Unambiguous obstruction of justice.
Mueller the Republican coward.
6
First - the idea that a president can't be indicted is simply wrong. It is a policy formed at a time when nobody could anticipate that a person like Trump would be elected. The DoJ policy was not binding on Mueller. He should have recognised his duty as a patriot and indicted Trump.
Second - the idea that some political calculation should stop Congress proceeding with impeachment proceedings is deeply and disturbingly undemocratic. There is now a mountain of clear evidence that Trump conducted a sustained conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into his own conduct and repeatedly lied about it. He has to go.
The reality is that now Bill Weld has announced he will challenging Trump in the primaries, Trump's candidacy for a second term is dead in the water. The best chance Republicans have of winning the White House, or holding the Senate, in 2020 is to dump Trump as quickly as humanly possible and really lay it on how appalled and shocked they are to see Trump's criminality spelled out in Mueller's report.
I know there are enough Democrats now in the House, not the least being Adam Schiff, who are going to move on impeachment without delay, so any call for solidarity from Democrats should be solidarity with the members of Congress who refuse to sit and watch while an open traitor and criminal attempts to keep control over the nation.
Trump has to go - no ifs, buts or maybes. He is a criminal of the worst kind, a conspirator against democracy and the Constitution. Impeach!
7
I wrote my last comment before I had read the following remarks from Maxine Waters:
“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.”
This is a cool and clear statement of the Constitutional duty of Congress. This is not a matter for political calculation, this is a matter of the assertion of the rule of law. Congress has a clear report of serious criminal behaviour from the most trusted federal prosecutor in history. They are simply and irresistibly compelled to start impeachment proceedings without any further delay.
AOC has made it very clear. Any Democrat in a safe Democratic seat who does not support impeachment will be a ripe target for being primaried by the Progressive wing of the party next year. If Democrat members of Congress want to play political games in the face of treason, then the Progressive wing has a moral and Constitutional obligation to get rid of them.
But they'll be playing political games - they can't help themselves - and by a simple calculation of wanting to hold on to their seats of power, the majority of Democrats in Congress will push for immediate impeachment. The Trump downfall has started. Impeach Trump!
10
Unbelievably biased coverage. Read the Wall Street Journal for impartial coverage.
Gone are the days when the NYT was a great newspaper. Their hatred of Trump and biased coverage ultimately hurt the brand but get them short term gains from the left wing elites. So glad we have Trump.
.
5
The New York Times editorial board is purposely misleading readers. The Mueller Report does state on Vol. 2, Page 2 that “we determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes.” However, on the same page, it states “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. Based on the facts and the 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 means that the special counsel would not have filed charge against the president if it had concluded he committed obstruction of justice. It also means that it did not conclude the president committed obstruction of justice.
6
"It is up to Congress to decide whether the behavior described in this report meets an acceptable standard for the country’s chief executive."
The Editors remain woefully naive. The Senate is locked in an anti-constitutional, authoritarian embrace with Trump, who has now openly gone to war with the rule of law. The people, and their non-governmental spokespersons, like the editors of the Times, have to call this what it is. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has said it well:
"In every portion of this Democratic leaders in the House need to be vocally and consistently making clear that what we’re dealing with is not a legal process but an on-going coverup...That doesn’t force the President’s hands in itself of course. But it prevents lying to the public, pretending that what is happening now is a legitimate judicial process as opposed to a war on the constitution itself."
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dirty-rotten-scoundrels
1
Impeach !!
Enough is enough. Russians meddled in our election with the blessing of trump. Trump tried to obstruct justice multiple times.
Democrats have been WAY, WAY too "nice" - It is time to get tough.
Dems allowed a Conservative Republican to head an investigation into the meddling without any push back.
Dems allowed Barr to be appointed trumps AG fixer without much push back. Dems allowed Barr to spin the Mueller report prior to it's release - not once, but *twice*. Barr continues to spin the findings of the report, and Dems just stand by and let him do it.
Trump, Sanders and the rest of the propagandists lie to the American people, and Dems just watch it happen day after day with minimal push back.
Enough - time to fight. Get a spine Dems, and stop being so passive. Impeach !!
86
Donald Trump did not obstruct Justice but certainly tried repeatedly. His integrity was further tarnished when he tried to fire Robert Mueller; clearly in an effort to thwart the investigation. It is also troubling that Attorney General William Barr is acting as Trump’s personal attorney. Commenting on the Report before it was released was inappropriate. Mr. Barr’s actions demonstrates his partiality towards Donald Trump.
65
There are more smoking guns in the Mueller Report than in all the Gun Smoke episodes combined.
And that's saying something, because when Miss Kitty Kat wasn't pouring drinks in her saloon downstairs, upstairs in the brothel she was doing a lot more than soothing Festus's aching muscles with Ben Gay.
We have our own James Arness in Bob Mueller, and the people in this town are getting fed up with the rampant crime and corruption that's taking place everywhere. Time to put a stop to it now.
2
The greater scandal is that Republicans still have Trump's back.
Trump should be removed by the 25th, but for Republicans in Congress, especially "devout" Christians and members of the Freedom Caucus, no amount of incompetence, dysfunction, deceit, or criminal intent can come between them and their lust for power. They are entirely corrupt.
McConnell, who is neither religious nor fetishistic about "freedom" (not in the doctrinaire way that his Evangelical and Freedom Caucus colleagues are), embodies that corruption right down to his , but with sly, vulpine intelligence.
So we have a three-fold grip on power on the right:
1. A ruthless, amoral, idiot savant as Executive, propped up by...
2. A self-righteous, moralistic coalition of amoral senators and representatives for whom power is everything...
3. And an amoral senatorial leader for whom power is the only thing.
They won't bend until their own children disown them. Fat chance of that happening.
6
Trump and his advocates lie through their teeth; they brush them with mendacity and gargle with turpitude.
2
Make my day.
1
Rosenstein is enigmatic. He gave cover for the narcissist Trump to fire Comey. Now here he stands beside Barr with a smirk on his face.
The report I want to read contains the words Putin uses in private to describe the pufferfish president he helped put in place.
1
Does the word “Sycophant” fit for “Attorney General” Barr?
2
Our country deserves better!!!
The nation and its Congress have two large problems to consider and deal with. One of them is Trump, easily the sleaziest slime ever to inhabit the presidential chair, whose impeachment and removal would, under reasonable circumstances, be the most appropriate course. The second is the potentially more dangerous fact that Trump has demonstrated the ease with which the government can be deeply corrupted when such a person as himself is aided and abetted by an equally self-seeking, joyously corrupt and slimy party apparatus.
Perhaps the most healthy approach would be to thoroughly hamstring/castrate the presidency itself while in the process of delivering some kind of justice to Trump, who may well deserve the reward due a traitor.
1
The Republicans can no longer make fun of the banana republics!
1
Today's Republicans won't do a thing. They put party and money over their oaths of office, which are like a prostitute telling a customer what a great lover they are. Treason is a trifle.
3
Once again, Trump has proven to be a 'useful idiot.'
Ineffectual to the extreme an inveterate coward, he simply goes with what the strong-arm bully suggests. The cover-up is to hide both his spectacular weakness and his shady self-dealing proclivities.
If this gang couldn't shoot straight, it doesn't make it less a gang.
Russia didn't need Trump to do its worse. It only needed him not to get in the way.
2
So now after praising the Mueller report yesterday, he read it overnight and saw how much he tried to get everyone in the White House to lie for him and commit illegal acts. Now he’s saying they all lied. OK, Trumpy, it’s easy to rebut; just go get interviewed under oath, which you refused before, and you can easily and quickly put those so called lies to bed. Although, the conundrum for the FBI would be that Trump is a pathological liar so how could ANYTHING he says be believed. So in a way, he’s trumped because he can never rebut claims about his lying, his deception, his illegal and insidious dirt bag behaviour. It’s clear this malodorous monstrosity should be removed from office.
5
The only excuse for his behavior is that he suffers from all three personality disorders:
Suspicious – paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal and antisocial.
Emotional and impulsive – borderline, histrionic and narcissistic.
Anxious – avoidant, dependent and obsessive compulsive.
But that's fine: his mob neither reads The Times, nor understands what personality disorders are.
2
" 448 pages and nothin' on ! "
don't impeach.
rather force GOP senators and reps to STATE their allegiance to this liar and cheat.
They can vote no on impeachment and hide behind a matter of principle.
Make them "vote" with a microphone in their face... "Do you still support this president?" "Do you trust him?"
NYT.... don't let them side step the question.
Democrats... forget impeachment. speak out against GOP goose-stepping followers being led by a man who learned how to tweet.
3
So President Trump lies. Now, you tell us?
2
Come on NYT... I depend on you. Re-read Noah Bookbinder's piece you printed.
Why in God's name did Barr outright lie for Trump?
1
Regarding all the damning evidence laid forth about Trump in Mueller's report, William Weld is right - America deserves better.
2
The coming electoral debacle will wipe out any hope these fools have to governance. HE will be re-elected, the House will return to red, the Senate majority will expand and by the end of the second term the SCOTUS ladies lunch will have two members of “the resistance” in their sewing circle. Meanwhile, the Wall is built, NAFTA is toast, the Persians are flustered, North Korea enters a diabetic coma, and several big mouths are handed subpoenas. Yet, all the really good fun will be watching FOXNEWS showing video inside the HQs of the losers...and of course the dyspeptic reactions in pages such as these. You may all go covfefe yourselves.
2
Yea, but c'mon, we needed to go through all of this to come to know Trump is a lying, venomous coward it so much toxicity in his system it comes out Chutzpah?
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
1
When the Watergate report went to Congress, even some of Nixon's Republican supporters started having second thoughts about their support for Nixon, leading President Nixon to resign.
The present-day Republicans are more partisan, more strident and mostly unwavering in their support for Trump. There is no reason to believe that some of these Republicans will change their mind even if they get an unredacted version of the Mueller Report.
These Republicans are the one who voted for Barr as Attorney General, knowing fully well what Barr's position was on the Mueller probe.
So, sadly, Trump will remain in office, thanks to Trump toadies such as Senator Lindsey Graham, who said in the past "If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay. Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency, unless Mueller did something wrong,” but did nothing when Sessions was forced out and Trump repeatedly did "go after Mueller."
There are no Howard Bakers in the GOP wing any more. No profiles in courage. The party of Lincoln is now the party of Graham, Cruz, McConnell and, of course, Trump.
4
The worst excuse for a "president" in 250 years of US history!
Pathetic!
Somebody PLEASE get rid of him ASAP -- it's really an emergency! He's got to go by hook or by crook. And speaking of crooks...
3
The NYT is upset because the special counsel after 22 months and millions spent on the investigation could not charge or indict the President. The President was correct to label this a witch hunt but the Democrats/NYT wants to spin the report to justify their previous incorrect accusations.
9
We're capable of reaching pretty damning conclusions—legitimately—from the redacted report; whatever was omitted could be the difference between a preponderance of evidence and proof beyond unreasonable doubt.
This is all beyond contrived nonsense...
The report was dawdled about and held up until it could be delivered into the hands of a Dem House...
Can clearly hear the voice of that most original of originalists – Scalia, of course – intoning that the report would have to be interpreted by the House originally in session when the report was commissioned...
As said in an earlier comment that you also didn’t post...
Pee Dossier 2.0...
Or perhaps – #2 Dossier...
.....
At least they had the decency to leave out the part where Trump juggles puppies when he thinks no one is looking...
Or did Barr – that dirty dog – redact that part...
Here’s the thing. As corrupt as the resident and his family are, his reaction and subsequent actions upon learning of the appointment of Special Council Mueller, are absolute proof that he knows of the truth in the report. That he is unfit for the office and shouldn’t be there. The resident is that super loud, really aggressive guy you just get tired of dealing with and eventually he gets his way even though he knows he is wrong. I don’t believe that he thinks he is really going to get away with it but can’t see how to get out safely. Cue Pastor Pence with the blanket pardons. The usual suspects in the Senate are groveling but I bet they wish he would go away too. If they have to keep covering, there will be hell to pay next fall,
What doesn't add up for me is: if he was truly innocent why did he try so hard to interfere with the investigation?
Why did he say he was f-ed when he heard about the investigation?
That's not something innocent people do.
1
First gentleman G-man named Comey
Straight arrow tall man from New Jersey
Whom my man Prez extolled to show Loyalty
‘Omertà’ is your password to show Fealty.
