Trump obstructed justice in broad daylight. He did the crime, he should do the time. Don't let him off. Don't let Sarah and Kellyann off the hook either. They are accomplices to this.
20
The attacks on this opinion piece lack rational argument but rather are simple incitements: you lost, back-peddling, waste of time, dig your own grave. The barrage seems coordinated.
9
It is clear from the Mueller report (the most damning parts likely hidden by Trump's lapdog attorney general) and from the reporting of honest journalists like those at the NYT, that Trump has broken his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the US. He serves not the country, but himself and himself alone. He is a clear and present threat to our democracy.
Impeach. Political consequences should not be a consideration when the very heart of our constitutional democracy is threatened.
18
Disbar Barr.
16
We not only see a delusional president in the Mueller report but we also see a destructive president who is ordering his aids to do things that they refuse to do because they are simply outrageous and illegal .
Attorney General Barr has become a consigliere to this MOB BOSS of a President .In the final analysis it is because of regrettable individuals like Robert Barr, that the insanity, the stupidity and the insult to the American public which is Donald Trump has been allowed to continue .
How long will it take us to summon within ourselves the better angels of our nature in understanding that there is indeed a cancer on this presidency ? How long will it take for us to understand that Donald Trump is a threat to this country’s democracy?
14
Trump and his advocates lie through their teeth; they brush them with mendacity and gargle with turpitude.
11
I've just finished reading the whole report. Every American and everyone with an interest in world affairs should, if they can find the time. If what it details of Trump (especially in part II) isn't impeachable, historical precedent and relative moral judgement must truly mean nothing in the American conscience.
520
@Observer
everyone who is capable needs to read the Mueller Report and Mueller needs to testify before the congress.
45
@Observer There is no such thing as "the American conscience".
8
@Rain "Everyone who is capable needs to read the Mueller Report"
Too bad that leaves Trump out! I doubt he could make it through page 1.
37
this person is cherry picking. The best and most parsimonious logic is one can not obstruct since there was no crime. Mueller points that out as well. There is additional rationale why Mueller decided not to conclude on obstruction in either direction. Although trump may not pushed the boundary, for multiple reasons, he did not step beyond it. The democratic congressional so called "investigations" can not add anything further substantive to the Mueller report about obstruction.
8
@sh "The best and most parsimonious logic is one can not obstruct since there was no crime"
An absolutely false statement. The obstruction is of the investigation. The investigation is to determine whether there was a crime. Even if no crime is found obstructing the investigation is a crime in and of itself. Trump clearly used his official office to obstruct the investigation and tamper with witnesses. Both crimes. Trump is very impeachable and convictable. Only the utterly corrupt repubs stand in the way.
20
@sh One of the reasons he didn't "step beyond" it is because orders he gave went unheeded.
10
@sh Best and most parsimonious? You do not read very carefully as this fallacious argument is vigorously and thoroughly discredited in Mueller's report.
11
The clear winner here is Donald Trump. Over the last two years, he has said there was no collusion, and no obstruction of justice. He has called the Mueller investigation a 'witch hunt', a 'hoax', a conspiracy by the opposition party, and so on. Trump fired James Comey, the former FBI Director. Was it because, Comey did not perform his functions well, or did he let down the country?
After spending two long years, the Mueller Report has ended vaguely. It is open ended. Not much said to convince anyone, whether it is on collusion or obstruction of justice. Simply saying, the Mueller Report is non committal. The Report does not say, Congress should take over, and do how it pleases.
AG Barr takes over, and decides on his own conclusions. Whatever, that is, is now history.
Now, everyone is saying, Congress must act. What exactly would they be doing?
6
@citizen Trump himself said, on TV, that he had to fire Comey because of the 'Russia thing.' The pretext for firing Comey was a report issued by Rosenstein that showed that Comey violated FBI norms by publicizing a revived investigation of Clinton's emails (which at the time drew praise from Trump). Trump cares less whether the head of a federal agency performs their functions well, he only cares whether they use their position to serve him and his needs.
16
Decide if we should impeach Drumbo for obstruction of justice. That’s what congress should be doing.
Otherwise go back to Russia.
10
There is no obstruction. Among Democrats there is obsession.
2
Where is the outrage against the state actors who deliberately interfered in the election?
Why was the Special Counsel's investigation initiated and what evidence was provided to the FISA court authorizing the surveillance of a political campaign?
The 2016 election was riddled with misdeeds on both sides of the aisle. Where are the missing 30,000 emails from Secretary Clinton? Destroyed BlackBerry's, leaked classified information, subterfuge.....and according to Director Comey-these actions did not rise to the level of a criminal complaint?
Mr. Bookbinders OpEd is a direct appeal for the Democrat led House to proceed straight to impeachment. This would almost certainly lead to continued gridlock in Washington and the probable re-election of the President given the current field of candidates in the Democrat field.
Attorney General Barr alluded to inappropriate surveillance last week in his Congressional testimony. I would be wary of rushing to judgement until the IG report is released later in May.
5
Know what I’ve noticed?
When various and sundry rightists, racists, oil tycoons, Hannitys and the whole rest of the passel can’t think of anything else, they natter about rushing to judgment.
Seems that sauce for the goose is bad ketchup for the sleazeball.
7
If this continues, it will show that this current group of Democrats are the biggest group of sore losers in the history of this country. I wanted Hillary to win too but come on already. You have to regroup and try again in four years. Those are the rules we live by to keep this country strong and a positive example of democracy for the rest of the world.
11
@Rob And just how did You react for 8 years under Obama? Repubs are STILL trying to make him a one term president, after he has done both his terms and moved on, and is Still more eloquent when speaking than Trump can possibly imagine.
16
@Rob This has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton
11
Attorney General Barr said, "as the Special Counsel’s report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks. Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation.”
9
@William Case How do daily denigrations of the investigation and any agency involved with it--ceaseless allegations of a "hoax" conducted by treasonous persons, multiple daily tweets expression derision toward the investigation; deliberate obfuscations and lies about numerous facts (knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting; his ongoing plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow well into the 2016 campaign); and his attempts (sometimes successful) to jettison figures involved with the investigation, such as James Comey, amount to full cooperation? He cooperated to the extent that he absolutely could not avoid.
25
@William Case
Sorry, but quoting exclusively from AG Barr in order to show that no corrupt intent is shown in the investigation is akin to having the fox guard the hen house, then believing said fox was innocent when the chickens are suddenly gone.
15
@lagiocanda
In America, the accused are permitted to protest their innocence, especially of they are innocent. Barr noted, "President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as President, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office, and the conduct of some of his associates. At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the President’s personal culpability. Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion. And as the Special Counsel’s report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the President was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks. Nonetheless, the White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the President took no act that in fact deprived the Special Counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation. Apart from whether the acts were obstructive, this evidence of non-corrupt motives weighs heavily against any allegation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation."
5
Baloney.
It wasn;t just Barr that disagreed with the legal framework that Mueller's team chose to work with.
It was Rosenstein as well.
They both rejected the use of that framework.
Still, using that framework as the basis for their analysis, they still found nothing compelling enough to warrant any further action regarding obstruction.
The Democrats in Congress will investigate regardless, simply because they want to deflect attention away from their failed attempt to undermine and overthrow the President of the United States.
It won't work.
Come election time, they will pay dearly for their treasonous behavior.
9
@Objectivist. They are digging themselves into a hole.
3
Try reading the report maybe?
6
Oh please ! Democrats need to move on to something of substance and come up with an inspiring plan of action for Americans. This has been and continues to be a waste of time.
14
Except democrats are furiously backpedaling, having finally reached the point where they are fully responsible for their accusations. No more allegations that cannot be backed up with evidence.
A new place for democrats, and they don't seem to be enjoying it.
6
@AACNY,
Here's the bite: legal is not the same as immoral. Many criminals can't be convicted because the evidence is not 99% sure. This is an especially frustrating situation when we see a president meeting behind closed doors with his Russian handler.
As I recall, people were frustrated when the FBI started treating terrorism like a crime. There simply isn't 99% certainty in the spy business, or war, or much of anywhere else.
6
That's not the conclusion that leapt to my mind when Mueller provided a new cache of evidence to back up the existing accusations regarding Russia and especially obstruction.
8
@AACNY What are you talking about?
9
If the Democrats really want to start a civil war, by all means, try impeaching Trump for obstruction.
6
We're going to have to pooh-pooh your irresponsible suggestion, Greg. The Constitution sets out the requirements for impeachment. Clinton was impeached on a lot less evidence than the stout pile that Mueller has assembled. The minority of Americans who still support Trump aren't idiots; they can read the Constitution too.
8
Omg - yet another liberal elite trying to tell all of us what we should care about. Enough of this. Mueller investigated for 2 years and found there was no collusion. Did Trump collude? No. Did he obstruct? Maybe. Is Trump a terrible person and a disgrace to the office of the Presidency? In my opinion, yes. But dividing the country and pursuing him on obstruction is not going to remove him from office before 11/3/2020. In fact, it might help him stay in office if it fires up his base. The great majority of Americans want to move on from this. The Dems would be better served to concentrate on solid ideas and policies that will win the Presidency in 2020. It-is-the-only-way-he-is-leaving-the-White-House folks!!! The NYT would serve America better by highlighting the issues important to all Americans. Not just the emotional reactions of the few on each coast.
17
@David, stop trying to cast the whole of Middle America as uninterested in justice. Regular folks, "the uneducated," non-elites, whatever you call them, are not willing to overlook the clear evidence of obstruction of justice. Everybody cares about upholding the law.
And you should read the obstruction conclusions again. Mueller didn't say exactly "maybe," he laid out a massive amount of evidence and then said he wasn't going to accuse anybody he couldn't charge.
19
I'm just curious... does any Democrat here actually, deep down, believe for an instant (assuming Trump was/is corrupt) that not every single President for the last 100 years was also corrupt on some level? Does anyone really (sincerely) believe that the office of the President is free in general from the corruption of power?
20
@Carlos
I'm not a Democrat, but I do believe that. The difference between the way other Presidents over the last 100 years have conducted themselves (excepting Nixon and Harding) and the astounding bad faith of Trump's presidency is a wide, wide gulf.
Your argument is just a poor appeal to moral equivalence.
198
That is beside the point. The entire point here is there is a sitting president who got elected with the aid of a hostile foreign government. It doesn’t matter what other presidents did, It only matters what Trump did.
82
@Carlos
I was wondering how long it would take someone to defend Trump with a "what about...." or any similar false equivalency. Such nonsense makes me want to hurl Ad Hominems at you--bark at the wind.
Sure, everyone is guilty of something, but isn't the question Carlos, what they are guilty of?
Clinton was guilty of an extra-marital affair--irrelevant for any POTUS in my book unless his affair directly affects his ability to do what is best for America and/or uphold the Constitution--something one cannot say about Trump.
Trump has been breaking the Constitution since he took the oath of office because profited from his presidency and real estate holdings. This is an emoluments no-no.
131
America is sick unto death of this hostility and revenge against a democratically elected President. The disgruntled Dems can carry this grousing all the way into the 2020 election, and then lose the presidency again. And from the looks of the candidates so far, re-electing Donald Trump will be effortless.
38
@JimW, Democratically elected means elected by eligible American voters. The report clearly points out that Mr. Trump was elected to a large degree by the illegal intrusion of Russia into our electoral process. The Constitution requires that Congress now act.
253
@JimW Thank you Jim. A rare voice of reason on this topic.
17
@JimW Clearly you have not actually read Mueller's conclusions to each section, and final conclusion.
It's not hostility toward Trump; it's defense of our Constitution and nation.
221
I very rarely congratulate anybody except the outside contributors who are enabled to reach a wider audience through publication in The Times and never any of their staff columnists. This column is one of those times. Congratulations!
"Failing to take up the mantle of accountability at a moment where circumstances so clearly demand it would set an abhorrent precedent for our democracy. Mr. Mueller did his job. It is time for members of Congress to do theirs."
Could not have said it better myself - have already declared as much in three separate comments (let's see if they're published...) on the Mueller Report. There is no room for political calculation when confronted with a president who actively engages in treason - and an attempt to obstruct an investigation into possible conspiracy with a hostile foreign power is treason, and he should be impeached for it.
What makes me so happy now is that The Times journalists have just reported that Maxine Waters has already reached the same conclusion:
“At this point, Congress’s failure to impeach is complacency in the face of the erosion of our democracy and constitutional norms,” Ms. Waters said. “Congress’s failure to impeach would set a dangerous precedent and imperil the nation as it would vest too much power in the executive branch and embolden future officeholders to further debase the U.S. presidency, if that’s even possible.”
I can finally relax. It is clear now that the Democrats will move to impeach Trump. Hallelujah!
2
All the House needs to do it start the impeachment procedure, then call for Trump to testify. He will lie under oath and this will be added to his many other crimes making his removal much easier.
1
Mueller should have demanded that trumple-thin-skin be interviewed in person, regardless of how long it took. Huge mistake not to have made him do that.
He also should have declared that he would have indicted Agent Orange if DOJ “policy” did not prohibit it.
Unbelievable mistakes, which surprises me to no end.
2
Okay, so where are the apologies and thank yous from the soi-disant President amd his faithful. Robert Mueller did his job, stuck by the limitations, and has honorably handed in his findings. So, Donnie Boy WHERE's that "witch hunt"? A lot of us are sadly disappointed by the outcome since it was left in the hands of AG Barr who duly re-annointed the sleaziest man ever to serve in the White House, which is going some. At the least Trump could acknowledge that the system worked as it was set to do.
1
To think we went out to investigate a president for crimes and found the Obama administration spying illegally. Trumps behavior is poor but we are a country of laws, and a persons poor behavior doesn’t make them criminals. I believe we will now find Obama, Holder and Rice broke the rule of law even though they are polite.
1
The report documents the massive interference in the election by the Russians in support of Trump, and also the numerous contacts between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. Did any (single) member of the Trump campaign inform the FBI of the Russian activities? I've only heard of one Australian diplomat who did. "Collusion" and "obstruction of justice" seem to weak to describe this; the word "treason".
2
None of this will matter for a number or reasons, many of which have been articulated in today's NYT:
1) This is a very different time from the Nixon and Clinton years. There are virtually no honest Republican members of Congress anymore, as there was during the Nixon years.
2) Tied to number one, is that he has a corps of ideological voters behind him that will always back him, and enough of them to re-elect him through the Electoral College. Given this and the "shoot themselves in the foot" progressive Democrats, there is no one in the Democratic candidate clown car that can beat him, even with the release of the Mueller report.
3) Unlike Nixon, Trump does not have a mote of honesty and cares little for the country that has made him so rich, so he'll never resign.
4) Democrats don't vote, and given that Americans have the memories of gnats, it will all be forgotten by November of 2020.
1
Hillary lost..Get over it.
This is so much sour grapes, and poor loser as well.
She was also quite flawed and if her campaign efforts were examined as thoroughly as was Trump's efforts to win, I am certain issues would be raised.
The essential thing is that the liberal pundits and news media mostly got it wrong and were astonished and disappointed Trump won. Smart people can be blinded by their zealotry.
It shows to this day that they are angry about her loss. Trump was anathema to them.
Get over it.Democracy, with all its flaws and dated traditions, is our process and if you want to win in it, learn how to run and win given its flaws.
2
Trump endeavored to obstruct justice. fact his
aides would not break the law for him is irrelevant
as to impeachment it is a question of when not iff
Dems need to put a human face, e.g. McGahn
Lewendowski etc. to the trump efforts to block
the probe.
Barr has no credibility, useless to call him as a witness.
1
Call your congressman, then call her/him again, regardless of party.
Wanted: Quality leadership, apply within.
1
Hmmm
Impeach and then throw out this person impersonating a leader?
Perhaps.
But do not underestimate the right-wing's back-up plans to celebrate Mike Pence as the new president.
up to 9-10 years of President Mike Pence?
That's even scarier than DJT staying on until the hopes of both being elected out of office.
Trump gets away with this because the public has been bombarded with evidence of misconduct on a daily basis for the past 2 years. This doesn't make him less guilty, but it does show that if a president--or a mob leader--continually commits unethical and illegal acts, it tends to lessen the shock value. He will get away with it, as long as the stock market remains strong.
1
We the USA are bracing for 18 months of political hubris on both sides of the aisle as a result of Mueller report. This began as a result of a politically anti-Trump motivated embedded FBI employees that took evidence from a discredited dossier to investigate Trump's campaign. The inability of the Clinton - Obama followers to accept Trump's legitimate election to the Presidency is the root cause that let to the Mueller appointment. All of Trump's foolishness in reaction to the Mueller investigation is all highlighted in the report but it is all because of a unsavory, false dossier that was hurried through the court to grant surveillance of the Trump campaign. So for 18 months we will sit and rot on hold as the Democrats spend all their time holding hearings and impeachment proceedings while the Republicans appoint special prosecutors to look internally at the DOJ and FBI to root out political conspiracies of state and investigations of the previous DOJ enabling and protecting Hillary Clinton's dirty tricks and enrichment as Secretary of State. There you have it folks, the big winners are the US opponents, inept POLS in Congress and Senate - we the people are the biggest losers.
1
It's time for Democrats in the House to show what they are made of.
I could not be more impressed with Adam Schiff and his refusal to cave to Republican Trump jingoism.
Yes, there is a crucial election in November, 2020. But, in the meantime, this vapid, venal and corrupt president needs to be further exposed and held accountable, along with his Republican enablers in Congress.
1
Lot of arguing here especially from JimW who mentions that Trump was duly elected. Even without the Mueller report I can see with my own eyes that Trump is corrupt. Yet let's consider this: is even imaginable that the Republican party and base would ever accept the election of a Democrat who won the electoral college and yet lost the popular vote by 3 million votes? A lesser vote percentage than even Mitt Romney got in losing the presidency.
Not the peoples choice so just shut up about that.
A Democrat in office losing the popular vote would be hounded day and night.
2
I believe the Trump viciousness extends to his antics with his buddy he loves so much, North Korea's Kim Jong-un who announced another military threat to the US on the day the Mueller report was made public. Trumps other friends, Putin whose government upended the 2016 election and Mohammed bin Salman who murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi reflects a takeover by enemies.
