; ripping children from their mothers at the border; using the American military as a political tool, encouraging violence and the alt-right and creating a civil war within our country; and colluding with foreign enemies who support him. Every day that he remains in office is a clear and present danger to our democracy and security. He will do anything it takes, no matter who or what it destroys, to stop justice from being done until he is finally and completely stopped.
18
@Wally WolfAnd yet the new House leadership doesn't want to talk impeachment...
In its article about Trump firing Sessions, the Editorial Board endorses "government of laws, not of men." Shall we examine this feminist sounding slogan?
When we enumerate and examine the evils and injustices, big and small, of the American government, we could ask, which are due to "government of laws, not of men," and which due to "government of men, not of laws"?
For example, the theft of lands from the Native Americans and why weren't the stolen lands returned.
Is "Government of Law, Not of Men" an obstacle to justice?
Are its evils and injustices caused by human error or by a flaw in the design? While the Founders included evil slave-owners, I lean towards the latter view.
2
Matthew Whitaker is on the record as saying that the Mueller probe could be shut down by slowly starving it of operational funds, which sounds like a game plan concocted at the White House where he has been Trump's "eyes and ears." Should Mr. Whitaker actually effectuate such a scheme, he would be guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
11
I think I can now safely say, that we've entered the beginning stages of a constitutional crisis.
I'm depending mainly on my intuition--I freely admit I don't have the wisdom employed by many in Congress, or the in depth knowledge displayed by many Constitutional scholars.
But I think my rough estimation is pointing me in the right direction. And that scares me.
--
Donald Trump has proven that he is President in name only. In reality, and in my opinion, he hates America and what it stands for.
And again, I don't think I'm overstating things.
—
He is an evil genius, who has managed to, “…deceive the hearts of the simple…” [Romans 16:18, the Holy Bible]. And in the process, he is well on his way to tearing our society apart.
And I believe that that’s exactly what he wants.
—
Donald Trump has become, in my opinion, no less than an existential threat to our democracy and to our way of life.
As such, he must be dealt with and made a public example, using the harshest Constitutional and legal means available, before he destroys us completely.
—
May God save all of us from Donald Trump!
16
I support the investigation and I trust the truth will be revealed. I have questions for the Times and readers. Are investigations such as these given a blank check as far as costs or is there a budget? What have been the costs to date? Does the investigation leader(s)report to a Senate committee? I assume Mueller is communicating with someone in general terms regarding the anticipated conclusion date.
Thanks!
ThePresident takes bribes when Middle Easterners spend lavishly at his hotels, at the same time lobbying for special attention. One Chinese company avoided Trump tries--because of bribes?
Trump and all the Republican Party are complicit in this. Trump's ties to Russian banks, and his ties to criminals in his past, and his bankrupting of many casinos, and his paying himself while investors lose everything-- this is the nature and character of the reality TV star that is race baiting and demagoguing in office.
4
How long has the Mueller investigation been going on--2 years? If you can't find anything worth reporting in 2 years could that mean there's really nothing much there? Does this suggest it was really always a political witch-hunt? Whose purposes does it serve? Should it go on forever-- isn't it time it came to some conclusion and reported its findings or came to an end? Is Mr. Trump a bad person for taking this commonsense view?
3
@Ronald B. Duke I agree generally with the view that all investigations must eventually come to an end but, in this instance, thirty-five indictments and pleas in two years suggests that there is plenty to investigate. By comparison, four year's of Whitewater investigation yielded two convictions and an impeachment of a sitting President for perjury and obstruction of justice.
1
@Ronald B. Duke. Just a reminder, it took Ken Starr and Company 4 years to investigate Bill Clinton and that went from Whitewater to Foster to (finally) Monica Lewinsky. Lord only knows how much was spent. And, then there was the Benghazi investigation and the Hillary email investigation - the later running up a tab of over $7 million. If we use the above as a measure, Mueller has a ways to go. A commonsense view would be a wonderful measure but unfortunately politics gets in the way.
@Ronald B. Duke Your comments here are precisely why this country is headed for a constitutional crisis . Ken Starr's investigation took more than two years . Donald Trump's larcenous heart was and is a matter of record ..this is not a witch-hunt . As for the purposes it serves , it serves yours and the rest of America and to uphold the rule of law; and Trump has no common sense but rather vested interested to obstruct and abrogate his surreal sense of kingship and corruption .
Put another way, Trump is now above the law.
There is nothing and no one stopping him.
4
@Blue in Green - This will change in January. But Trump will do much damage in the interim, with the full support of Congressional Republicans. We are in very dark, dangerous waters. The rule of law is the bedrock of our democracy; without it we are just another farcical banana republic, a democracy in name alone. Shame on any American who supports Donald Trump's subversion of the US Constitution and the rule of law.
2
@Blue in Green
This is still a DEMOCRACY. No man is above the law.
And Trump will be forced to realize this soon enough.
Will Trump restrain in losing the Muller report?
Trump better not try to keep the findings of the Mueller investigation from the American people.
He will see a march on Washington the likes of which he has never ever seen.
The American people have patiently waited to find out the depth of the corruption in this White House.
We already know the measly 30% of the electorate who are Trump disciples certainly do not want Mueller's findings to see the light of day.
But we, the 70%, the overwhelming majority of patriotic Americans demand the TRUTH, and a full account of Trump and posse's lies, abuse of power, financial misconduct, conspiracy with foreign governments, and obstruction of justice.
12
The House and Senate together, not the House alone, is one of the three coequal branches -- executive, legislative, and judicial -- established by the U.S. Constitution.
@William Green - The Republicans have betrayed their oath of office. Trump attacks the rule of law and runs roughshod over the US Constitution and they aid and abet.
1
I doubt anyone among the Democratic leadership or the special prosecutor's office is surprised by this. Trump is now increasingly cornered; expect him to act more vicious than ever before, and to throw out as many distractions as possible too. This appointment amounts to an obstruction of justice: he has appointed someone who obviously does not want the investigation to succeed. Perhaps one way to fight this move is to find something on the new AG. You probably won't have to look long or hard to ascertain that he too is a creature from the political dark side.
3
Tomorrow wouldn't be too soon for Mueller to start taking serious legal action and to start releasing information. Today would be even better.
Trump is obviously guilty--why else would he be so determined to stop the investigation? He should be thwarted. He's a thug, but he's not smart. He's incapable of self-control. He can be outwitted and beaten.
Trump is mistaken if he thinks the Republicans in the Senate will continue to protect him. He has shown by his behavior towards Sessions that he has no loyalty to those on his "team."
Mitt Romney wants to be President so badly he can taste it. Once there's blood in the water, others will move in for the kill driven by their own ambitions and a desperate desire to save their party from complete destruction.
Election Day 2018 was the beginning of the end. The coming combat won't be pretty, but in the end the people of this nation will win.
6
Somehow, I get the feeling Muller was prepared for this...
4
@JHa - I agree. Right now Mueller probably has on his desk a stack of sealed indictments ready to be served up. Trump clearly is in a panic. He never looked weaker than at yesterday's press conference. Mueller is playing chess and won't sit idly by while Trump takes active steps to subvert the law and Constitution. Trump can't even play checkers.
@JHa
I do too. Mueller, Rosenstein et al are not dummies. No doubt, they have long anticipated this sort of reaction from Trump, who has not exactly been subtle about signaling his intentions. A chess match is being played out here and the public can only see a few of the pieces. On one side sits a master chess player who thinks many moves ahead. On the other side sits a blowhard who will try to knock over the board when he realizes he is losing. I expect the chess master anticipated that move too--perhaps even before the blowhard.
All these hand-wringing laments about Mueller missing his window presume to know the whole story and they don't.
I have never understood why a president of either party can chose his or her attorney general and fire him or her at will.
The conflict of interest that presents seeds the erosion of justice in this country.
We have now a president in Mr. Trump who would erode our laws for his personal benefit and in the process entrench the erosion.
Congress needs to fix this before the erosion becomes permanent.
7
@Ernholder - Until Trump, we'd always assumed that any person who ascended to the highest office in the land would act with honor and integrity. In Donald Trump we have a cheap, second rate con man from Queens who cares about one thing and one thing only - Donald Trump.
Mueller has stopped any public actions for several months waiting for the election to be over. Trump fired sessions so rapidly to keep Mueller from taking further action.
2
Mueller is history. Trump and Whitaker can now take steps to quash this inquiry. Nor can we count on the Democrats. They are two months away, and much can still happen to damage or destroy the rule of law before they arrive. History may record that Comey acted before an election to give us Donald Trump, while Mueller FAILED to act before an election to give us Donald Trump.
105
@Ron Mueller did not give us Donald Trump. That's a gift we gave ourselves and we will continue to do so as long as we believe someone else (Robert Mueller, SCOTUS, the Judiciary generally) is in charge of fixing our problems. Our problems begin and end at the ballot box, both in local and national elections. One midterm election is only the beginning of the work that needs to be done to right the ship of state, right Florida?
32
@Ron
Oh please stop regarding your uninformed conclusion that the Mueller team 'FAILED to act'.
Huh?
I think you have been watching too much Law and Order.
I was a white collar criminal prosecutor for years.
NO investigation at this level could EVER be properly conducted and completed 'before the election'.
("Beyond a reasonabel doubt" is a formidable standard.)
If anything, Mueller's team has moved at a speed I have never seen. I am awestruck.
They must be working 18 hour days, 7 days a week, and sleeping in the office.
Mueller is not "history" and neither is the careful, professional investigation regarding a fundamental tenet of democracy - election integrity - that is still ongoing, and that has already resulted iin numerous indictments and convictions.
The true FAILURE is that of a feckless , intellectually lazy, suspect president (why is he so obsessed with thsi? waht is he hiding?) and an uninformed and incurious public, on both sides of the political spectrum, that demand easy anwers to cutting edge, complicated issues, and that want all 'episodes ' to wrap up by the comercial break.
85
@Ron Comes acted, yes, against Hillary.
2
The moment is here:
Are we a dictatorship where one man's word is "law"?
Or are we a Democratic Republic where no one is above or outside the law?
If the first, our American Experiment is over.
If the second, then Trump must be forced to comply with the law, no matter what it takes, even impeachment.
Anyone who didn't think it would come to this point hasn't been paying attention for last 2 years, 3 years, 7 years. Trump doesn't change, not ever.
This is what he does, he always does. He ignores the rules, the laws, but makes a lot of noise about OTHERs not following rules, laws, or decorum.
He threatens, he's vindictive, and he never, ever forgives or forgets a slight. This is why, 2 years after he WON, he's STILL pushing to have Hillary Clinton jailed on Trumped-up charges. Even after they were totally exonerated, he STILL wanted the "Central Park 5" executed--that's KILLED for no more than unintentionally showing him to be a fool.
He is already trying to shred our Constitution and laws to serve himself. Only Congress and the Supreme Court can stop him...and I'm not so sure about the Court.
Last night, impeachment seemed very distant and unreasonable. Now? It may be the only thing and currently 18 Republicans need to join the current 49 Democrats to replace him with Mike Pence, who at least respects the institutions of Law and the Constitution.
3
I have a suggestion here. Tom Styer and Michael Bloomberg, both billionaires, hate Trump. They have poured funds into trying to defeat him, Styer has called for his impeachment.
If Whitaker tries to strangle the Mueller investigation by cutting off funds, they could open an account, and possibly secure funding from other like minded wealthy, or not so wealthy, people, which Mueller could draw from to keep it going.
A PAC would work and the contributions would be tax deductible. Fitting to go against a tax cheat like Trump.
2
No word about Berlusconi.
Bear in mind that similar allegations and behaviour, as well as an investigation about or in the orbit of an active president/prime minister, with quite a similar reaction from the president/prime minister happened before -- in Italy, with Berlusconi.
There are surprisingly many similiarities between both men, not only populism, immigration policy, young girls and porn stars, but Russia (apparently), obstruction of justice and tax issues.