Witless AG Jeff Sessions was Recused
“You are a weasel”; my Prez was not Amused
Man from Alabama was rudely Abused
“I wish to quit” he said; Prez flatly Refused.
Second gentleman G-man named Mueller
Straight arrow tall man ex Director
‘Special Counsel, you be the Investigator’
‘Check out Russian meddling’ to Prez’s Horror.
Twenty two months is elephant Gestation
Not pregnant? Just gas? ‘cause Indigestion!
Twenty two months is Mueller Investigation
Not guilty? Just gas? Cable in full Indignation!
Joy in Oval ‘No collusion’ Prez Proclaimed
‘Exonerated’ Attorney General Barr Exulted
It is “Miller Time” Junior celebrated
Joy in Kremlin, “Look Ma, no hands’ Puppeteer Exclaimed
1
Just finished volume 1, and what I read was thoroughly disgusting and damning. It is now on record forever more, in a report that Trump and company must accept because it clears them of the more hard-core treasonous accusations, that the Trump campaign was well aware of Russia’s efforts to interfere in our elections, and even made advanced plans to tailor their campaign to reap the political benefits from the release of private material that was stolen by a foreign adversary.
That this isn’t a crime is understandable—our founders and lawmakers can be forgiven for failing to foresee that a presidential candidate would actually and happily accommodate a foreign conspiracy and influence campaign dealing in stolen goods. (I liken our current situation to Chase Utley’s infamous take out slide in the 2015 World Series. While not technically illegal because there was rule expressly forbidding it, the entire world knew it was dirty, and baseball had to make a new rule banning Utley’s slide.)
Now, to begin volume 2.
43
I noticed that in this piece, the expletives are not censored. Does that mean that the Times has relaxed sufficiently to use the word "lie" when Trump does it, or is that still a bridge too far?
2
The “Times” notes, “Although Mr. Mueller was unable to bring criminal charges against the president himself, his report lays a foundation for investigation by Congress, which has the authority and the responsibility to check the executive branch and hold the president accountable. “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law,” the report states.
But additionally, this morning’s debate (on “Democracy Now”) between former “NYT” journalist and Pulitzer Prize winning, David Cay Johnston, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and founder of the ‘Intercept’, Glen Greenwood, beginning to counter-punch each other regarding whether faux-Emperor Trumpius (of the ‘tougher-talking’ neocon ‘R’ Vichy Party of the Empire) or whether “Empress-in-waiting”, Hillary Clinton and the DNC, (of the ‘smoother-lying’ neoliberal-con ‘’D’ Vichy Party of the same Empire) were most guilty of turning the 2016 (s)election into a conspiracy-theory cat-fight (instead of any serious and honest presidential campaign) — concluded with both these Pulitzer Prize journalist (and myself) coming together to agree that both deceitful candidates of both Vichy Parties are totally unfit to be the leader of any functional democracy — but only suitable to be leader of a Disguised Global (crony) Capitalist EMPIRE.
1
I didn't need the Mueller Report to conclude that Donald Trump is a liar, a dishonest person, a scoundrel, and a draft-dodger.
Growing up in New York City exposed me to his shenanigans as a real estate developer in the city, a boy from Queens who dreamed of making it in the big time in Manhattan.
His repeated and childish attempts to get attention, to be on Page Six, even pretending to be his own marketing agent on the phone without even disguising his voice!
And now he is president of the United States. How on earth did that happen? If this election has shown the country nothing else it's that the Electoral College needs to be removed as a political platform for electing a president.
Every other election in the country is a "one person/one vote" election. The presidential election should be also.
4
It is clear that if Trump were a normal citizen he would be sitting in a jail, waiting for a bail hearing.
Laws must be passed to eliminate any special treatment of any elected official. A president is no different that the White House janitors. That is what makes America great.
4
" ... the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office ... " That is the gist of the Mueller report, in spite of all the GOP spin attempts.
1
The Mueller report states that “Congress has authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority…”. This editorial says “the president’s corrupt use of his authority…”. Small word, big difference.
1
Yes. Republicans need to step up as they would if a fraction of what Mueller says about Trump came out about a Democrat in the White House. A lot of people keep saying the solution to this crisis in our country is the 2020 election, but who’s to say the Russians won’t meddle again and that Breitbart and Info Wars and Fox won’t have undue influence and we end up with Trump for another four years? Trump must be impeached. If he’s not, Congress implicitly condones all the reprehensible behavior described in the Mueller report. It will be hard to recover from that.
2
Can Congress actually just start doing their job? We've many issues, not of Trump's making, but as a result of some pretty lousy legislation over the last 30 years. Are people so obtuse as to not be able to see this? I get not liking Trump, he's not a likable guy. But is the NYTimes and readers so focused on their hatred for this man that they, in turn, decide to hate the country at large? Decide that rule of law shouldn't be applied to this man they so hate, just 'cause?
He can only be convicted of obstruction if he actually did obstruct the investigation. He wanted to, yes, but he didn't. He didn't because his first AG quite, and Sessions recused himself. So, under the definition of law, he cannot be convicted of obstruction. This is why Mueller couldn't, although he clearly wanted to. You cannot break the law to hurt someone you don't like. You cannot twist the law because you 'believe' someone is guilty of something although you cannot prove it under the law.
Let it go and do some work! If Congress proceeds to waste the next year and a half, then all should go. And, by spending their time wasting more tax dollars (we've spent over $30 million already!) on trying to get Trump out of office, all the Dems will do is guarantee his chances of another term. Is that what they want?
6
@Ma You're wrong. Whether he successfully obstructed the investigation or not, he can be convicted on intent to obstruct alone. I agree that we need to focus on removing Trump from office in 2020 but it needs to be made clear to voters that Republicans in Congress and in his administration enabled his corrupt behavior.
1
You're reading incorrect law books.
We know exactly what consequences Trump will face from the Mueller report - none! America is so broken that even this egregious report will not compel Congress to act. SAD!
3
So it cannot be proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Trump is a criminal who wants to subvert the United States. Is this the standard we should look for in choosing a President?
5
The Mueller Report
Clean as a houndstooth, enamel and all,
Our Donald, chagrin), he won’t take the fall;
Maybe not upfront with his machinations,
His truth-telling service way below station,
But – friends from the Left - your Stalin and Trotsky
Misled their peeps, they lied – take a look see -
For Socialist goals, all in the poorhouse -
The Donald, no angel, a certified louse
Would make the rich richer, how’s that for a goal,
Spark deeper tax cuts, let the poor roll
Low in the gutter where certs they’ll regress,
Where addicts and drunkards make their success.
1
Trump Country does not read The Times. Trump Country does not watch CNN or MSNBC. Trump Country watches Fox News and they watch Trump make fun of people. Until they are FIRED because of Trump's doing, they shall follow this perverted, narcissistic, treasonous con man off the cliff.
Sadly, Trump will survive that cliff and they shall fall.
Trump is trumpeting that this is a total vindication the same way he trumpets his properties - which he doesn't own and the same way he trumpets how Russia's and North Korea's dictators are great guys and how he will give America the most "terrific health care" and on and on and on.
Let's face it, 26% of America knows this guy lies through his teeth every minute of the day and they just eat it up. That shows how much hate they have for progressives.
Listen 26%, I truly am sorry you feel lectured to and are made to feel inferior by many progressives - especially in wealthy Blue States, that is true and I am sorry - but that is no reason to support a pathological law breaking liar who only says and does things for your votes so he and other sociopaths can remain in ultra wealthy powerful positions. Think about it, please. Give this sociopath up.
I’m trying to locate the editorial board opinion piece decrying Hillary for obstructing justice when she had 33000 emails destroyed that were under subpoena and her aids smashed their cellphones with hammers.
It must be there somewhere .
5
So OK, wait until 2020 to prosecute. But what if DT runs and wins again? Wait until 2024? Impending prosecution could well prove to be all the motivation DT needs to run again. He might even double-down on the cheeseburgers and hope to die, in full presidential pomp and glory, before the end of that second term. A true mega-narcissist's dream. My biggest fears since his election are that he dies in office or, worse, is assassinated by some nut-job, propelling him to the JFK/RFL/MLK pantheon. Donald Trump, martyr, is something I hope never comes to pass.
Trump thinks lawyers do not take notes. Where do you think the words "legal pad" came from?
3
Why are there not demonstrations people? If you do not stand up for justice and democracy then you are all complicit and deserve this banana republic. Elections have consequences --the time has come to stand up and be heard!!!!
2
Any republican in Congress that reads the report and still supports this unfit president should resign immediately. You folks were elected to uphold the law. You folks are as unfit and immoral as the president you support.
1
For shame, William Barr, for shame.
Justice: the House initiates impeachment hearings; Democrats hire Hillary as House counsel; Hillary interrogates Trump for 11 hours.
1
I think I'll go to the fabric store and buy a swatch for Sarah, she must be worn out from making it up.
" Half a dozen people *connected with the Mueller investigation* have been formally charged with — or pleaded guilty to — lying to investigators."
Huh???
Surely this should be "connected with the Trump team"
Just imagine if Mueller had to let John Gotti's lawyers review, redact, and spin his investigative report on Gotti and the Gambino crime family before going to trial.
Time heals. Instead of wasting it on an impeachment that will die in a Senate trial where the gutless majority wouldn't vote guilty in a million years, Democrats should concentrate on what occurs in just eighteen months. In spite of Round Two of Russian Interference, sweep these people out of office, appoint someone like Preet Bharara (an immigrant from India, no less: how delicious an irony) as a real AG, open the Special Counsel report archive, and prosecute this corrupt ignoramus as a civilian.
78
@Mike7, if republicans were true patriots they would not allow our country to be swallowed by someone like trump. Clearly it is not the country’s interest they have at heart, it is simply party politics to them at the cost of moral and ethical values laid on our foundation by our founders who were themselves far from perfect as they kept stables of slaves on their farms.
13
@Mike7
By now, I daresay most Americans are more focused on seeing the entire Mueller report rather than impeachment, for no other reason than the reality that the notion would die a quick death in a Republican-controlled Senate.
4
@Mike7
The Dems should campaign on that point. A vote for the Dem candidate is a vote to put Trump in prison! Many, many, many Americans would find that appealing.
9
Mr. President:
Between the Mueller report, Congress's investigation into your money laundering and fraud, SDNY various investigations into campaign finance violations, etc., and New York State's investigation into the your organization, etc. I think the only time you did not lie is when you said: I'm ----ed."
2
If Trump the tweeter could tweet about Trump the president, he'd exclaim "FAILED COLLUDER"
As damning as the Mueller report is about the President’s behavior and the White House dysfunction, it is only part 2 of a four part novel. The first was Mr. Barr’s spin sessions which painted this rosy picture. Now part 2 has created the conflict. Part 3 which may get edited (redacted) out, brings the conflict to real chaos, the stuff of murder and mayhem stories. And then there will be Part 4, resolution either in the House or November 2020. Can’t wait to see the full story. Let’s hope for a happy ending.
As predicted, each side sees the Mueller Report in a way that vindicates their respective positions:
The Trumpist side sees the report as a victory for Trump in that it absolves him & his aides from any charges of collusion or conspiracy with the Russians. Instead, the Trumpists contend that the media and the Democrats are culpable for claiming that collusion occurred and their broadcast of it loud & clear throughout the Trump presidency.
The never-Trump side sees the report as an indictment of Trump for everything including obstruction and for the lies, corruption and coercive actions taken to thwart the investigation and the blatant manipulation of the media and the public to forestall Mueller's efforts to get to the truth.
So, where does that leave us? Those of us who belong to neither the Trumpist camp or the never-Trump camp. On one hand, it appears that the liberal media and Democrats have over-reacted on the collusion charge. Mueller's report should put an end to all of the fulminations regarding collusion with the Russians and charges of treachery.
But, more significantly, Mueller has uncovered, what most of us believed was the case but were without proof, the lies, corruption and patently bad behavior of this president. It is shocking in the extreme. It is even more disturbing to know that the people that saved Trump from himself, have all departed; there is nobody but sycophants left to protect the country.
Impeachment proceedings must begin!
When the White House counsel describes requests from the president as "crazy shit", we have a grave problem. Trump is obviously not capable of dealing effectively with a national crisis. It's time for Congress to put aside its partisan leanings and do something about it.