I think this is the reason Mueller tip toed around Trump in his summary, and it is because we are being bullied and face real threats from a mafia like President using his power against us to serve his own interests that we make sure he is not re-elected.
Democrats are a drop in the bucket to him compared to the world wide affect his presidency has caused with the fear and hate he's expelled. The Mueller report being released on Holy Thursday is no coincidence, but rather a hard punch in the face daring anyone to stand up to him. His moment of triumph that began with his sit-in on Christmas in the White House to his celebratory return to Mara Lago today for Easter couldn't have played out any better than if it were cast as a TV show.
But this is reality and time to focus on re-electing a new president.
Oh, that infamous "obstruction" ghost!
To impeach Trump you will need support from the Republican member of Congress. And they will only support it when their voters support it.
The Republican voters knew already that Trump is a fighter who can't be bothered with niceties. They don't care. In order for them to give up on Trump they need to see a real crime. Not some pseudocrime accusation like obstruction that is typically used when real crimes are missing.
A big part of the Mueller report is about Russia. Yet almost all the news about it is about obstruction. This tells me that Mueller found Trump a horrible man but that he couldn't find anything to nail him.
Russiagate is over. Time to focus on real issues for the next elections.
1
If such behaviour by a president of the United States is accepted I think there is a very doubtful future for the country. The GOP are cowards. Imagine if president Obama had done the same things, they would have been screaming of impeachment long time ago. Imagine also if Obama had a hotel in Washington DC named Hotel Obama. Large scale corruption.
1
"Mr. Mueller also corroborates Mr. Comey’s accounts of two interactions with Mr. Trump, including the infamous Oval Office meeting where Mr. Trump asked him to “let Flynn go.”"
Wrong. Mueller didn't corroborate anything. Comey and Trump were the only ones there. It's a he said - he said. No independent corroboration is possible.
Anyone with common sense knew from the beginning that the whole "Russiagate" story was bogus. It was a hoax to deflect attention away from Hillary and the DNC's corruption and their rigging of the 2016 Democratic primaries.
Now, it's all over but the shouting. This piece is part of the shouting.
1
Two thoughts:
(1) It is inconceivable to me--barring an act of God--that our Republican-controlled Senate would ever vote to convict Mr. Trump.
Years back, I received an e-mail--I believe from Mr. Newt Gingrich--calling for my support. This was during the Obama years--and Mr. Gingrich referred derisively to Mr. Obama's "liberal lapdogs in Congress."
These GOP senators! They wrote the BOOK on "lapdogs." Headed by Mr. Mitch McConnell--whom I regard with loathing and contempt--they have lain flat as Mr. Trump went stomping all over them. "These boots were made for walking. . . . ."
That being the case--should the House vote to impeach? And take us through that long, strident process?
Gosh, New York Times--I simply don't know.
(2) I would address this remark to conservatives--and especially evangelical Christians. Who flocked to the Trump banner in '16--and have stayed there ever since.
CHARACTER MATTERS!
Lord have mercy, but it really DOES matter.
You have given your love--your loyalty--your devotion--
--to an arrant crook and knave.
He was gonna "do things for you." He was "onboard with your program." Conservative judges--the whole nine yards.
He has covered himself with shame and contempt.
He has covered YOU--and your cause--with shame and contempt.
And how it'll all end the Lord only knows.
Next time--
--pick a man worthy of your trust.
Mr. Donald J. Trump does not fit that bill.
He never did.
1
The only thing that really, really matters is this:
Did Trump know that The Russians were working on his behalf to tilt the outcome of the election??? If The Little Prex knew about their efforts, and willingly accepted the Russians' help, he may ultimately be found guilty of treason.
1
So which witnesses of the 500 interviewed by the Mueller team has new information to make the case ?
Get a grip and move on.
Consider this…
A neighbor accuses you of a crime, let’s say having meetings at your house with drug dealers. You deny it because you never did. The local press picks up on it and they start a daily campaign to arrest you for drug dealing. Your neighbors hire a crack attorney to indict you. But you never did it! You tell your family to not cooperate with anyone. It’s a witch hunt and should go away. But the lawyer is relentless. You go on the offensive to protect your name, publicly accusing the lawyer and the neighbor of acting in bad faith. You try to get the lawyer fired. FINALLY, after two years of this nightmare, the court rules that you were not a drug dealer or involved with drugs, BUT you did try to obstruct an investigation of whether you were.
1
Damnation is a theological concept. Bob Mueller is not a supernatural immortal deity.
Mueller's Report is a redacted partial truth regarding an inquiry into Russian hacking and meddling in the American 2016 Presidential election.
Telling the truth is either condemnation or exoneration or frustration.
1
What is coming thru loud and clear is the AG Barr has ruined his reputation over the course of the past few months.
2
I have a feeling that nothing will happen to this horrible man. He will get away with everything and quite possibly win re-election. Sad.
2
Reagan is finally right — government is the problem; that is a government headed by another politician who has no regard for the law. A President who is supported by an extensive list of faux patriots like Senators McConnell, Burr, and Graham and Congressman McCarthy and Scalise. In addition, it is has become evident that there is an endless supply of lawyers who have worked or are working in government that have no respect for the Constitution and the laws that support our democracy.
At age 70 I have been witness to the corruption and malfeasance of six Presidents and the morphing of the Republican party into a political organization that has no interest in protecting our Nation from threats foreign or domestic.
We the people cannot sit back and hope that Mr. Mueller and other true patriots are successful with protecting our Nation from corrupt politicians and foreign governments. No, we must become politically active and confront the politicians that put self, party and patrons before Country. If we do not our democracy will become just another banana republic or worse.
3
If Donald Trump had a shred of honor or a hint of shame, he'd resign. But he won't. The Republicans will likely give him a pass, and urge all of us to move on. Right now the only recourse seems to be to vote him out in 2020.
2
It is now time for clear-thinking Americans to move forward and decide that Trump is not fit for the Office of President of the United States. The Mueller report shows this sharply (actually, to no one's surprise).
Trump has to go. If not for subordinates around him, he would have surely violated the law regarding Russia, collusion and obstruction. He has CLEARLY shown a propensity for this. The Mueller report shows this in no uncertain terms.
He brags that he could have stopped the Mueller investigation at any time. The report specifically shows he tried to do this several times, but those subordinates around him SIMPLY DID NOT CARRY OUT HIS ORDERS.
The madness has to stop sometime.
Next year, those clear-thinking voters will have the opportunity to correct the wrong, right the ship, and put this country back on track. Go to the polls and vote for anybody BUT Trump.
"Make America Great Again" by voting Donald Trump OUT of office.
Please. Our country's future depends on it.
1
I personally don't think impeachment is a good idea for Democrats. Republicans are going to stonewall and attack. Democrats are partisans and so on. Plus, Trump loves any excuse to play the victim. Mr. Silver Spoon is obviously so persecuted. Either way, getting the votes in the Senate is essentially impossible. You're just feeding to red meat the grinder machine.
However, I do think the Congress has a responsibility to act. Just because one Party refuses to act on their own doesn't make the responsibility go away. The Mueller report, in no uncertain terms, suggests the President should be impeached. His removal is up to Congress to decide. That's politically uncomfortable for Democrats but it's the right thing to do.
Nadler needs to investigate impeachment as a possibility. Waiting for the full report is an abdication of responsibility. He can't slow walk this one. You lose both ways when you're weak. Democrats need to make the call and soon.
The decision to impeach/not impeach Trump should be made by the House Democrats based on only one consideration: What would be the effect of impeachment on getting rid of Trump in 2020. In other words, will impeachment, without conviction, weaken Trump, or strengthen him. It is my opinion that it will strengthen him, as he will paint it as a partisan effort that failed. My advice to the Democrats: Even though Trump has acted in a way that warrants impeachment, don't win the battle and lose the war.
3
The one thing that can be said of Trump is that he breaks the law, or tries to, in very public fashion. We all saw and heard him obstruct justice in a variety of ways elucidated by the Mueller report. It is now up to Congress to hold him to account.
2
Why is it that only the Democrats in Congress have to uphold their oath of office and take steps to impeach Trump. Republicans too took the same oath. They should be stepping forward and initiating impeachment proceedings to try and save their party. Will any come forward?
8
The Democrats must try to impeach although it won't be successful with a GOP senate majority. The symbolic gesture is warranted for several reasons. One, Trump deserves to be impeached for refusing to protect of our country from foreign meddling in our elections which is treason, and two, impeachment proceedings will keep his administration on the defensive for the rest of his term hopefully limiting the damage he will to do to our Democracy. Trump lost the popular vote and will never gain any more voters, so don't worry about upsetting his base. Just worry about the GOP rigging the election.
2
Your analysis is spot on and compelling.My worry is that if Congress spends all its time working on the assets provided by the report, they will be branded as angry Democrats.We have an election coming up soon and Democrats need to provide a positive image so that they can regain the presidency and Senate in 2020.If the Republicans can make a case that the Democrats are only trying to do political damage it may hurt the Democrats.The Democrats need to balance acting on the report and promoting a positive legislative agenda which they can run on.
3
What ever happened to righteous anger? Given the behavior of the grifter in the WH, the majority of the electorate is enraged, and justly so; asking our D representatives forcefully reflect that rage is appropriate. They need to step up and stop this attempt to gamify and weaken our democracy. Doing so would show leadership and honor in my opinion. Why are Dems the only ones expected to button their lip for fear of sounding whiney and weak? Rs blow their tops regularly and no one accuses them of weakness for it. (Though they have perfected the whiney arts of fake outrage, crocodile tears & pearl clutching.)
I don't get how a "policy", coming out of a Department of the Federal government, is established as essentially constitutional law. The Attorney General is a political appointee and subject to all the vagaries of such. Law is set by Congress and interpreted in the Judiciary. As in the case of the War Powers Act, and the authorized use of military force, and (for Democrats any how) the use Impeachment, Congress seems like to be afraid of the power granted to it and would prefer to be handcuffed by a "policy",from a "department" of the Executive.
I'm really beginning to wonder if this generation of congress is up to the tasks history is setting for it.
The author of this opinion piece ignores the reality of the report. The President is found not guilty of collusion and no conclusion is reached about Obstruction. The Speaker ( Pelosi), the second in command (Hoyer) and the chairman of the House Investigations Committee all concluded, after the Report was issued, that impeachment was not an option. Bottom line: Trump will remain in the White House until January 20, 2021. Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner et al do not face indictments. They all remain scot free whether we like it or not.
1
In addition to obstruction of justice with regard to the special counsel investigation Congress should also investigate Trump’s actions with regard to immigration. Who has he directed to break the law? Who has withstood him and who has complied? The victims of these crimes are many and sorely damaged.
I love the way the Reeps claim that Trump was democratically elected when he was like W appointed because we do not have a democracy.
1
Congress each took a oath, to uphold the Constitution, if they do nothing and just hope it will die down, it is time for impeachment of not only the president but congress as well. It will be hard and messy but it will save America. Just like the Congress, each American will have to make their own decision, will we just put our head in the sand and say Congress will do the right thing or will each of us fight to keep the America that the founding fathers wrote in the Constitution.
We are at a crossroad, do we respect and follow the law or do we let the people, in office, determine HOW the law will be followed with each elected administration?
Like it or not, each of us Must decide what we want to happen and work to save or destroy the America we thought we live in today.
1
Barr lies as well as Trump does.
All Grand Jury proceedings that have gone to court cannot be redacted as they are now in a public record. As with the Pentagon papers there are no national security issues that haven't already been put forth to the public and also should not be redacted. Tell your congress people to seek the full report without redaction.
1
We the people have watched our unfit president for 2 years. We didn't need Robert Mueller's Report to know that what our eyes and ears showed us since 2016 is a president unable to lead our country. The question is will Congress initiate proceedings to impeach and remove president Trump from office? We wait and weep for our country,
2
What is also clear, is that nobody really listens to just about anything the President says. It seems quite a bit of what he "orders," is ignored. It's clear, from the report, that this is an ineffective White House in complete disarray. The only policy, is to stay in power.
3
But not for imprecise precedence and but not for the vilified shallower-than-deep state (those behind-the-scene who blocked Trump's attempts at obstruction) this president would be now be indicted and dealing with articles of impeachment.
Obstruction and conspiracy against America are difficult to prove legally. Financial fraud is not and when money is involved, people being offered a lot of it are less willing to say "No! I won't do it!" Trump is far from out of the woods.
The problem is that impeachment is as much a political act as it is a legal act. Nixon didn't resign until Barry Goldwater told him GOP Senators had abandoned him. Unfortunately the current GOP is not a political party. It more resembles a criminal enterprise. And it runs the Senate.
So before we discuss impeachment, let's examine the chance of it succeeding. Ask yourself what is the chance of getting 19 GOP Senators to turn on their dear leader? At this point I'd say it's zero.
Now investigation in the House should absolutely continue and intensify. Subpoena and then subpoena some more. NY is about to give Congress his state tax returns. And the redactions indicate the numerous ongoing investigations which Trump cannot touch.
But impeachment is a very tricky enterprise. It's difficult for a reason.
Don't let Trump lure us into the briar patch.
3
I was initially against impeachment. I wanted Trump to be unimpeded in his twisted governance, in order to make him more unelectable in 2020. But Congress and the American people must now think more about the rule of law now than election results in the future. Trump won't be removed from office by the Senate, if he is impeached. But he must be taught that at least the Democrats care about the Constitution and that they now control the House. I wonder if he would call his impeachment "fake news." That would be choice.
1
If Republican politicians think the outcome of the Mueller report is acceptable conduct for a president and shouldn't have consequences for him, then I would find it interesting if Democrats propose to turn this into law. So far Trump supporters only think about their short term gains and ignore the implications of their actions for future politics.
2
It takes courage for the kind of pursuit of justice that is now needed. I have full confidence in the three main committee chairs, but fear that the gutless DCCC and Speaker Pelosi will nix the pursuit of impeachment, for fear of the mythical moderate Republican voter, for the sake of e pluribus unum. That is the phrase Pelosi invoked just last December.
E pluribus unum comes after saying in democracy and not the other way around. Appeasement, triangulation, and compromise with corruption got us here. It's time to get tough.
2
As I see this, I think the Congress has a duty to impeach. No, it is not entirely a political issue, whatever that is supposed to mean, in terms of restraining the actions by the House. And regardless of what the Senate may do, or how hopeless conviction may seem, there needs to be a Senate trial on the matter. Make those (spineless) Republicans squirm and struggle. And vote.
The point is that the House must do this when presented with the attempts by the President to obstruct justice, crime or no crime, whether those attempts at obstruction were successful or not. Those wrongful acts cannot go unanswered. Failing to start impeachment is like saying no harm, no foul...Except there was harm, and there is no reason to assume there was no harm. For one example we do not know how witnesses were affected by the various statements made by Trump.
5
Honey's comment: if you took her second sentence "The very determination with which Mr. Trump has tried desperately to hide his actions and has surrounded himself with persons he thought would shield him from public humiliation is enough for Congress to further investigate him and his financial finaglings." and changed the pronouns to feminine and substitute a certain person's name who ran into trouble regarding classified emails ... well, there are quite a few people who would agree with that reworded sentence.
The U.S. lacks solid leadership with adequate integrity. Why have we come up so short in recent years?
Trump would not be Trump if he didn't trump justice all this time hopefully finally the his time is up.
Remember Trump ask his appointees to be loyal to his person. This applies to Mr Barr, he's not loyal to the truth or the rule of law but to Trump.
1
You can read here in the NYT the republicans brag about winning and loosing, even for 2020 , but they have no vision of the damage to the future of the USA or worse : the world.
No conceptual analysis . No logic . No causality. No shame.
2
Not good for Democrats. The corruption starts there.
Does it really.
Please explain. Do be detailed.
5
George Washington did not get upset about a foreign power (France) helping him win the Revolutionary War!
Trump is not upset. Everyone else is!
Get a grip people!
Alliances shift.
Build the wall!
2
Congress will be excoriated for pursuing impeachment with no possibility of conviction (by the Senate). And for doing nothing. So:
Censure the swine, move on with our business and run him out on a rail in 2020.
2
It's unfortunate that impeachment proceedings will be fodder for more phony "witch hunt" accusations by Trump and Fox News. But Noah Bookbinder is right: it's the duty of Congress, as co-protectors of the Constitution, to consider impeachment to reestablish boundaries against authoritarian rule. Meanwhile, we can only imagine what Trump and Fox News would have said if the Obama Administration had been the subject of a report like this!
2
Just one guy's opinion:
1) I am fed up with Mr. Mueller's coy hiding in the background. If he does not agree with AG Barr then he should man up and tell us what he thinks. He is the guy we invested millions of dollars and two years of faith in his ability to lay this out.
2) I am so sorry but America is too far gone for an impeachment to succeed. The Democrats best use their time to lay out a vision of the country that is addressing the real needs we have. Donald Trump is a stain on our history and a danger to our country. Sadly, Pence is too, and possibly more dangerous so we have to keep our eyes on the prize of a renewed and invigorated America that will need to work very hard together to repair this sickening chapter in our story. And the Democratic Party can heroically rise to the occasion or forever be maligned as a group who did not.
2
There's little doubt that trump is unfit as any sort of leader - the President or a Boy Scout leader. The core issue seems to be that our democracy has a few core tenets, deeply embedded laws and fundamental values. One of most critical is "No one is above the law" - and that means zero. That means everyone - especially those in high positions of trust who must exemplify decency, compassion, trustworthiness, honesty, and good human character, all imperfect humans. And "No one is above the law."
The issue here - donald trump actually believes he is above the law, he's the"boss" and everyone should do what he says. He believes that he is "king donald" and, like a small child or a ruthless autocrat (Kim, Putin, Duarte, Xi, etc.) believes he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants to whoever he wants and he cannot be held accountable -he believe he is above the law.
What's so strange here is that trump has the Congressional Rs going along with his insanity, we have a major network tooting trump's horn every minute of every day and there are enough corrupt, criminal, extremely greedy people and corporate CEOs who will do whatever they have to keep their ignorant puppet squatting in our Oval Office making sure do not pay their fair share and continue the redistribution of or common wealth the .01%.