Guess what happened in the end to Berlusconi? He got re-elected multiple times. The actual people got used to it, and they started to believe in a left media conspiracy. And Italy, as a country, is for decades and in particular the last years, after years of weak economy policies (i.e. huge debts, much like Trump's) and one corruption case after another, broken. And I am not sure if the American people are aware of how dangerous the deep debt policies are for the country's future.
Like Berlusconi, Trump is very good at defending himself. I doubt that you can go much for as long he remains popular. Therefore, keep up the fight. Remind people of their responsiblity towards their children.
5
A calculated and desperate maneuver to shut down Mueller and suppress report. Then threatens to investigate congress, a clear abuse of power.
This out of Shakespeare.
3
Trump acts like a man trying to avoid a criminal conviction. Something he’s done could turn him into a felon and the deeper the investigation, the more likely his criminal conduct is likely to be uncovered. So he does not care much how the investigation is stopped just so that it stops before he’s caught.
Whitaker is likely to try to end the investigation as soon as he can. But I think that Trump is going to have all his secrets revealed. All the dishonesty he and his family have shown just in what the press has uncovered indicates that Trump learned as a young person to break the laws whenever he could and he did. It was tax evasion and bank fraud which were not enforced even though many millions of dollars were involved, and it would seem that Trump developed an attitude that law breaking was smart as long as one was not prosecuted. If Mueller does not report criminal misconduct a number of others still can and Trump will have a hard time stopping everybody from following through.
I don’t think that the Senate would convict if Trump is impeached. For now, Trump owns the Republican voters, and no Republican official will be supported if they aren’t nice to Trump. Prosecutors will be waiting for Trump when he leaves office. If Pence is elected after Trump, he will pardon Trump for everything.
1
If we consider for a moment that our actions as free people cannot allow the very clear coup in which Mr Trump is now engaged to continue, we will speak up.
I didn't think it would ever reach this point simply because it couldn't, simply because this is America
"I was only following orders" isn't something any of us willingly do. It didn't work any better a hundred years ago than it does now. Few of those men walked into the gas clouds or stormed the beaches because they were bored with life.
We cannot afford this, but worse our children and theirs will be saddled with this folly.
And we all, every one of us, knows it.
3
Matthew Whitaker is not to be trusted. Robert S. Mueller III should copy his report on multiple memory sticks, also send it to the CLOUD and deposit copies of it with thirty judges including all nine justices of SCOTUS. And if Whitaker decides to 'pocket' the report, Mueller should publicly open up an investigation on him for obstructing justice. We are millimeters away from a constitutional crisis.
.
5
With the mid-terms, that press conference where he seemed drugged & deranged, and the “resignation” of Sessions; 45 seems wedged into a corner. He’s lashing out & will continue to make grave errors. I am more than confident than ever that we will learn what Mueller knows.
2
By now everyone knows that a Russian-Trump collusion charge is groundless and that it was instigated and paid for by the Clintons and their allies. Should the Mueller investigation continue? Why?
1
@farleysmoot If it were groundless, Trump would welcome the Mueller investigation instead of acting like a guilty man who is cornered. The only way for Trump to confirm that he has done nothing wrong is to allow the Mueller investigation to go forward with no intervention from a lapdog like Whitaker.
It doesn’t matter now. The House Democrats have subpoena power. All those who were allowed to lie to Congress are getting one. Let’s get this party started.
5
@Joe B. Subpoenas which will be fought by the White House, and could ultimately end up in the Supreme Court. The Court was rubber-stamping outrageous Trump decisions such as the Muslim ban even before Kavanaugh joined up.
Checks and Balances? Come again?
My understanding of the Constitution and rule of law/due process in the U.S. has diminished after reading this article.
Research of the role of the IG/Justice, also presents lck of checks and balances.
The Inspector General for Justice, Michael Horowitz, is appointed by the President "with the advice and consent of the Senate". How does the IG's office investigate a rouge president?
The U.S. government seems to be headed toward a chaotic 2020 show-down between the people and president Trump. Unless he is decisively removed from office for cause and no 'hanging chads' are claimed in Red Districts, enemies of the U.S. will no longer be Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. As the smoke clears, the mirrors will reflect the truth.
The time invested by the founding state delegates to provide a system of government with checks and balances on the exercise of unbridled power does not appear to be working, so far under president Trump's term of office.
95
"...the president SEEMS to want a lawman he can control."?? Since when has Trump NOT wanted to control everyone and everything?
"In ousting Sessions, the president makes it abundantly clear he wants a lawman he can control". There, fixed it for you.
5
Republicans will have to decide which side they’re on: a despotic ruler or democracy. I don’t hold out much hope they’ll choose democracy.
8
Archibald Cox: “Whether we shall continue to be a government of laws, and not of men, is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.”
And we have sent a mixed message allowing the Senate to remain in Republican (Trump's) hands.
2
On the news side, the Times insists that this firing tests the Democratic Party's "resolve" but that headline has it backwards. The Senate is in control of the Republican Party. Only the Senate can decline to confirm a new Attorney General without the promise that the Mueller investigation will continue unimpeded and that responsibility for its supervision fall back to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein.. It was roughly that promise (to a Senate then controlled by Democrats) that required both Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General; Ruckelshaus to refuse the order to fire Archibald Cox. Only the Republicans can protect the rule of law. They have shown little or no inclination to do so up until now. Maybe the election sent a message. Sadly, I doubt it and we are headed into a cataclysm that could endanger the republic.
7
SC Mueller was always several steps ahead of Trump and the public.
Before Mr. Whitaker - Trump's spy in the Department of Justice - tries to close the probe or starve it of its resources, I hope that indictments are being filed en masse asap and/or might have already landed at grand juries.
Trump's utterly bizarre press conference yesterday where he actually declared the mid-term election despite the loss of the House a great victory; had some aide wrestle the mike form CNN's Acosta asking a legitimate question; accused PBS White House correspondent Alcindor of asking a racist question, only proves that he is very, very afraid and even more out of control than usual.
He is utterly afraid that heads are going to roll in the Russia probe, including first of all Donald Jr.
8
On behalf of the two and a half million Americans in prison tonight, along with their families and children, I'm going to give a cheer that an unmerciful, mean spirited, backward man is no longer Attorney General.
Ignoring the masses of social and physical science which demonstrates that the way we handle criminal justice, sentencing, and conditions of incarceration neither serves society, nor rehabilitates criminals, Jeff Sessions upped the ante, and took satisfaction in building and filling more prisons. Not a single germ of innovation, inspiration, or intelligence was expended that would improve our society. Indeed he made things worse.
He offered no critiques of the system, only sought to bolster the worst parts of it.
He was a voice of approval, cozy with one of our government's most flagrantly unseemly alliances, between for-profit prison corporations, who successfully lobby members of Congress to vote for longer sentences and more criminal statutes, in return for campaign donations.
I hope this cruel hearted man never holds another public office.
314
@Eric
Totally agree. But at least he was recused. I don't think we'll find a Whittaker led Justice Department any less cruel.
4
@Eric You are right. & Sessions may have been the most extreme racist in our national government. Good riddance!
8
In Trumpland he is the state, and therefore exempt from prosecution; all he needs is people who validate that thinking. In Mr. Kavanaugh he found one key supporter; in firing the hapless Sessions he gets a two-for-one win. He gets a chance to have an acting AG who will bow and scrape to the lord and master, and a strangulation of the Mueller investigation. Better to snuff it out with a pillow at night rather than by gunshot in daylight in a crowded room where there are witnesses. Advice from the former KGB apparently got him where he is and will, he is probably assured, keep him in power and awash in cash.
4
The investigation was always political and should be ended now.
"Government of laws" up to Congress? No hope there; Senate Republicans are firmly in control and have repeatedly shown their fealty to Trump. And Jamie Baldwin: is anyone going to prosecute Trump for using a private, hackable cell phone? Total red herring.
I don't expect anyone to necessarily agree with me on this, but Matthew Whitaker could be a "mole" who will not protect Trump. Think about it. Whitaker is a Bush loyalist. He was appointed a US attorney in 2004 by George W. Bush. Bush and his dad BOTH hate Trump. If he was appointed by Bush it means he was probably hand picked by Karl Rove, the King of underhanded tactics. Whitaker may be pretending to be loyal to Trump as part of as setup. Trump is always looking for people who will be loyal to him because practically nobody is. If you read the book Family of Secrets by Russ Baker, it makes a case that Bush Sr. pretended to be loyal to Richard Nixon when in fact he was undermining him in highly orchestrated ways as part of a larger plot. Nixon had the same problem as Trump. He could hardly trust anybody; people had other hidden loyalties. Yes, Whitaker is kind of a hardcore individual, but his prior statements about Trump and the Mueller investigation may have been pure manipulation.
1
It's like the Republicans found the book "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties" and rather than Bela Oxmyx and Jojo Krako we have Donald Trump and his appointees. Only it isn't as funny as it was in "A Piece of Action".
Other than the President's pronouncement that it's legal because I say it is I read these stories and wonder when a crime syndicate became the model for our executive. If not before it definately started with Nixon and here we are now.
1
All the levers of government cannot be in hands of any one person, even a president (and esp. a rogue one). That is the fundamental principle of our government -- checks and balances, with three independent branches servings as three legs of a stool. All attempts by this president to subvert our system of government must be vigorously opposed by all who are in power, regardless of party.
3
Why do I feel like this country is being run by the mob. Everyday is like a Soprano episode--the only difference being Tony was much smarter than our President.
5
I find most of the liberal apoplexy over Trump’s “undermining the rule of law” ridiculous. This, however, is troubling. One reason I am so bothered is because Jeff Sessions is an exemplar of what we should expect in a public servant and deserves Trump’s loyalty. He has been unfairly pilloried by both sides. The Democratic accusations that he lied about Russian contacts were grossly unfair, clearly taking his statements out of context. Nevertheless, he did the right thing—based on the law—and recused himself.
I am torn on the merits of the Mueller investigation. I am very confident that Mueller will not find evidence that Trump conspired with Vladimir Putin or anything close to that, but if I am wrong Trump should be impeached. Thus, my first inclination is to say let the chips fall where they may. On the other hand, I agree with the notion that the investigation should not be open-ended. We learned during the smearing of Brett Kavanaugh that the Democrats are completely uninterested in fairness or the truth, and no one should be exposed to a boundless investigation of their life--backed by the unlimited resources of the federal government. I have no sense of whether Mueller is being fair or not. The FBI investigation of connections between Russia and the Trump campaign began over two years ago. Let’s bring this to a head and get some transparency. Mueller should issue a report immediately, and if Whitaker refuses to release it, the Congress should subpoena it.
23
@Charles Wow. “Smearing” of Kavanaugh? Kavanaugh lied. We all know it and I imagine you do as well. That he was elected none-the-less is the better example of a mob uninterested in fairness or truth. Sorry, not buying your false representation of being open-minded.
76
@Charles Let me see if I have this right. What started out as an investigation into "Whitewater" and ended up as a soap opera was OK but an investigation into Trump (who could NOT get financing in the US and had financial connections to PUTIN and his oligarchs and whose representatives met with Russians connected to Putin to get help in defeating Clinton) is not OK?
67
@Charles
Do not sympathize with Judge Kavanaugh because of lack of corroboration. The Republicans and Kavanaugh resolutely refused to open the padlocked trunk in which Kavanaugh had hidden the body.
53
Trump's desperate and afraid now that the American people have made one arm of Congress beyond his and his minions control. What's Trump hiding? Any move to end or undercut Mueller's investigation is obstruction of justice.
4
If it requires mass civil disobedience the people of this country cannot let this attempt at obstruction of justice go unpunished. We have government institutions to protect us from this kind of neo fascism, and it will require a competent bi-partisan effort to keep this investigation intact and unobstructed until it runs its natural course. Are you listening Republicans, or will you just "fall in line" and let Trump overrule the rule of law?
2
Behind closed doors or not, it would be illegal for the person nominally in charge of Mueller's investigation to tip off the folks who are under investigation as to the info Mueller has or the moves Mueller might make, right?
"...the president seems to want a lawman he can control."