2
"That the president’s norm-shattering behavior has become so flagrant and familiar doesn’t make it right."
This is the problem, we (really, the Republicans) have allowed Trump to break rules and traditions so much that we start to lose our disgust of his actions.
Let the Mueller narrative revive our outrage and regardless of the 2020 election, impeach the man so at least the Senate Republicans will have to support his misdeeds if they won't convict.
42
@Robert
I, for one, am not losing my disgust for his actions or for the people who enable him.
5
We have achieved another restaging of an Orwell scenario. This one is from "1984" where Julia relates to Winston that as a younger person she and the other members of the Junior Anti-Sex League had to surround courtrooms and chant iike cheerleaders at intervals, "Death to the Traitors!" Will we see massive throngs of outraged American citizens chanting something like this at the Capitol?
1
We don’t need guardrails for the President.
We need a President who does not require guardrails.
3
So many lies. Even from Mr. Barr, who by each revelation shows he's a tarnished, ethically challenged individual. Too bad he's been given the AG position when he should be disbarred for lying. Justice is not served when he acts like the president's criminal lawyer.
3
While everyone says Mueller is the greatest he’s no Santa Claus.
Voters will have to oust the Grinch in the next election. Assuming there is one.
This Barr individual has absolutely no credibility left... none whatsoever.
Another tainted Trump enabler, nothing more.
4
Could you all stop pretending to understand what all this means. In order to understand the Mueller report you need to have gone to law school and have been a practicing attorney for at least five years.
2
Thank you for abandoning the convention of eliding obscenities when quoting.
4
Racism has long trumped rule of law and decency in America. He is simply a reflection of that very fact. No matter foreign interference, no matter the laws violated, the people who continue to support this degenerate clings to the great white hope. Once the core of America so full of hatred is destroyed, perhaps such a charlatan will never rise to power again. Or not.
To the owners, editors and journalists of The New York Times, thank you for the accurate reporting on Trump and the Mueller Investigation over the last two years!
Through your efforts, we we're informed in real time updates on the deplorable antics of the President, his family and staff. It's great to actually see the sources revealed.
In days ahead, we'll see how our Congress decides to move on with Trump's crimes. But for now, it's comforting that the Forth Estate did it's duty for American citizens. Being called out as "enemies of the state" and "fake news" has endangered some, if not many, of your safety. Leaving another takeaway from this Investigation, should Trump be accountable for the slander he inflicted upon The Times and other investigative journalists and their organizations? Rise up America, our President is a clueless, law breaking thug, who was elected by strategists from Russia...Russia...wow!
3
The report effectively says that Trump committed obstruction, but Mueller didn't want to say so since he can't indict Trump. He essentially says "he's not not guilty".
This is crazy. The DOJ decision that a sitting president cannot be indicted because it would detract from presidential duties is obviously not relevant here: Trump spends more time golfing and watching TV than he does actual "presidenting".
I fear the precedent set here: a President is above the law if he can't be indicted, particularly when there's only the slimmest chance that the next Congress will hold him accountable. Republicans have run rogue operations like Iran-Contra and the manufactured WMD mess in Iraq, and Dems don't hold them accountable when they return to power.
Strikingly, the ignorant, belligerent, autocratic dotard occupying the WH has been treated with far more respect by Mueller than Trump himself has for the presidency or the law.
4
Mueller report proves we have a completely incompetent, immoral criminal as the U.S. presidential,. It just couldn't be worse than this report. And his staff, and the Republicans who support his rot, are just as immoral and dishonest. What a terrible time for this country. It will take a great leader to bring us back to strength and decency in 2020.
5
So let me get this straight....
..just say Mueller had irrefutable evidence that Trump and Putin agreed that Putin would seek to influence the outcome of the election in Trump's favour..
...he could not have brought charges?
CRAZY.
You guys need to fix your laws.
1
The best analysis I have seen so far was done by former US Attorney and former Acting Head of the DEA, Chuck Rosenberg. He simply states the following fact; If you removed the words “Donald J Trump” and “President of the United States” and replaced them with “John Smith CEO of XYZ Inc.”, that person would have been long ago led away in handcuffs.
4
"Mr. Mueller’s investigation found that 'the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.' Mr. Mueller was not able in the end to establish definitive coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians. "
This has been obvious for months and months to anyone who was paying attention. The only reason there was no provable actual "collusion" or conspiracy involving Trump himself is that the Trump campaign, and the Trump administration, was and is so disorganized and dysfunctional, and Trump himself so amoral, narcissistic, and incapable of strategic planning or sustained attention to anything but his own emotional gratification, that his personal role never extended beyond that of useful idiot.
That any American journalist or political figure should still be pretending that the current President is in any way "exonerated" is the greatest outrage of the whole ghastly business.
3
How about all future references to Trump and his ilk use the acronym CTA; the Corrupt Trump Administration. Make it their official badge of history.
2
Your opinion piece lacks little beef. The ‘horror, the horror’ of : “norm-shattering behavior”, “use his official power outside of usual channels”, And “his powers challenge the dignity of the presidency”. The rest is possible problems not investigated or certain. When a tree never falls in the forest, but the Democratic Party and it’s minions like the NYT say it did fall, can someone be investigated for saying it didn’t fall.
And the swamp fills, overflows and engulfs the republicans, all co-conspirators of sleaze in the hands of trump......as he wipes them on our country and the world. I am ashamed.
2
How is this so called President not long since gone by lunchtime? He’s carrying the baton in a clown parade. He should be auditioning to play Boss Hogg in a remake of Dukes of Hazzard, not pretending to run a country.
1
Compare what Mueller actually wrote to what William Barr claims Mueller wrote and it is clear that Barr is acting as the personal lawyer and mouthpiece for Donald J. trump and not as the Attorney General of the United States of America.
1
Because someone in the Justice Department wrote a "guideline" that presidents may not be indicted, this is taken as law or legislation.
It seems to me that Americans must demand a remedy to get rid of a criminal president . All of the so called checks and balances, norms and precedents, as well as oversight have failed. The independence assumed to attach to the Department of Justice has failed.
You have a criminal kleptocrat and fascist dictator in the White House.
2
Deceit and dysfunction for sure but not revealed we all knew this before. Deceit in the media as well for they cried "collusion" when they should have gone after all the other crimes and terrible policies (militarism, muslim ban, plutocratic gifts, the purge of Black voters)...Maybe readers of the Times should read Glenn Greenwald on The Intercept.
1
Mueller Report: “fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought.”
However, In his infamous 4 page letter Barr claimed that Mueller refrained from reach a judgment on the issue of obstruction of justice because Mueller found "insufficient evidence."
Barr is no less a dissembler than his Master,
2
"Total exoneration" is Trump's "Mission Accomplished."
1
There is one somewhat amusing bit that the release of the report has engendered: The number of times TV news people and scribes and editorials have used t rump's quote about being "foooked". (As we would say in Gaelic.)
Kind of like the first time I heard my dad use the word; it seemed to grant me a certain exhilarated freedom to use it myself.
For the first time in, what seems like eternity, I don't feel that the Nation is quite so "foooked" as we were only six months ago; when Democrats had no muscle to check the mob boss and his crime family that currently squats in our White House.
We've been right all along: It's Mueller Time!
1
Deceit and dysfunction for sure but not revealed we all knew this before. Deceit in the media as well for they cried "collusion" when they should have gone after all the other crimes and terrible policies (militarism, muslim ban, plutocratic gifts, the purge of Black voters)...Maybe readers of the Times should read Glenn Greenwald on The Intercept.
NYT, you personally know the author of the anonymous Op-Ed of Sept 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/reader-center/anonymous-op-ed-trump.html
Surely the person knows more about the inside working of Trump administration than the public. This is the time for the author to come forward to Congress and tell them how unhinged Trump truly is. For all his external appearances, bluster, it is clear from the Mueller report, that Mr Trump lacks judgement discretion discrimination instinct and if it wasn't for those who surround him, our country would be in deep trouble.
2
I cannot believe Mueller punked out on the entire nation! FBI? Hardly. KGB? Maybe...
1
Mueller is a bagman for the Republican Party. Enjoy four more years of this horror.
1
It's not over yet.
I remember the once-a-week 15 minute 'serials' at the movies in the 1940s-50s. These begat the original "series" of today's streaming video entertainment - Netflex, Amazon Prime, etc.
Our 1950s Hero was galloping his horse - over the clift. . . .
The End of our Hero??? Oh, my - will he be saved?
Next week's follow-up had a way of his avoiding the fall.
We knew the recovery was not 'realistic' but we swallowed the it without question- we did not want the story line to stop.
"So what now? . . .
. . . . though Mr. Mueller was unable to bring criminal charges . . . . his report lays a foundation for investigation by Congress, . . . . . hold the president accountable. . . ..may apply . . . laws to the president's corrupt . . .powers of office . . . principle that no person is above the law,”
Next week's serial - must show that the 116th US Congress - all of it - must keep the democracy from going over the clift.
[Republicans in Congress take note!]
We've become accustomed to Trump's abominable behavior when we should be screaming our objections. The more we wait, the more accustomed we become. We can't go down this path. Impeach.
2
The most successful intelligence operation in World History was achieved by Putin during the last US presidential elections.
It was so successful that not one politician in Washington would dare admit that the current US President was illegitimately installed into power.
4
The same news media outlets that misled the public on collusion are now misleading the public on the Muller Report obstruction of justice charges. They insinuate that issues such as the debate over whether a president can be subpoenaed prevented investigators from pursuing obstruction charges.
However, the report plainly states, “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. Based on the facts and the 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.”
The Special Counsel Office considered evidence about the president’s actions and intent but did not determine the president committed obstruction. This is why the attorney general decided not to pursue obstruction of justice charges. What jury would convict on evidence that does not show the defendant committed a crime?
1
We understand that beginning impeachment proceedings will further divide an already bitterly divided country; and impeachment may cost the Democrats some votes next year. But, by bowing to those pressures, Nancy Pelosi and those around her are allowing craven political considerations to outweigh their constitutional duty to check the (abuse of) power of the President. The G.O.P. continues to do enough of that for both parties. Begin impeachment hearings.
2
I don't believe anybody could be surprised by AG Barr's deceptive "Press Conference" yesterday. After all he was given the job because of the 19 page "job application" he sent to Trump. No difference between Barr and all of Trump's sycophants that believe there is nothing wrong with lying.
Look at Sarah Sanders statement that she "made up" her story about Comey and the FBI. No remorse, no apology (after all , she works for Trump, apologies are unnecessary). The fact that she lied and was partially responsible for Comey losing his job and his reputation are besides the point.
Mueller's report was written by a very thorough man who has devoted his life and career to this country. He followed the law and did not include a verdict of guilt because our laws precluded him from indicting and trying a sitting president.
Since he also said that if his investigation proved Trump innocent, he would have said so. As he did not, we must assume that Trump is guilty of obstruction.
This affair has not been concluded; our laws allow Congress to now take over Use your suboena power, call all players to testify and determine the truth. If Trump is truly guilty, and he runs for reelection, we must vote him out of office and end this very dark period of our history.
One comment about results from Mueller's work, our election system must be protected and the electoral system questioned. Russia was told which swing states to look at and Trump won these by a total of 79,000 votes.
3
Nadler’s subpoena will fail to obtain the entire unredacted Mueller Report (which despite being so narrowly inscribed as to overlook virtually all of the Trump / Russia relations and the Trump/Deutsche Bank relations, the vast public record of compromise, collusion, conspiracy going back to at least 1985), is vital for justice. The only way for Congress, and ultimately “The People” to obtain this crucial information is to begin formal impeachment proceedings. Despite Pelosi's "Impeachment is off the table" proclamation, the ONLY MEANS by which Congress may gain access to the full report and justice be accomplished is through impeachment proceedings. Why is Pelosi unwilling?
Federal Rules of regarding Grand Jury document release, 6(e), and the "judicial proceedings" exception together explain why impeachment proceedings are the only means. Impeachment is a judicial proceeding whereas congressional oversight, which is the basis of Nadler's subpoena is not. Precedent was established in a 1981 D.C. court case "IN RE GRAND JURY IMPANELLED OCTOBER 2, 1978 (79-2) - Misc. No. 81-0059 and in the very recent DC circuit case "McKeever v. Barr".