3
Events no longer give the Democrats a choice of whether to impeach or not to impeach. They have no choice but to start impeachment proceedings. To do anything less would be to say that the President is above the law. This would destroy our democracy because we would now have a sovereign King in Donald Trump. His supporters may hail him as King Donald. But for the rest of decent people in this country he is a criminal that needs to be held accountable.
4
Here's a question for Republicans in Congress:
"If a tree falls in the forest and those who witness it refuse to acknowledge that it fell, has it fallen?"
They had better hope the tree doesn't fall in their direction.
1
Rightly or wrongly, and because of Citizens United and other laws that suppress voters voice, impeachment is not an option. The GOP controlled Senate will not allow it and the Establishment Democrats in the House do not have the stomach for a fight.
What to do?
Citizens who see the perils of losing their Democracy have to act at the ballot boxes in 2020. This is our best hope, unless of course the Trump administration does nothing to protect the integrity of the vote, which is what they have done so far - sit on their hands. If we win we set in motion laws that protect us from irresponsible members of Congress.
What a sad estate of affairs.
2
Trump was "saved" from being found guilty of obstruction of justice because he had a staff who ignored his orders or refused to carry them out.
Now that Trump has "cleaned house" and now relies on "acting" department heads and people like Steven Miller who encourages his worst impulses, who is going to save him now?
9
Mueller's report gathers in one place all the seamy shenanigans of the Trump campaign and all of Trump's obstructive posturing. A close read of the report will probably teach things we hadn't known before, but a skim of the report shows nothing new. Shady actors repeatedly tried to tie their star to Russia and it oligarchs but could never close the deal. Trump repeatedly obstructed investigation into his administration in flamboyant and open ways. There is little point to Congress indulging in weeks of rehash, when Senate acquittal is a dead lock cinch. Congress needs to investigate the corruption that soddens the Administration. The people need to organize to retain evict the occupants of the White House and its Senate sycophants and retain the House.
14
Mr. Putin thanks you for your service continuing to subvert the American Nation. Thank you Mr. Bookbinder.
13
@Emily You lost me. Could you please explain your argument here?
4
what does the report say about Mr pence?
4
Resign.
Today.
You, too, Barr.
45
In other words, according to Barr and his ilk, its not okay for a President to have an affair with an intern and lie about it (all details of the intimacy of that affair will be published to an embarrassing degree) but it is okay for a Republican President to manipulate the public, obstruct justice, collaborate with enemy and other foreign powers, steal an election, have affairs and pay off the women to be silent about them, lie about the payoffs, appoint crooks to destroy government agencies, pressure government staff to lie and perform illegal tasks, conceal his tax returns, lie about his net worth, swindle people who want to learn how to run a business, swindle construction firms, ridicule people who are handicapped, try to divide the country, vilify whole races of people and religions, mock NATO and our European allies,....uhhh, got it!
6
If the Democrats, and the Times, want to double down on this it will be to their detriment.
Fine with me. Dig your own grave.
1
So now NYT is outraged that Trump wanted to stop the investigation which found no collusion with Russia, but, eh, didn’t?
People long ago learned to ask why papers take positions. The positions they take say more about the paper than it does about Trump.
I remember “He kept the news straight”. This is no longer the NYT I grew up reading.
8/8/16 is the day the NYT died. It’s sad.
1
Attack, attack, attack! I imagine NYT opinion writers had their post-Mueller-release articles completed days ago with only a few blanks left to fill in stray facts. Perhaps nobody notices that the Dems have made anti-Trumpism their whole message, their stock-in-trade. They have no positive program to move America forward, your reason to vote for them is that they hate Mr. Trump and you should, too. Don't ask questions, just give them power, they'll know what to do with it--you bet they will!
2
@Ronald B. Duke There's no comparison to the 8 years in which Republicans devoted their time, on the taxpayer's dime, to "making Obama a one-term president," how many millions of taxpayer dollars on failing 54 times to repeal the ACA, rather than do the people's business. And you're wrong about everything else, too.
1
Mr. Bookbinder,
You’d have partially legitimized this crackpot piece if you simply prefaced it with, “It Came to Me in an Opiated Haze, So Please Love Me.”
1
Hear, hear!
Oh Dear. Noah Bookbinder. Are you new to planet earth? The Access Hollywood tapes were damning. And DJT was still elected president. The Mueller report is not even in the same universe in terms of "damning". You know that...right? This is just an ego piece...yes?
1
So AG Barr misled the public. Will he own up and step aside (resign). The letter he released a few weeks ago is way off what Mueller concluded. Yes, there was indeed a conclusion by Mueller yet AG Barr purported that there was no conclusion.
Evidently, there were numerous incidences of collusion. What is yet to be determined was whether it was to the level of conspiracy as the president responses "were inadequate" according to Mueller.
There is no choice but judicial committee proceeding with their investigation else this will set a precedence for future presidents. RNC needs to seek for someone else nomination other than Trump to vie for the presidency in 2020. At this rate, all attempted crimes that are not successful will never be prosecuted. ( attempted robbery etc....).
Trump is unqualified to even be in the ballot come 2020
The real collusion occurred between Trump, members of his administration and the Republicans in Congress. As Mr Bookbinders notes, many of Trump's illegal or unethical actions occurred in full public view; these public servants have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and should go down with him.
3
Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
If the House Democrats vote to impeach Trump, it is very possible it will help re-elect Trump.
If they don't vote to impeach, they set America on the road to authoritarianism and banana republic status.
I lean towards doing the right things, holding impeachment hearings. Let more facts come out that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump was illegitimately elected, his presidency is a fraud, and he is undeniably a criminal
They will be a trial in the Senate, evidence will be presented, Trump can try to defend himself under oath and then every Senator will need to go on record as for or against.
If he is removed from office we get Pence who will be a much more electable candidate than Trump.
If he is not removed the voters can still do the job.
I just don't think there is any choice. The Republic will not survive if we allow Trump to get away with his corruption, lies, and criminal obstruction.
If the situation were reversed and a Democrat had done what Trump is alleged to have done, would the Republican hesitate to impeach?
It is costs the Democrats the election, then America is simply doomed and it is time to leave the country and seek a new life in a better country.
America won't be worth anything with another term of Trump and his enablers and Russian cronies.
2
How is Donald Trump even allowed to run for re election in 2020 is beyond me!
3
Nothing in this will change anyone's mind. Those of us in the real world already knew all of this about trump. Those who are part of his cult won't believe it. Republicans will continue to defend him. Democrats, please continue to highlight all of the "corrupt" (that word is in the report describing trumps behavior) doings of this russian administration. But please also put forward good policy and ideas, even if they will go no where yet. Do not let trump continue to steal all of the air and attention. Ignore him as much as possible. That is the way to drive him even more crazy and right out of office.
1
This is worse then Watergate, time for impeachment hearings.
2
How can this be.Our Attorney General said Trump was exonerated.........Maybe he ISN`T our attorney general.
1
The world knows Trump is a misfit. Now it knows he failed to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Will someone squeal on Trump ? We shall see.
1
Mr. Bookbinder, the attempted coup d'état failed. As with all failures of this nature, the time has come to pay the piper. Gird thy loins.............
1
It's a pretty good day in American when a biased MSM and a vindictive Democratic Party can't overturn an election.
1
I wonder does he ever regrets saying, “Russia if you’re listening...”? Doubt it.
Congress-Take it from here and for once do your Job ! You all get paid too much quite frankly, to ignore this task of further inquiry into DJT's behavior and danger to this Country.
If the criminal in chief is not impeached this country, and the principles on which it was founded, is doomed. His minority base must not prevail
"The House Judiciary Committee must now pick up where Mr. Mueller left off and begin holding proceedings to determine whether Mr. Trump abused the powers of his office."
Forget impeachment proceedings in the House. What's the point when the Senate is controlled by Republicans without even the smallest moral compass?
While, in a non-Kafkaesque world, Trump's behavior screams for impeachment proceedings, Mr. Bookbinder has failed to articulate a valid reason why the House should engage in a pointless exercise. Indeed, it would be a pointless exercise not only because the Senate Republican majority would most assuredly provide a wall against impeachment, but because the White House will simply stonewall, and lawsuits to overcome the stonewalling would take years to resolve.
5
This is exactly right:
"The greatest risk at this moment in our history...is that we will send a clear message to future would-be authoritarians that our institutions cannot withstand a naked assault on the proposition that no person is above the law."
6
Say what you want, the Russians scored big time. And they've got us at each others throats. Really distressing.
16
@Celeste
Aided and abetted by democrats. They literally turned Putin into a demigod who could control the outcome of a US election. Meanwhile it was just the Russians doing what they always do -- all over the word -- stirring up trouble.
The investigation said there was not enough evidence to say he obstructed and jot enough to evidence to charge him. So what? Now we want to investigate him again. As a moderate liberal I'm fed up with the lib dem obsession of everything trump. Investigate, investigate, find something, find something, anything, impeach, yeah impeach that's all we really want. Stop the nonsense and go back to what we pay you to do. Help govern the country. Otherwise, you'll lose my vote in 2020.
3
@bored critic
Mueller said it was inconclusive as to Trump's innocence on obstruction. The key takeaway is inconclusive. That democrats are reaching conclusions that weren't actually reached is their own spin on things.
You folks so want the president to have done something wrong and you won't be satisfied until you find something real or not. We have all heard for almost 3 years now how democrats would all abide by the decisions made by the very honorable Mueller but it seems that this was ONLY when Mueller was going to do something to indict and impeach President Trump. It didn't work out so why don't you all just sorta settle down a bit...allow the country to attempt to reunite before an election tears us apart again
2
@Annoyed reader--totally agree. Can't get past the blind hatred and the need to have Mueller report go the way we want it. Now that it didnt quite do that, we want to investigate Mueller and start new investigations. What a bunch of morons we are.
Trump has waged a war on truth and truth lost. Many people do not and will not believe anything said against him. Through rampant and blatant obstruction Trump made the investigation drag on so long that many people don't care what it says. We lost.
3
@Mark Duhe--and some people only believe exactly what they want to believe against him. Regardless of the evidence
1
I despise Trump and his ilk, but the problem with going after him for obstruction of justice is that he was found innocent of what he was being investigated for. He might have used or tried to use his executive powers to end an investigation that he knew for a fact was a useless waste of time. Its more like he was trying to obstruct an injustice - being prosecuted for a crime he didn't commit.
It doesn't sit right to me to go after someone who might have tried to use his constitutional powers to stop an investigation into a crime he knew for a fact he didn't commit. Trump knew, of course that he didn't collude with Russia. He was kind of right that in the end the Mueller investigation was a bit of a witch hunt. Doesn't it seem kind of hard to blame him for trying to shut it down and move the country forward?
2
@idealistjam I'm a little stuck on the part about Trump moving "the country forward" when he's been summoning a nonexistent past to proclaim that he's going to make America great again...
...but the Mueller investigation was about Russian interference in the last American election. And a person can be guilty of obstruction even if there isn't an investigation into or conviction for an underlying crime. And Trump has not been "found innocent" of anything--only a judge or jury can make that determination.
Well, then, let's get to it. Get that beady-eyed Schiff out there to drum up some support, buck up Nancy, and do it. Best entertainment $35 million could ever buy. Better, Trump to the White House 2020 for certain.
2
America, as most of us have known since 11/16, we have No President. Let us all try to survive the next 18 months and dump this pathetic excuse for a Chief Executive and everything connected to him, including Bot Nation.
1
In grade school, when a child constantly lies, swears, cheats, bullies peers, and in the whole demonstrates wanton disregard of demeanor befitting a student, a report is compiled of his wrongdoings, and he's expelled.
In the White House, when a [so-called] adult constantly lies, swears, cheats, bullies peers, and in the whole demonstrates wanton disregard of demeanor befitting a U.S. president, a report is compiled of his wrongdoings, and he's impeached.
You got this Barr and your fellow system-rigging Republicans?
We hope so, because it's Pretty Darn Straight Forward.
7
As far as collusion goes, since when is ignorance a defense of the law? They did collude ,PERIOD! (Thanks Sean Spicer).
They aided and abetted in receiving stolen material. PERIOD!
He,they perpetrated witness tampering. He threatened witnesses. PERIOD!
Indict, impeach,remove. PERIOD!
4
While the Dems might not like to get embroiled in impeachment, they better consider it or we can all kiss our democracy and the rule of law goodby. Welcome to the GOP Banana Republic. Why bother to vote (if the GOP will even let us next time) if DJT et al can act this egregiously, enriching themselves and furthering the goals of foreign oligarchs/countries at our own citizens' and nation's expense, and not be held accountable for their criminal and unethical behavior and intentions! It has not benefited the Dems in the recent past when they failed to try to hold the GOP accountable for their bad acts, e.g. Bush v Gore, Bush II lying us into the Iraq war, the financial crisis with no penalties for those whose fraud contributed to the crisis and no bailouts for the public's losses. The Dems will lose if they don't realize this is a fight for our way of life, and the GOP/T are the party of lie-cheat-steal. The GOP/Trump will attack Dems no matter what we do, so we need to be true to our values, do the right thing, and investigate and impeach DJT, whether the GOP-controlled Senate will convict or not. The public needs to see/hear what bad things they did, what Russia did and continues to do while cheered on by T/GOP, and how these acts are bad for our own lives and our country. Of course Dems need to keep passing bills that are good for the people and making sure folks know it. don't make the base too cynical to vote in future!
4
@PEA--if we start an impeachment process where our only goal is impeach trump and we have no platform for 2020 besides we hate trump, we can kiss the White House goodbye in 2020 and probably the house as well. When we decide to govern the nation like we're supposed to do and take on a leadership role, maybe we can earn the White House back. If we want to continue to tantrum like kindergartners or spoiled rich kids, it's not gonna happen.
1
A Ha. I knew it.
1
In his report Mueller unequivocally concluded that nothing Prseident Trump did could be construed as obstruction of justice, mostly because of the President's lack of "corrupt intent". Further, Mueller also unequivocally concluded that he could not exonerate the President because of his misfeasance. Contrary, to what is stated in the article, Mueller did not conclude that Obstruction was waived because "you cannot indict a sitting President". Mueller merely stated that he took it into consideration.
Before writing about the Article, the Writer should thoroughly comprehend what he read.
3
@Phever
Mueller's musings were just that. They were not legal analysis or conclusions. That is why they are so inappropriate. Not unlike Comey's musings about Hillary.
1
Lofty speeches and posturing but mark my word, nothing will happen. We already know all of this and nothing happened, people keep going about their lives, oblivious to american democracy crumbling in front of their eyes. Over 40 percent of Americans still support a sleazy reality TV actor as their president. The damage is done. It's too late. Let's just hope that nothing catastrophic to the economy and the climate will happen in the next two years of this incompetency and that US democracy can survive this shameful episode that only reinforces to the rest of the world that the ugly american stereotypes are resurgent in the American people.
1
The danger in this moment is that future would-be authoritarians will be smarter than Trump. That he's stupid and lazy has been our saving grace thus far.
4
Let us tell the truth. Al. Of this is about control of $4.5 trillion in spending,and the assorted graft, patronage and toney sinecures. Trump's election threatened the establishment status quo and cozy business as usual for Washington insiders and large corporations and banks. Trump would bring in a new set of grafters and that couldn't be allowed. Nothing new.
What is truly disturbing is the childish simplicity and naivete of so many true believing liberals who clearly thing this is all real and about good government. That is scary not Trump.
Clearly, it is Trump's senatorial defenders who will refuse to impeach and therefore in light of such clarity of a deceitful president be themselves the ones who obstruct justice. That justice then must be levied by the American people against both them and Trump. That is the "fairness" that will validate the Special Counsel's conclusions. Americans aren't stupid. Mueller said to read between the lines. We can.
1
Yes, but it’s unlikely the Senate will do anything against Trump
1
What will the long term implications be of this damning report? Will POTUS remain the leader of the United States? Will he resign? Will Congress impeach him? Will he be indicted? Will the Republicans finally stand up for what is right and moral? Lady Justice please act in favor of democracy and honesty.
2
Start the impeachment process. The nation cannot afford to have the office of the presidency stoop so low.
3
@David B.based on what? High times and treason? I dont think so. Can't we just move on and govern the country. Before the dem party loses my vote in 2020.
We all know that if Obama has just one page of this report on his record, he would have been impeached.
@Amanda Jones--are you kidding? Obama. Demigod who never could do any wrong. HRC who survived insider trading, bullying her husband's mistress, destroying emails, giving big money speeches to wall street where she refused to disclose the text of the speech and ultimately conspiring and colluding with the DNC to interfere in the primaries and get Bernie out of the race. Yet where's that investigation? Please, dont preach about what if it was Obama or Hillary. We already saw how their misdeeds were just swept under the rug.
1
Nothing will come of the Tmes' dreams. In court the whole basis for the investigation, it's legitimacy, legality and predicates would be called into question. Think of Hillary, Obama and all of the rest under oath in a real court room and not House show trial. I am surprised (not really) that the Times has no questions about the investigation and antics at DOJ, FBI, CIA and NSA relative to the investigation, the dossier, false warrant affadavits, Lynch and Bill on the tarmac, Hillary's destruction of 30,000 emails under subpoena etc, etc. What damage have the media done to themselves in defense of the indefensible?
Can one obstruct justice by defying and defending yourself from an improper, illegal, corrupt investigation and attempted coup?
In the end to cite the great thinker Comey no prosecutor would take the case because there was no intent. Ironic.
1
In my view McCabe and Comey need some jail time.
2
If Repubs do not act now to support a full and transparent investigation of the president, even if it leads to impeachment and conviction, then they will forever be branded as utterly corrupt bootlickers of the most dishonest and corrupt president in US history.
Anyone voting for Trump after this report will be guilty of supporting a known criminal for president.
1
Joe, neither the Republicans nor his supports care. It’s sad.
Greatest President ever his most vocal acolytes say. Greatest threat to Republic ever us more like it.
The Mueller team was not able to find sufficient evidence of collusion with Russia. That doesn't mean Trump didn't collude.