Why the euphemistic modifier? There is no "seems" about it. Trump couldn't be be more direct about what he wants. Just state the truth:
"...the president wants a lawman he can control."
1
Honestly, I am no fan of the President and his almost shameless and blameless style. However, if Mr. Mueller doesn't have the evidence by now he needs, then I am not sure what more time and the introduction of a new, biased AG will do to affect the final outcome. According to those who know him on TV, he's a very clever operator and probably has his cases well positioned and protected by now. So let's not get too upset and hope Congress can figure out how to work with the Senate and POTUS on some productive projects that benefit us. At the same time, hope that the investigation ends soon.
23
@AMM
"by now". you may want to review the timeline for the Clinton investigations. Bill and Hillary.
16
@JL
Nice try to deflect -- But no investigation of Bill and Hillary ever involved the possible interference of a foreign and adversarial government in U.S. presidential elections.
8
@AMM, I agree. I thought by now Mueller would have something on Trump. Apparently not. Time to close the case and move on.
Suddenly if not surprisingly it is time for Americans to decide whether we wish to maintain the rule of law in our nation. Anything short of violence to ensure that this outrage does not stand is now justified.
It s time for the firestorm. If we do not produce it Trump will without doubt crush the Special Prosecutor and make a mockery of justice in America. And we will quickly become Venezuela.
1
It's not "seems to want", Trump does want a justice department he can control. The sad thing is he probably WILL get it.
1
Matthew Whitaker, as acting attorney general, will sharply curtail if not end the investigation into Donald Trump's conspiring with the Russians to interfere with the 2016 election, and no one will care. Perhaps this is because it has taken so long; perhaps it's because Mueller has found no smoking gun. Regardless, it will be a victory for lawlessness in a country of laws. For people to be concerned, there will need to be a paradigm shift in human thought.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in a computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof that we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
Like the rigged confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's legal battles will need the noble efforts of the mainstream media around the country and all government agencies to inform the public all evil plots by Trump and his attack dogs. The vast majority of silent Americans will then respond. Decisively in the near future.
They will decide who are the true enemy of the people and our national security and interests.
1
Trump took an oath to preserve and protect the constitution of the United States.
Evidently this oath means no more to him than any other lie he ever told.
4
With an agreement of immunity, perhaps Mr Sessions will now be able to speak freely to Mr Mueller about what he knows of the corruption of his former boss. We can only hope.
1
@Pat I'm hoping that Mueller subpeonas Sessions.
1
@Jim Cricket
And I'm hoping that Sessions 'sings' just like Michael Cohen did.
This whole nation may be on borrowed time.
So, do you think all those comparisons to Mussolini were "overheated" now? Trump will take down this country before he would ever agree to follow the rule of law.
If Mueller and his report get successfully buried by Trump and an obsequious senate, we no longer will plausibly have a government of laws.
Sure, the new congress can launch all the investigations it wants and can even create articles of impeachment, but we all know what the end result of that will be.
The Mueller report is more important for what it represents than for what it really is.
3
The House MUST impeach now that Trump has installed a person who has declared the Mueller investigation be starved of funds.
This is obstruction of justice pure and simple.
2
"This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, this is just perhaps the end of the beginning."
--- Winston Churchill, November 1942
The good news is that the country had enough decency left in it on Tuesday to install a Congress controlled by Democrats to ferret out enough of Trump's crimes to finally put a stop to them.
It will take some time, the final outcome will not be perfect, but perhaps, along with Churchill, we have finally reached the end of the beginning.
4
It is high time that Trump to realize he can't get away with Mueller.
The President of the United States, in a blatant obstruction of justice performance, fired the AG to appoint someone who will protect him (Trump) from an investigation into his corruption and treasonous partnership with Russia.
Let's hope and pray CIA Director Brennan is correct in his assessment: Mueller and Rosenstein saw the writing on the wall and took steps long ago to protect the investigation.
The GOP just lost so many seats in Congress it's reminiscent of the Watergate purge, and they don't seem to have noticed. Do they think they will survive as a party by consistently and arrogantly turn their backs on the American people?
Americans must take to the streets in protest because our government has refused to represent us.
3
You quote Archibald Cox: “Whether we shall continue to be a government of laws, and not of men, is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.”
Cox perhaps did not foresee the day when the American people- at least the great majority of them- would have no say in the matter. Because of the structure of our Constitution, the Senate is controlled by the tiny minority of people who live in red states in the West, their voices drowning out the right of the tens of millions of people in places like New York, California and New Jersey to be heard. Add to that extreme gerrymandering and voter suppression, and representative democracy becomes a pipe dream. Insult added to injury, it is those coastal blue states whose tax dollars fund government giveaways to red states, like the $12 billion dollar farm bailout Trump threw them after starting a trade war.
At a time like this, all Americans should remember some more fundamental words, given to us by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Some tea got thrown over too. That time may be coming again.
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@al
Thanks. Well said. And quoted...from the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence about governments and the derivation of their powers. Yes, the presidential office has become destructive and it is our right to alter and/or abolish same...Rather than tea being thrown over, how about the tax cut?
14
@al Red state in the West? The West is the most solidly blue part of the country, with Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and, soon with Demographic changes, Arizona, providing a bulwark against Trumpism. I still see the Northeast as blue yet inconsistently so. But to be clear, the problem lies in the south, and center of the country. The West is our country's beacon of hope.
7
@Robert
I’m sure he meant the South and Central United States. We know it’s not the West Coast. Where we need to change the Constitution is where a state like Wyoming with half million people can have two Senators to say New York State with 20 million people with only two Senators, that’s where we need to change the rules. That is just plain wrong..
15
The Republican party, or at least a significant majority of its membership has spoken out loud and clear how they feel about the rule of law by overwhelmingly supporting a president much more committed to self-preservation than the constitution or the basic principles governing our fragile democracy.
The re-election to congress of Republican Reps. Hunter and Collins, both under federal indictment, is emblematic of their disregard for principles of basic decency and respect for our institutions.
As long as Republicans control the Senate it is foolish to hope that the principles of law and justice will prevail over self interest. The next two years may well make the past two seem tame in comparison.
1
Really? This paper came out against Sessions as AG. Why the change? Trump is correct. Sessions had to go. There is no collusion. Time to move on.
1
If Whitaker has been serving as Trump's eyes and ears in Justice, he probably has already passed what he knows of Mueller's playbook to Trump and Nunes and their lawyers.
1
If they're going to go after Mueller by underfunding him, I'll help make up the shortfall. Where do I send the money?
3
There's something horribly wrong with this situation, that the person running the country can so openly and obviously flaunt the law and nothing can be done about it. Equally well, innocent people can be accused of a crime and nothing can protect them as seen in the recent documentary "Crime and Punishment". Once the people put forth to protect us gain power and turn corrupt, its very hard to take that power away from them.
2
If Mueller had anything on Trump related to the Russia involvement I have no doubt that the report would be made public before the Nov 6 elections. Mueller should have released the report on Russia, which was the only thing he was supposed to do, long ago. He can find a lot of problems with Trump finances, lawyers, associates etc.. but it is safe to say that on Russia he has nothing. That means he has nothing...
@Andre Wasniewski
I disagree with you completely. Robert Mueller is a very shrewd and intelligent man who understands the meaning of 'timing' far better than you do -- He also knows how to keep a low-profile and keep a straight face.
The best is yet to come.
1
@Andre Wasniewski Circular reasoning.
People used to care about this investigation. Now, not so much; they can't even remember why it was launched. That is to Trump's advantage.
2
The headline of this editorial expresses a an odd tone of resignation rather than the appropriate outrage at the provocation of the constitutional crisis we now face. I thought cabinet positions had to be approved by the Senate. What authority does Whitaker have to execute his apparent beliefs regarding Mueller without Senate confirmation?
1
Borrowed time?
The FBI has been investigating the Trump campaign and its participants since the early summer of 2016. Its now November 2018.
How long does it take for the investigation to take place? Is the FBI and DOJ just not competent to do such an investigation? 2 1/2 years is a long time. people are cured of cancer faster than they can compete an investigation.
Let Mr Mueller get his investigation done. If he can't get it done with the team in place, time to get new people in both FBI and DOJ.
This is Washington and the government bureaucracy at its best and worst. People wonder how the bad guys hack our government: because they have no idea what they are doing.
20
@Matt, Remember how long it took Kenneth Starr to file his report? Four years. And hardly no one, if anyone at all, is "cured" of cancer in less than 2 ½ years.
47
@Matt Well, I'd say they've been remarkably successful and highly competent (just as each of them were previously with smashing organized crime syndicates in the US) by obtaining 35 indictments and 7 guilty pleas and one solid conviction by trial of Trump's campaign manager. My advice is to recall that you are the captain of your citizenship- and to look to special counsels and judges to do the work YOU and I must do at the ballot box is the essence of what is wrong with this country today.
17
@Matt
Mueller didn't start until May 17 of 2017, so it hasn't been 2 1/2 years. Complicated investigations take time, this isn't a TV show where the cops wrap it all up in an hour.
40
The incoming House should make it clear, *TODAY*, that if Trump's Justice Department fires Mueller, the House will "pick up his contract" and fully fund the investigation themselves.
It would also help if they made it clear that any results produced will be used towards promoting criminal indictments (now or later) and *NOT* any useless impeachment proceedings that are sure to die in the Republican-controlled Senate.
122
Set up a go fund me site!
7
@Atlant Schmidt I am concerned that much of the results of the investigation so far will mysteriously disappear or be destroyed. If they get their way, there will be nothing for anyone to "pick up." I hope Mueller and his assistants have downloaded the documents related to the investigation so far to a safe place.
3
@Atlant Schmidt
Sen. Blumenthal from CT said he's going to introduce a bill in the Senate that will provide separate and independent funding for Mueller. I'm sure other protections will soon be forthcoming, but only IF Republicans help vote them through. Make sure to tell your senators and representative in DC that you support these measures; that's our part in this.
3
Are there sealed indictments about to be unsealed? Wouldn't that be up to a judge not the decision of a Trump crony or of Trump himself? This past Monday, just before the election, I heard a very eminent and distinguished American lawyer who, in analyzing Trump's actions in light of the constitution, found them not just to be tyrannical but following a model sent in the 1760s and 70s by George III. He reminded his audience that the authors of the Declaration of Independence cited this evidence to justify the American Revolution. However, he took the view that we are presently protected by a robust defense of the rule of law and therefore would not need to follow in their footsteps. I wonder if he still feels this way after yesterday.. I'm not so sure myself.
5
All current evidence indicates that Trump is intent on subverting justice, and that Whitaker is poised to join in as an accomplice. There is no "seems" in the comment "...the president seems to want a lawman he can control."
7
Isn't this yet another active action to obstruct the justice?
He should have been impeached long back, multiple times in a good congress.
7
The good news is that Whitaker is obliged by Justice Department regulation to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. And, the appointment may be illegal because under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the president may not appoint a replacement if his predecessor was determined to have been fired.
(There is an excellent piece on all of this on Lawfare today.)
The bad news is that the Trump administration is an outlaw cabal that simply does not observe the Constitutional norms, established ethics, regulations and laws which have kept this country from becoming Russia or North Korea.
25
I hope that decent Republicans in the Senate will not stand for this. Mitt Romney has already voiced his concern. If there is any leader in the Senate on the Republican side that could live up to Archibald Cox's famous quote it is him. “Whether we shall continue to be a government of laws, and not of men, is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.” Sadly Mitch McConnell and others have already sold any shred of integrity for expediency.
11
Tragically, the phrase "decent Republicans" is now pretty much an oxymoron
Trump obviously does not understand the necessary independence between the Justice Department and the presidency. In all likelihood, Mueller has enough evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. Trump himself is a subject of the Mueller investigation and will probably wind up firing Mueller. Such an act would simply be further evidence of obstruction. We will probably find out if the president is above the law.
5
Why would you say that "no one, including Mr. Whitaker, can stop the multiple prosecutions or litigation already in progress?" Mr. Whitaker has exactly the same relationship to federal prosecutors in the second district of NY that he has to Mueller. He is their boss. He can tell them what they can and can't do, and he can fire them, or have Trump do it.