The long term stacking of circuit and other courts was effective for Barr. Those judges whitelisted by Barr's friend Leonard Leo; fulfilling the agenda of the Federalist Society donors and others like them in my view. They seem intent on destroying justice for average Americans and maintaining the status quo for billionaires.
2
Thank you NYT for an unvarnished opinion. Putting the entire report in perspective, calling out the dishonest and ruthless administration is refreshing in the era for fake Fox noise and disinformation. Every American has the right to know what has been going on as many cult followers of trump only believe his lies....
4
Congress should now do its job! Mueller has done his job.
4
The contrast between this report, and the conduct of Robert Mueller, and the hatchet job produced by Ken Starr leading to Bill Clinton's impeachment, is unfathomable.
Republicans steamrolled the Clinton impeachment for Clinton's prevarications at a deposition concerning what he did with genitals.
And now they are cold stone silent when presented with evidence that their president welcomed interference from a hostile enemy in our election process, the very foundation of our democracy.
Profiles in courage, indeed.
A fish may rot from the head down, but the entire Republican party stinks to high heaven.
7
Contrary to the Editorial Board’s Opinion, Mueller did not endite Trump. There was no evidence Trump colluded with Putin. Mueller should have been able to find that out in one to three months at the most. He got Papadopoulos to plead guilty to lying. For his nefarious crimes, he got 14 days, out in twelve. Flynn pleaded guilty for lying about contacts with the Russian Ambassador after the election. He asked the ambassador for Russia to not vote for a U.N resolution condemning Israel and to convince Putin to not over react to some actions of Obama while president. He was doing the country's business. The latest report is that the prosecutes will ask for no jail time. Mueller inedited a bunch of Russians who are not here. They won't be able to take their kids to Disneyland anymore. Manafort's crime were related to business dealing in the Ukraine years ago. As far as obstruction, Mueller was given unrestricted access to White House staff so that Mueller didn’t have to get subpoena and there were no claims of executive privileges. Comey was fired when he told trump there was no evidence of collusion but refused to release that information to the public. At the time he was composing a bunch of leaks intended for the NYT and probably thinking about testifying before congress when his book would be released. Trump had every right to be upset with Mueller and the press and vent his frustration. What was actually obstructed?
2
The 2016 election was razor thin, decided by 100,000 or so votes out of 130 million, 1/1000th of votes. Our country is divided nearly in half. Why it went this way is part of a great national angst that is not resolved. I agree with George Conley that we made a mistake. The solemnity of our vote was abused by only the foreign part of foreign manipulation. Manipulation of votes and voters is not resolved, nor is the angst among voters.
Trump is a bad president, but lucky. The economy is still working well, the levers he is pulling in the cockpit of the airplane, or the control center of the nuclear reactor aided by guys in clown costumes, are less random, but aided also by the vast expertise of our government which blunts the hurbrisitc yanking on the those mysterious controls. So far the plane has not fallen out of the air, or the nuclear reactor has not melted down, despite the grinning orgy of the clown guys running around the cockpit with enema bags, while the media takes notes on their unintelligible tweets and snorts, "hey I got an exclusive form this guy who looks like a clown", published with all seriousness.
The Mueller report is probably moot. We should have figured out that Trump is a dishonorable horror of a president without it. But much like the Notre Dame Cathedral a week ago, nothing seemed amiss. The angry half (no third) still enjoy the clowns, while we wait for the fire. Entertainment? or disaster? The future is unknown.
2
Too stupid to collude.
Too obvious to obstruct.
Too confused to shut up.
Too angry to see straight.
Too egotistical to let it go.
=
Unfit for office.
Are we done now? I doubt it.
2
Mueller let's us know that Trump is a mendacious jerk. We know he is both capable of lying and telling it like it is about the other guys. Those who hate him are being devoured by by their own obsession to bring him down. The Times has a problem, as do many closely aligned with Democrat party. You can't lie about a liar, and still have the credibility to take him down. There is nothing to admire about the way Trump shills his own brand. But how blinded by hatred, the pain of the 2016 loss, and uncompromising in its thinking has the "resistance" and the Times been? For those who think first about political systems rather than political party, deceit and dysfunction have metastasized and we see it everywhere, but the partisans only see it in others or minimize its importance in their own. The result is this piece. The Times promoted through its editorials the false narrative of collusion, but Trump is the liar we should focus on. I think Trump will face his past at the ballot box, or given his habits, by stepping into a real scandal. That won't redeem the Times or any other outlets that participated in the collusion deception. Trump lied. So did the Times.
2
Barr needs to either resign or be fired. He was hired to lie for trump which he has done for weeks now.
1
Well, if the report was not enough for you, it's Good Friday, and the President of the United States of America is tweeting about "bullshi* in the Mueller report. Unable to contain himself on this holiest of days, Trump continues to spew toxins.
I hope, wish and pray for a president who will inspire us with his ethics and morality, lift us up and make us better.
3
The heavily redacted Mueller report confirms all the news from Buzz Feed, the Guardian, Washington Post and NYTimes. Talking Points Memo, ABC news, MSNBC, Rachael Maddow, and numerous atorneys, former agents, prosecutors, government officials elegantly made the case that our President lies repeatedly and obstructed the investigation. The Trump campaign conspired with Wikkileaks and the Russian agents to steal the 2016 Election. They succeeded.
It is now time for the members of Congress who are not compromised by the label "Republican" to represent us, the people. If our elected officials do not impeach and remove Trump, then we may as well accept the fact that they are all Russian assets.
2
I know some are disheartened but this is just about exactly what I expected. A liar and a con man managed to get elected president (blame the people and the russian bots mostly for this result). His lies get him in hot water for the first time in his ignominious career and as he struggles in the quicksand he commits many crimes. I for one will wait until 12021 when the state courts will start picking at the bones of dubious donnie and his corrupt dynasty. I certainly hope that the new president will not pardon him, but in an act of generosity she/he may.
3
I understand the reluctance to impeach. It’s a
Big deal. Bigger than the Republicans treated it with Bill Clinton.
But you have to admit, this is a lot worse than lying about oral sex.
2
Call me a cynic, but the Republican Party has spent decades fostering fear among its voters (fear that Democrats will take away their guns, fear of open borders and too many black and brown skinned people, fear of socialism, fear...fear...) and now Republicans in Congress fear the NRA, white supremist, Russians, Trump's fan (fan=fanatic) base, etc. In other words, Republicans in the House/Senate will not vote to impeach - they live the fear they created!
2
Yes, we need to know why the Obama Administration failed to warn the Trump campaign about the Russian attempts. They were certainly able to protect Feinstein the Democrat. We need to know who in the Obama Administration thought it was a good idea to spy on the opposition party. We need to know why Brennan kept blabbing that he knew more when actually he knew nothing that was a fact. We need to know why the CIA was allowed to spy on Americans.
1
Barr and Sanders should resign immediately. They are both liars not worthy of respect.
2
Given the complicity of the Republican Party in defending Donald Trump, the Democrats cannot hope to impeach Trump. Nevertheless, they should draw up their "articles of impeachment for the American people" to decide next year at the ballot box. The list would go way beyond those revealed by Robert Mueller to include the criminality of being "Individual-1" as an unindicted co-conspirator along with his lawyer Michael Cohen who carried out his orders to silence damaging revelations just before the 2016 election and now will be going to jail for it. The illegality of the Trump Foundation; the lies and denials that Russia interfered in our election that Mueller proved conclusively; the lies about a Trump Tower Moscow project that gave Russia "kompromat" over Trump during the campaign; the repeated attempts to undermine and remove sanctions against Russian oligarchs; the coverup by Trump of the real purpose [that is, "collusion"] of the Trump Tower meeting; the lies about the firing of Jim Comey; his refusal to conform to the Constituion's emoluments clause and his continued self-enrichment while in office; his relentless attacks on the Constituion's "rule of law" and "freedom of the press" to the point of tacitly condoning the assassination of a Muslim American resident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in supporting the Saudi Crown prince who order the grisly murder. Perhaps the Democrats could call their list of indictments "Trump's Contract on America."
To Republicans in Congress:
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country,"
Typing class? Talking point? Sworn oaths?
ACT NOW!
4
It's GOP (Mitch M) and their minority voters.. they're the one who are selling the country to the real swamp.
3
Except, there was no indictment! One should read no further than the false headline.
Why didn't Trump immediately contact the FBI after the Russians contacted him? Oh wait, maybe he's the one who initiated the call.
1
Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors:
Obstruction of Justice
Subornment of Perjury
Multiple counts of multiple types of Fraud
Conspiracy to Commit Fraud
Violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Violation of the Emoluments Clause
Abuse of the National Emergencies Act
And there are multiple ongoing investigations into the Trump Foundation, his Inaugural Committee, and his personal finances. ITMFA
1
Trump is a person that has laughed and discredited our nation from the day he took the oath of office. He should be run out of D.C. not allowed to continue insulting our country and laws. There is no valid reason not to impeach him. And if his cronies prevent it from happening then at least the good people of this nation tried to do the right thing. If there was a march on the White House to protest him I would fly to D.C. just for the honor of letting him and his administration know how badly they have served this nation. He is a crook.
2
Nothing there.......the dems waited for it, they got it and there’s nothing there.
Trump isn’t going anywhere.
1
The people who need to be accountable and brought to justice are Comey, Brennan, clapper and the other deep state and FBI officials, including Hillary Clinton and the fake dossier fabricated by Christopher Steele. They are all complicit in this two Year relentless tragedy to bring down the president. I guarantee if any Other individual had to go through the 24/7 365 days per year, Of outrageous lies, leaks, and accusations, he would have done everything to try and stop this accurately described “ witch hunt,”. So would you. Frankly I cannot bear watching morning Joe, Chuck Todd, and all the other extremely biased liberal media raging on for two more years on obstruction and impeachment of Donald Trump. Give it up, please!
2
Let's quote Star Trek:
It's far easier for civilized men to behave like barbarians, than it is for barbarians to behave like civilized men.
(mic drop)
The Congress must do its job; to fully investigate Mueller's
findings. There can be no excuse NOT to do so.
Trump is just the latest symptom of our broken system. When we will upgrade our inferior, out-dated, system of government that allowed someone this incompetent, inexperienced and immoral to be President.
Other countries, with far less resources and potential, are making progress on big issues. We can't even fix healthcare. We just take turns thinking that stagnation is good when the other party gets in. China is filling the leadership vacuum we have created.
The Mueller report has unfortunately provided cover for this unfit president on the basis of a questionable norm within the Dept of Justice where we are 'not supposed to indict a sitting president'. For some reason I still cannot get beyond this since it appears that Trump's attorneys knew this and now he is technically above the law (even though we call continue this unreal mantra that no one is above the law). This is like a bad acid trip and I fear for our country since one political party is still enabling this crooked and vile man. Party tribalism has hit a record low here. When will we wake up here to the seriousness of the issue- our country is in dire straits right now and there are no adults in the room to lead us here.
1
It is not up to Congress to act . Trump and his do-nothing sycophants would like nothing but sling mud at sensible members of the Congress (are there any left?) and stir up his base until 2020.
It is up to the people of the United States to bail the country out of this foul political swamp and vote out Trump. More importantly, we need to vote out those who are complicit in allowing Trump make a mockery out of the presidency and enact crippling policies against ordinary Americans.
Talk of impeachment is cheap and fruitless, mobilize and vote!
2
Obviously just because Mr. Bar said so, Trump has hardly been exonerated.
I hope Congress does its job and investigates fully the entire report. Hopefully Mr. Mueller's testimony will shed more transparency on Trump and his Administration and its corrupt ways.
If Trump was in charge of a Corporation and his minions ran around behind his back trying to protect the company and it was found out, Trump would be out of a job. Oh, wait a minute, He is in charge of the Trump Organization which has been bankrupt 6 times. I guess you cannot fire the owner.
He should be "fired" now. These facts only go to prove the guy is acting like a Mafia boss. A mafia Boss may bring down his family by craziness, but Trump has no right to bring down our Country by his actions and the aid and abetting of Mitch McConnell and the GOP.
They all need to go.
Meanwhile we all have to hope that the investigation by the Judicial Committee and the continuing investigation by the Southern District of New York finally bring Trump et al to Justice.