1
@Justin
Actually they said they found no evidence of collusion. Next. Move off that point. Not enough evidence to to say he did or didnt obstruct and not enough evidence to prosecute. Move on. Govern the country. I'm done with the obsession. Lots of work to do to govern. Get on with it.
3
Simple question: If there's so much evidence of crimes, why won't the democrats begin the impeachment process? This is a case where people keep insisting there's all this "evidence" but no charges are being brought. Someone is wrong about something.
2
@AACNY--because the report says there is not enough evidence of crime to warrant a prosecution. That's why. Move on. Govern the country.
4
@AACNY
"Someone is wrong about something."
Yep. Something's wrong all right. Mr. McConnell and his Republican Senate couldn't care less about corruption, treason, obstruction of justice, racism, lies, and the like.
4
@AACNY, you know the old saying, repeat a lie long enough it becomes the truth? Be patient, these things take time. The case is like bread dough and needs to rise first.
1
Everything written is great, great, great.. then
"(The greatest risk at this moment in our history) is that we will send a clear message to future would-be authoritarians that our institutions cannot withstand a naked assault on the proposition that no person is above the law."
While that might be true, true, true, this Congress' duty is to today's People with regards to today's President.
My nitpicking of an enlarged reason aside, I'm convinced by Mr. Bookbinder, Executive Director CREW. Don't look at partisan lines. Gaming the final outcome might be politically irresistible, but that weight must remain zero. Only the evidence and weight of the alleged transgression(s), can move THE INDIVIDUALS.
This citizen encourages THE INDIVIDUALS to tune-out egregious Trump and to address the high crimes and misdemeanors.
My gut is less engaged with the issue of whether or not to go forward with impeachment hearings than my gut which cries out to understand the mindset of the Trump collaborators. And this a diverse group when looking at age, sex, and socio economic status. What are they saying to their spouses, co workers, friends, or social/professional network? A William Barr is not acting alone. He is on a mission shared by others. I await the journalist that has the degree of curiosity and empathy necessary to reveal what I believe most of us need to know to begin bridging a gap long in the making. While the anxiety of personal insignificance is one factor, there must be a richer context of other factors particularly for the Barrs and others in around the nexus of power.
7
This is my worry too. I don't understand what is happening to these people. Our country is in danger from within.
Pelosi on impeachment: "I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country, and he's not worth it". Does she not understand why they were given the gavel in November? News flash to Madam Speaker:
1. Our nation *is* completely divided, and clearly it's Trump/GOP's plan to keep it that way. The GOP is not interested on bipartisanship (who knew?)
2. The value of an impeachment vote is not some Trump calculus -- it is the Party's political will. A centrist agenda ignores why and how Trump won in the first place.
Unless our economy nosedives, Trump has an even chance of winning 2020. How? Same way as before: gerrymandering, electoral college, poorly populated red states, social media, bigly lies re health care, ad nauseum. Most importantly: in 2016, 90M people didn't even vote. And why would they? As Temin details in "The Vanishing Middle Class", our economy is that of a developing nation: a subsistence precariat class with low wages and no future, and a finance-, tech-heavy class with most of the breaks calling all of the shots, who do well regardless of who's driving. The service class rightly suspects their vote makes no difference, that white collar crime does indeed pay, and pay well.
Mueller's report is a gift. The "meritocratic", PAYGO Dems have been bringing handshakes to gun fights with the GOP for 40 years, abandoning people who work pay check to pay check, digging themselves the hole they currently occupy. It's high time they stopped digging.
5
@Rolf Arvidson Superbly eloquent observations! Many people voted for Trump (myself included) out of sheer overwhelming contempt for the smug complacency of the Democrats. We felt it is better to see the entire system destroyed than to allow the fake veneer of American exceptionalism to continue its blind lurch to the abyss.
Politics have evolved to new uncharted waters thanks to the Democrats.
Since the presidential we election results, the Dems, media and all well established fixtures of the "establishment" have launched anti Trump campaigns one after another, another and another.
This endless assault will likely result in nothing but it will have given life to all of those self proclaimed experts and pundits that dominate the daily news ad nauseum. One has to wonder which rock they were hiding under all along waiting like the 7 year cicadas to emerge and deafen us.
From this point forward, all of the political landscape will be tortured by similar smear and divisive threats and accusations. Little will be accomplished by any ruling party because politics is ruled by those that have power and as we well know, power corrupts, always has and always will.
But, there will be winners. Attorneys and constitutional experts that will rise to the challenge of helping their clients find new angles to game the rules of the system.
There are fortunes at stake and more to be made so winning is the only solution. Yet, All of this political petty animus has altered forever the rules of engagement that our forefathers so puritanically set out to protect future generations.
Politics are broken, politicians corrupt. Not a recipe for national pride or functionality.
2
It never occurred to me that there would be no investigations against President Hillary Clinton had the election gone the other way!
1
@Nick DiAmante - Politics have evolved to new uncharted waters thanks to the President of the United States, Donald J Trump.
At least when Nixon did it there was an actual crime to obstruct. We should be grateful to him for that.
So Mueller didn't see the smoking gun but he did see one with a bullet casing on the ground, which all the king's men said in chorus "what gun?"
The Mueller investigation was very narrowly cast -- a close-up when wide-angle was called for. Trump's lawlessness isn't confined to his campaign and cover-up. Arguably all his actions as POTUS deserve deeper scrutiny by a truly independent Special Prosecutor reporting to a federal judge instead of Trump's newest toady.
And instead of a micro-surgeon like Mueller, clearly lacking the intellectual stamina or political will to finish his distinguished career by taking on Trump-- understandable given his long good soldier tenure in the justice system -- a panoramic prosecutor like Ken Starr who searched far and wide for evidence of malfeasance is the very least Trump and his minions deserve.
Trump has so totally darkened the sky we can barely see his criminality-in-plain sight. Mueller was looking for the body of whoever Trump claimed he could shoot in broad daylight with impunity when Mueller should have been checking for all the bodies dumped in less visible spots.
The critical question remains: why would Trump walk like a duck, quack like a duck and yet fight so ferociously any hint that he is a duck?
Lawyers say possession is 9/10ths of the law. Trump possesses the White House and Barr insured the 9/10ths that comes with it.
If Mueller whiffed on what Trump did, let's get Trump for what he's doing.
6
Even now, some people are saying that the Democrats should not impeach Trump, or else they'll rile up Trump's base and lead him to reelection in 2020. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if Trump could shoot someone in broad daylight, and these people would still be too scared to impeach him. That'll certainly be my conclusion if the Democrats still choose to do nothing about Trump's repeated efforts to obstruct justice.
2
Manafort shared campaign data analysis with Russian operatives. How can this not be conspiracy.
If not conspiracy, then how to explain all the other coordinating events around Wikileaks and convention Ukraine platform changes and post campaign unrecorded meetings with Putin.
Mueller doesn't try to excuse those Russian contacts. Instead he lays out the facts. The judgment of behavior of a president of the US he leaves to the people. The rest he shuffled off to the NY DA's office to charge. Did and is Trump's family benefiting from their relationships with foreign entities. Follow the money is being left to NY to process.
2
I have confidence in House Democratic inquiries. The public will never see it without redaction. No one is above the law.
1
Mr. Mueller's thorough work will reap rewards beyond collusion and obstruction. The very determination with which Mr. Trump has tried desperately to hide his actions and has surrounded himself with persons he thought would shield him from public humiliation is enough for Congress to further investigate him and his financial finaglings. The number of impeachable offenses uncovered is unnerving even for Republicans. The party should not consider his 2020 candidacy seriously after the revelations of Mr. Mueller's report.
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@Honey What revelations? So far there is nothing really new. Just confirmation of things we knew. The clarity comes from these facts:
1. Mueller found no evidence of any collusion between any US citizen and Russia. None. Zero. Good news for all.
2. Mueller did not rule out obstruction, but he did not have enough faith to make any kind of indictment.
3. The DoJ did not see enough to meet the legal definition of obstruction.
Yes, Congress can investigation obstruction and impeach as they have different standards, but do you think 2/3 of the Senate will vote to remove a sitting president from office if the House says 1 thing and Mueller and the DoJ say another? Won't happen.
8
@Marvin
In response to your last question: no. Republicans will stand by Trump no matter what he’s guilty of. When you can deny climate change, you can deny anything.
As to the rest, you are distorting what Mueller concluded. He did not exonerate Trump. He just said it was up to Congress to finish it. As to DOJ, that fix was in long before the report was issued.
20
@Honey
That would be the smart play for Republicans: Refuse Trump the nomination. The entire Democratic primary would get thrown into chaos. Impeachment proceedings would effectively be rendered moot. The right candidate could easily take the election with little effort. At the very least, a presidential loss would not mean total devastation for the GOP.
If Republicans stick with Trump, 2020 is an all or nothing election. Trump wreak havoc on down ballot elections. Even if they somehow manage to win, we all still lose. Think about the precedent.
Republicans need to get the albatross off their neck. The easiest way to do that is by nomination.
7
Barr misrepresented the Mueller report. He's just another sycophant in Trump's stable, one who did not want to end up like Jeff Sessions. He was hired to lie, and he knew that from the start.
Barr's particular set of lies fit the pattern established by Republican and corporate lying since the days of the "Tobacco Institute" and other such disinformation campaigns since the 1950s. The approach is to "get to market first" with your own set of lies, in an attempt to mold the public's first impression. The strategy is that this first impression will tend to endure, especially among the not very critically intelligent, even after later truthful information emerges to contradict the original nonsense.
This does not seem to have worked all that well in this case, probably because of the high extent of prior anti-Trump sentiment, the widely shared knowledge that the president is a compulsive liar and that this trait has spread throughout his regime.
330
@Hugh very accurate assessment
9
Apparently some of the Democratic leadership, Nancy Pelosi in particular, have made a “political “ calculation that there is no utility to pursuing an impeachment which is pre-ordained to result in a partisan acquittal in the Senate. As Mr.Bookbinder concludes, to the contrary, Congressional investigation is not merely warrented but necessary .
Democrats have, up until now, focused on the quest for the needle in the haystack: a smoking gun that Trump or someone in Trump world committed a crime. In reality the existence of or inability to find the needle is not the impropriety that should most concern Congress. Rather it is the haystack itself: the public words and deeds, and now conduct and deeds revealed by the Special Counsel, that prove the Trump is unfit to hold the office of the Presidency. He may not have committed indictable crimes, but he has violated the expected norms of governance and has acted in a self interested manner instead of in fidelity to the our national interest. Trump has established his unfitness by profiting from an international, private business operated by his family, nepotism, and ignoring the security threat of foreign interference with our electoral process with attempts to insulate himself and family from scrutiny,
.Yes, the Republicans in the Senate will defend Trump, and thwart any attempt to remove an impeached Trump from office. But House Impeachment proceedings can save our Democracy from future corruption and destruction.
4
@Asher Fried brilliant
As I read the reader responses to this editorial call for impeachment, one heretofore unconsidered reason occurred to me. When the rest of the world reads the Mueller report and sees the piles of evidence against our president, it's incumbent on us to hold impeachment hearings for their sakes as well. The rest of the world has been properly ashamed of the current American president, long before many Americans reached that point, to be honest.
If we don't rise up together and demand that Congress impeach Mr. Trump, then our nation has truly fallen deep into the ash bin of history, exactly like the rest of the world says we have.
If we ever get better reasons to impeach a president, I for one don't want to live through that presidency. The past two years have been bad enough.
8
There are many arguments to be made for conspiracy and obstruction, but here is the most straightforward way that Democrats need to respond:
It is now clear from the release of the Mueller report that Russia attacked our nation’s election. For two years, nothing has been done to neutralize this threat to our democracy.
We demand that the president and the GOP support our efforts to safeguard future elections through strong legislation.
If the president and the GOP are not willing to safeguard future elections from Russian and foreign interference, then we will have no choice but to begin impeachment proceedings, because he will not be upholding his oath of office. We were attacked and the president is not taking measures to protect America.
6
Kudos to Special Counsel Mueller and his impeccable team of professionals. No accolades for Attorney General Barr who is Trump's modern day version of Roy Cohen. Too bad this will all play into Trump's hands as he chortles no collusion, just a delusion and far worse... in reality, the cry today should be "no more lies, no more denies." Mr. Mueller has allowed the facts to speak, the true, undeniable facts. And the American people (most of us) owe him a heartfelt thanks for allowing the truth to prevail.
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Agree. But so far the facts are:
1. Mueller, in two years with a ton of resources, found no collusion between any US citizen and Russia. None.
2. Muller, who charged numerous other folks with criminal acts, did not charge Trump with obstruction nor did he recommend that he be charged with obstruction.
3. The DoJ stated that the actions of Trump did not rise to the level of obstruction and will not be charging him as such. A decision that did not even consider the question if a sitting president can be indicted.
We know Mueller did a great job but you cannot wish things that did not happen.
Congress is free to take the facts and charge obstruction if they wish, that is there prerogative. But what chance does it have of a 2/3 senate conviction given the three points above? Zero.
4
@Marvin if you read the article, you will see that your point number three is false.
16
@Marvin Only because Trump is POTUS did Mueller NOT recommend obstruction charges. He teed it up for Congress to take the baton and do their oversight duties.
25
The GOP will never impeach Trump. I frankly would prefer Democrats in Congress to focus on highlighting a policy agenda that helps the working- and middle-class Americans who have so far not benefited from Trump's presidency, and loudly publicizing the fact that the GOP Senate is obstructing said policy agenda. This is how we get a Democrat president and Congress in 2020.
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@Nomad
I think what you meant to say is "The GOP-majority senate will never find trump guilty of high crimes & misdemeanors", for that is what the senate's duty is once the president is impeached by the House. Right?
Even so, the House (the people's House) has the duty to oversee the actions of the Executive as a co-equal branch of our government. Given the evidence revealed today in Mueller's report, the House has the duty to follow-up and determine whether or not to impeach -- IOW, find that trump's actions and statements obstructed justice or not. Read the report, you decide w/ the rest of us . . .
35
@Nomad
Unfortunately, I think the Democrats need to work on both fronts, hard. If we just let this kind of assault on our democracy slide, then who are we and what do we stand for, and exposing the GOP's intransigence whether tactically effective or not has integrity. But we also need to be coming up with a clear, compelling, cogent platform to address the very real and troubling economic and social issues we face.
43
@Jo I've read the report. And wrt the Senate: yes, that is exactly what I meant – follow-up is pointless.
What can I make of the strange reasoning that if - or since - Donald Trump said or did something in public, such as ask the Russians if they had information about Hillary Clinton's emails, they should let everyone in on it, it's not engaging (colluding coordinating) with a foreign power to influence an American election ?
Is the absolution "He just said it at a campagne rally so it's just bluster...or free speech...or a PR ploy."
If the President of The United States, or a candidate for the job, asks in a public declaration a foreign adversary to help him get elected, or for that matter lies repeatedly to the people, isn't that enough to get him, at least, out of office?
It's good to hear your opinion, today, Mr. Bookbinder. Thank you (and Berke, Eisen, and James) for the Brookings primers on collusion and obstruction. I go back and reread them sometimes, to fend off all the gaslighting.
"Second, obstruction of justice cases do not require that the most prominent underlying crime being investigated — in this case conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia — be proven. "
Of course! If you were an effective obstructor of justice, the underlying crime would NEVER be proven.
2
@Dan
True, but you must prove corrupt intent, what was the unlawful goal that was realized? Was their witness intimidation? Destruction of evidence? What?!
Perhaps these revelations will generate new laws to regulate and control actions by future Presidents who wish to be king.
2
Does this mean Tiger won't get his Medal of Freedom?
Obstruction of justice? It's the Presidential version of getting a parking ticket.
Past Presidents have done obstruction, it doesn't make it right, but Americans more or less expect this from the White House.
No Republican controlled Senate will impeach Trump on this thin gruel. The Dems can jump up and down until the cows come home about technicalities, but it's all chicken feed and horse-manure. It'll play out for months in the committees, but we'll all be dead, bored, or focused on the next presidential campaign by the time it's finished.
Democrat attacks will be dismissed y voters, especially independents, as partisan sniping ahead of a re-elect Trump Presidential Campaign, a campaign, which ironically, will probably get a major boost from this event.
The Democrats, who overplayed their hand, the useless journalists/pundits, and above all, the American people who tolerate this circus, all come out looking really bad.
Where were the Dems, the journalists/pundits, and the American people when real serious crimes were committed - like WAR CRIMES such as aggressive wars, torture etc. !?
I haven't seen any outrage that those crimes weren't prosecuted.
People really get the government they deserve.
1
It's ironic that Assange was arrested a week before this report was made public.
Every dog has his day. trump knows that. Which is exactly why he thought Mueller would find the truth. But then Barr, Mueller's evil twin takes the reins of the investigation.
2
Oh...my...gosh. I've waited two very long years to read a column like this. Thank you, Mr. Bookbinder, I'm finally going to go to sleep without my jaw clenching!
The drama goes on...Barr's version of the report sure seems pretty diluted from what the actual report says .As one commentator said...didn't he think we would read it for ourselves? I'm not sure anyone expected there to be direct Collusion with Russia...but the Obstruction ..now that seems another matter. But if Trump feels vindicated...Just think how vindicated he'll feel when the Democrats call Mueller before them to talk to us directly ! Imagine also how vindicated he'll be when we can all see his taxes !! Even if I were a Trump supporter..I'd find it terribly embarrassing that I voted for someone advertised as a great leader endorsed by Putin! I'd be concerned when Trump was encouraging Russian help in finding Clinton's emails...and extremely worried when the Russians were shown laughing with Trump in the Whitehouse where he announced he had fired the head of the FBI!How about when he met privately with Putin?? What American would think that this kind of Russian involvement in our government would be welcomed by our President? What kind of American would support a President like this? Since the Russians did influence the election...and since Hillary actually won the Popular vote...doesn't that mean she's really the President?? I can't wait to hear Mueller in person before Congress and while we're at it....let's see those taxes! Support for this President is simply...Un American !! Russia..are you listening?
3
@Dave
You will be disappointed, Mueller will not satisfy the hunger gnawing your being.