4
These events should surprise no one. It was always a matter of time before the final hammer came down on Robert Mueller and his investigation, just like it was inevitable that Jeff Sessions would ultimately get the boot.
The real question now is, What can WE, the American People, do to protect ourselves from a president who clearly holds himself above the law and answerable to no one?
The normal "checks and balances" that is supposed to be part our government won't be in place until January 3, 2019, when the new House convenes -- which leaves plenty of time for this president to wreak havoc on the Justice system with the blessings of a acquiescent Republican Senate.
Americans should take heed of this and make their voices heard, lest this administration continues to make a mockery of this Republic, and the very Constitution it was founded on.
12
Appointing a Trump loyalist and a critic of the Mueller investigation to oversee the investigation would appear, on its face, to be obstruction of justice hiding in plain sight.
39
@treabeton. What a shock—a President appoints a loyalist. Oh for the good old days when Mr Obama reached across the political divide and selected Eric Holder to be his AG. Once again, anti-Trump hysteria is blinding the left.
More important than protecting Mueller and his investigation we need to find ways to counteract whatever action the Acting AG may take to hinder the investigation. With the House in the hands of the people again, let's start with the tax return. Perhaps exposing that is more important than Mueller's investigation and we may find out why the liar-in-chief loves Putin so much.
As I heard in the news today, perhaps the new House Judiciary Committee can hire, if he is fired or resigned, Mr. Mueller to more or less continue the job of investigating Trump's affairs, especially with the Russians.
13
I am horrified that this "lock her up" political operative is now the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, even if it's just for one day. Anyone who could make Sessions look honorable does not belong in the Justice Department let alone at its helm.
Trump is the gift that keeps on giving.
19
Just another step in the process of seizing control of the government by a would be dictator. When citizens live in the moment of this type of process, they fail to see the big picture. It is up to historians to write about the process and point out the cumulative steps which lead to the installation on the dictator. At that point people marvel at the gullibility of the public and how they could have missed the obvious.
25
@cec. Sorry, but this idea that Trump is a would be dictator is comical. The left is just not used to a Republican pushing back on the left’s relentless nastiness. Trump is not Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney. He comes from a world where people actually say what they are thinking and not the world where language is covered up with 8 layers of filters so nothing can come back to sound-bite them. But those on the left are so caught up in their silly anti Trump narratives that they cannot distinguish between a crass non politician and a Putin or Stalin or Mao. The sky is not falling.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is on borrowed time today. With Trump's firing of his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, right after his "very close to victory" in the Midterms, there isn't much protecting the Special Counsel from the president's hostility and wrath. Meanwhile, there was another mass-shooting early this morning in Ventura County just north of LA, so that may take Trump's aim of the Mueller "Witch Hunt", off the "Russian Investigation" for a while. What more can happen in the 53 days left of 2018?
3
@Nan Socolow
Mueller must make sure his information is secure and in the hands of trusted people, certain judges on SCOTUS, certain Democratic senators. Basically: we are losing trust in government.
For those who study law enforcement and its interplay with the judiciary over the last 20 years, these events are chilling. The NYT's did a powerful story a few years ago about what happened after 9/11 when the composition of the FBI/ATF/Homeland Security and career JD officials merged. An Org chart is helpful, but the infestation of street level unprofessional cops with Federally trained, well educated, career law enforcement specialists has been fraught with challenges. This culture remains fractured and Mr.Whitaker is the very definition of the poison I speak to-- clearly politically connected and motivated. Coincidently, 2004 puts him in Christie's sphere of influence. Look at the others from that class, where are they now? What faction do they now align and from which agency of political appointment did they derive? Are you sure Mr. Christie didn't write or was behind that Op-ed? He could not proffer it himself, could he? Mr. Whitaker is a frightening choice because it implies Mr. Christie and all his political muscle-- vey much that toxic element of the post 9/11 US attorney's office, Jersey style alternative justice, reigns supreme. This is about much more than Mueller. Like the Judiciary, it's about Finally changing the composition of the entire Justice & Law Enforcement apparatus. Clean house. Deliver their chosen defendants, and cases to their chosen lawyers/judges. Shape the law. Forget Mueller-- his faction lost. This is about reengineering American Jurispridence.
19
I am convinced Mr. Whitaker was not qualified to fill the position even temporarily. Trump appointed a hoax theorist because he likes people who follow orders and do not recuse themselves. Now that Whitaker replaced Rosenstein Mueller has no one in his camp. The Democratic Congress arrives in January. By that time Whitaker may have put Mueller in chains.
Robert Mueller is wise and experienced man. He is not fooled by Trump or Whitaker. Nor is Rosenstein. If the President secured a promise not to recuse from Whitaker, and he in turn moves to wound Mueller and kill of the investigation what then? A confrontation with Mueller assured. His likely ally, Rosenstein.
Mueller and Rosenstein are formidable team. If pushed into a corner they have considerable leverage. Likely many lawyers in the DOJ are admirers of both men. Unlike the Senate, the House Judiciary Committee would support Mueller or Rosenstein.
10
I believe, without any proof, that Mueller has been operating under the theory that he needed to be ready by mid-terms to move fast following those elections and, I believe, he will...
Let's all watch...
My bet is the indictments, the reports and the Congressional reviews and oversight hearing will start flying ASAP.
12
@RDAM60 My concern is that the new AG may be able to stop them. (I concur, I would be he was fully prepared for this eventuality, which has been widely foretold)
4
@RDAM60
Seems things always happen on Fridays...
@RDAM60 I pray you are correct.
We all knew it would come to this. We are headed for a test of our Constitution, and the ultimate demonstration of the now indisputable fact that this can no longer be remotely considered one nation. NYT reported yesterday that Democratic senate candidates received 45 million votes, to 33 million for Republican candidates, yet the GOP gained two seats. And this emboldens Trump? How much longer will the tail be allowed to wag the dog? How much longer will overt corruption, utter lack of ethical behavior, and crude and arrogant remarks be tolerated? It is too much to comprehend, and would be unbelievable were it not happening before our very eyes. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that there are literally no people of conscience left in the GOP, yet it is obvious that is the case. And all for tax cuts?? At the expense of our form of government?? Wow.
36
There couldn't be a more clear case of obstruction than this. Of course Trump fired Sessions because he recused himself from the Mueller investigation, and didn't control it to Trump's satisfaction. But obstruction isn't what Trump is worried about.
Trump is worried about the magnitude of the evidence Mueller has collected about his history of money laundering with the Russians.
And he knows that evidence has already been distributed to the legal groups which have direct jurisdiction over these crimes, especially the NYSD.
Trump knows he's toasted, and he's flailing around to try to contain things. He may control the obstruction work, but not the money laundering.
We won't have to worry about Trump running for reelection. He won't last out his first term.
24
Mueller is probably wrapping up. He may have to delay now to be able to include obstruction of justice charges against Trump and the new AG.
17
@jamiebaldwin Perhaps. The reality is that until the new AG does something to impede the investigation, it is not actually obstruction of justice, only potential obstruction.
2
@jamiebaldwin
Good point. Mueller has expected Sessions removal and has several plans ready in response to any Trump attempt to derail the investigation.
And if Whitaker tries to defund Mueller's team,
I'm sure the American people would contribute to a "Go Fund Me" campaign.
Let’s not forget the catalyst for Watergate was someone known as “Deep Throat” and the Pentagon Papers informed the world of the truth. Trump can stand in the sand and try to slap the water of the wave back as much as he wishes, but it will flow inexorably all around and past him.
32
"In forcing out Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the president seems to want a lawman he can control."
Change "seems to want" to "wants."
21
It has been two years. The object of the inquiry was to assess Russian electoral meddling. What we have to date, is a hodge podge of indictments of people associated with Trump in matters unrelated to specific Russian involvement. The US national security apparatus must have, by now, the data on Russian meddling. While the legal drift net fishing of the Mueller inquiry has produced unrelated legal actions against people close to Trump, the point of the inquiry remains unanswered. But, as other commenters have noted, Mr. Mueller may have anticipated changes in the Justice hierarchy, and may finally have ready a report that deals with what the assigned task originally was.
7
@Chris Rutledge The reason you are only seeing things that appear to be unrelated to Russia is because these are things the special counsel encountered along the way and handled off to other investigators precisely for the reason you cite: they are not connected to the the Russia investigation. While meanwhile the reason we have nothing about Russia is because those things are being compiled in the report which is not yet completed/released.
What we are seeing vs what we don't makes perfect sense if you understand how the law governing this process works. You clearly do not, hence your confusion.
1
@Chris Rutledge
" Unrelated legal charges", Huh?
General Flynn? Paul Manaforte? only Cohen fits the last part of Mueller's remit and he pled guilty on charges brought in New York and is reportedly talking to Mueller's people, presumably about Russia.
The question here, one thinks, is not whether a report is ready; it's whether Whitaker kills it and blocks new indictments. The threat to constitutional governance has moved from the realm forebodings into an imminent danger.
@Chris Rutledge
The truth is Trump has always run a slimy organization that bends or outright breaks as many laws as possible to get what Trump wants. He is unethical and crooked. When one thread starts to be followed, it leads to other threads and knots which need to be unraveled before the whole ball of yarn can be straightened.
It's the old Walter Scott line in action. "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."
The Republicans had no problem with it when they used the tactic against Bill Clinton, so shouldn't be complaining now.
Mueller and his team are smart and they knew this was coming. My guess is that sealed indictments and supporting evidence have already been turned over to the Grand Jury, which is outside the reach of the Justice Department. Further, the state of New York will be investigating and prosecuting Trump and his circle for years to come.
Mr. Whitaker should consider the possibility that obstruction of justice charges can be brought against him if he blocks the Mueller investigation.
Note the number of Russian/Republican operatives posting comments on this article.
59
I don't remember the exact conversation yesterday, but a reporter asked Trump about the possibility of an upcoming deluge of investigations once the Dems take over the House in January. Trump said something to the effect of, "Bring it on. I'm better at this then they are". That may have been the first truthful statement he has made as president. Trump has spent an entire career under some sort of of legal investigation, and from what I've read, performs quite well in testimony (from experience). Mueller may have a huge bombshell waiting to drop, but don't expect it to necessarily take down Trump. The comparisons between him and Nixon fall off when one talks about the threat of an actual criminal investigation. Nixon couldn't stomach it and resigned, where Trump was built for this kind of fight. The only saving grace is Mueller's team has taken down very big mobsters in the past, so they are also built for this kind of fight.
48
@Steve Good post, but I think there is one point of confusion when you say "The only saving grace is Mueller's team has taken down very big mobsters in the past, so they are also built for this kind of fight." My understanding is that Mueller's charge is just to complete the report in matters which directly involve Trump.
1
@MadManMark
Yes, and whatever report there is simply goes to the Attorney General who can just sit on it if he wishes. There is no teeth in the process that I can discern.
1
@Steve
Big difference here. Trump's family members are involved. He will pardon them of course but not before they are charged and humiliated (for life).
Without knowing the outcome, of course, I am compelled to believe that Mueller has already been an exceptionally gifted tactician. There is no doubt he anticipated this. He has already handed off several files to the Southern District of New York, and has shared info with the NY State Attorney General. If the President pardons or even kills the investigation, you can bet that the NY State will open one within hours. The NY State may not directly probe the Russian collusion issue, but there are so many financial issues that would violate state laws that the NY AG would, no doubt, have a field day. Also, there are sealed grand jury indictments already filed, and there is indirect evidence that those indictments touch the President or his family. Do they even touch Whitaker? Unlikely, but not impossible. And let's not forget that Trump's former AG, who was routinely publicly humiliated by Trump before he was "asked to resign" yesterday, is in fact a material witness. Although he's been an unashamed bootlick, at the very least, he began his resignation letter with, "At your request, I am submitting my letter of resignation."