1
Obstructive abuse of power has been performed publicly as well as privately, but the sad thing is that it continues unabated. Congress can not turn its face to all this corruption, intimidation, bullying, and to allow unchecked foreign bots to continue to disrupt and influence the next US elections. If this behavior is not sanctioned now, the next president will surely continue to erode the powers of the judiciary and the legislative branch. Democrats are not urging impeachment proceedings not only because they can not win a 60% senate vote removing the president, but also because they do not wish the VP to take over as POTUS and pardon Trump and consider Pence a more formidable and harder to beat candidate than a damaged goods Mr. Trump.
1
The president reminds me of some friends who come home from Las Vegas and say, “I won.”
I ask, “How much?”
And the respond, “Well, I took $2,500 with me for gambling and I still have $100.”
The analogy here is that trump is morally and ethically bankrupt (and maybe so much in debt that he’s financially busted, too) but he has enough dough left for car service. I guess, if you believe it, that’s a win.
I abhor Trump, but if he were to be impeached or resign we'd be saddled with that other blemish on the face of Miss Liberty, Pence. I'd rather see the Dems drop the impeachment idea and instead do everything possible to defeat Trump in 2020.
The job of removing President Trump will fall upon the citizens of this country and they will be given that opportunity in November of 2020. Congress needs to shed as much light as possible on the actions of the administration. Then we must hope that despite all the bait and switch, the racial and ethnic fear mongering, the troll farming and but Hilary was worse rhetoric, the American people will see that this man is totally unfit to lead and represent us as our leader.
Reading this essay one can only conclude Donald Trump is guilty of obstructing the special counsel's investigation and the special counsel would have brought charges but for the Justice Department understanding that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
But what are Trump's supporters reading and hearing? What garbling of the Mueller report is being presented by Fox and other right-wing "media" propagandists?
My guess is Trump's supporters will be told what Trump has already claimed: no collusion and Democrats are traitors to our nation.
It would seem that even had the special counsel spelled out and provided conclusive evidence of crimes committed by Trump, the Republican Party would find a way to claim that Mr. Mueller was a Democratic operative and the special counsel's report was only partisan slander.
What will become of our nation? If it were not for Republicans in Congress, the cancer of Donald Trump would have been excised before he reached the Oval Office. As it is, we have a part of our government that is malignant and working against America to spread the Trump cancer.
Donald Trump has no love for this country. His only love is for himself, the power and the greed.
Trump knew exactly what was going on - before the election campaign, during and after. He was fully aware of what the Russians were doing. Yet, did nothing. Of all people, we are speaking of the POTUS. Of all places around the world, this is all happening in the USA. This is what is unimaginable.
THE IMPEACHMENT proceedings in the House must prominently include the testimony of the female Democrat representative from Michigan who publically stated (to loud and enthusiastic applause) that Trump had to be impeached because he had engaged in sexual activity with his mother. Who would challenge, much less disbelieve, this woman’s testimony?
Mueller absolutely must be called to testify in Congress. Among other points that require clarification, he should explain why he never sought to interview either Donald Trump himself, or his son, Donald Jr., who participated in a meeting with Russian agents for the purpose of obtaining damaging information about the Clinton campaign. He should also be pressed about his peculiar decision not to prosecute Donald Trump, Jr.
The real headline of this report:
“The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law."
Mueller made clear hands are tied he cannot indict by law a president.. but he also made clear congress's hands are not tied
Sorry, but we didn't need a nearly three-year wild goose chase, totaling in the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, to tell us that Trump was incompetent and corrupt. Everyone knew that from Day One.
It is not quite fair to say that the report makes Trump look bad, because, well, Trump makes Trump look bad. The mainstream media is probably the true victim of the report, in whose rear-view mirror they come out looking very bad indeed; lest we forget the careless, rabidly inept insistence of collusion, with countless stories of 'conclusive' and 'bombshell' 'proof', despite any evidence of such. But... let's just forget about all that now that we have the obstruction angle to fixate on and waste everyone's time with.
1
Talk about Stepford wives and husbands. Rod Rosenstein appeared as one, standing behind Barr. He looked like a robot whose power cord had been unplugged. The same non-animated look Pence has had behind trump since in office.
Well, they all will have to live with themselves for the rest of their lives, for what they've done to our democracy. Confederates for sure, in another lost cause.
I respect and share the conclusions - and yet one possesses an unexpected anxiety with the observation that we are a great distance from having done justice, whatever that is. I wonder if, with a report this unimpeachably substantiated, that we require any further exhibition of the misconduct. What more would be learned by "justice"? Reform, yes: legislative clarification is long overdue, of criminality in administrative conduct; but exotic Constitutional punishments, further precisely reinforcing the hideously permanent American schism on sectional lines, precipitated in the impeachment of Johnson, and revived with great evangelical relish in the impeachment of Clinton, ought to be weighed for their reasonableness. Mrs Pelosi, a seer for our times, was right. He is not worth the pulverization of any seeds of reconciliation now planted in this candid and incontrovertible report. Let us keep the nation. Suppress partisan arrogance. Resist asinine, self-defeating vengeance. He is preternaturally not worth it.
Americans knew, or at least most Americans knew that Trump was racist, and incredibly corrupt. Yet the news media using their false sense of 'fairness' constantly choose a mythical balance in their reporting of Trump and Hillary.
Here we go again!
Trump, the president of the United States of America, our country, has been identified and adjudged as having actively worked with Russia to thwart our electoral process, and irrebutably determined to have lied, refused to cooperate with Mueller, is corrupt, and disregards the Rule of law.
Yet, the press is discussing Barr's reality show distraction, and dissecting the Mueller report, as if the inability to indict a sitting president, somehow masks the criminal, cruel and amoral man, that occupies the oval office.
If Trump wins re-election, I hope the press remembers their handling of this horrible time in the history of our nation, when it was determined that the occupant of the White House is corrupt, and blatantly engages in criminal and anti-American conduct.
If this report were about Obama, he would have been asked to resign immediately!!
1
The “public attacks on the investigation, nonpublic efforts to control it, and efforts in both public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation" is not criminal, but a normal human behavior when the investigation was an attempt to frame the President and there was no underlying crime as confirmed by the Report. This is not a norm-shattering behavior, but an attempt to prevent a coup by a dozen "angry democratic partisans". Trump's public attack on them prevented such a coup. Too bad NY Times doesn't like it. Accept the outcome, apologize for misleading your readers and move on.
2
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Nadler you have a constitutional duty to begin impeachment proceedings and then it will be the responsibility of McConnell and the Senate and Chief Justice Roberts. I would love to see and hear Mitch and Lindsey squirm. House Democrats must look forward to all the republicans especially Senators up for the 2020 elections .
There is only one person protecting Trump and Barr and that is the number one enabler Senate Majority leader McConnell. The Republican members of Congress and especially McConnell and his cult of Senate enablers are supporting The Con Man in Chief in his assault of the rule of law. Impeachment proceedings must start now.
Barr and McConnell are the current twins of dishonesty.
1
The entire Republican party is complicit in protecting Donald Trump. Do we have prisons capable of holding all of them?
"Unfit for office" is one of the greatest understatements in American history.
2
Regrettably Mr. Mueller is so much the institutionalist he is so often described as being that he did not challenge the utter nonsense that a president cannot be indicated.
That is pure poppycock from the Department of Justice, so called department policy the past 40 years so that the institution of the department and its institutionalists could, if faced with the choice one day -- and the day came and went-- declare always that a president is immune from indictment while in office.
There is nothing in the Constitution that says this. Nothing. There is no law, no part of any law that says this. None at all.
Trump's White House dismantles policy day after day after day. It is time the DOJ did the same with this nonsense that a president is immune from prosecution while holding office.
They say the Republicans and the many judges they have confirmed, including those on the SCOTUS, believe in strict, indeed literal reading the Constitution.
This then is an issue that belongs before the court and let these Republican justices find so much as a single word in the Constitution that bars indictment and prosecution of a sitting president.
It does not exist, it is a legal fallacy, a lawyer's dodge and a means for what in another contest was called "a cancer on the presidency" to metastasize.
Well, in this case, the cancer is so metastatic that it has infected the entire body politic.
Presidents can be indicted. Someone just needs to do it. Et tu SDNY?
1
There are those who say Trump should simply be impeached at the election but they egregiously miss the point. First, regardless of Mueller being able to prove “without shadow of doubt” that Trump colluded with the Russians, the rest of us with eyes and ears know very well he did. Perhaps the most felling evidence is Trump’s reaction to the news of the special counsel and his admission he was finished because of it. Why on earth would he have reacted this way? Because he knew he had committed collusion. Then the report describes how he lied, manipulated, and lambasted his staff and the media to deny, deny , deny. Why? Because he thought Mueller would discover his connections with Russia, which indeed they did. But now he has, thanks to hiring Barr, escaped the hangman’s noose, he will be encouraged to repeat the exercise with the Russians in 2020 and maybe that’s why he continues to do everything he can to please Putin, partly of course because he does indeed lust over the idea of building that Trump tower in Moscow.
I think the big question is how much longer FOX will protect this president. By now it has become abundantly clear that the man is not only unfit for office but also poses a danger to the United States. But as long as FOX misinforms its viewers, there will be plenty of people believing that their poor president is being assaulted by the MSM and democrats.
How much more has to happen before FOX will put the safety and health of the US over manipulating its viewers to help the Republican Party and this president to remain in power? FOX, where is your patriotism and love for the U.S.?
2
According to DOJ policy, accusations of wrong-doing cannot be released unless a decision has been made to indicit (or ones initials are HRC)
According to DOJ policy, a sitting President cannot be indicted.
Therefore, according to DOJ policy, accusations of wrong-doing cannot be made against a sitting President.
I kinda wish they had told us that at the beginning of the investigation.
Sad times for American Democracy.
Thank you for your editorial. But can you please just state that Sarah Sanders lied about the FBI’s confidence in Comey? She lied, like she does so often, just like the president and so many others in the Trump administration. Stop the “made up from whole cloth” evasive writing. Just say LIED. Do that in your reporting overall; don’t use the spinning language coming from the White House and the GOP.
1
Congress has a legitimate duty to the American people to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. Republicans must not allow partisan politics to "Trump" the bedrock principle embedded in our judicial system that no one is above the law. How can they in good faith? The evidence against Trump is far more damning and serious than 1999 when Republicans deemed committing perjury to conceal marital infidelity met the intent of high crimes and misdemeanors under the constitution.
1. Barr is dissembling and disingenuous. He is compromised.
2. The only ones vindicated by Mueller’s findings are the free media; their reporting has been confirmed as accurate.
3. Regarding Trump’s GOT tweet, it’s not “Game Over”, it’s now “Game On!”
4. Russia covertly interned with and influenced the outcome of the US presidential election; voters who would not otherwise have voted for Trump did so as a result of effective Russian manipulation. (To continue the game analogy, they got played). The Kremlin’s candidate succeeded. Russia won the election.
The Mueller Report clearly shows that we now have a totally dysfunctional government.
1. Although the Mueller report highlighted a chaotic White House guilty of a number of inappropriate actions that bordered on criminality, a strict reading of the law made convictions unlikely. Even when clear evidence was available, a DOJ brief declaring a sitting President “un-indictable” made further action impossible.
2. The DOJ could not indict, but the Congress could impeach. But this is effectively impossible because of the current makeup of the Congress.
3. So we are left with the ultimate safeguard – “Vote the bums out!” But even here there are serious problems. We are now seeing a discrepancy between popular vote and Electoral vote. And the Electoral College and the voter suppression schemes in recent years, like the Kobach Crosscheck list and state voting laws, mean we have anything but one person, one vote.
The Mueller Report shows that we have a President that is clearly unfit for office, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Trump’s prematurely victorious proclamation of “Game Over” after the release of the Muller report will go down with George W Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” as encapsulating this doomed administration for all time.
“Game Over”.....truly prophetic!
1
Only witches fear a witch hunt; the innocent encourage inquiry of wrongdoing for they know it will exonerate them. That's all you really need to know about the Trump administration.
The statement “(w)e determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes” implies to me that, but for the fact that the subject was a sitting president, Mueller’s findings ipso facto met the threshold of such crimes.
Although this editorial is packed with so much that is alarming, this line kept racing through my mind after I finished reading the piece: "Some of the president’s efforts to interfere with the investigation failed, the report concluded, only because 'the persons who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests.'”