You know what one of my takeaways from the Mueller report, and Barr's hideous behavior is? Republicans have exactly zero standards for Donald Trump, the US president, and William Barr, the US AG.
What joy is there for Trump's enablers to prop up this feeble-minded politician in the face of overwhelming acts of immorality, cruelty, and corruption?
It's hard to imagine Trump's much-touted 'swamp' acting like the black hole in space, sucking up the last shreds of any decency that might exist in fixers and enablers like Barr and others in the White House.
2
The wild gesticulations sure to grip Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff will be the St. Vitus dance of the Democrats for the next 18 months. It will all end with a whimper either after Trump is re-elected and the GOP sweeps in again, or after Trump is defeated and there is no further power to be gained by destroying him.
Those who inhabit the 'left pole' thirst for a Presidential auto de fe, and view Nadler and Schiff as heroes, but independents are starting to view the Democrats as neo Marxist headcases.
2
@Cliff
Shhh!
When the GOP are in charge the White House becomes the corrupt house. Very sad.
2
Clearly any other person would be resigning by now before facing impeachment, but Trump and Republicans continue to take us (US) down the road to a banana republic. Only American voters can decide weather or not working with foreign entities is now normal in presidential elections.
1
This is only the end of the beginning. The Southern District of NY is working on cases Mueller referred to them as part of his investigation. No indictments yet, but Trump and his associates are clearly not out of the woods yet.
Separately, the New York State Attorney General's office is looking into Trump's businesses, thanks to Michael Cohen's testimony. They are presumably investigating potential insurance fraud (over or understating assets for the purposes of obtaining coverage or making claims) and also the now-defunct Trump charitable organization. Again, no indictments yet, but they are likely to come.
Trump may well sail out of office unscathed (hopefully in January 2021), only to land immediately in the frying pan. And his businesses could be at substantial risk as the SDNY and NYS AG investigations proceed.
He would be well advised to put a lid on these premature declarations of "complete exoneration."
4
I think the vast majority of the electorate has investigation fatigue and is more interested in hearing about positive ideas to shape our nation’s future. While the whole collusion conspiracy must be fascinating to journalists and a beacon to the never Trump contingency, most people have moved on. The whole collusion affair is shaping up to be merely a manufactured, bipartisan display of beltway theatrics.
3
@William That might be the way you perceive it but many, many Americans do not see it that way. Nor do members of our Congress who understand it is their duty to protect the Constitution and the citizens of the USA from a corrupt president who IS NOT above the law. Conspiracy, collusion or obstruction are all impeachable offenses.
1
Another wishful opinion ....
3
So it’s not the crime it’s the coverup? Or perhaps it’s just that the Left can’t fathom the fact that Trump won so he must be taken down, facts, ethics, and common sense be damned.
1
As a registered Democrat committed to seeing Trump defeated in 2020 marching toward the Moscow of impeachment strikes me as possibly the worst idea imaginable except maybe running Hillary again.
We've got 22 (earlier today - maybe more now) presidential contenders. We need to find a voice that will resonate not just among the strident, cocooned activists in New York and Washington, but among working people with struggling families in Michigan and Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Trying to make the case that Trump obstructed justice because he ordered aides to do things they ignored, or he railed about getting rid of a tormentor while the case for collusion lies in ruins is a fool's errand.
4
Ya, too bad congress no longer acts as a co-equal branch of government... these days, it acts in a wholly partisan way, which undermines the credibility of itself regardless of the party in charge.
And now we see what happens when congress cannot effectively do their job, and you have a rogue president with dictator like tendencies - Democracy Crumbles.
The only way out is voting, and voting in numbers that will overtake the effects of the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and voter suppression.
5
Surprised there were not at least two findings of crimes by Trump, staff, etc. Otherwise, the Muller team did exceedingly well.
It's fascinating to watch Barring Barr obstruct over the past month. He apparently does not foresee how his actions will reveal him as a Reckless Fool if he undertakes them.
2
An American citizen observing from Europe... Trump was right, it was the end of his presidency.. and the beginning of his dictatorship. Barr's fraudulent coverup of the Mueller report was just one more major step in the coverup, a very big step. That was obvious from the first moment. If the Democrat wins with only slightly more than 270 electoral votes, don't expect Trump to accept the result. The stunts that Barr has pulled are really quite shocking. The fact that Barr and Trump are getting away with this is a very sad commentary on how far America has now descended into madness.
12
While each side is trying to spin the Mueller report to its advantage, let’s call out this entire episode in our history for what it is: an American tragedy. There are many problems that face this nation. Each day, Trump and his enablers degrade our democracy with their obfuscation, greed and corruption. The Trump years have been a waste of precious time and resources for all of us.
11
What drives the functionality of our government? Prosecutorial discretion? Pawns that take the hit for higher ups? I mean....a wise prosecutor may never go after a sitting president, but the government will certainly throw anyone in jail who stands in their way...Its a game really.
The system works but it is a game. It is petty. Trump is not liked because he is not of the establishment. That is why congress wanted a prosecutor to defy the balance and indict a standing president. It is really that simple.
1
Congress' constitutional duty includes oversight of the Presidency when it veers into violations of law. They need to move forward with their own investigation. The Mueller investigation, as part of the Justice Department and made clear by Mueller, is Barr-ed from bringing charges against the President. Hopefully, Trump will face criminal charges and conviction once out of office.
2
When Obama killed Osama, I was shocked at the extrajudicial killing of a suspect, inside an ostensibly friendly sovereign nation, not yet tried or convicted beyond reasonable doubt in a court of his peers. For me, Obama lost a great deal of his vaunted, “audacity of hope.” I was probably a singular perception, however, the majority claiming that Bin Laden deserved what he got. But, I saw it as a corruption of presidential authority that set worrying precedents.
Under Trump, I see myriad departures from presidential authority that are protected by those who defend him. Yet, in my mind Obama was no better than Trump in his extensions of logic that enables presidential power. Our preparedness to fail to protest actions beyond what we previously held sacrosanct speak of our own primal desire for power and will ultimately lead to our destruction if left unchecked.
Trump has already promised retaliation as a reflex to this vague investigation that serves raw meat to both sides in an act of critical disingenuousness. The war against reason has barely begun.
1
Utter nonsense. The results of that so-called "obstruction" speak for themselves - Mueler completed his investigation and the report is published for all to see, even if that report is a pile of fantasies, fabrications and outright lies. So how did all that alleged "obstruction" come to nothing? And how could "justice" for non-existent crime be "obstructed"? Is Mueller saying that if Trump did not "obstruct" him he would have found "collusion" too? What an absolute joke.
What the Mueller report clearly outlines is this "Our President is very likely a criminal. He behaves and acts like one. While i cannot prove, in a legal sense, that he is guilty, I do certainly believe him to be guilty".
That jibes with how most Americans feel about Donald Trump which is that he is a very dirty and indecent man.
However, not every dirty and indecent person receives an indictment in a court of law or jail time although many of us wish that such would be the case.
So rather than just wish, here is something we can all do that takes this totally out of the hands of those in Washington D.C. and puts it squarely in the hands of those that matter the most - Us.
Vote him out. Locking him up is a stretch goal. However, voting him out must be a fundamental goal.
6
@Plato If it walks like a duck.
Mueller is basically saying to Congress : The people elected a criminal I can’t indict. Now clean up this mess.
6
@Daniel B
Nonsense. If he was saying this, he would have indicted. Comey explained away Clinton's criminal behavior and actually sent Martha Stewart to jail for less of the same. Mueller, on the other hand needed something that had been criminal and part of a conspiracy...something had to be "obstructed."
Pipe dream. Not enough to get Republicans to join in. Anything Congress does will be a waste of time and energy. Arguing that the next two years should repeat the last two years is foolish. I guess if America wants no legislation for the next two years it’s ok (and keeping Congress from doing anything might be a good idea). But arguing for more arguing has a very Don Quixote ring to it.
Isn’t it time to get practcal?
1
How much legislation did we get in the last two years? And the last 2 years of Obama’s presidency? What’s new here?
You would have Congress hold no hearings on this matter? How many hearings were held about Benghazi? Clinton’s emails? If you complained about them when they were being held, then kudos to you. But if not, then there’s a double standard at work. The two parties in Congress rarely draft legislation together anymore. Compromise has become a dirty word.
We have to appreciate the genius of founding fathers.
The President has enormous power of not to be indicted by his own executive actions. But, those around him don't. So, the President can have wide range of freedom in imagining possible actions that he/she wants to make, but those are limited by the surrounding subordinates who don't have such freedom and have to be worried about their own accountability of the outcomes if they follow the President's directions or orders foolhardily. This is kind of check and balance within the executive branch. From Mueller's report, we now know that this ingenious instrument works very fine even with this near-to-out-of-bound president. This is the most fascinating fact known today.
1
I've been an attorney for nearly forty years. What Barr has done today is nothing different from what I've seen done by defense counsel in dozens of courtrooms -- cherry pick the few "facts" that support his client, ignore the rest, and attempt to confuse the jurors as much as possible. That Barr has seen fit to act as Trump's personal counsel here is sickening. And that this is not seen as a problem at all by the Republican Congress is worse.
This one sentence from the report says everything: "...if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state." Clearly, Mr. Mueller is signalling as best he can, within the parameters of his charge from Rosenstein, that this president obstructed justice, and the record is replete with damning evidence of his obstruction.
After Barr's performance this morning, it is clear that this nation no longer has an Attorney General. It has an attorney paid for at taxpayer expense acting as Trump's protector. And with Barr's actions today, we are yet one more step away from being a nation that used to believe in the rule of law.
And Barr's sickening display should disabuse anyone of the notion that one-party rule is anything other than a dictatorship. The past two years have certainly taught us that the Constitution will not "save us". Barr's stunt is just the latest evidence proving that it is nothing more than a badly broken honor system.
15
@Charles Dodgson. Hello, Charlie. I think I know who you are, and good for you for speaking up. (If I'm wrong about your identity, maybe it doesn't matter anyway)
Years ago, my high school students told me "nothing would happen" when we talked about Watergate. That, of course, proved to be incorrect.
Times are different, and 2020 is an ever present consideration in terms of political considerations--do we feed into "it's not worth it" to win an election, or we do the moral thing, and agree that no one is above the law via an impeachment inquiry, even if it feeds into a Republican playbook that this is all Democratic politics?
I hate to see the cynicism "nothing will happen" become the truth. What is the right response, and what are we teaching?
In the world of rap music, Donald Trump was characterized as pure 'gangsta' many moons before he became President. The prescient practitioners of that genre saw him for what he was and still is. Today, the Mueller report confirms it. The man who survived multiple bankruptcies and serially perfected the art of the long con found a way to become President. And as always, he continues to recruit willing flotsam to do his bidding, when others around him do not, even as President. Michael Cohen suddenly found religion and Trump simply unearthed 'Baghdad Bob' Barr to front and fix for him from the halls of justice. There is something much deeper going on here. These developments could be symptomatic of a declining body politic, a declining behemoth, right under our very noses. The country that decried banana republics now appears to be well on the way to becoming one, wherever you look.
3
I've been an attorney for nearly forty years. What Barr has done today is nothing different from what I've seen done by defense counsel in dozens of courtrooms -- cherry pick the few "facts" that support his client, ignore the rest, and attempt to confuse the jurors as much as possible. That Barr has seen fit to act as Trump's personal counsel here is sickening. And that this is not seen as a problem at all by the Republican Congress is worse.
This one sentence from the report says everything: "...if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state." Clearly, Mr. Mueller is signalling as best he can, within the parameters of his charge from Rosenstein, that this president obstructed justice, and the record is replete with damning evidence of his obstruction.
After Barr's performance this morning, it is clear that this nation no longer has an Attorney General. It has an attorney paid for at taxpayer expense acting as Trump's protector. And with Barr's actions today, we are yet one more step away from being a nation that used to believe in the rule of law. And Barr's sickening display should disabuse anyone of the notion that one-party rule is anything other than a dictatorship.
The past two years have certainly taught us that the Constitution will not "save us". Barr's stunt is just the latest evidence proving that it is nothing more than a badly broken honor system.
3
The great takeaway here—for me, at any rate—is that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, far from “exonerating” Donald Trump, pointedly insisted that his conduct as president was so egregious that only the Congress, as vested by the Constitution, has the power to hold hearings into suspected wayward behavior by a president.
Attorney General William Barr, supposedly a lawyer, should have understood, from having first read the uncensored report, that it contained countless sticks of dynamite, any one of which had the power to blow up the Trump presidency. That he chose to say, in his now-infamous four-page letter, that the president was guiltless of “high crimes or misdemeanors,” is prima facie evidence that he was covering for the president. Today’s performance was proof that his professionalism was as misplaced as is the president’s reputation for unimpeachable rectitude.
As for Congress, the Republican-heavy Senate, replete with lawyers, will refuse its duty and convict a clearly felonious president because he’s one of theirs. The Democratic-controlled House might well reverse Nancy Pelosi’s urge for caution and vote out bills of impeachment and then refer them to Mitch McConnell’s Senate. What sane American would expect an honorable, impartial undertaking in the partisan upper chamber, especially with so many incumbents up for review by their folks back home in 2020?
This Mueller report—and how Congress reacts to it—is now front and center. So is our political stability.
3
I guess saner voices in the Dem. party will not emerge until after the primaries.
I wonder how many of the 16+ candidates in private have a different opinion and they need to keep up with this facade in public to appease the most leftist voters, who overwhelmingly vote in the primaries?
Just another attempt to help NY Times readers think independently/ critically.....
Is democracy dead or alive in the U.S.? The consequences of the Mueller report will tell.
Very thoughtful analysis of the Constitutional and political situation. I was with Nancy Pelosi in hesitating to proceed with and impeachment investigation and proceeding, until seeing this damning report.
At this point, I do not know how the House cannot proceed, in spite of the political peril. They would do so with regret, not glee; with understanding and clarity that the Senate would not be likely to convict and remove, and with the awareness that an election is closing in. they would somberly be doing their Constitutional duty, in spite of the sad fact that the majority of Americans wouldn't know a constitutional duty if they stepped on it.
If managed well, it could be done as a further exposure of the corruption of DJT and as a warning why he should not be re-elected. However, with the Fox news megaphone and the sniveling Nunes and McConnell et al, it will be very hard to hold the narrative.
2
I wholeheartedly agree that it is the duty of the Congress to hold Impeachment hearings and to vote on Trump's removal from office. The zeal with which the Republican leadership seeks to spin the argument adds to the imperative for these hearings to take place. If memory serves, Nixon's supporters finally caved when they were given enough evidence and media cover to abandon him. In the same way, the same could happen here. I'm not starry-eyed enough to believe that his allies in Congress will go quietly along with this approach. In fact, I expect the opposite to occur. I do have faith in the Constitution and that, in the end, even his most ardent supporters will see the folly of holding onto to the idea that Trump was or is a decent human being or that he has the best interest of this country ar heart.
4
There has long been strong evidence that Trump should be impeached, but it will never happen.
67: Number of Senate votes necessary to convict
56: Number of Democratic senators when Nixon resigned
47: Number of current Democratic senators
0: Odds that 20 Republican senators would vote to convict
1822: last time before 1998 that a non-presidential party lost seats during president's second mid-term
In order for Congress to obtain the full Muller Report, Congress needs to cowgirl up, and initiate proceedings to impeach Mr. Trump.
Dancing with subpoenas will take years to obtain America's best investigation of the Russian Attack on America's Democracy.
And America has another election just down the road.
Speaker Pelosi, enough with political considerations. If and when the democratic Party provides Congress and Americans with the entire Muller report,
only then America can heal and begin to defend our nation against hostile foreign attacks on our Democracy.
1
Could it be that the past has caught up with us? I think that if Nixon had actually been impeached, if there hadn't been pardons of other nefarious characters in our government through the years we might have staved off a repeat of history so soon. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
2
Apart from the real issues about Trump’s culpability and corruption that continue in light of the Mueller Report, is no one in Congress concerned about the incontrovertible fact that Russian interfered in our election and got the puppet they wanted in the White House? Where are proposals to strengthen and protect our electoral system from foreign interference? Where are proposals to require every campaign to report to the FBI any and all overtures from agents of foreign powers?
12
@J.
As we write thousands of foreign lobbyists are active in DC. Many fomer government officials, and families and friends of current officials work for the lobbyists. China has infiltrated many universities and actually has a TV station in Washington and much more. Yet only Trump and the non-existent Russian collusion seem to bother you.
1
@antonio gomez
Trump is "president". The question is: What is he doing about it?
The answer is, of course nothing.
Congress must undertake impeachment procedures because they owe it to the American people as part of their Executive Branch of Government oversight responsibilities. They must also begin the impeachment process because they cannot let history record their inaction. It would set a dangerous precedent.
For every American who has bravely served their country in the military, paid their taxes honestly, stood up to oppression or immigrated to this country with all its hopes and promises deserves to have this Presidency challenged and the President held accountable for his litany of legal, moral and ethical violations that are outlined in the Mueller report.
14
“Congress has authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.”
I like the above conclusion reached by Mr. Mueller.
I am appalled at those of our Presidents who have taken upon themselves to willfully subvert justice and the Constitution by assuming powers that they did not have. It is also the misfortune of “we the people” to have little recourse to quickly correct or punish a wayward charlatan President.
We leave history to condemn erratic Presidents. History does not solve the immediate problem, or reduce the suffering of the people.
It is necessary to take away the alleged immunity and protection against indictment of a sitting President. The Constitution itself provides no such immunity other than by offering impeachment as a corrective instrument which, in the past, has never succeeded.
4
@ALM
Immunity from indictment is a practical necessity. How is an attorney general supposed to indict his boss? How is law enforcement supposed to arrest the commander in chief of the armed forces (without being seen as a coup)?
3
I am no lawyer so perhaps someone could explain a very basic question. Since there was no "collusion" found by Mr. Mueller, and at least that much is clear, how can one be found guilty of obstruction when there was no crime to obstruct? Obstruction in the absence of guilt of what is supposedly being obstructed seems to me a stretch.