54
@Norman
Trump's cruel and completely unnecessary attacks on his own AG, Jeff Sessions included such insulting names as "traitor, Mr. MaGoo,
and a dumb southerner".
If Sessions had even one ounce of dignity left, he'd show Donald Trump just how "dumb southerners" deal with public humiliation at a national level. Sessions would cooperate with the Special Counsel.
Mueller should have issued his report 6 months ago before the election. The excuse that it might have hurt criminal prosecutions is unacceptable since the real issue is, was our election significantly influence by Russia and what must we do to avoid future assaults on the election process. My suspicion as to why he didn't issue a report is that there is nothing there. The report will say, 1 little impact from Russian meddling and 2 no collusion. The result of that report before the election would have been a big boost for the Republicans. Mueller is part of the swamp Trump ran against. He will be delighted with Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi running the Congress. Now that the election is over, it is time for Mueller to release his report. There is no need for more interviews. He should release his report to the President and the Congress. If there is grounds for impeachment, then proceedings should begin. If not, the investigation should return to the Attorney General's office. It is time for this farce to end or if it has teeth, the impeachment to begin.
4
@Mike
Whether you are correct is truly unknown but the Republicans spent years funding numerous committees to investigate Benghazi and Clinton. Talk about perseverance in the name of a farce. At the end of the day, she may have used her email unwisely. Just to put a further spin on it, trump has been sighted for using his mobile phone unwisely.
Finally, every American should want to protect our elections from influence from foreign Governments. This is the issue.
13
@Mike Six months ago he didn't yet have the cooperation of Cohen, Manafort, Popadopolus (sp?), etc. you are saying he should have issued a report before he was done collecting evidence, just to meet some arbitrary timeline that would have made you happier?
1
@Carol
From all Mueller's indictments and revelations so far, Trump is clearly a danger to the American people with his incessant daily blatant lies, wild conspiracy theories, sloppy attempts to cover-up and obstruct of justice.
So I have no idea what the law is concerning the acting AG is ,but I do know this, Mr. Mueller III will follow the law to the letter. He will only release what he has to to the acting AG. If he is fired all the dems. have to do is when the they come into power in January they can certainly bring Mr. Mueller III in front of them to testify about what he has found in his investigation. That is when the fun starts.
17
Let's hope the new AG makes good on his avowed desire to prosecute Hillary Clinton for using a private email server when she was Secretary of State. That would be an interesting trial, and the resulting decision might finally put the issue to rest. (Might not though!)
3
I assume in the US you can only take someone to court if the charge has some foundation - some merit. Has not the FBI investigated twice Clinton's mail server issue. She was wrong to use it - think she admitted the mistake. But you sue this - sue Trump who apparently has done the exact same thing.
9
@jamiebaldwin You're kidding, right? If not, welcome to 2018 when we have real crises, real problems, and real corruption. Sorry if you slept through the past 24 months. Hope you're feeling better.
Mueller should be next, this never ending investigation needs to come to a close, forced him to come forward with the evidence that the tax payers have paid for or bring the investigation to an end, those should be his choices.
He’s milking this investigation for political and professional gain, the evidence is either there or isn’t.
7
@Crossing Overhead Sorry, this is just absurd:
1. Mueller has no political ambitions; he's retired.
2. Mueller is a republican.
I fail to see how there's any "milking for personal gain" going on. And as far as coming forward with the evidence, he has been doing so at a steady rate, save the time around the election.
Another fun fact: Ken Starr's investigation went on for *five years* and was far less productive.
1
@Crossing Overhead: Whitaker can and will make sure the "evidence," whatever it is, never sees the light of day.
@Crossing Overhead The Watergate investigation was a lot longer so was the White Water investigation. This investigation by comparison is very short. Trump committed Treason. The American people need to know how deeply Trump is involved with Putin. However, curtailing this investigation will only be a cover up. This Treason will be covered up by the Republicans because so many of them participated in the treason.
The answer is "no one." Trump needs to get him out before the House changes hands, so strategically he and his henchman will declare the investigation a fraud & ask Mueller for his immediate report. If he does not produce it quickly, then Trump or his lead will say he has no other choice but to close down the investigation because Mueller has not acted in good faith. Mueller gets fired, Trump gets this investigation ended, and if the Democrats try and take this up he can easily point out this is a purely partisan move by the Democrats to usurp his power. He'll rise up as the demagogue he is and ride this to the next victory, and becomes a 2-term president. He knows he can't win on issues or policy, so he has to come up with a simple game of bad vs. good.
8
@John: if defending the rule of law in your country is partisan, so be it. The Democrats in the House should not let themselves be intimidated by Trump's bullying. They should point out in no uncertain terms that they took an oath to serve the country and that Trump serves himself, despite the fact he also took that oath.
Trump and his political and legal teams are ready for the next steps and I assume so are Mueller and his allies. If they fire Mueller, I have to believe all of the evidence is stored on the cloud and on multiple distributed hard drives. If Trump goes nuclear, no doubt his adversaries are prepared to send all of that documentation in seconds to the New York Times and the Washington Post. So if you enjoyed reading the Pentagon Papers the Mueller papers will be just as revealing, I would think, but instead of 12 volumes, perhaps there will be a 100. Congress can then feel free to investigate Trump and the Trump universe for many years, beyond the presidency of Donald Trump which one would think is not a clear bet beyond January 2021. Trump lost the House 22 months after he came into office. In 2019, he may lose a significant amount of his public support as the white collar criminality endemic to the Trump universe becomes not only clear but indictable.
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@Yankelnevich agreed. Mueller is a smart man and has known this is coming, so one assumes that he's doing whatever he can to preserve the evidence.
34
@Yankelnevich Just a brief history lesson because the NYT never seems to put these things in historical context:
During Obama's first midterm election, 2010, Democrats lost 63 seats but Obama won reelection in 2012.
During Clinton's first midterm election, 1994, Democrats lost 54 seats but Clinton won reelection in 1996.
Trump's Republican party loss less than Obama and Clinton so don't assume 2018 is an indicator for 2020.
Unfortunately, this seems to be the final version of Trump's own long running Saturday Night Massacre. Mueller'a investigation is likely about to come to a grinding halt, with its resources dwindled by Trump's new 'Roy Cohn'.
It is time for Democrats to begin issuing subpeaons, getting Trump's perpetually 'audited' tax returns, and what Mr Mueller has already, calling him to testify if necessary, to protect those documents from destruction. I would suspect that given the fact that other agencies and courts have seen evidence against Trump's cohort, that a good many important documents will survive.
Trump's outrageous, ongoing corruption, which started well before his presidency, must be fully aired before the next election.
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@Tony Cochran
How can these otherwise sane people, Sanders, Conway, Gen.Kelly, live with themselves each day knowing they are supporting a very deranged man who is endangering our nation.
We will probably know the fate of Mueller this week-end. If he is going to be fired it will be done while Trump is playing golf. Trump's lap dog, Kelly, will do it for him.
Then we will have a Constitutional Crisis. I wonder what McConnell and company will do when that happens.
Just two questions, can ordinary citizens impeach the Senate,
can the Supreme Court be impeached by ordinary citizens?
29
@Jean
1. We know what McConnell and Co. will do. They will rally 'round Trump.
2. "Ordinary citizens" had a chance to impeach the Senate two days ago and chose not to.
3. No. See 2 above.
1
From all I've read about Mr. Mueller he will be one step ahead of Trump. My guess is that the report has already been completed and will be released shortly. The Democrats winning the House is a big deal and from what I understand can subpoena Mueller and Rosenstein and all the evidence gathered even if the investigation is terminated.
The truth will get out and Trumps days are numbered no matter what he does.
66
How can Whittaker possibly be neutral in this? He has already stated multiple times that the Mueller investigation is a "witch hunt" - which it is clearly not with the guilty pleas and convictions so far. Any evidence that the President, or anyone in his orbit, had illegal contacts, money infusions, or foreign help in gaining the office of the President, is fair game. This is America, not a third world country. Foreign influence in our elections is completely against the law and MUST be fully investigated.
67
Robert Mueller is a fantastically balanced man. I think he will have all evidence in place, witnesses, and every piece of evidence he will need to make his case.
And it will all, all of it come out no matter how Trumps tries to block it.
We do have a justice system here in America.
53
@Pat According to a lawyer on CNN, a view minutes ago, Mueller's report(s) will go to the new Attorney General and IF he chooses, he can take it home and do nothing with it. It does not have to be published.
@Lois Lettini Until Mueller quits or is fired, goes to the House as prosecutor, issues subpoenas on behalf of the House and charges Dept of Justice with obstruction of justice, and releases the information to the 3rd estate anyway. Not to mention prosecution state by state.
@Pat: The mind of the trump is similar to that of the fabled scorpion riding on the gullible frog. Both the scorpion and the trump are oblivious to the predictable penalties of their treachery because it is in their irresistible nature.
Look up the bizarre stupidity of the Trump University case. It cost him $25,000,000.00 to get out of that one.
But just being reasonable, it is time for Mueller to start an end game here and make his moves. It's been 2 years.
13
@Edward
People often say it's been 2 years, but in fact Trump was just elected 2 years ago (and inaugurated 2.5 months after that). Mueller wasn't appointed until May 2017, after the firing of James Comey. So it's been only a year and a half -- and for those who claim he's moving slowly, please look at the number of indictments he's made, the number of guilty pleas that followed, and the amount of witness cooperation this investigation has generated. He's actually been working rather efficiently.
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@Edward
It's just that the Trump presidency itself feels as if it's been going for a very, very long time.
Mr. Meuller's investigation has actually been in place for only a year and a half, with many indictments, guilty pleas, and convictions. In comparison to previous inquiries (Watergate, Whitewater, et al.), it has moved judiciously and quickly.
19
Reasonableness is in the eye of the beholder.
Gripes about length: The Benghazi investigation lasted more then two years. No indictments. Mueller is 18 months in with multiple indictments including the actual Russian intelligence officers, and convictions/guilty pleas from Flynn, Manafort, Papadopoulos, Patten, Cohen, van der Zwaan, Gates and Pinedo. He has proven that Russians did hack our elections, down to the exact people and buildings where it took place.
Gripes about overreach: Benghazi investigation was supposed to focus on Secretary of State Clinton in terms of adequately providing security and assistance for besieged Benghazi embassy staff. When no evidence was uncovered to support any type of charges against her relative to Benghazi the investigation veered into her server and her email proclivities. Mueller was tasked with investigating whether hostile foreign entities interfered with our 2016 election. He nailed it, indicting the specific Russian intelligence officers involved and produced a stunningly detailed case with significant indisputable evidence. He was also tasked with investigating whether the Russian hackers were facilitated in any way by American nationals who worked in concert with them to favor Trump. Delving into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians necessarily requires looking into people’s finances. Follow the money! If Hillary’s emails were deemed fair play, so must this logical check into people’s finances.
27
There are too many lies that have been told, beginning with Session's own sworn testimony during his confirmation hearings. If need be the American people need to create a way that this probe can continue with private financing. It's also been suggested that Congressman Schiff could hire Mr. Mueller to conduct a thorough investigation as part of his committee's work. There is more than enough evidence to warrant this and the protestations of Trump raise suspicions about the veracity of the money-laundering allegations.
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@Thomas Payne
Sen. Blumenthal from CT said last night that he's bringing forward a bill today that will guarantee ongoing funding for the investigation. Call your senators right away and tell them to support it.
4
I guess it took the election of a demagogue to shine a spotlight on a gaping loophole that the Founding Fathers didn't correct in their quest for checks and balances. We need to explore the President's powerful role in controlling investigations of their own presidency.
109
I would respectfully suggest that Mueller has not been asleep at the switch, knew this day was coming and took adequate measures to protect his investigation. If that means a spate of new indictments, or a report already on file with Rosenstein or some other steps we know nothing about, we can assume he is not unprepared.