This makes it clear regarding Trump's intentions to obstruct justice. If Congress decides to go forward with impeachment--and they should--the evidence is manifest regarding Trump's intent to obstruct justice. If no one is above the law, a principle we are assured is foundational for our form of government, then Congress has no option but to move forward with impeachment. The failure of Congress to do so will make it clear that our laws apply only to the rest of us but not the one in Oval Office. That would send the message that although we call the head of our government president, he is really a monarch, one having unlimited power and immunity from the laws to which the rest of us are expected to conform.
1
We shouldn't have to badger our elected representatives to do the right thing. We shouldn't have to demand they impeach - it should be a given in this case. It doesn't matter if Dems lose ten election cycles because of it. If we don't uphold our norms now, none of what we all profess means anything. If the Dems don't have the courage to impeach Trump, I am entirely done with politics. The Repubs have lost all moral high ground, and if we don't hold their feet to the fire, so have we. Forget tactics, what about doing what's right?
5
The report illustrates that the DOJ rules against indicting a sitting president must change. It is a 400-page treatise on the rules' absurdity. Talk about a Catch 22. I can understand this rule for minor charges, but working with the Russians (or allowing the Russians to help you obtain) an illegitimate presidency and then obstructing justice to cover it up? What could be more fundamental to our democracy than not letting someone get away with that while in office?
5
The worst possible outcome of all of this is that in 2020 despite the Democratic candidate winning a majority of the popular vote, over 50% Trump is still able to cling to a victory in the electoral college.
It's not out of the realm of the possible.
1
@Duffy
The good news is that Trump's approval ratings in PA, WI, and MI are ~35. Those are the key states that allowed him to eke out a win in the electoral college.
One thing to consider. If this had been a Democratic president who committed these irregularities, the republicans would be hitting back with everything they have. Fox News and endless investigations then impeachment proceedings. They have done this before. They would do it at any chance given. This Republican president and HIS party need to have a strong message sent back to them which does include impeachment
4
As of yesterday, I have not heard any of the media representatives or governmental officials utter either or both of the following phrases: conspiracy to commit, and/or attempted, obstruction of justice. What am I missing?
2
@Mark Friedman "What am I missing?" The truth.
For those either unable or unwilling to see the larger picture, the Mueller Investigation was never about finding ways to impeach Donald Trump, and NO. He didn't "win".
Neither was he "exonerated".
But just because no charges have been filed, doesn't mean that he and his conduct are in the clear.
Far from it.
This is a president and an administration riddled with dishonesty and corruption -- the felonious convictions of so many individuals associated with Trump's inner circle is proof enough of that.
And while the American public has every right to know the contents of Mr. Mueller's report, it's not really necessary to see it since Mr. Trump's behavior before and after its release is all the evidence one needs to come to a conclusion.
And We, the People will reach our own verdict in 2020.
3
In reply to NM:
The Republican Party has been dealing for a long time with a precipitous decline in its historic constituency and has reached for what is available in the form of single-issue groups (racism,nativism,anti-abortion, guns and the like) that are willing to countenance the greed and anti-democratic essence of the Party's primary beneficiaries in the corporate and monied classes. As demography moves inexorably against even this grouping the Party needs even more desperate measures, voting restrictions of all kinds, gerrymandering, control of the Courts,opening the floodgates to money in politics. The Party is now anti-democratic in essence and to hope for individual Republicans to mitigate the national tragedy represented by the Trump regime is to ignore the ancient lesson represented by Diogenes and his lantern.
4
Justice won't be done until DT is out of office. Remains to be seen whether or not "Trump voters" care enough to vote against him.
1
The editorial board notes the Mueller Report states: “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.” However, the quote appears in the report’s lengthy discussion of statutory and constitutional defenses against obstruction of justice charges in general. It does not apply specifically to President Trump but to any president.
However, the Mueller Report specially states that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” No reasonable prosecutor would file charges based on an investigation that does not show the defendant committed a crime.
But evidence or lack or evidence does not matter. The House of Representative will impeach Trump for obstruction of justice because there are more Democrats than Republicans in the House. The Senate will acquit the president because there are more Republican senators than Democratic senators.
Trump's best day may have been yesterday after Barr spun, yet again, the Mueller report in his favor. But the quality of the work product and the plain facts revealed are no longer disputed. Trump's legal team decided not to rebut the report, preferring to whistle by the graveyard pretending all is well.
Mueller clearly accepted he could not indict a sitting president, but he did lay out in stark detail the president's actions, his repeated attempts to obstruct justice, and the need for staff members to blunt his worst impulses.
The latter feature of the Trump presidency has been well detailed in numerous first person accounts. The most reputable is being Bob Woodward's book, 'Fear', a chilling read.
The problem is where to go from here. Trump can be charged with crimes after he leaves office, but the damage he can do in the interim is incalculable. Remember, most of the adults who protected us are now gone from the administration.
Republicans seem clearly behind him, so impeachment and removal seem beyond reach. Most voters are entrenched in their news silos. If Fox Noise holds fast, a 60:40 divided US will have to wait for 2020.
Democrats will have to fight a PR battle through hearings and subpoenas. The un-indicted characters in Mueller's report are shielded from prosecution and can be forced to testify publicly. Trump can no longer deny Russian meddling and might be forced to accede to further sanctions and legislation to protect our elections.
There is hope.
2
This is a great editorial, sorting out an extremely complex situation with clarity and intelligence. Thank you, New York Times Editorial Board.
4
There are certainly numerous critical issues that have to be addressed as soon as possible: health care, climate change, gun violence, etc. But how can a "culture of corruption" *not* be the defining issue of 2020? Trump will almost certainly not be impeached unless a large number of Republicans demonstrate new found courage, so 2020 will be the defining moment for this country.
The country is rapidly declining into a third-rate power, rife with corruption, and no standing to criticize other governments.
3
The list of as yet unfilled positions at the highest level of this administration is now long enough to put our country seriously at risk. I have personally thought those vacancies should be ample cause to invoke the 25th amendment (along with all other evidence of the president's unfitness to serve), although I also know that being unwilling or unable to hire appropriate, qualified staff is not proper legal cause to do so. Even in redacted form, the Mueller report reveals systemic lying, chaos, corruption, and incompetence -- and with a president who models himself as a mafia crime boss ("Mueller has to go . . . Call me back when you do it." -- Trump to McGahn, June 17, 2017), the clarion bell to invoke the 25th rings louder and more clearly with every passing day. Unfortunately, we're now a country that has sacrificed its principles, ethics, and its spine to greed and hatred, no matter the cost -- meaning he will remain in the oval office, protected by his Republican enablers and bolstered by his cult of followers. As others have noted, impeachment may be the ultimate, possibly futile and counter-productive distraction, destined only to unite his supporters. We who continue to hold sacred our fragile democracy and dream of a time in which it can be retrieved, must impeach at the ballot box.
8
I would like to see congress follow the money, Mr Mueller was not able to do that and I don't doubt there is a great deal to see. The man is a mob boss and that is what mr Mueller's report shows. Even down to the fact that his Minions refer to him as "The Boss".Congress should start impeachment proceedings now, they have ample evidence and I believe it is absolutely right and proper for them to do due diligence in order to bring everything out into the open and to follow the rules. Obviously the Republicans won't vote to impeach but at least we can tie his hands for the next to years and prevent him from continuing to do so much damage to the country.
I would also like to know how much of trumps business is tied up with the Saudi's.
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 McConnell, Burr, and Graham. 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.
9
Similar to the way Watergate developed, it seems like a minor headache for the time being, but will eventually snowball to create a devastating consequence for the administration.
7
@The Buddy? The best outcome will be preventing Trump from running for re election. Enough. No more trump.
3
This all seems so trivial when compared to Trumps public,Twitter self-documented, un-hidden, un-colluded behavior. His global warming denial, the resultant actions to enhance greenhouse gas production, and withdrawal from the Paris Accord, are willful crimes against humanity (and the animal kingdom).
Trump's very public veto of the congressional resolution to stop supporting the Saudi destruction of Yemen, including wide scale famine, is direct incontrovertible evidence of willful disregard for the lives of innocent men women and children.
No secretive collusion needed to separate children from their parents at the border
Trump harm is not that he obstructs justice, but that he propagates injustice. He doesn't need to collude against American interests, he has has a cabinet, a work in progress federal judiciary, and a devoted base, that work very hard to weaken our country.
I think the main result of the Report will be more political and media exhaustion, and less focus on the real world blood, lives , and very scary weather.
.
8
Mueller’s huge mistake was not saying clearly that if DOJ “policy” did not prohibit him from indicting trump, based on the evidence he would have done so.
3
There is now a clear "road map" to whatever direction Congress decides to go now that it is in the driver's seat. I hope the driver will be on constant alert for potholes and detours.
@willw, sadly we assume there are intelligent smart efficient people in our Congress, who have a moral compass built in.
1
It is time for the House to take the next step and that will be calling Robert Mueller in for testimony. This should make for very good TV.
While Mr. Cohen's testimony before Mr. Cummings' committee was telling, Republican House members were still able to go after him with innuendo and scorn. If they go after Mueller in the same manner as they did Cohen, the optics will be utterly horrible for them. So in addition to what we will learn from Mueller, we will learn even more from the GOP.
Bring on the Mueller hearing as soon as is humanly possible. It is the very next step as the house determines if impeachment proceedings are worth it.
And "worth it" is the key phrase. Had this been about any other President, impeachment proceedings would be a no-brainer. And while Nixon and his administration was corrupt, the Nixon White House was far more functional than the Trump White House.
Yes it is good that Nixon was forced out of office and yes, impeachment paved the way.
In the case of Trump, it is essential that he not serve a second term. And without an open minded Senate, removal from office is as unlikely as Trump stepping down. And unfortunately, impeachment proceedings I doubt will have the same affect on Trump as it did Nixon.
So it is extremely vital for our nation that Democrats play this one out to exacting precision. The future of our democracy and others around world hang in the balance.
9
Mueller may be a straight shooter but I am extremely disappointed in his failure to question Trump and members of his family, even if it meant subpoenas. His report seems to accept the fact that he felt powerless to penetrate the wall of lies thrown up by Trump and those around him, just as he felt bound by a legally dubious Justice Department memorandum that places a sitting president above the law.
8
I find it interesting and somewhat disturbing when someone like Mr Barr is willing to sacrifice a reputation that takes a lifetime to build in service to a disreputable individual. It most certainly cannot be motivated by patriotism. One has to wonder what perceived gain makes the inevitable loss worth the price.
14
The narrative has been set years ago about collusion. Please read the report. Headlines should have read. Muller finds collusion, but no criminal conspiracy. Muller goes into length about conspiracy v collusion and states Cleary how hard it is to prove conspiracy when people will not talk and the other half of the conspirators are in Russia. He makes no determination on collusion because he states as a prosecutor there is no such crime, but he goes on in exhaustive detail about Russian contacts and the election and the Trump campaign, clearly proving, collusion.
3
Get the kids out of the cages.
Get out of Yemen.
Get help to Puerto Rico.
Get rid of the Bush Tax Cuts 2
Get the Dreamers in.
And get law enforcement up to date on the white supremacists, Nazis and confederates that have infiltrated elected and appointed federal seats in Washington.
By then this guy will be out on his ear to face charges in New York State, state's rights!
14
In a perfect unpolarized world the answer to "what comes next?" would be simple - but we don't. Ken Starr had far less on Clinton, but that didn't stop the Republican House from feverishly setting sail on impeachment hearings with the headliner of Monica Lewinsky being news that broke just prior to the release of his report. Trump's own acknowledgement "my presidency is over. I'm F***ED" is far more incriminating than Monica Lewinsky's blue dress.
6
A charge of obstruction but not collusion would be a step too far. Trump apparently did not collude. While he seems to have tried mighty to obstruct, it was not to hide that truth. It is time to let this go. There are plenty of other ways that Trump is an affront to democracy.
That’s not how obstruction works. There’s simply no “no harm, no foul” rule here. What matters is that Trump tried to interfere with a legal investigation.
7
“It is up to Congress to decide whether the behavior described in this report meets an acceptable standard for the country’s chief executive.”
Republicans, the eyes of history are fixed on you. The balance of power is more off-kilter than ever before in the history of the Republic. Chasten these abuses and restore the norms, or they will be swept away. Conscience Trump’s behavior, and you have established clear precedent for an imperial presidency. Do your job.