3
@NYer from the piece you just read:
Second, obstruction of justice cases do not require that the most prominent underlying crime being investigated — in this case conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia — be proven. To the contrary, the report states that “obstruction of justice can be motivated by a desire to protect noncriminal personal interests, to protect against investigations where underlying criminal conduct falls into a gray area, or to avoid personal embarrassment.” As the report repeatedly details, the motivation behind Mr. Trump’s obstructive conduct seems most likely to have fallen into one of these categories.
9
@NYer
Once again in American politics, it's the cover-up that becomes the crime.
@NYer If you were an effective obstructor of justice, the underlying crime would NEVER be proven.
2
As a voter, I don't agree that a process like impeachment should be considered for the presence or absence of political expediency.
If an elected official acted in a capacity that is not consistent with the trust of the American voter, he or she should be impeached.
It appears that the early interpretations of the Mueller report -- independent of whether or not criminal activities occurred -- includes plenty that is impeachable.
20
Congress now has no excuse but to go forward with impeachment investigation. The Russia and obstruction thing may be iffy but the violation of election laws thing is wide open and undeniably real. But maybe it comes down to politics, if Trump is out they have to face an unknown and that is always to be feared.
4
DEMs should be, and I believe are, capable of doing 2 things at once.
The current crop of hopefuls for the 2020 presidential nomination should focus on the future, the hopeful, policies, etc. They should present American with positive visions for the future.
Meanwhile, back in the halls of Congress, a different group of DEMs need to be doing everything to pursue every investigative avenue opened by Mueller.
This 2 pronged strategy would force Trump to divert attention and resources towards his legal troubles, while leaving the DEM presidential candidates free to maintain a positive vision for our future.
30
@J Jencks ... True, and a workable plan...
Actually, once the economy slows by the Fall, Trump will be more clearly seen as someone who avoids work but for spending most of his time defending himself and spewing venom as the man who has all the good words, knows more than the generals and has the best memory- we know all this because he's told us so ... and another 5500 lies.
3
At first, I agreed with the Democrats' reluctance to initiate impeachment proceedings, thinking that this process would put the country in turmoil and ultimately harm the Democratic party for the 2020 elections. No longer. There is now clear evidence that we have a president who has obstructed justice and has surrounded himself with others who have enabled his abuse of power while serving as president. It is time to rid our country of this danger to the foundations of our government. It is time to acknowledge that we have a president who has ignored the laws of our country. It is time to impeach Trump.
48
@MEM ... really, " clear evidence " ... Anyway, it's time for the Dems to " put up or shut up "; impeach or move on before the electorate becomes totally bored with the whole thing.
I think there is one crucial aspect to the transmittal of Mueller report than we are all missing. The issue is that of Jurisdiction – and in this case confused and overlapping jurisdictions. This attorney general (and the justice department) has determined that their office has authority to investigate a president, but not prosecute a president. This particular Attorney general has publicly expressed the opinion that a President cannot, in fact, obstruct justice. This has created an odd area when our justice department has oddly deviated in a way one would never do if they were the actual prosecuting authority.
What happened today would be as if the a State Attorney General of one state held a press conference to characterize an investigation they held, as an exoneration and one they could not prosecute. While at the same time that report showed substantial evidence of a crime committed in another state - and publicly circulated that report. Doing so, in all likelihood, would make it impossible to prosecute in the appropriate jurisdiction.
In the light of day it looks as though we have been played. It may now be impossible for the Judiciary Committee and Congress to proceed with full authority and without prejudice.
6
While once again we hear that the Dept of Justice has as it's policy to not indict a sitting president, is that just a courtesy or is it based on some real law?
Most presidents are busy doing something, like running a country, interacting with other countries, dealing with disasters. To be dealing with all sorts of legal challenges, for them, may be distracting.
Trump takes most of his time campaigning, playing golf, tweeting, and seldom seems to be doing actual official business, as his public schedule lays out as his pattern.
For him, there is no lack of free time in that office that most of us assume is an early morning to late at night job.
The courtesy that the Justice Dept has extended to other presidents seems less compelling in this situation.
25
One of the most profound statements made by President Trump after Special Counsel Mueller report release today
in the East Room of the White House at the "Wounded Warier " event was, "This should never happen to a president again".
I have always felt that the almost immediate recognition in November by U.S. national security officials that Russia had interfered in the 2016 Election, that this President should not have been inaugurated in January, but we should have declared the election invalid and proceeded to investigate before the inauguration.
Our rush to seat this President probably did serious damage to the health and welfare of the American people. The 2 years of investigation by Special Counsel Mueller has only confirmed that Candidate Trump was not qualified in temperament, experience, integrity, and purpose except to serve his own interests.
Should we ever experience foreign or domestic meddling in a future U.S. election, I strongly believe we should not rush to seat a doubtful candidate. As I am sure Mr. Trump has thought many times, it is unfair to his place in history.
14
The Democrats don't have the votes in the Senate, and the report is not conclusive enough to think that the Republicans would turn against Trump (as the Democrats did not turn against Clinton).
If the House makes a martyr of Trump, and focus on a quixotic attempt at impeachment, they will get nothing done legislatively (the next presidential election season is underway and that will the focus), they assure Trump's reelection in 2020.
6
@Mark Arizmendi
Disagree.
Yes, there is a good chance that an impeachemnt indictment could be brought by the House, and also a good chance the Senate would not find the 2/3 super-majority needed to convict.
Still, the evidence of high crimes and misemeanors is overwhelming--and this before corruption and emouluments are considered.
Congress is capable of waling and chewing gum at the same time.
Come election time, every voter will have a choice of voting for their country for for their tribe. They will also have to decide if lawlessness is a prerequisite for any candidate they vote for--or evidence they can't vote for them.
If the House does not consider impeachment, they are as lawless as the President appears to be. They are also complicit with ignoring inconvenient lawless behavior (such as putitng babies in cages to "teach others a lesson").
Each Senator will have an opportunity to publically vote for lawless dictatorship or democracy. And everyone will know how they voted.
Voters will need to decide if they want to live in a dictatorship or democracy--with lots of evidence avaialable.
Legislation is utterly useless if the executive branch is lawless, doing whatever they are paid to do by foreign power,s or lobbiests, or large donors no matter what the laws might be. there is no point in passing legislation that will be ignored.
1
@Mark Arizmendi
Comparing Trump to Clinton is totally inappropriate. The GOP impeached Clinton for lying about consensual sex. Of course the Dems didn't support impeachment on those grounds.
In contrast, many in the GOP reportedly recognize, albeit privately, that Trump is a morally repugnant ignoramus. It's obvious to anyone paying attention that he has violated his oath to uphold the constitution, and will continue to do so until he's run out of office.
Please democrats don't get dragged into impeachment proceedings--Yes, absolutely agree that in a different time with a different make up of both branches, this case is clearly shelf ready for high crimes charge--Now having said that, norms have changed in this country--for the worse---the Republicans in both houses see no evil---better to keep pressure on policy areas that the public cares about then become tangled in a web of complex legal theories.
8
The obvious facts and overt examples of obstruction of justice, not to mention this incredibly chaotic, disruptive and conflicted period in our nations history, are a classic legal example of why the American people and Congress need to begin impeachment proceedings right now so Trump can be removed from office.
8
@Tropical 39 No. We do not delete this President file. We quarantine him. The Successor President file is a virus.
"The final report by the special counsel Robert Mueller is devastating for the president."
Sorry to say that it is not "devastating" unless it leads to his removal from office...which it, apparently, will not do. Any trust the majority of the country has that Congress would step up and do its duty will remain in abeyance.
5
File this under wishful thinking.
Waiting to see Pelosi's response. It's all that matters or should matter. If she says this doesn't move the needle on impeachment forward the Dems should stop the investigations and get back to legislating.
When will this stop? If the Dems find an unpaid parking ticket will they declare victory and cease these endless investigations?
Vetting is over, that shipped sailed. He won. Face it and go out and beat him next time.
3
As Congress (let's get real, the Democrats in Congress) pursue an impeachment inquiry, which they must, it is critical that they keep it surgically by the book, "Mueller-ish", if you will. They need to model respect for the Constitution, non-vindictiveness, and refrain from grandstanding. While accusations of political retribution will fly, they must act in a way that gives no credence to those accusations.
This is critical for us to be able to remove Trump in the only way that is realistically possible - at the ballot box. While many here rightly call for Congress to uphold its oversight duties, as a practical matter any actual impeachment process will most likely not conclude before the election.
Those Americans most passionately MAGA and most passionately Resistance will be unlikely to ever change their position, regardless of facts. Therefore, let the broad middle of America see the Democrats living what truly makes America great: our respect for the law, with equal justice for all.
11
It's clearly spelled out in the obstruction section that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Isn't that what protected Trump on conspiracy too? If you read Mueller's written questions to Trump, he is not satisfied with the answers. But he decided a subpoena process would take too long.
4
@Roy "It's clearly spelled out in the obstruction section that a sitting president cannot be indicted." Naaah. That is not a law. It is a recommendation. The republicans hate the thought of indicting their Presidential Wall Of Crooks, yet they are ready to indict a Clinton or an Obama without benefit of even a charge. Look it up!
@Roy That's lazy lawyering. He punted. Had enough fun. He participated in the Barr decision to get it off his desk. I guess he can sit smug in his pew at church.
14 ongoing criminal investigations, 5 meetings with Putin that Trump has prevented anyone from knowing about. The future could not be more perilous for the president and the country. This is not the president we need in office and if the failure of the government to contain his damage is the only outcome then the entire political system has failed.
29
Meanwhile, Fox News is having an all-day Exoneration Celebration. It is stupefying how divided America now lives by two completely different sets of facts. Already I have seen countless Twitter calls for Schiff to resign, and for an investigation into Hillary Clinton to be opened (again.) What is going to happen when Democrats move to subpoena Mueller and the grand jury evidence? This country just struck an iceberg, and 50% of the television viewing audience is certain this ship is unsinkable.
8
People condemned Attorney General Barr for deciding there was no obstruction after only two days. Should we condemn Mr. Bookbinder for reaching a conclusion on the subject after only a few hours?
What we read in the next few days, apart from the report itself, should be regarded as worthless. It will be coming from people (on both sides) who already knew the answer before they read the report.
4
@Cynical Jack......Barr said the report exonerated the President in full.Actually it does not even when reading the redacted version.In fact may be contrary to almost everything Barr claimed.
Obviously Barr was partisan and protecting the President.Hardly a comparable situation now that the report is public.
@Cynical Jack
Are you kidding. Two of my kids are lawyers (one Republican and one Democrat....makes for interesting Thanksgivings) but both have given it a quick eyeball and both say the evidence of obstruction is overwhelming and if it was you or me we'd be indicted.
1
Mr. Bookbinder's op-ed is very insightful. If this country makes it through this crime syndicate administration, then Congress should make it a priority to limit the powers of the president. This 'unitary executive' concept will destroy the nation if we don't make laws, or a constitutional amendment, that clearly state the limits of presidential power.
34
@ikalbertus All the laws and all the amendments won't mean anything if no one is going to follow them.
3
We have just had a special counsel conduct a very thorough investigation over the past two years, looking into every nook & cranny of the President's public and private life, and this is what we have received. This Report has torn Americans apart, creating an even bigger political divide in our country than was before, potentially creating issues down the road that work against bipartisanship.
And you advise that we do the whole thing all over again?
5
@Henry They're NOT asking to do it all again. They're advising that the process continue to the next logical phase. If we want to restore the people's faith in their government, we can't just sweep this under the rug, even if that would be more comfortable for some.
Clean government is often not a walk in the park. Particularly when the president and those with whom he's surrounded himself are so corrupt.
15
@Henry Egg meet chicken. Chicken meet egg.
@David Should be investigated from scratch. NO Republican has any credibility. Not Barr. Not Mueller. Not Comey.
The Muller Report states: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
This is a clear victory for President Trump on the obstruction issue. Imagine a prosecutor standing before a jury and proclaiming: “The evidence does not show the defendant is guilty, but it doesn’t prove he is innocent, either.” No wonder the attorney general and deputy attorney general decided the evidence does not justify prosecution.
3
@William Case I think you are missing the point of Bookbinder's piece which is that Mueller has deferred to the Legislative branch's proper role in prosecuting executive branch malfeasance.
4
@William Case
The court of public opinion is quite a different animal than a court of law. That jury will render its verdict on November 3, 2020.
1
@William Case "This is a clear victory..." Oh, don't you wish your ultra right wing delusion was true! Mueller laid out a very clear and compelling case for Congress to take up the investigation and put forth an iron-clad case for impeachment and conviction. The ONLY reason Mueller did not recommend charges is because only Congress can charge, try and convict a president. If Trump was not the president, he would have been charged and would be on his way to jail right now, like all his criminal cronies. If repubs do not support such a path they will be guilty of utter corruption in supporting a known criminal.
1
Added to the Mueller report should be a call for a Special Counsel to determine whether Attorney General Barr, who announced his conviction that Trump could not be found to have obstructed justice before the post was even vacant, himself obstructed justice:
- Presenting the report to Trump and hid counsel before releasing it - possibly taking Trump’s comments for reasons to redact material;
- Releasing a four-page summary contradicting, in many ways, the report’s findings;
- And, of course, refusing to recuse himself from the process, as required by every code and canon of ethics.
Presenting the report as he did was further obstruction, by Trump, of justice.
35
@Eatoin Shrdlu: I was about to make the same points as yours before reading your comment. You join many of us who find AG Barr's sweeping, premature exoneration of the president not only a blatant attempt to influence the public's (and Congress's) response to the Mueller report in advance of its release, but also the act of an Attorney General willing to set aside his sworn duty as the nation's chief law enforcement officer in total deference to his boss, the president. The Constitution does not exempt the AG from Congress's powers of impeachment. Political patsy Barr, though his clear attempt to whitewash the report and mislead the public, has abused his power, dishonored his office and joined the president as vulnerable to the charge of impeachable misdemeanors.
3
" the report states that “obstruction of justice can be motivated by a desire to protect noncriminal personal interests, to protect against investigations where underlying criminal conduct falls into a gray area, or to avoid personal embarrassment.” As the report repeatedly details, the motivation behind Mr. Trump’s obstructive conduct seems most likely to have fallen into one of these categories."
7
Sometimes I think that this president reflects exactly what we do. That we are enables through our own denial. Do we curtail how much driving we do for one minute in order to put less carbon in the air? Do we stop eating processed food that is bad for us? Do we limit anything in our recreation?
The quickest way to drain the swamp is to stop consuming Carnival Cruises, Coke and Pepsi, Disney, Vegas, snowmobiles, jet skis and tone down the size of our dream houses.
But we don't. So this is what you get.
6
@Guy Walker I've cut down on driving long ago; I don't eat meat let alone Hormel hot dogs. I'm not sure what limiting recreation has anything to do with anything. I've never been on a cruise; I don't drink Coke or Pepsi (but mea culpa I do buy tonic soda for my martinis); I've never been to Vegas, I don't own a snowmobile or jet ski; my house measures 24 x 24. And yet, dang it, Trump still got elected.
It is difficult to reconcile Trump’s panic with Mueller’s reticence to impugn. Clearly, Trump feared the investigation, yet, almost miraculously, it has given him latitude to claim “game over,” which is certainly another of Trump’s mendacities. So, why did Trump panic in the first place? Obviously, he had reason to tremble, but there are indications that Mueller investigated certain issues only peripherally that could have been emphatically explored had the Special Counsel interrogated Trump and his inner circle including Kushner, Ivanka, and Don Jr. Trump’s legal team must have recognised the lifeline their client had been thrown, hence its intransigence in the public eye against the inquiry. The vital Trump Tower meeting has been relegated to an apocryphal event.
Sadly, it appears that Mueller knowingly did an incomplete job, abrogating the duty placed upon him by the nation, almost as if to say, “the man should be impeached, but not on my watch.” In this way, Mueller protects his Republican credentials by being conservatively non committal. This speaks to the power at all costs mantra of the right, and Mueller must be subpoenaed to explain his wishy washiness when so much depended on him. Russians are smirking.
Congress may be the ultimate arbiter of justice, but justice will be denied by agonised rancour between the factions of both houses and the Supreme Court.
Trump will survive this term and, likely, another before any prosecution can be cobbled together.
10
Bookbinder fails to make his case compelling. I would be interested to hear the writer's position on FBI/CIA/NSA conspiratorial actions to advance spying on a domestic political campaign, considerable evidence of which is now on the public record.
7
@OldEngineer
You didn't add, " domestic political campaign , **that had clear connections to an adversarial foreign power**
That is perhaps what we all would be interested to hear; indeed it is the reason for the investigation, if I'm not mistaken. In this country, so far, criticism of the Leader is not a crime, and in the past, at least, the Leader has not been above the law.
4
@OldEngineer This investigation started because of mainly two things. One, it was an offshoot of an already ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in our election. Two, the firing of Comey.
2
@Jim Cricket
Comey was fired for cause: he covered for Loretta Lynch by usurping (or shadowing) her responsibility to decide whether to indict in the Hillary case, and of course he gave Hillary a pass on the made-up premise that intent had to be proven.
3
Prior to the completion of the special counsel's report, it was made evident that Mr. Mueller was going to only present a full DESCRIPTION of the counsel's findings, not a CHARACTERIZATION, which he would leave up to the Attorney General, and perhaps subsequently to the U.S. Congress.
It is clear now that Mr. Barr has presented a bogus MISCHARACTERIZATION of the special counsel's findings, evidently in an attempt to shield the president. Mr. Barr is not the sole arbiter of the report nor does he have the authority to deny congress from seeing his chosen "redactions" of grand jury investigations here.
Congress, as well as the American people, now has an absolute obligation to demand the Mueller Report in its entirety, due to the specious, illegitimate whitewashing of #45's culpability by Mr. Barr, who has turned the office of the Attorney General into another partisan satellite of this most corrupt presidency.
23
They still need to see an unredacted report, and to obtain one by any means necessary.
There is absolutely no reason that a small House committee couldn't see an unredacted report, and then compare it to Barr's redacted version.
If it's obvious that Barr redacted things simply because they were harmful to the president, then Barr needs to be impeached immediately.