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I'm disgusted by the Times using the word "betrayal" in this related headline: "Sessions Executed the Agenda of a President Who Could Not Look Past a Betrayal." Sessions' recusal was not a "betrayal"; it was ethically appropriate. By not using scare quotes or choosing to state this accurately, Times has affirmed Trump's deranged perception that Sessions, in following judiciary norms, personally "betrayed" him. Do you not see how dangerous that is? We cannot normalize Trump. We must refuse to see the world through his eyes.
Not to mention that you took the bait and demoted election news, even though we all knew Sessions would be departing and the timing is such a transparent bid to change the story.
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@C Wolfe The "news" of the election matters less than you think. It's the actual results of the election that matter, and they don't kick in for two months. So what that Trump grabbed headlines back with the Sessions firing. It doesn't change the election results the way a news grab could have before the election.
2
So much for "checks and balances," which is now a quaint theory. Republicans in Congress appear to have had their consciences surgically removed. Until they regain their consciences, and a sense of duty to our country, and not just to the GOP, this will get even worse. We are in real danger of losing our constitutionally protected democracy.
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@Susan I fear that all the reanimation techniques in the world will not suffice to implant any respect for rule of law in the GOP.
2
Today the comment box has the aura of the space beneath John Hancock's signature on the declaration: a place where history calls one to be implicated as a witness, without a choice but to concur. I suppose this is as much a credit to the President's zeal for intimidation and for exploiting the Department of Justice for reckless endangerment, as it is to his exhaustion of any leniency.
14
If Congress allows Trump to be exempt and safe from the law then none of us is safe and exempt from Trump law. We will have lost our sense of protection by the law. The media should be especially vigilant. They are either first, second or third with Mueller and Democrats in in the sights of this AR-15 presidency loaded with his GOP Congressional magazine. Trump may be giving the Democrat House no choice but to resist with whatever vestiges of the Constitution and the law they can muster.
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It has always been clear in history that when a man or a woman is given a position with enormous power as in this case the President's,some of them will flaunt/exercise/misuse that to the extreme if one is of the nature of Mr Trump.So it is important that we evaluate this before he is given the seat of power. To undo this now we have to spent immense energy to unseat this man.This is the situation we are in now in America.Whatever the press and saner voices do Mr Trump does not care much.He is on an autopilot as we can see. He does not take advice from any quarters. This is not to say we need not keep any vigil to bring him back on some decent track but the effort Is overwhelming.Times ahead will be intersting
16
Exit polling suggests that both impeachment and even the Mueller investigation are lukewarm issues in the minds of the electorate. Perhaps on the whole we have a fear of spectacle along the lines of the tarring and feathering associated with dime novels from the 19th Century. Yet there is a strong need for holding all politicians, especially those in the highest offices, to account for behavior that seems third world in its contempt for the rule of law. Some 40% of us may be happy to live in the Fiefdom of Trump, where the President may do as is his pleasure, but as unseemly as the search for the less than honorable in the current Presidency may be, we have to search and we have to behave according to a set of conditions that protect the country from villainry.
24
Trump can only succeed in thwarting justice if the Republican Senate allows it.
The slate of Senate seats up for election in this midterm, where one third of the seats are exposed every two years, was as bad for Democrats as it could have been, and retention of the majority by the GOP was predicated upon this. But make no mistake, the next presidential election and the following, 2022 midterm will be entirely different. Retaking the majority in the Senate has always been viewed as a two-step process, and the behavior of Republicans in the Senate in the next two years will be key to the damage they will bring to their current, slim Senate majority.
The GOP majority there will focus upon filling judge vacancies with conservatives, and that is its right, but where they will suffer the consequences of bad behavior is if they continue to support Trump’s bad behavior, past, present and future. Whether the GOP relegates its entire congressional role to Democrats for the foreseeable future is in its hands and will be determined by voters in 2020 based upon the perception that its first priority is for party and agenda, as it has so repulsively been focused over the last decade, rather than the “nation” and its democratic process.
Republicans in the Senate, judged by the sweep of Democratic victories in this election, really no longer have a free hand and have been put on notice. The voters are finally paying attention. McConnell and his caucus would be wise to do the same.
24
@Malcolm Kantzler '...but where they will suffer the consequences of bad behavior is if they continue to support Trump’s bad behavior, past, present and future.'
Can anyone honestly think they won't?
Of Trump, by Trump and for Trump.
That is the sort of government we have now, with the emoluments clause shredded, Supreme Court stacked, free press under attack on a daily basis and, up until Tuesday's election, checks and balances an afterthought.
Let's hope the Democrats, who will now control the House, takes responsible actions to keep a check on the POTUS and at try make this government of ours once again of the people by the people and for the people.
50
@RK I think the GOP needs to look to Eric Holder as the model on how to respond to any subpoenas, just ignore them.
How can Trump control an AG when he can't control himself? Clearly, the cabinet ministers who have survived so far are those whose remits are not particularly close to Trump's heart. But Trump's whims are a challenge too far for mere mortals.
7
Trump recognizes no moral, political or strategic commitments. He feels free to pursue objectives without regard to the effect on allies and the world. He has no sense of responsibility to anything beyond himself.
Trump needs to be told, through the law, that he cannot use the Attorney General's office to stop or hinder the special counsel investigation into Russian influences on his administration.
Congress should enact legislation preventing Trump from infringing on the special council's investigation into Russian influences in the election, and Russian influences on Trump.
Is it money? Well, Trump sure enjoys renting his hotels to foreign embassies. The embassy of Azerbaijan co-hosted a Hanukkah party in the Washington D.C. Trump International Hotel’s elegant Lincoln Library, with a roster of guests that included Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak who has become notorious this spring for meeting with several Trump Administration officials. Imagine how many such rentals have occurred in hotels, condos, etc. that Trump owns or profits from across the world over the past two years...
What other levers does Russia hold over Trump?
Director Mueller's team should be allowed to continue unimpeded until all facts are laid bare on Russian influences into Trump's presidency.
89
Partisan loyals cannot be allowed to impede the Special Counsel's investigation which must remain independent and accountable to the American people. The new House majority must both speak to the needs of the people on economic and health care issues and make sure that the Mueller investigation proceeds in an unimpeded manner.
Mueller has shown that he is interested in the truth and not in playing any kind of politics. The president cannot be allowed to undermine the system of justice for his own means. If Mueller has evidence of any crimes he will for sure bring this information forward for us all to see.
Whitaker, the acting attorney general, with already an appearance of bias has a responsibility to recuse himself from overseeing the investigation.
45
It's gratifying that U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler will lead the House Judiciary. His statement seeking the preservation of documents, and his charge that it would be "wholly inappropriate for Mr. Whitaker to supervise the Special Counsel investigation" was exactly the right thing to say at this turn of events. Rep. Nadler has always struck me as one of the brightest and toughest lawmakers in Congress.
I remain worried about Mr. Mueller but a lot less so after Tuesday.
739
@Patrick
Jerrold Nadler called for Sessions to resign as AG.
Just remember that,
7
I'm actually (much) more worried, not less. The now-Democratic House can subpoena, but DOJ with new "covfefe" lackey Whitaker The Whittler will simply defy. They won't even bother with the handwave of National Security.
Why? The Thief Justices. The Whittler will defy, and the House will sue. But Keggernaugh's in, despite all the Flake-ing and despite (some even say BECAUSE of) Dr. Blasey's testimony. Gorsuch's in. Alito and Thomas would fall in line, and Roberts probably will. Checkmate for the Mueller investigation.
New York will sue. But see above. Checkmate for the Mueller investigation, NY Edition(tm).
Both the House and New York would thus be reduced to saying it would be "wholly inappropriate for Gorsuch and [Keggernaugh] to obstruct the Special Counsel investigation". But New York can't do a thing about the Court, and the House can...impeach. At which the Senate will laugh at the thought of convicting their fellow "covfefe" lackey.
From there, the "covfefe" GOP will simply tell their remaining governors to defy voting rights laws and the like. Voters and Democratic officials will sue. But see above. Checkmate for democracy, and "covfefe" "wins" in 2020 with an even bigger popular-s'Electoral divergence. Checkmate for America.
All that stands in the way of any of that is no longer a charge of obstruction of justice, but a case of obstruction of artery. His diet and, uh, "walking" (by golf cart) habits are well known. Pray he keeps to that.
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@Mr Chang Shih An
Totally different circumstances - you fail to remember apparently
26
I have served in both the US Army (Vietnam) and the Navy (research submarines). I am certain I swore an oath both times to protect the country from enemies both foreign and domestic. I can think of no greater domestic enemy than those who would destroy the rule of law. Thank you for speaking out repeatedly against the incredibly frightened men and women currently occupying what once the most revered home in our nation. Fear should make a good soldier strong, careful, and kind, not cruel and irrational. And it certainly must not let us make a mockery of justice. Thanks for keeping up the fight. Best wishes.
1411
@Michael Storrie-Lombardi, M.D. (Ret.)
THANK YOU, SIR!
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@Michael Storrie-Lombardi, M.D. (Ret.)
Thank you for your wise words. We need as many service men and women as possible to speak out against this corruption of our values, ideals and laws.
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@KFree I'm another Vet - 20 years in the Navy - and I served to protect our individual rights and "the rule of law". Nothing to me matters more and seems more important to the survival of this country than those two issues. We shall see what comes next and act accordingly...
62
Turmp is the kind of man-child who will keep testing the limits of his ill-gotten power until he is pushed out of office. A nation of laws in deed is what we so desperately need.
55
I'm not a fan of Mr. Sessions. That said, it is still unfortunate to see yet another career in public service end in such an inglorious exit.
13
We continue to come back to same old question here. If Trump is innocent and has nothing to hide, why does he act so guilty? He ought to be willingly cooperating with the Mueller probe and be eager to answer questions honestly and openly. Instead, he insulted the DOJ, the FBI, smeared Mueller, fired Comey, fired Sessions, pushed out McGahn, cycled through his own legal teams like most of us cycle through plastic and picked a Supreme Court justice who harbors beliefs that the president has virtually unlimited powers.
These actions don't appear to be those of an innocent man.
111
Trump's incessant preoccupation with the Mueller investigation is not the attitude of an innocent man. He is either paranoid, or guilty of something he desperately wants kept under wraps. I understand that Mueller didn't wish to seem partisan by disclosing any incendiary findings of his investigation right before the election, but I hope that reserve was not a mistake.
78
It seems quite clear that Whitaker will - as he claimed he would - shut down the investigation. It's now or never:
***Nobody Is Above the Law*** protests Thursday 5 pm, nationwide:
https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/
42
Trumpistan is not being polite about their push to stop the truth. Whitaker is a red flag in every kind of way. His revenge will be sweet to him (remember: the NYTimes had to unhire him).
Lies
Corruption
Voter suppression and intimidation
A greased path to state control of justice and the media. Don't forget, Trump loves dictators, and wants to be one. Don't forget his entire history has been to grease and lie his way while cheating his punters. The bullying conman in chief has always done business with the mob, and he is now testing the limits of the presidency in the same way. He's costing us a bundle and wrecking our country on the way.
Some patriotism! Some "Christianity"! Some respect for the Constitution! Shameless.
The Republican leadership is not part of the reality-based world. If they can get away with something, ethics don't matter to them. They've got Fox News and Sinclair and the Federalist Society and
54
Oops! I was conflating Whitaker with Kevin Williamson. My sentence about the NYTimes hiring him was flat out wrong. Mea culpa!
18
While I appreciate the sentiments expressed in this editorial, I really want some concrete suggestions about what can be done. Or at least a flat-out statement that we have no options and had just better get used to it.
15
Can the President appoint someone to carryout the duties Attorney General without the approval of Congress? When the Attorney General is fired how is it that the duties don't automatically fall to the Deputy Attorney General? If the President can dismiss the Attorney General at will and replace him with a hand picked acolyte, why can't he do the same with a member of the Supreme Court?
21
@W.A. Spitzer Is that a serious question?
At this point, how could anyone possibly be surprised by this move?
After all, Donald Trump has been itching to get rid of Jeff Sessions ever since he first recused himself from the Robert Mueller investigation citing a conflict of interest with his job as Attorney General.
In short. He'd spill the beans.