4
What this shows in a glaring light is the disconnect in our justice system. The haves and the have-nots live by two different sets of rules.
8
We didn't really need Mr. Mueller to say that Trump obstructed justice. We saw it for ourselves, day after day, in rant after rant, Trump ridiculing the Mueller investigation, calling it a witch hunt, doing everything he could to use the power of the presidency to influence public opinion against it.
His failure to stop the investigation with overt actions doesn't mean that he didn't succeed with his smear campaign.
16
I have zero faith in Nancy Pelosi doing what is just and right. She only sees the political game, not the far-more damaging destructiveness to our belief in our government and institution in allowing Trump to get away with everything he and his campaign and administration have done to corrupt our political process and how our government functions.
Our entire government has lost touch with the so-called American values they claim to espouse. It's all just lip service when most of them speak.
Moving to impeach Trump would strongly signal to all Americans and the world that our Congress will not sit by idly and allow the debasement and corruption of the presidency.
It doesn't matter that the Republican-controlled Senate won't vote to impeach Trump.
What matters is than some body of our government does the right thing, takes a stand, and at least shows the world that no one is above the law and that they will hold our president accountable. They need to do what they can to re-establish the standards of conduct we demand from our presidential candidates and from our president.
If they don't, then they are killing our democracy as many citizens, like myself, are left to feel demoralized, alienated and disgusted.
9
@Worried Citizen, nancy didn't do anything when we went to an unfounded unfunded war in iraq!
Looking at the White House chaos and the Mueller Report it would be a waste of time for the Democrats to impeach Trump. The process will take up at least two years , given the fact that Trump is an expert in deflection, delusion and deterrents. Democrats MUST legislate for the benefit of ALL Americans- health care immigration reform, infrastructure, voter rights etc .- not just for the ignorant Trump base - they are hopeless. By 2020 the Democrats can show that they are able to govern and not just create chaos and corruption which is the Republican administration with Trump.
4
Forget impeachment and spend the next year and six months building the very solid case of why President Trump must be replaced by a Democratic president. And then focus and get that person elected.
But are the Democrats talking about all the ways the Republicans have sought to undermine the public, from voting rights to federal courts to the environment? And what about the massive Republican Federal Deficit? No, for Dems, it’s all about looking angry and righteous regarding Trump.
Trump needs to resign. Now. And I would hope that the New York Times would join in on that sentiment.
We need to do more than rhetorically wringing our hands. Let those discussions commence. Trump is going to be prosecuted at some point. His only option is to negotiate an exit that minimizes his exposure going forward.
2
We need to impeach Trump, otherwise, it sets a dangerous precedent for future presidents to abuse the law and the constitution. There is no use pretending we have a democracy if we allow Trump to be above the law and Trump is already blatantly abusing our laws and our constitution. Trump praises and loves dictators, if he remains unchecked by congress then America can no longer claim to be a credible democracy. Yes, impeachment has to be on the table.
6
Republicans, as a party, are already guilty of corrupt collusion. The party did not have to accept Trump as a Republican candidate. I don't know what they were thinking. We are living through a national political nightmare right now, directly due to this flawed decision. Soft-headed opinions are dressed up as alternative facts. Lies are dressed up as slips of the tongue. A concerted effort to solicit help help from a mortal enemy, Russia, during a national political campaign denied. I will never vote for a Republican and I think many others will do the same. You cannot get good fruit from a rotten tree.
9
While eight to 15 D.C. people from the Obama administration will indeed be indicted, whether Mr. Obama is among them, or only discussed by federal grand juries, is completely up in the air.
The President who did nothing wrong is Donald Trump. Funny how he also gave us the best emplyment picture and economy in generations, too.
The majority of Mueller's team were Democratic Party donors, so their work product is the most Democrat-centric report ever seen in Washington, D.C.
To pretend that Congressional attention-hounds can find more is the biggest fantasy since flying unicorns making music as they fly overhead.
I would like you to explain why there’s nothing wrong with meeting Putin in private, and in one case destroying the translator’s notes.
If Trump did nothing wrong, why did his lawyers instruct Cohen not to contradict him during his testimony to Congress?
Trump claims to favor the rule of law. Yet the best Mueller can say for the chief of the executive branch is:
“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.”
Nothing wrong? Nothing?
1
There is no question the Democrats in Congress must impeach Trump. This isn't Clinton's dalliance with an intern and a lie regarding it. The report shows a pattern of deceit and lies foisted upon the Country. The vast majority of people will not feel sorry for this self made pattern of insidious behavior. This man should not remain in office and only weak Republicans in the Senate would support him going forward.
6
The report confirms what many already know. The more interesting part is how GOP spins it. It has been very interesting listening to Trump supporters in the last few days. Should we pity the the suckers who ardently support and defend a con man?
1
If the House feels there is a legitimate opportunity to impeach Trump, their obligation is to proceed in that vein. However, if some doubt prevails, they must spare the effort as it would strengthen Trump’s position as an unfairly abused President.
1
I would remind Mr. Trump in this dark hour, that Easter is a celebration of renewal, of rebirth, of rising from the ashes to live once again and walk among us. Unfortunately, none of this has anything to do with him.
2
One is left with the depressing confirmation of these times that the once honorable opposition that was the Republican Party has become an entity that exhibits as a group the dysfunctional behavior of a behaviorally impaired individual.
Honestly, which member of that party would passively accept the behavior of this president were he acting on behalf of Democrats, Liberals or Progressives?
None. Not a single one. And if Trump is turned from office who honestly believes that Republicans will as demurely accept his opponent behaving as this man has, does, and undoubtedly will continue to.
Trump is openly, unapologetically, even triumphantly, a liar, a bully, a fraud, a cheat and a coward.
None but the unnamed Conservatives criticize the man. And in two years they'll argue passionately for his re-election.
I was called several days ago by an individual claiming to represent the Republican Party. He asked what I thought of Donald Trump as President. I told him honestly that in my 70 years of life he is without question the worst president by a wide margin. He hung up.
And that, dear reader, is the problem with Republicans. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
7
I have so much I want to say about this, yet don't know where to start. Should we impeach Trump? Whether before or after Mueller's report was made public, the answer should be a resounding: "Well, yeah!"
This guy who is somehow our president has lied so many times, demonized "the caravans" of people seeking asylum who are fleeing persecution in their home countries in search of a better life, flippantly dishonored and discredited transgender people serving honorably in the military, stated there were "good people on both sides" after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville resulted in a protester being mowed down by a car - the list goes on and on.
And how many people have been indicted and/or are facing prison time since Mueller's investigation who once served alongside Trump? Mueller's report has only scratched the surface to tell us what we already have long known: Trump needs to go, and never should have been in the White House in the first place.
The wheels of justice spin slowly in our country, though, and I unfortunately suspect Trump will now limp through to complete his 4-year term, after which it will be up to voters to wake up and show up in 2020 and demonstrate to the rest of the world what a lot of us already know: Electing Trump in the first place was a huge mistake. He is intent on taking the U.S. down the wrong and ugly side of history. And it's now up to all of us to alter that course - and we can if we just show up and vote. Let's make it so.
3
I have truely never read a pile of unmitigated lies than in this essay. The Mulller did not indict President Trump because he committed no crime. That is a simple fact. Do you imagine Mueller and his band of 19 Trump hating lawyers and 40 FBI agents wouldn't have gladly indicted him if they could? Stop with the flimsy excuses about they were concerned with how it might go as Mr. Trump is the President. They would have done it in a heartbeat. They couldn't because there was no crime -- either collusion with Russia or obstruction. President Trump's repeated attempts to make clear that he was an innocent man being grossly framed by "dirty cops" the likes of which were top officials in the FBI and DOJ are not the same thing as obstructing justice. Articles like this one and many others spread across the front page of this paper are intended to obstruct justice. But don't worry. Justice for those who participated in this disgusting hoax will happen. America will survive them. And you.
1
What do you know about the feelings of the investigators? Nothing, I warrant.
Instead of reading minds, read words: Mueller’s words say he didn’t investigate that which he could not prosecute.
Well, you didn't even read page one of the report, apparently.
It’s up to the constituents of 20 Republican Senators whether to compel their representatives to uphold the rule of law and Congress’ oversight role or undermine our Constitutional checks and balances and allow an otherwise criminal despot to remain in office.
2
Let me get this straight. Trump's son, son in law and campaign manager met with agents of a hostile foreign power to obtain stolen material from DNC servers that would damage his opponent. Meanwhile Trump's personal lawyer, when he was not paying hush money to porn stars, was trying to close on a Trump Tower Moscow deal that would have made Trump millions of dollars-even as candidate Trump was lying to the American people about having no business dealings with Russia. All the while, Manafort is giving poling data to Russian oligarchs connected to Russian intelligence.
And we're still having a debate as to whether this man should be impeached?
I don't know what's more absurd, the timidity of the House of Representatives to do its duty-or the supporters of this president who find new ways to debase themselves and their country.
It is not just Trump that is corrupt, but the political establishment that allows this profoundly immoral man to stay in office. Moreover, the modus operandi of this president makes one wonder how he was able to operate this way for so many years with impunity. How many other corrupt, American made oligarchs are out there?
If this level of corruption goes unchecked, the 2020 election won't even matter.
7
So Russia elected Trump. The election should therefore be declared fraudulent and held again.
And the electoral college system that made this possible banned.
9
Other than a few more investigations and a lot of sturm and drang over the redactions, nothing will happen. Democratic leadership is spineless, and the Republican Party is united in its cultlike adoration of the criminal Trump. The state news network and its allies in hate radio will continue to withhold the truth from the ignorant MAGAts, and in two years the nightmare will continue as Republicans steal the 2020 election thru voter suppression, gerrymandering and outright fraud.
A dark vision? Prove me wrong.
4
@Peter Gotta love that term MAGAts---priceless!
It is galling to read the report and realize that Trump is still our President. Nixon resigned for conduct that was much less egregious. And that Sanders woman sickens me. She throws around lies indiscriminately on a daily basis but then when she says “many people in the FBI supported the Comey firing” and Mueller comes along and asks who exactly, she admits that she simply made this up. Trump, and those like her who facilitate his madness (unlike McGahn who acted honorably) will destroy our democracy in the name of their own personal self interest. Their base meanwhile goes along with it so long as they continue to have license to hate Mexicans and “baby killers”.
6
There is more than sufficient evidence now to impeach Donald Trump and the Congress should take their Constitutional duties seriously and proceed immediately in doing so, regardless of any political calculations. And as far as the political calculus goes, this repeated comparison to the impeachment of Bill Clinton is apples and oranges. Clinton was impeached over lying about consensual extramarital sex. It is easy to see, in that case, why the Democrats were infuriated and he was reelected. Trump would be impeached for truly high crimes and misdemeanors. His base would erode, not strengthen during impeachment proceedings. Democrats thinking they "have it in the bag" in 2020 and so no need to impeach Trump now may very well find themselves and all of us afflicted by a Trump Presidency through 2024. It is high time to just do the right thing and impeach this President. I am a Democrat and if this were a Democratic President who had committed these crimes, I would be calling for his impeachment now as well.
4
@Rich D The Senate is full of lock-step cowards who need some persuasion to break through the code of complicity.
I believe it is in the hands of the American voter. This is our second opportunity to vote on Trump as president. Opinion polls matter. If you think he is amoral say so. Let us start clean and expunge the Russian influence in our affairs. Let's Make America Great Again.
2
Mueller: Total failure. Not even on campaign finance. What a waste of money. Bob needs to pay us back before he heads to the Hamptons.
1
The bottom line in all of this is the basic admission from Mueller that his hands were tied, and if given his way, there is no doubt Trump would be indicted.
2
@Jon And he would be if the DOJ was not infested with corrupt members of the trump cult.
I've been on this earth 57 1/2 years. I've lived in numerous countries. I've taught at multiple universities. I devote my life to studying philosophy, culture, literature, art, and history.
Never have I encountered a living figure so loathsome as Trump. He disgusts me at such a visceral level. I find absolutely nothing (zero) good or redeeming about him.
His presence indicates that there is something seriously wrong with American society. He is a symptom and expression and embodiment of the worst of all things. The very, very worst.
I am not exaggerating in the least.