13
Mr. Bookbinder seems to dismiss the half of the Mueller report that examines the Russian attack on our 2016 election and the Trump campaign (or his associates') conspiracy with Russians to accomplish that. The report, even with redactions, is clear on Trump having attempted in at least ten clear instances to impede the investigation, and is liable to impeachment for obstructing justice. Mueller did not "indict" Trump solely because DOJ policy is not to indict a sitting President (see the first two pages of the report).
But there are many things to the first part of the Mueller report that Congress should continue to investigate on its own. The big thing we must face: Russia has been manipulating Trump and what he calls "his people." How that happened and how directly Donald Trump was involved remains to be fully dug into by Congress.
They must get all the report, though, and all the underlying documentation.
12
"...the Mueller report is an unmistakable act of deference to Congress’s primary jurisdiction..."
Wow. What a revelation. As if we didn't already know this!
Good luck with impeachment, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already deemed unnecessary and the Senate is highly unlikely to validate.
7
If the Democrats keep up the paranoid hysteria of the past two years after Mueller cleared Trump of collusion they are going to lose big in 2020. They better find something else to focus on because people...including this former Democrat/recent Independent...have had enough. This has been worse than any of the crazy shenanigans perpetrated by the conservatives against Democrats in the past twenty years...including the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal where there actually was a crime.
8
@rpe123
Mueller emphatically did not clear Trump of collusion.
109
@rpe123 If what Bill Clinton did was a crime then Trump has committed 10x that many crimes, not just consensual sex, but fraud, tax evasion, etc.
2
True, but he did not charge him. That mean that in his mind that threshold of "beyond a reasonable doubt" was not met.
And Congress can charge and try him for obstruction, but there is no way 2/3 of the Senate votes to remove him from office. Will not happen.
2
Mueller was never going to charge Trump, just like Starr didn;t charge Clinton nor did Jaworski charge Nixon. All three gathered evidence and put it together for Congress to make the call. This is similar to how the FBI acts - they put the case together and the DOJ actually files the charges, using the evidence developed by the FBI. In this case, Mueller is the FBI and Congress is DOJ. Lets hope Congress is up to the task.
13
Metaphorically, after reading this and so many other editorials and then the comments, I am beginning to feel like the proverbial child watching parents tear each other to pieces. I don't think I am alone. The Mueller report is ambiguous re criminal charges, and many will see what they like.
Leaving aside all that, we are not one nation anymore, and many, many events and actions have lead to this outcome. We have to find a way to way to come together as a nation. We all want to believe in decency and in good character. We all need clean water, food, air, and good jobs. We need to feel the country works for all of us. The blaming, finger-pointing, name calling and vitriol do none of us any good, and it's a luxury that we cannot afford. I don't know what the answer is beyond governing my own actions. But I do know that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and looking for who threw the most rocks or the first rock won't solve any problems.
Perhaps a starting point is agreeing that the report shows acts of someone with weak character and that we want leaders to show courage and kindness. At this point, I don't care who started it, I just want it to stop - every minute we spend fighting each other, we are not unifying to deal with the severe problems we all face.
6
I actually don't think that a large part of our population believes in decency and good character any more. Trump has showed a big segment of our population that that is not necessary any more for success. In that regard, our enemies have won and it may be a century before America finds its way again, if ever.
6
@Barbara
Actually the Mueller report is quite clear on criminal charges with respect to collusion. It asserts several times that there was no collusion found.
1
@AACNY It did layout a roadmap for an obstruction of justice charge, which is what Mueller was going to do all along. He was not going to charge Trump Now it's up to Congress to follow the roadmap to determine if they should press charges.
1
It's pretty obvious that unless both the House and Senate vote to impeach Trump, he will continue to conspire with Putin to win the election in 2020. Trump hasn't faced any consequences from benefiting from Putin's help in 2016, so why should the Russians withhold their help in 2020? We now know more about how Russian interfered in our election, but unfortunately, we don't have any tools to prevent it from happening again.
5
Donald Trump repeatedly sought out people who would steal and publish what he said were classified emails of the US Secretary of State, according to Mike Flynn no less. When that failed he asked the Russians to do it. They immediately tried. He wasn't joking. This was part of a pattern of procuring theft.
I think it is absurd to say that there was no implicit collusion between the Russian government's campaign to elect Trump and members of Trump's campaign.
I think Trump did not expect to be elected so had no problem with making Putin believe that there was indeed an implicit understanding of cooperation. He was doing that so Putin would approve Trump's financial deals in Russia. Except for the emails, which he really wanted anybody to steal, the collusion was just part of Trump being willing to seem to agree to anything in order to secure a business deal.
I think the actual collusion began with his winning, after which Kushner saw the need to for a back channel to discuss this implicit deal And after the new sanctions were announced it was "Holy cow! Get Mike Flynn on the phone with the Russians to let them know we intend to follow through on our 'implicit' bargain and take them all off!"
6
Step 1: Call Mueller to testify before congress. Let's get some straight answers.
Continue to follow the money.
11
Trump had no business running for office.
15
@Mike Filion Right, should not be allowed in the primary without proper vetting, tax records for last 15 years, etc.
3
@Mike Filion -- understatement of the century.
2
Trump lacks a conscience of any sort.
2
Excellent, well thought out and written piece. Thank you. Now, if only we all could take to the streets and protest until the House starts the articles of impeachment.
6
Historians will cite the Mueller report as the foundation upon which the Trump Presidency and corrupt business empire will fall. It could not happen to a nicer guy.
3
Can you guess which political party is composed of crooks? SAD!
3
Not going to happen. Republicans wouldn’t impeach based on this report, which largely rehashes what we know, and Democrats isn’t the House won’t try if they don’t have the Senate votes.
Here’s hoping the people show more moral courage in 2020 than their elected officials will in 2019.
6
The senior member of the Senate and of its Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont said it best today, "Mr Mueller has done his job, now it is time for Congress to do our job."
That job starts in the House with its Judiciary Committee starting the work of impeaching the President of the United States.
17
The report is so damning and Mueller is to be fully trusted given his expertise. Except that when Mueller used to expertise to conclude that no prosecution was warranted... that's when we're supposed to not trust him.
Does cognitive dissonance mean anything to anyone anymore?
6
He didn’t say prosecution wasn’t warranted. The next step is impeachment.
4
Forgive the typo: should be "used his expertise"
I am so disgusted with this whole Trump era of politics etc that I have taken a sabbatical from watching or reading news about Trump. I know that sounds silly but I am done wasting my time with Trump. This article is encouraging news but Trump has to be soundly defeated in 2020 or we are in for a president for life. We are in for a nightmare.
15
@Ted: we’re already IN a nightmare; and you haven’t given up reading about trump, or you wouldn’t be commenting o this. I wish you, and all of us, a better future.
1
All this "impeaching him will just lead to his reelection" claptrap is simple cowardice. Whether it leads to his conviction and removal from office or not, the letter of the law must be enforced because the obstruction charges are both blatant and beyond dispute.
In the alternative, he could be indicted after he leaves office. But congress would have failed its constitutional duty to pursue what are obviously high crimes and misdemeanors in the executive branch, which sets an even larger and more dangerous precedent for the future.
13
The President created an overall context of obstruction that became the container for the enumerated contents of this vessel.
The act of appointing Mr. Barr was the latest obstruction. Mr. Barr himself, is a walking, talking obstruction of the our rule of law.
17
And should be disbarred.
@tony guarisco
More like "a lumbering, blubbering obstruction," but your point is made.
"he report also details some exculpatory considerations, including the fact that the president, in his campaign, did not engage in an explicit or implicit conspiracy with the Russian government"
Yea. Oh by the way...
Do you think you could downplay that a little more?
2
Defense Attorney William Barr has done something I did not think possible. He has made Jeff Sessions look like an upstanding, ethical lawyer, by comparison.
47
Mrs. Pelosi and other high-ranking Democrats in Congress must now assume their earnest responsibilities under the Constitution and undertake impeachment proceeding against the President. The Mueller report clearly lays out an obstruction case and reveals an iron clad case at that, obliterating the White House Counsel's pseudo arguments and evasions about indicting a sitting President. We have a person serving in the highest executive position in the Nation who has become living proof that he is "above the law", which is legally and morally an impossible incongruity.
The President and his supporters can try and shout and lie and make false statements about being "completely exonerated", but Trump is anything but exonerated. Calling Mueller before Congress will certainly lay bare these naked attempts to pull the wool over the public's eyes. The Barr summary and white-washing attempts to cover for Trump are very "weak" indeed. It's time for Democratic Congressmen and Congresswomen to uphold their oaths to their office and hold this President accountable. Even if, mistakenly, Pelosi might personally hold the view that "it's not worth it", it is most emphatically the principled and constitutionally mandated way to handle this situation. Let the Republicans in the Senate try to save this miscreant. Let them be the ones to let him off the hook in the Senate trial. Let them be the ones trying to defend the indefensible. It is finally high time for justice to be served..
11
Hear, hear. If I may say, the point in defence (Canadian spelling!) of your admirable Constitution is not whether impeachment will or will not succeed. It is to activate the explicit constitutional mechanism for what your Constitution does not wish to leave up to the courts.
There really doesn't have to be a tactical political consideration. But if Dems need one, it is to make Republicans go on the record to defend Trump's corrupt and treasonous conduct, of course!
15
How can Trump be chased for obstruction when he essentially complained and no one altered their behavior based on law? Every politician and “opinion” columnist in the country wo7ld be locked up if this was the case.
2
Time for our elected officials to stand for us and the Constitution, uphold their oaths of office and require that POTUS uphold his, or be gone.
4
I fear none of this will matter because the GOP simply does not care and the Senate will not convict.
6
There's no time left for impeachment. Rather, the House Democrats should focus on starting or continuing investigations into this rotten and lawless administration and, together with Democrats at large, producing a 2020 candidate that can end this national nightmare on January 20, 2021.
There will be plenty of time after that to serve up just deserts for the current White House occupant.
5
Barr's summary is completely wrong! But mine? Mine is most certainly right!
- Literally every news outlet in America right now
4
Hey sir. We have the report now. Barr lied.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle took the oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. They all have the binding obligation to take Mueller’s report, conduct further hearings and arrive at the truth. Our very rule of law is undermined if Trump is not held a accountable for his illicit actions. Putin wants to show the world that we are not a country that upholds the rule of law, giving him and countless other ruthless dictators carte blanche to assail human liberties and life.
Mueller has compel his work notwithstanding Barr’s sycophantic misreading of the report. Now it is time for Congress to do its work. In November 2020 the American people will see to it that this rogue president and party gets the boot it so richly deserves.
Lordy, Lordy, if this only were the end of Trump’s presidency.
2
Is there a data on how many supporters of Trump get their news from sources other than Fox? I doubt that this report moves the Senate Republicans one inch. I agree with the strategy of holding hearings on obstruction of justice to illuminate the facts.
Meanwhile, my energy will go towards another blue wave.
Today, Trump isn't public enemy #1, Fox News and their media propaganda apparatus is.
4
Diehard Democrats see mounting a vigorous defense as "obstruction of justice". They are delusional. According to Director Mueller's report, there was no collusion.
Nonetheless, the voters will pass judgement on the President's first term on November 3, 2020. I believe that Democratic voters will receive a nasty shock and that President Trump will be easily re-elected.
6
@John Murray
Why is Trump so afraid to show us his tax returns and financials?
Why did Trump in Helsinki believe Putin instead of US Intelligence?
If that had been Hillary, Republicans would be saying lock her up.
Oh wait, they already are saying lock her up.
12
@John Murray
When does delusional cross over into insanity? Since the delusional folks can't admit they were wrong, they have to double down.
@John Murray so you have no problem with Trump’s efforts to get Comey to stifle the investigation and, when he refused, to fire him? You have no problem with his attempts to get Sessions to “unrecuse” himself and, when he refused, to fire him? And no problem with his nomination of Barr as attorney general, whose main qualification appears to be promising Trump that he would play the part of Ron Ziegler for him.
When I see and hear what has transpired in these past couple of weeks, I get the sensation that I am living in some third world country where a tin horn dictator tells the masses that left is right and up is down. I can only hope a majority of voters in 2020 feel as I do. Oh wait, the majority of voters did feel that way, didn’t they?
1
A notable number of folks have commented that impeachment would either be a waste of time or lead to trump's re-election in 2020.
It would not be a waste of time. A congressional inquiry focused on trump's behavior during the special counsel's investigation. would be hard to dismiss out of hand. Mueller's report saw to that. The impeachment part of the equation will serve to shine a light, independent of any obfuscation from the executive branch.
Removal from office at this moment in time would appear unlikely; but people say that not having heard all the testimony that leads to impeachment.
The dynamic in the body politic after impeachment, will be different. Voting either for or against removal, with the glare of history on your back has has a way of focusing the mind on the important issue at hand.
2
The Electoral College got us into this mess; don't expect the Senate to get us out. The Senate majority is controlled by a minority of voters. Moderates get voted out, so there is no incentive to vote for what is best for the country. The only thing that would compel a GOP Senator to go against Trump is if a liberal city suddenly popped up in their state.
7
Mueller by failing to build a legal case for prosecution for obvious obstruction and recommending no prosecution has allowed a criminal to go free. This will inspire even less morally-constrained presidents to do even more outrageously illegal and immoral crimes.
13
@Rocketscientist
That's not what he said. The law currently does not provide for inditing a president while in office - but the charges will be applicable the day DJT leaves office. The independent prosecutor laws changed (expired) post Nixon and Clinton. But DJT is in hot water. The document is extremely well crafted to assure all the issues will be eventually addressed. It is going to be extremely stressful for DJT for the next 1 1/2 years. We have to be patient. The heat is on.
5
Now that the Trump machine has spun the story to Trump's advantage. Democrats have two options. Start impeachment proceedings and bring this mess and more to light or clutch the pearls for awhile and then let it go. Trump figures he wins either way because he knows the Senate will never remove him from office.
I say start impeachment. Otherwise the rule of law means nothing and there is a clear message to future corrupt presidents that it is okay to do whatever they want as long as they have the senate in their pocket.
37
Rather than go through the pretense of conducting more hearings, the House of Representatives should vote to impeach President Trump on grounds House Democrats outnumber House Republicans 235 to197. The Senate should vote to acquit President Trump on grounds Republican senators outnumber Democratic senators.
6
@William Case
Democrats are quickly backpedaling on impeachment. That dog don't hunt.
Sure it lays it out, but look at reality. Mueller did not recommend prosecution for obstruction from a legal avenue. The DoJ did not see obstruction from a legal avenue. All involved realized the Congress has the authority to start impeachment proceedings if they wish.
However, will 2/3 of the Senate vote to remove a sitting president when both Mueller and the DoJ failed to bring charges? No. Will NOT happen.
Use some common sense. Trump might have obstructed an investigation that ultimately finished and showed NOT collusion with Russian by Trump, his campaign or any US citizen.
And even if you thing he did, remember Bill Clinton. It was irrefutable that Clinton obstructed and committed perjury but the Senate did not come close to removing him from office. Rightly so.
So, the House Dems can huff and puff and pull theatrics and get impeachment proceedings into the Senate if they with. but they will NOT get a removal from office. Huge waste of time and money, we all see from the report what occurred.
9
@Marvin
Clinton lied about having sex.
Putin interfered with our election to help elect Trump.
That should worry every American.
That includes all the Republicans who where their flag pins.
After the release the Mueller report, it is now game on. First the Democratic Congress, then the end game- SDNY. Bring him down for once and for all.
27
While I believe that there is more than enough evidence to impeach and convict Trump, I doubt that it can happen in time to make a difference prior to our next election. (That doesn't mean that I would oppose such a course of action.) No matter what, it is imperative that Congress continues its investigations into Russian interference with our election, Trump's tax returns, inaugural committee finances, and security clearance irregularities. The various investigations by the Southern District of New York must continue. The various lawsuits against Trump must continue. Regardless of how the Mueller investigation plays out, Trump must not be allowed to escape history. I would also request that all presidential hopefuls pledge that Trump will not receive a pardon if they are elected.
21
Yes. Now let's have a look at the tax returns.
101
When do we get the answer to whether Trump has final say on putting himself above all laws? Until that answer comes, or an election happens, we are by default living by Trump's laws.
8
The general impression this report gives about Trump is hardly surprising. We've seen ample evidence of Trump's sleazy nature over the past few years; Mueller has simply confirmed it.
Not that this will affect his base at all -- they are determined to wear blinders to the bitter end -- but it's hard to imagine rational Republicans reelecting him.
39
@Amanda It was hard to imagine Republicans electing him in the first place. But they did because politics is seldom rational. Unfortunately, for most, it is more about personal beliefs than facts and the truth.
4
The report makes it very clear that the Trump campaign was willing to accept, eager to accept, help from Russia in winning the election. And we have seen very clearly all the quid that has followed that quo. Mueller may not have been able to indict--but Congress should surely impeach.
64
The vast majority of the young men and women who fought for the US when Trump got a deferment in the Vietnam war could govern more effectively and humanely than Trump. That's because they have something he lacks: a willingness to sacrifice themselves for their fellow citizens.
The same is true of the vast majority of the asylum seekers whom Trump has villainized. That's because they have experienced something he never has: hardship.
27
Impeaching Trump will only lead to his reelection in 2020.
39
@Melissa M. I don't see why. The people in his base are the only people who will double down on Trump when impeachment proceedings begin. And Trump's base isn't getting any bigger. Meanwhile, Democrats will appreciate that at least one party cares about the rule of law.
126
@Melissa M. "Impeaching Trump will only lead to his reelection in 2020."
I disagree, and am happy to put your theory to the test. The defense that the special counsel found multiple instances of wrong-doing and highly unethical behavior, but not outright criminality, doesn't sound like a winning message to me.
57
@Melissa M. Then what would you like to see happen?
15
The GOP congress should have taken care of this in 2017. What a bunch of self serving traitorous used car salesmen. My apologies to real used car salesmen.
33
Finally an intelligent article with a spine.
I wish it was the Editorial Board’s piece instead of that wishy washy one they chose to print.
Thank you, Sir.
82
This Mueller report plainly shows that impeachment proceedings are both justified and necessary. Start now.