Which is something this president can't abide by, even if it is the constitutionally correct thing to do.
It's also no secret by now that Mr. Trump has simply been biding his time to fire Sessions for maximum effect -- and what better time is that than after losing the House in the midterm elections?
So while the question may be who's going to protect Robert Mueller now? -- the real question should be Who's Next?
13
The president seems to want a lawman he can control? Well what President doesn't. The Attorney General ....Mueller investigation not withstanding....always works for and at the direction of the President. Sessions should have resined
months ago. He did no one any favors by prolonging the inevitable. Government employees come and go all the time. Sometimes the reasons are good, sometimes they're not. The bottom line the working relationship between the President and Sessions has soured. The President doesn't have to tolerate this. He had to go. No one should be surprised.
3
@Bill Brown Trump could have picked a career employee like Rosenstein if he was just unhappy with his "working relationship" with Sessions.
1
“In forcing out Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the president seems to want a lawman he can control.”
The hedging is unnecessary. A lot of writers, pundits, journalists, anchors, etc. spend a lot of time wondering wondering what Trump means by the things he says and does despite the fact that Trump routinely states his motives outright. It’s as if the nation (both supporters and critics) are afraid to consider the FULL implications of Trump’s unapologetic statements.
Consider: Trump has been digitally screaming for Sessions to shut down the Russia investigation for a very long time. He has also stated that he wants an AG that will “protect” HIM. He has now fired Jeff Sessions for not intervening in the Russia investigation on Trump’s behalf. So there is no reason to discuss this situation in terms of how it “SEEMS”; as if we can only guess at Trump’s motives. He has declared his motives, but people REFUSE to acknowledge his confessions.
Take Comey: Why is there still a debate about Trump’s motives? Say it was legal if you like, but he has established what he was thinking when he fired Comey. That’s a question asked and answered.
Does Trump understand what “nationalism” means in the year 2018? Yes. He stated he knew precisely why nationalism makes most people uncomfortable and then proceeded classify himself a nationalist anyway. People still assert Trump is “confused” about the word.
What is it so many people, writers, pundits, etc. do not understand?
69
Mueller may have built a few fail safe devices into his network of investigations. Trump is banking heavily that Cavanaugh will protect him. Brett on the other hand, could sleep well the rest of his life if he has a grand epiphany, and does the right thing. I’ll sleep better with that thought in mind as well.
13
“It’s not even clear Mr. Whitaker may legally hold the post of acting attorney general, since he has never been confirmed by the Senate.”
Now that’s a very interesting question, which the Democrats should absolutely pursue.
62
I am severely disappointed by the headline’s prominent position, not just above the fold, but as the most important news on the front page of the Times. Trump is playing you. Could you not report on the election turnout and the election results? That would be my choice of most important news of the day on November 7, 2018. Don’t let Trump play you and steal our thunder. Please...give it some thought NYT.
26
@Gloria McFarland
Absolutely. Trump is dictating the 'news' and playing the media. The media is being played because they are instantly distracted by, and responding to everything he says and does. Trump is calling the shots and he is using the predictability of the media response for his own purposes. They are pawns in his game just like everything and everyone else he interacts with. I hope the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi are aware there is a chance they will become Trump's reactive playthings if they are not careful. I hope they can remain focused on their own business and not end up powerless because they are just reacting to his lead. He seems to be the ultimate manipulator.
10
@Robin I agree the over the top behavior is to stimulate a response which he and his minions will rebuke and it will stick helped by stupid media while trumps wickedness passes unchecked
When Jeff Sessions is not right wing enough for you, you have entered some seriously demented zones.
245
@Doctor Woo: Authoritarian attacks on the Constitution, like those we are witnessing, have just as often been left wing as right. Trump is neither--he is of the Neanderthal wing.
2
Nixon did the same thing, with his Attorney General.; it was part of what was called the "Saturday Night Massacre". This eventually led to Nixon being charged with obstruction of justice, the Watergate hearing and his eventual resignation;, in lieu of impeachment.
Trump has embarked on the same path. But, unlike Nixon, Trump's constant disregard, for the Constitution, and rule of law, makes anything Nixon did pale in comparison.
Asking fro Sessions to resign, was bad enough. Appointing someone to probably shut down the Mueller investigation si worse, and threatening "war" with the Democrats if they push hard, on investigating Trump's taxes and business affairs, amounts to extortion.
Adding to this, the news conference today, which Trump continued his rail on the press, banning a CNN reporter from the White House, and naming each GOP loser, by name, and berating them; a walk of shame if you will. ost of all, Trump claims victory last night, despite his party losing the House (not his fault), the GOP losing at least seven governorships, a number of state legislatures, and meager gains in the Senate.
On display today was an already unhinged, and dangerous, individual becoming more unhinged and dangerous.
Things were all ready bad, before yesterday, it is going to get much worse, as Trump will add more fear, divisiveness and hate to try to hold on to power. Remember, the most dangerous animal; is a wounded animal.
Be prepared fro rough and ugly seas ahead.
266
@Nick Metrowsky This could have been predicted and prevented by the simple expedient of taking a deep breath and supporting a candidate who was imperfect rather than evil.
8
@Nick Metrowsky
Mercenary, Republican Senators have failed to execute their oath of office to uphold the Constitution and the sanctity of The United States.
Until Republicans in Congress fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities, obey the rule of law and place their allegiance to democracy above their corrupt interests, treasonous Trump will continue to “violate” America.
4
The most dangerous animal is a cornered animal.
3
Rod J. Rosenstein is DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. In a rational world, when an Attorney General disappears from any cause, the Deputy Attorney General should step in to act in his place until a new Attorney General is appointed and confirmed by Congress. In this case, the Deputy Attorney General has the institutional memory and established relationships from having provided oversight of the Mueller investigation since March, 2017. The appointment of an acting Attorney General outside the normal interim step for filling a vacancy, particularly this one, looks like what it is: obstruction of justice.
576
@John Williford, it is. And Mr. Whitaker is complicit in this obstruction of justice, and subject to prosecution and imprisonment. He would be wise to thread very lightly as acting AG.
64
@SS Yep. And that is Mueller's best card to hold over Whitaker to prevent what everyone is worried about here. No one wants the big gun suddenly turning towards them -- and Bob has a very big gun.
8
@John Williford
It was noted on TV yesterday that Whitaker was essentially acting as a go between providing information to the White House. If Trump wants to really know what Mueller has on him Whitaker is the perfect "inside man" to make sure it gets back to Trump. I don't think Rosenstein has been providing such a Service to the Trump White House. Whitaker will also be trying to severely limit the scope of the investigation and keep it away from Trump's finances or business dealings abroad. This way Trump needn't fire Rosenstein, or have Whitaker fire Mueller. He will stay abreast of what Mueller has complied in his investigation, and make sure whatever report comes out is as watered down as possible. Congressional Republicans and Fox News will declare the matter over and that it is time to move on.
"Mr. Sessions, a veteran of the Senate, is an institutionalist at heart. 'The Department of Justice,' he once said, iwill not be improperly influenced by political considerations.'"
This is far too generous to Sessions. By not making Trump fire him, and resigning instead, Sessions made Trump's choice of a hand-picked toady in Whitaker legal. Whitaker now has an array of methods at hand for obstructing, spying on, closing down, or defunding the Mueller investigation. Whatever Sessions' motives might have been, there can be no doubt that he understood all this perfectly well.
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All this talk of protecting Mr. Mueller. Seriously? This has been trumpeted by Mr. Tweeter in chief for months so not a Saturday night massacre, more of a plan for it. And I'm sure he has. And how much protection does he need with Manafort and Cohen and dozens of others already on the record? I suppose the final report can be buried but by now major portions are with state AGs and well documented. I'm guessing more indictments will drop before the new AG has measured the curtains.
Of all the things I worry about protecting Mueller's investigation is not one of them, especially with new House. Most of Mr. Trump's serious legal jeopardy will be in his financial dealings and those are already out of the AG's reach. It's also entirely possible the report is written and can drop instantly.
This president has never bothered to learn how things really work. He thinks he can wave his magic tweet finger and change reality. That comes from hiring those who agree and firing those who disagree, soon you believe what you hear.
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Mr. Mueller is not in danger of being halted. Not more than he was before mr. Sessions was being forced out.
Mr. Trump could have easily hampered him, made him resign, but instead he let him run this investigation for a very long time.
It has produced some collateral indictments, it has not found any scandal or big red mistake in the president insofar.
Even if mr. Sessions could have had some valid reasons to call himself out of the investigation, i find mr. Trump's decision in accord with his personality and probably the +20 questions asked repeatily and aggressively on Mueller investigation by the media at every personal press conference has put some weight on his final decision to oust mr. Sessions.
Probably in mr.Trump's mind having a US Attorney general who can filter and redirect would be more useful to him, well, to act like a firewall to the barrage of questions which are pretty dull as when he's going to fire Mueller, to end the investigation, what if Mueller find this or that, which is annoying on such a long stretch of time, during which there was a ton of speculations by day and an around-the-clock speculation by night.
I think this has came to a point where it's entirely self-propelled uroboros,with journalists asking such questions that put Trump on defense mode by blaming how much the investigation costed, how much is damaging him, also as POTUS, being portrayed by media under a dangling sword since his presidency started, and mr.Session is paying for all.
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@Alex p..."It has produced some collateral indictments, it has not found any scandal or big red mistake in the president insofar.'
Seriously? His campaign manager, who influenced language in the Republican platform, has plead guilty to failing to file as an agent representing a foreign government. A foreign government that paid him millions that he forgot to include in his tax return.That government just happened to be pro Russian and headed by a buddy of Putin. Now it most worlds, and with most thoughtful people, that fact by itself would qualify as a smoking gun of campaign collusion. Wow, if that isn't a scandal and a big red mistake what would have to happen?
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@W.A. Spitzer
Yes, i write in plain english. Collateral means not involving the president directly.
Directly means Trump personally, which is what nytimes and 95% of commenters you included think about the russian eventual meddling.
If there is a criminal in your building you ar not colluded, if you invited to your party you're not guilty, until he's "proven" a causal connection. In every country this is called the proof of law, get familiar with it.
Yes, no proof means no proof.
Mr. Mueller doesn't have any scrap of paper or evidence to indict mr.Trump up until now.
How do i know that?
Because he didn't show any. Oh, yes, he has a drawer full of conspiracy and speculations and half-said subtle statements, but nothing he can bring on to court.
To think he has all "locked in" is delusional thinking as much as was nytimes when pushed for 6 months the impeachment process only to finally admit it was a fantasy from the start.
Now, how about learning from past errors and don't commit to repeat them in the future?
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Last night I would have advised the Democrats to pursue a political agenda, e.g., health care. Today, things are different. Trump conducted his own Saturday night massacre for the sole purpose of obstructing justice. He needs to be held accountable but unfortunately, a Democratic House is the only one to do it. Our democracy depends on them to do it.
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If Trump fires Mueller by having Whitacker do the evil deed, the new House in January can simply rehire Mueller to continue his investigation.
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What a number of commenters here seem to miss is that Trump is not just choosing a loyal Attorney General—there is nothing unusual about that, as several have noted—he is choosing the man in charge of an investigation that that has already uncovered significant criminal activity, in which Trump himself is a central figure, if not *the*central figure. These are not the circumstances under which an Attorney General is normally appointed, so the questions of both the nature and degree of loyalty in this case are of paramount importance, as they may impair the AG’s ability to act impartially.
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All Presidents make mistakes when they start their terms. However many of them find some bearings at some point. It is said often this requires them to be surrounded by wise men and women. People who are willing to give him advise without fear. I fear that this President has surrounded himself with people who do not care for him or the country. They praise him and he loves it. When he reshuffles his cabinet I hope he finds a good team and he listens to them.