34
It's not just that "Mr. Mueller’s report notes that his office explicitly considered absolving the president of obstruction of justice, but emphatically chose not to."
In fact, Mueller's report states (page 76): "But the evidence does indicate that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the campaign and the president personally that the president could have understood to be crimes or that would give rise to personal and political concerns.”
Holy cow !
And this is on top of the in our faces obstructionism Mueller documents in his road-map for Congress.
48
It is now time to have the Attorney General investigated for conspiracy with the President to impede justice. First Barr produced a misleading four-page letter that seemed to totally exonerate the President. Then he insisted on doing his own redactions and he informed the President's personal lawyers as he proceded on what he was dong. Then today he insisted on meeting with the Press to deliver another "Trump is innocent" speech. And he obviously is going to fight tooth and nail against full release of the Mueller Report. This sure sounds like the kind of collusion even Jeff Sessions was unwilling to do.
147
" First Barr produced a misleading four-page letter that seemed to totally exonerate the President"
He did nothing of the such. It was Trump that say he was totally exonerated, not Barr's summary. Barr truthfully stated that the DoJ did not see enough evidence to charge obstruction, and they did not.
3
I have a pretty good idea of what would happen to me if I did any of the things with which the Sleazoid-in-Chief is charged. And he didn't even suffer a well-deserved suspension from his life-threatening tweets.
21
Come on. We all knew that this was not going to play out well for the President. Even a child with a ruler and marker could connect the dots.
The question is what we as a nation do now? How do we preserve the Union and at the same time rid our nation of its Chief Executive who clearly conducted in high crimes and misdemeanors - an impeachable offense.
The greatest crime would be for the GOP to let this clown hold their party hostage for another four-years. And frankly, it is all up to Mitch McConnell.
The ball is now in his court. Does he stump for Trump or does he realize that doing so, runs a terrible risk. To Democrats, I suggest letting out the line some. There are some extremely worthy candidates that are capturing national attention, even on Fox.
The fact is that Trump is guilty of being a terribly bad president and yes, if you like him, it doesn't make him less corrupt. But he is no Reagan and not even close to a Bush. Please don't hang onto him because history will eventually shame you.
If you are life-long Republican, it is now time to figure out how to rebuild, much like you might a major sports franchise. Your star player is not looking that good and it is all up to you to determine if you are going to stick with him or rally around a new and hopefully better leader. The spotlight is now on you!
16
Democrats need to resist a Mueller report feeding frenzy and continue to promote their vision for 2020 and beyond.
6
Barr was reprehensible this morning, acting as if he were a paid PR consultant and not the AG. He himself seems to be a part of obstructing the truth.
127
@Anne
"...acting as if he were a paid PR consultant..."
That is exactly the job that Bill Barr applied for last December and why Trump then hired him in February.
15
The can has been kicked down the road. Who will pick it up?
3
Based on Trump's numerous instances of obstruction of justice in the Mueller Report, Congress has a Constitutional responsibility to draw up articles of impeachment against this president.
Failure to do so will set a dangerous precedent. And the GOP had better get on board because this is no longer about politics.
35
" this is no longer about politics"
Uh, yeah, it is all about politics. Just as the mis-guided GOP led Cinton impeachment was. If Trump is impeached it will end the same way. Just as there were not 2/3 votes necessary to remove Clinton there will not be 2/3 votes to remove Trump. Face reality.
3
Marvin,
Ok, it shouldn't be about politics.
(Think back to Watergate-the GOP did the right thing back then.)
3
@L I attended several Watergate hearings in person as a student in DC in the early 70's. I saw how both parties behaved with integrity and honesty in a commitment to pursue the truth, wherever it led. The GOP of today is not the same as the GOP of the 70's, not even close. If there are impeachment proceedings, the Republicans in both the House and Senate will absolutely close ranks around the man who has their party in a choke hold. Don't look for honesty or integrity from that party any time soon.
4
All of this will make no difference at all to all of those people who have helped him day in and day out, nor will make any difference to any of those people who attend his 'Glory Me!" rallies. He is going to win 2020 simply because there are too many democrats diluting the run and there are too many people who refuse to believe Trump should be held to the same standards as an 'regular' person.
I wish it wasn't so but it is. I have Republican friends, some very well educated Republicans friends, who have told me: "Christ said forgive 70 x 7" Matthew 18:22. By the way that is a 490 times for the same sin, not a new one nor the combination of multiple sins. In plainer words, those people that voted for him will still vote for him again and continue to believe we have been too harsh in our judgement.
What should, I wish will happen, is that all those Republicans who supported and continue to support Trump and who now hold office be voted out of office 70 years x 7 years.
Blah. Who cares what I wish for? Trump was just playing a game and he won it. He didn't think he would but he did. The people that put him in the White like that they took the long shot and won. They will now all that much harder to put him back there again. They love a good show after all is said and done.
4
@Susannah Allanic Many of us are past attempting to impact trumpsters.
1
The last sentence is brilliant and sums up the necessary next steps.
7
Bravo, Mr. Bookbinder! I agree completely with your conclusion and hope that Democrats initiate impeachment proceedings for obstruction of justice.
46
If Democrats don’t impeach NOW, they can forget my vote. I don’t care what the Senate does - the HOUSE must act, regardless of the Senate. It is the right thing to do. Impeach NOW.
21
@Citizen of the Earth
"If Democrats don’t impeach NOW, they can forget my vote."
That's pretty silly. In effect you're saying that if Democratic congressmembers won't impeach Trump, you'll help him get re-elected.
40
Impeachment isn’t any more the only possible action that MFA is the only route to universal health coverage. Please stop with the chest-thumping.
8
@Gus,
The GOP has the reputation of leaping before they look ---- remember Iraq.
The democrats have a reputation of over-thinking, which looks like indecision. They will come to realize they need to impeach to stop looking like the guy who was too afraid to pull the trigger on the approaching tiger. Shoot or be eaten!
Besides, some fights you fight because it would be immoral not to do so.
2
"And while the report also details some exculpatory considerations, including the fact that the president, in his campaign, did not engage in an explicit or implicit conspiracy with the Russian government,"
Read the whole report, or summaries of it. It does not assert that the president did not engage in an implicit conspiracy with the Russian government. Quite the contrary, there are hundreds of pages detailing all the shady interactions of Trump and the Trump campaign with the Russians. What the Mueller Report concludes is that these actions do not rise to the level of a criminal conspiracy--a charge that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a very high threshold in this case and, given the nature of the laws in this area, one which few people seriously imagined would be met by the Mueller investigation.
Put differently, Mueller absolutely did establish "collusion" in the commonsensical (non-legal) way that term has been used. Don't let Trump off the hook on this one.
289
Mueller had two years and a boat load of resources to devote to this. So if a two year investigation, very thorough investigation that found other criminal actions, did not establish legal collusion evidence, that says something. Either Trump, the Russians and the Trump campaign are all geniuses or that collusion did not occur. At this point it is the latter.
3
@Marvin No it's not, cos there is no such thing as a crime called "collusion." Mueller report establishes that trump campaign did not actively coordinate with Russia, yet they did accept meetings, accept their stolen data, and make quid pro deals, all with a foreign enemy that hacked our elections (and to which he did nothing about). Criminal or not, that is okay for a leader of a country to do? Looks like treason, if anything...
11
Has it occurred to the Democrats that it's their duty to start impeachment proceedings regardless of politics? The Mueller report section II practically spells it out for them multiple times.
603
@Joseph If impeachment proceedings are started, will Congress be able to compel the president to testify under oath? That would shed light on obstruction and much more. To a punishingly embarrassing degree.
76
@ADM: Especially since two of his previous attorneys refused to allow him to testify because he lied so much just during practice sessions with them.
50
It’s the duty of the Republicans, too. If both groups don’t recognize it, though, it’s likely to have untoward effects if only one group acts.
43
Trump will fall when New York tells all. It’s not over yet folks.
144
569. days. 04. hours. 55. minutes. 45. seconds. Time until Tuesday, November 3, 2020 (New York time).
7
@David
What better time to cast a vote for President Trump? Except your 'Down Under'.
1
I hope we get to see the handcuffs go on as Trump steps off the dais following the swearing-in of his successor.
1
@John Murray: trump's exit from the world stage
None of it matters; the Dems are nominating Bernie.
The only way the Democrats could push moderate Republican and independent fence-sitters back into Trump's arms is to wildly overreach and nominate someone who scares them more than Trump disgusts them. So, of course, being Democrats, that's what we're going with.
5
@Patrick, I don't think so. I love Bernie and supported him last time, ending up holding my nose and voting for Hillary. The problem with Bernie is his running on the Democrat line while refusing to run as a Democrat. It would be okay for him to run as a Social Democrat; that is a type of Democrat. But while running as a Democratic Socialist, the Republicans would have a field day with him. Democratic Socialist would morph into Socialist, which would then morph into Communist. We cannot take chances this time. I believe that Biden stands the best chance of winning the contested States that Trump won last time. There are things he has done or said in the past that trouble me and I need to hear from him about this before I can support him. There is a long way to go. Before we make up our minds, we need to listen carefully to all the candidates.
3
@Patrick
Bernie is still hugging the Democratic Party bumper. It's all he ever had.
Yep, warts and all Trump has a strong economy backing him. I did not vote for Trump last time, but looking at the economy I'd vote for him over Sander or Beto or Harris or Warren or any of the big spending folks pushing huge government spending programs.
What will be interesting is if the race is Sanders, Trump and Schultz. Schultz is talking about a lot of common sense things in the moderate middle and is not afraid to say the New Green Deal and Medicare for All are idiotic non-workable programs.
Agree completely, and it is up to each of us to get on the phone to our member of Congress to encourage them to do their work. I've been calling constantly. And it's been too easy to get through. Stop watching TV, stop tweeting, and get on the phone to your representatives.
48
I urge the Times to publish a serious opposing opinion with equal visibility on the page to that of Mr. Bookbinder. Surely Mr. Bookbinder's opinion isn't the only one out there.
Since Mr. Trump knew - as confirmed by Mr. Mueller - that he did not collude with the Russians, he could not have had corrupt intent. And after all, wasn't lack of intent the reason cited by James Comey for not indicting Hillary Clinton (even, by the way, tho the law in her case does not require intent)?
12
@HurryHarry
Without an underlying crime, obstruction should never be charged.
4
@HurryHarry, think about it: obstruction obviously does not require the defendant to have committed an underlying crime.
If the FBI is investigating your neighbor and you try to derail the investigation, does it matter whether your neighbor is eventually found guilty of something? Not at all. Obstruction of justice is obstruction of justice.
4
@HurryHarry
Ha ha ha! You are funny HurryHarry.
2
Mueller concluded that Trump pressured Comey to clear him publicly and fired Mr. Comey because of his unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not under investigation.
That is clear obstruction of justice and clearly impeachable. Congress must do what Trump's partisan lackey, Barr, refuses to do and make Trump accountable.
595
Except is is not clear because Mueller did not bring nor recommend an indictment.
3
@Marvin Mueller was following DoJ policy not to indict a sitting president. The lack of an indictment is meaningless.
27
2019 and the Left is crying over spilled milk. News flash Hilary lost.
A person can’t be guilty of Obstruction. When the Constitution gives the President the authority to hire and fire those who work for them. (Used to be common sense)
Thankfully, we have a court system will ultimately decide this matter, not the Democrats in the House.
How sad it is that the Democrats love the system when it works in their favor. However, when it does not work in their favor. All the rules need to be changed. For example; The Electoral College, The Supreme Court are just two examples of this madness.
The Federal Courts and The Constitution are the only deterrent to this Democratic Party Nonsense.
As much as I- and much of the world- loathes Donald Trump and what his presidency has done destroying the reputation of America, let it go. If Mueller couldn't categorically get him, this avenue is done. Just don't let him and his Republican enablers get away with too much until he can be turfed in 2020.
8
@Anthony Jenkins Yes. There are serious problems and the people want constructive plans and actions, not endless bickering. While the world burns we have to watch a cat fight.
1
@Anthony Jenkins One of the stated reasons Mueller wrote as to why he didn't refer for charges is because the DOJ has the policy a sitting President cannot be indicted.
It's up to Congress to do something, per the Constitution. Trump's actions may not reach the level of treason or conspiracy, they certainly are not what any President of the US should have done to get elected, and continued to do after being elected.
11
Try reading the obstruction portion again. Mueller did "categorically get him" -- he just didn't want to publicly accuse somebody he couldn't charge at the moment.
2
Why waste everyone's time? We know now that the Democrats will absolutely impeach Trump for Obstruction of Justice (OOJ). We also know that Trump will not be removed from office because there was no clear corrupt intent in what the Muller report had considered possible instances to OOJ. Just do it.
1
@NYChap, Congressional oversight is not a waste of time, it's a duty. And prosecutors need to build a case now so that they can charge citizen Trump when he leaves office.
Robert Mueller should reopen his inquiry to include William Barr's participation in obstruction of justice. But I guess it's up to Congress....sigh.
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All of this is fine and dandy but it’s all long established items The ONLY thing that’ll sink the USS Trump is the anticipated indictments from the SDNY detailing financial felonies.
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Trump has the support of the Senate and a large minority of the American population. We've become so tribal in our political divide that pursuing impeachment will only serve to rally the opposing team. The only solution is to hope that 5-10% of the opposing team come to their own conclusions about what a bad man this is and how ill-suited he is to lead America. Democrats can help that process by putting forth a viable alternative in 2020.
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@James Agreed. But the Democrats will be unable to nominate a viable candidate from the expected field of candidates. The Dems odds of losing the WH are very high at this point, several of the best Dem candidates to take the Senate are running for President, and this Congress should act to protect the integrity of the Constitution even if the House is lost (less likely than the Senate and WH remaining in Republican hands). These acts cannot go without consequences, or the next candidate/President will go further.
The best way to remove this stain from office is to vote him out by an unprecedented margin that no amount of gerrymandering will negate. 2020 will inform us, and the rest of the world, who we are.
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@Mikeyz, I disagree. What a terrible precedent that would set if we let someone like Trump get away with these abuses of power and Congress do nothing. Bad for the Executive Office, bad for the system of checks and balances, bad for the country.
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@Mikeyz Out damned spot ! If the dems can’t come up with a unifying candidate, ridding ourselves of this toxic excuse for a human will not happen.
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@Mikeyz. A problem is that the Justice Department under Barr and GOP functionaries in many states will try to remove voters from the rolls and inhibit fair elections. The two things, the congressional/legal process and voter turnout, have to work in tandem. The Trumpist con is wide and deep.
30
By way of comparison, Nixon and Clinton were impeached for FAR less than what was revealed in a redacted report.
Next steps:
1. Until Congress returns to session, Democrats need to hold multiple press conferences to keep the facts in front of the public.
2. Mueller must testify
3. Barr must resign
4. Congress must act, failure by subordinates to carry out criminal orders does not exonerate Trump, its further argument that he is unfit and needs to be removed from office.
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@Aleutian Low: One day, and that day will come, we will have a Democratic President. (S)he will appoint an Democratic Attorney General. That attorney general will track down and investigate every single Republican member of Congress from 2016-2020, and jail them for failing to uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States of America.
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@Aleutian Low
Note that Nixon was not actually impeached. He resigned office after the House committee voted for impeachment, but the full House had not yet voted (but would have voted to impeach).
Clinton was impeached, and acquitted by the Senate.
2
@MoneyRules: From your lips to God's ear!
1
Yes, the next move in handling the Mueller report rests with Congress. And through them, Us.
We could demand that Congress take action to hold the Stable Genius to account for his wrongdoing. I can already imagine the dozens who will write in to say that will be a waste of time. i counter that upholding the rule of law is an inherent good.
We can also rally around leaders who will defeat republicans at the polls in 2020. That's when we can send packing the pusillanimous representatives and senators who refuse to do their duty to defend the Constitution.
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The strange case of Mueller and the blivets.
The Donald: I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember.
Barr: Did I do OK today, Little Donnie?
25
The house of Rep. has sufficient votes to file articles of impeachment.
But the senate lacks sufficient votes to find trump guilty.
That will create the most serious constitutional crises since the firing on Fort Sumter.
There can now be no question our democracy is at a cross road.
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@gerry, I agree. When the Senate refuses to convict, it would allow Trump to claim that he was exonerated of all charges. Let him be defeated in a fair election, without Russian support and intrusion.
8
Stop just stop please.
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@Dori Stop what exactly? This damning report is surely not a surprise to anyone paying attention. What IS important is that Congress investigates thoroughly. The American people deserve no less.
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@Dori
Stop what?
We are about to lose our democracy.
I wonder what you would have said in 1933 if you lived in Germany?
“Stop just stop please”.
Pathetic
The challenge of this reality is one of short-term pain vs the possibility of longer-term gratification for the Democratic Party. The likelihood of anything meaningful coming from this investigation is de minimis... and I can say with absolute certainty that the continued pursuit thereof will only embolden the vast majority of working class citizens living more than 3 hours (for the sake of clarity, I too grew up in the Midwest, this is not blind social commentary from an uneducated coastal denizen) from either coast to give further credence to the GOP's current argument that this entire process was a witch hunt. Don't take the short-term bait and lose sight of the impact it will inevitably have on the grander stage of electoral politics in 2020.
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@JS
The GHouse is required to investigate. It's their Constitutional mandate to investigate.
Stop romanticizing this as some sort of political gratification and grandstanding.
19
The report shows that the President is a dishonest man who will stop at nothing to protect himself from real or perceived threats. Further investigation or impeachment proceedings will add nothing, nor will they convert a single one of his supporters.
The old saying is that if you go after the king, don’t miss. Since the Senate will protect him, don’t take the bait. Instead, the Democrats must offer ideas to the American people, so that they do the right thing in November 2020 and through the ballot box remove the con man in chief from office.
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@John Graybeard "Real" Democrats will offer ideas to the American people, as they did in 2018, even if they also begin the process toward impeachment. Unfortunately, it's clear the "not really a Democrat" candidate most likely to receive the nomination at the end of what will be a bloody primary cannot win again Trump. Might as well aim to protect the Constitution and our nation.
1