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@SridharC
A "good" team in D.C. won't touch Trump with a barge pole used in the canals. No one will taint their professional reputation, something to be guarded in a political town full of law firms. Trump is toxic; he is also showing signs of some kind of dementia. He now beyond the grifter from the Apprentice and Trump U. He is now aligned with the Saudis, the oil sheiks whose exile funded 9/11. He is aligned with Putin who has as much blood on his hands as Stalin. He admires Duterte who has random citizens murdered on some "suspicion" of drug trafficking. We are now on a planet distant from FDR, Truman, LBJ, and Obama. The House has to keep its bearings; there are established Committees which can subpoena Trump's tax records; they can protect Mueller; they might even spend some time with any rational Republicans in the Senate. Trump needs to be brought up short; he is mentally unsound at this point; and, he is a danger to all of us. When a man like Sullenberger speaks out, it is time to listen.
Mr. Trump does not have the personal wherewithal to fire Mr. Mueller (or instruct Mr. Whitaker or any other AG to do it). Furthermore, as dumb as he is, he knows that firing the Special Prosecutor would be the end of his Presidency. Which is why, deep down, I hope he does fire Mr. Mueller.
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One would hope Mueller has a report ready for release that is updated every day. It is not like the firing of Sessions was a surprise. He should go with what he has right now, with suggestions on what still needs to be investigated.
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Trump’s selection of Matthew Whitaker as U.S. Attorney General is yet another example of DJT’s obsession with loyalty over talent. For all the incredibly competent choices at Trump’s hand, he picks yet another marginally respected sycophant to do his bidding. The entirety of Trump’s World, politically, socially, and in business, is a swirling stool. Hillary Clinton was prescient but off-the-mark when she referred to Trump’s base as a “basket of deplorables”: it’s his cabinet and others in his personal orbit that are the misfits. Matthew Whitaker is cut of the same egotistical rag and you can ask all the Iowans who didn’t vote for him just 4 years ago.
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The con man is scared now and he should. Look at how is reacting. First, Jeff session is out replaced by a puppet who would do anything to please the devil genius. Second, Jim Acosta’s press credential was revoked. What was his crime? He had the “audacity” to ask the emperor some basic questions. As expected, White House fabricated a frivolous story which was a lie based on live TV coverage.
But, those are the signs of insecurity. He has started barking threatening to investigate Democrats. Sorry, con man what investigation? They are not in power- you are. Scams after scams by your family and cronies make the current administration as the most corrupt in the US history.
Democrat leaders this is the time for you to show that you are united and can govern. Don’t get on the impeachment band wagon now, rather show that you know how to govern unlike the clueless bully. Address the issues dear to people’s heart- job, education, health care climate, border security. And, most importantly refrain from bogus frivolous ideas as “medicare for all” or “free college”. We have trillions of dollars deficit- work on the process to reduce the deficit and take pragmatic approach to improve governance of our great nation.
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Trump and his Republican Congressional puppets not only can't stand democracy, they also can't stand the Constitution, the separation of powers or the republic itself....they hate everything about America.
Their 'elected' power comes only through gerrymander, voter suppression, voter file purges, the undemocratic Senate and the farcical Electoral College, all of which conspire for authoritarian tyranny.
And the GOP is happy to suspend the Constitution when a Democratic President wants to appoint judges or when a Republican President is exposed a fake, phony and a fraud.
The Republican Party represents American values, ideals and its people as well as Putin's United Russia party does.
Put Trump and his Grand Old Puppets in Grand Old Prison.
That would Make America Great Again.
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@Socrates please explain to me how gerrymandering by the GOP produced the result we just witnessed in Dems taking back the House? Also, how would that same gerrymandering benefit the GOP picking up seats in Congress? Maybe a civics lesson is in order for you. I'm entertained by your comments, but there are plenty of examples of corruption on both sides of the isle, which is why we need a balance of power my friend. I read Dems picking up majority in House as a return to some of that balance. What do you think?
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MJL
The Democrats would have one another 15 to 30 seats without the Republican gerrymander still in place in 2018.
Please read the linked article which explains Republican vote-rigging of the House, not to mention GOP voter suppression and voter files purges.
"The Democratic disadvantage is most glaring in Ohio: While Democrats won 48% of the popular vote there, up from 43% in 2016, they collected only 25% of the state’s House seats – the same four seats they have held since 2012.
Contrast these results against a fairer system in which either party can capture, say, 11 seats if it wins 57 percent of the vote. In that scenario, the 2016 election results could have looked like this: evenly spaced, where each additional seat requires the same overall vote gain by either party.
But that’s not what happened. The results were tilted toward Republicans.
When the Republican-controlled State Legislature and Republican governor redrew the congressional map in 2011, they distorted how voters are distributed. They packed voters who tended to vote Democratic into four districts (the Third, Ninth, 11th and 13th). The remaining left-leaning voters were scattered among across a large number of districts in which Republicans won by safe margins.
The map was still in effect this year. The gerrymandering advantage built by Republicans withstood the blue wave."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/07/opinion/midterm-elections-2018-republican-gerrymandering.html
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@MJL
It seems that fly-over states have abolished the course of critical thinking in their curricula and need some civic lessons as well.
In the country wide Senate races Democrats had a whopping 12 million more votes than Republicans, and should have won seats, instead of losing a few.
We have a minority president and a minority Senate governing this country. That can hardly be called democracy any more.
One person, one vote flew out the window years ago.
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Good People of America, Get ready to hit the streets tomorrow night, November 8, at 5 pm.
Many democratic organizations have been planning a massive demonstration across America if The Con Don fired Sessions. He did and Rachel Maddow reported just now that the demonstration is on for tomorrow night.
No One Is Above The Law. Every American citizen who values our democratic form of governance must hit the streets and voice our anger so even The Con Don can hear.
The link is below. This must not stand in OUR United States of America. Not now. Not ever.
https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/?from=@
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Please copy this message and get it out to everyone you know.
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@njglea The firing of Sessions has been floating for months and I'm sure Mueller is prepared for it. Of more concern to Trump is how loyal will his former AG, after being one of the first supporters, feel about it and what might he choose to say under oath about, say, Russian meddling in the campaign?
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How does one sign up for this group?
History doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes..as in crimes??
6
Eric Holder opening professed his allegiance and his loyalty to Obama, claimed he was proud to be Obama’s Wing Man. Why shouldn’t Teump expect the same?
6
@Karen, many propagandists on the right repeat this false equivalence when trying to get you to believe that Trump should expect his attorney general to be loyal to him, not the country. However, propaganda always takes these quotes out of context. Holder was answering a question about whether he would be resigning, and he was simply saying that he would stay on to carry out the job. He was not saying that he would protect President Obama in any personal investigation--Obama was never the subject of a personal investigation.
Trump, on the other hand, is trying to stop a serious and very personal investigation that has brought an indictment against his campaign manager, guilty pleas from numerous campaign staffers, and now seems poised to bring possible indictments against his son and son-in-law, if not Trump himself. I'm sure you can see why it's important that no one, including Trump, be in charge of his own investigation or able to appoint a lackey.
This is a true constitutional crisis which will decide whether we are a nation of laws or men, as Archibald Cox famously said. I hope that our friends on the right remain as faithful to the Constitution as they like to claim.
2
@Karen Well, was Holder saying he was out to support Obama's legal agenda for the country, or out to protect Obama from being prosecuted for criminal activity?
If the latter, no President should expect that, nor should any of us accept it.
@Karen,
Because, whether Holder said what you say or not, that's not the way our system works. That's why.
I would venture a guess that Robert Mueller has job security which is on something of a “need to know” basis. Granted, I have no way of actually knowing, but I have some idea of how seriously this country takes continuity of government.
2
Thing One is for Mr. Nadler, as a sitting member of Congress and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, to file an emergency lawsuit for a rapid decision on whether the Vacancies Reform Act can take precedence over the Justice Department policy for determining succession in the event of the absence of a Senate-confirmed attorney general. Or indeed if Mr. Whitaker is in fact eligible to be named as acting attorney general.
34
What a nightmare this angry 'Game Show Host' gives us everyday day of the week. I've backed away from it as it's too bizarre and complicated to follow and have decided to just let it run it course. Sooner or later this will all come to an end, along with the smoke and burning embers of our Republic and it's Democracy.
Lets see what occurs on Friday right? Until then, I'm going to attempt daily to stay with the good in America and this fading game show host is not part of that.
24
Trump doesn’t understand that he is not an absolute ruler of some sort. A king or a dictator. This inability to simply understand his job - president - renders him unfit to hold it.
60
“The president may believe that in Mr. Whitaker he’s found his Roy Cohn. He may also believe that the Republican majority in the Senate — increased on Tuesday with likely Trump loyalists — is prepared to embrace such a corrupted standard for American justice. So it’s a good moment to recall another figure from that era — Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor, who said in the aftermath of the Saturday Night Massacre in 1973, “Whether we shall continue to be a government of laws, and not of men, is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.””
Wow! I am breathless and speechless.
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@Truth Is True, that was indeed a different era. The GOP today cares not for the rule of law or the constitution.
6
Oh, to get an honest answer from Sessions to the question, "Was it worth it?" Was it worth to completely sublimate any principles you had to support this horrible man? Was it worth it to destroy justice department? Was it worth it to be humiliated on almost a daily basis by a shameless excuse for a human being just to be fired in the end? No one, Mr. Sessions, is above the law--not Trump, not you. This is now your legacy: a spineless man who wanted to ego stroked so much that he was willing to hurt democracy. You are no patriot.
172
@SNA You left out was it worth it to forgo decades of a Senate career to be remembered as Trump's stooge?
3
If Trump's appointment of Whitaker is not challenged, it will have a chilling effect not only on those within the Justice Department, to pursue this investigation, but also on potential witnesses to come forward with information that could be damaging to him. Any response from Mueller, will now be tainted as a "political," which is also precisely what he wants.
This is called witness intimidation and obstruction of justice. These are the actions of mobsters and autocrats. Aside from any financial malfeasance, and whether that malfeasance is connected to the Russians or not,Trump has committed and continues to commit felony acts of obstruction of justice.
How Congress responds to these crimes will determine whether we continue to slouch toward a criminal oligarchy, or not.
246
@DBT We saw intimidation and obstruction of justice by Repubs before, in the aftermath of 9/11 with the "USA PATRIOT" Act and the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (actually the Ministry of Fear and Intimidation).
6
Republicans do not care about the law, only about "winning". The ends justify the means has been their playbook for a couple of decades.
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@toomuchrhetoric all this gerrymandering bought them control of washington, but not of the people of this country. March!
Trump fired Jeff Sessions today, Is Rober Mueller going to be the next? So who’s going to protect Mr. Mueller now? Republicans? Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, once said there would be "holy hell to pay" if Mr.Trump fired his attorney general". I hope the senator was serious when he said it.
Trump wants to do crazy things. It looks like he has already decided to instruct Mr. Whitaker to fire the entire Mueller team - something Mr. Trump said he has the power to do in a press conference today. I will not be surprised if Mueller is going to be the next. Mr Whitaker will finish this Mueller job once for all.
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@Padman don’t make me laugh...Graham is Trump’s poodle ever since McCain passed away.
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@Padman
Lindsey Graham already changed his tune and more or less is looking forward to assist Trump in getting a new Attorney General confirmed. I would not be surprised if Trump elected Matthew Whitaker to that position for he seems to be his “yes man”, protector and personal lawyer who is without scrupulous.
@Padman
Lindsey Graham already changed his tune and more or less is looking forward to assist Trump in getting a new Attorney General confirmed. I would not be surprised if Trump elected Matthew Whitaker to that
The U.S. made a constitutional crisis a certainty by electing a con man and money launderer president. This pathological liar obviously wants to defend himself and prevent any damage to his power, finances, and family. Whether the Democrats in the House will be up to that unprecedented challenge of facing up to a mafia-type godfather in the White House is open to question.
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No, he simply wants a yesman.
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Bailey@ Who doesn’t?
@Karen: I daresay that many if not most good leaders don’t want “yes men.” They would rather have people who come up with ideas, who are willing and unafraid to speak freely, and who can constructively challenge decisions, always focusing on good results and the overall health of the given organization. The loyalty of “yes men” is demanded by leaders who are insecure, incompetent, and/or corrupt.
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