12
The Mueller report is analogous to the little boy announcing the emperor had no clothes. His energies have all been applied to maintaining his pretense of being the smartest, bestest, strongest most greatest president ever. The Mueller report clearly puts the lie to this and describes a man who is unfit for the office. Allowing Trump to avoid accountability is the real crime here and the republicans who enabled and protected him should be held accountable.
3
I understand the concern over an impeachment backlash, but overall I think impeachment is the best option.
Unlike the Clinton example:
Trump has no support beyond his 40-45% base and never has. The idea that such an obviously corrupt and diabolical person is going to garner sympathy at this point is unlikely. Bill Clinton was competent, generally popular, and had already been easily re-elected.
The underlying behavior that was being covered up an lied about was serious business - overt connections to a hostile foreign power in a presidential election. Clinton's case was about Monica Lewinsky.
Also, remember that Gore was not elected in 2000, and it can be argued that the stain of Clinton was a significant reason why.
Democrats can walk and chew gum at the same time. Push progressive issues (which incidentally are also DOA in the Senate) while keeping impeachment hearings alive. I don't see how this would hurt Dems politically to have Trump's corruption, dishonesty and incompetence in the news for the next 18 months.
Forcing Republican Senators to go on record based on this mountain of evidence and declaring "not guilty" is also a nice bonus.
As for the PR:
Republicans tried to cover-up Trump's crimes...
Barr tried to cover-up Trump's crimes.....
We Democrats are not going to cover-up Trump's crimes
3
I'm very much afraid that America's problems have just gotten a whole lot worse.
Good luck to you all.
2
I've been feeling sick and disgusted since reading the report.
I could understand where the Democrats were coming from not to begin impeachment proceedings prior to the release of the report. But now I can't.
Whether or not any of the Republicans are willing to do the right thing, the Democrats must.
Their reasons not to don't hold water anymore.
So it backfired when Republicans impeached Clinton. That was 20 years ago. That was a different time. That was a different president. That was for flimsier reasons.
So the Senate might now have enough votes. Republicans didn't shrug and say it was impossible to get rid of the Affordable Care Act so why bother? They voted to strike it down again and again and again and again... and by doing so, they managed to weaken it bit by bit, which might ultimately destroy it.
Refusing to carry out their responsibilities because they've already concluded Republicans will shirk their duty is defeatist and looks like a sell-out to shrewd political calculations. It's spineless. And if you never play offense, you will forever be playing defense until you're backed all the way into the corner and crushed.
They should impeach now because it's the right thing to do. Besides, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Let's not throw up our hands and do nothing.
2
Trump and his mob family of grifters have gotten away with massive corruption all of their lives and they will continue to do so unabated now, because Democrats will never impeach. The Special Counsel not only didn’t interview any of the three children, he didn’t interview Jared Kushner, either, who is possibly the biggest threat to our national security in the nation’s history. He didn’t push for an interview with Trump, supposedly because the legal fight would have taken too long. While he found that Trump, Jr. most probably broke the law, he declined to indict him because he was apparently too stupid to know what the law was. I always thought ignorance was no excuse when it comes to the law. Not so for the Trumps. Robert Mueller may have just sealed the fate of our democracy by refusing to take extraordinary action. Make no mistake: Trump has now replaced every person who held him him back in any way, Republicans will look the other way when Russia fiddles with the actual vote count this time around, and Trump will slide easily into a second term.
2
I didn't need the Mueller Report to find out Trump is a despicable, vulgar, treasonous narcissist. That's been clear to everyone, including those who still support him, for at least three years.
1
Whatever Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer may think the best strategy is for the 2020 presidential election is irrelevant. Do your jobs and initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump!!
If they don't, they are sending a clear message to the Russians and would-be dictators like Trump and others that they can get away with whatever they want to do. And they are telling other whistle-blowers to not bother to stick their necks out like Don McGahn and others did to thwart Trump.
And what is the message we'll be sending to our children if the House Democrats don't do so?
Furthermore, even if the Senate doesn't vote to remove Trump from office, every Republican Senator who votes against removal will have to face his or her constituents who will want to know why when they vote in 2020. If the Democrats want to flip the Senate, that will surely be the best way to make that happen.
Only one thing to be said at this juncture; bring on the impeachment hearings. Force McConnell and his Senate sycophants to face re-election in the heat of the hearings and let's clean house by daily and publicly revealing the rot pervading this evil Administration from the top down.
3
Two crucial statements highlighted here are, on the one hand (a): “We determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes,” the report explains, because “fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought.” And on the other hand, (b): “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.”
Between (a) & (b) lies the territory of what the US Congress must pursue and clarify. Given the DoJ’s policy framework, Mr. Mueller determined he could not ‘go there’; however, Congress can and should investigate, given the history of investigating Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
Barr must be held in contempt by the legal profession for pretending to be the Attorney General of the United States in reality acting like the public relations director for his boss. Barr knows that Trump is a liar and unfit to be president yet in order to have a job for himself and his son in law sells out the country.
2
"That the president’s norm-shattering behavior has become so flagrant and familiar doesn’t make it right." This quote from the article is the crux of the matter.
The efforts to muddle the contents of the released report stink to high heaven. Barr is doing a huge disservice to honesty and forthrightness.
Congress needs to pursue the full report, make it public and bring Mr. Mueller before them.
Let's make this too-long wait for the report worth our time. Our nation's health and well being demand it.
3
And what does this report say about the 40-plus percent of Americans who continue to support this lying president and the psycophants who march boot-step behind him. Have they no sense, for all time, they'll be perceived as being shameless, misguided, and weak.
And then toss in the Republican Party as a whole. Have these individuals no sense their disgraced legacy is clearly in the crosshairs of history, a body politic that will forever be fingered throughout history as like what Europe witnessed during the 1930's?
This is scary that practically half the country and Republican Party can turn their heads and accept the lies coming out of the White House.
And let's not forget, as I've mentioined countless times before, when it comes to the support we are witnessing for this administration, remember this, it is being driven by the Religios Right's obcession with ending A Woman's Right to Choose, their ongoing 'death by a thousand cuts' movement to "save the babies".
2
Given the outright deception in Barr's performance, perhaps there should be some conversation around impeaching him too. Dems need to play hardball. Stop hedging, second-guessing, cowering behind Pelosi. Speak-up, attack, you took an oath, don't break it with cowardice and political fear.
1
And for my nickel, the real problem is money laundering and emoluments - the trump family continues to use the office of the presidency like their personal coin of the realm, and will continue to do so long after trump has left office, unless Congress stops them and throws the lot in jail. And of course, this is not to mention the real collusion - with Netanyahu and the Saudis - what has happened with the Trumps selling our nuclear secrets to Saudi Arabia - is that a done deal? Cat our of bag, to the tune of profit by billions for Trump an d Co..?
When you are a person of very low character and morals and a pathological liar who has lived the life of a bum and gotten away with it and then get yourself elected President, you naturally surround yourself with people like Flynn, Bannon, Conway, Manaford, Roger Stone, etc., etc., ad naseum because you want and expect them to cut all corners and pull out all ethical and legal stops in serving your interests.
So there is nothing surprising in Trump’s using them to consort with Russian spies and oligarchs, big-time money crooks of all races, creeds and nationalities, conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites and bigots of all varieties and descriptions, nor is there anything surprising about him repudiating them or keeping his distance from them when they don't serve his interests.
The iron law of bumdom is that they care about nothing but themselves, go to extreme lengths never to leave their fingerprints at the scenes of crimes and look to innocent bystanders like the mothers and children presently camping on our Southern border to blame all their troubles on.
His supporters have every reason to be delighted with Mueller’s decision to hand the buck of impeachment on to Congress. Trump will be giving them and us many more failed policies, programs and military interventions for two more years at the very least.
2
This report clearly and unambiguously states that we have a mentally unfit, morally bereft sociopath holding the most important role in our nation. If that is not enough to motivate the GOP leadership to act in defense of our constitution and rule of law, it demonstrates that they are equally unfit for office. There is absolutely no basis for any claims of vindication by the President, his enablers, or his sycophants.
2
…. furthermore, outside the scope of the investigation, are the extremely troubling granting of high security clearances, against the advice of those who should know, to members of his family and his circle...
…. stumpy's contempt for the nation, the people, and the office of the presidency has been on full display since BEFORE he was elected...
2
I think we owe it to ourselves to get to the origins of the investigation. Then the Mueller report will have more relevant context.
In a sense it comes down to a question of what sort of country the US wants to be? We have for years been treated to a wanna-be grand visir blocking legislation that did not conform to his agenda. Now we have been treated to a president for whom the rule of law and his oath of office are inconveniences to his whims and desires -- and his minions have worked hard to overturn decades of civilized progress. And if, as some are advocating, we should simply accept that this is what we are and these activities are just normal politics by an innocent person -- it is not just the office that is degraded. It is clear that the US no longer has any moral standing to be lecturing the world about human rights, democracy and fairness. From extraordinary rendition, offshore torture centers and now huge camps of imprisoned asylum seekers (no doubt all in private hands billing a compliant government many dollars a day per head). The road to recent dystopias like the 'Hunger Games', 'Handmaids' or even 'Idiocracy' seems all too possible.
1
So despite apparently having built a case that supports concluding that "the president committed crimes," Mueller desisted from actually taking the logical conclusion because "fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought." Such a monumentally misguided calculation so coyly put! Misguided because this was no garden-variety prosecution to which this principle of restraint applies, where the reason "no charges can be brought" is a true lack of sufficient legal grounds to indict. Instead, Mueller is implying his hands were tied by a past DOJ opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted for crimes. But that is hardly an iron-clad rule and some Constitutional experts don't buy it, because its logical result is to place the president above the law. It is built on the perverse, and self-serving, premise that since the DOJ is subordinate to the Executive, it cannot enforce the law against the president. Mueller need not have presumed, as he apparently did, that this was a settled premise. He could have simply allowed the force of logic to "let the chips fall" where they were apparently going to fall. Justice required it.
2
Sorry, but not enough voters care.
36
@Peter Jaffe
Oh? We'll see abut that, Mr. Jaffe, It'll take another 18 months, but we WILL see.
32
@Peter Jaffe
3,000,000 more cared last time. If we're lucky, they and many more will have a next time.
30
@Peter Jaffe
True Trump's base doesn't care but I believe the majority of the electorate cares which is why there was a bit of a blue wave. The next election will definitively answer the question for both of us one way or the other. And I think they care about transparency with things like tax returns. I know I do. Maybe I'm too optimistic.
23
If I were a Republican I wouldn't be all that proud of reading about such behavior in my president. If I were a Democrat I would get in line to vote now.
5
I have to give trump credit...not sure how he does it but he is a master at skating along the line of criminality.
Going all the way back to when he and his father cooked their books to cheat the system he has never once paid a criminal price. At best he has to pay restitution as in trump university. I do not understand, why with all of that fraud, has he never been convicted of a crime. How does he do it??
5
Mueller, a decent, fair man and good soldier, accepts the Justice Department’s view that a sitting president cannot be indicted. However, his report clearly points the way forward: unseat President Trump so that indictment becomes a reality.
The question of “how” this evolves does not enter into Mueller’s analysis, but the Democrats should think carefully about their options. Much has been written about whether or not to impeach, but the more important question may be: When should impeachment proceedings begin? Trump, knowing that indictments await him, will do everything possible to remain in office, so a good case can be made that soundly defeating Trump in 2020 should be the priority with impeachment proceedings at the ready just in case. At this moment, Republican control of the senate turns “impeach now” into a show trial, but Trump, should he win re-election, has no guarantee that that will continue to be true. Every voter should of course vote to render impeachment irrelevant. Cut Trump loose and let the Southern District do its work.
3
Assume you and your team are about to be the subject of a politically inspired intensive investigation, alleging serious conduct that never occurred. This investigation will be extremely distracting and disruptive of a new administration. Its a "witch hunt". So you take some measures to terminate it at the outset.
And that is "obstruction of justice"?
It would be obstruction of justice if he tried to terminate an investigation that would have led to findings of guilt. But trying to cut off a witch hunt?
The true crime here is, who and how was a losing political campaign able to get the wheels of the Justice system going on a groundless investigation, of their opponent, who started it, who authorized it, and who went along with it. That would be the investigation I would like to see.
5
It’s like you are incapable of reading the report...mueller himself stated that there was plenty of evidence, but not enough to rise to the charges of criminal conspiracy. Add to that the countless lies about those contacts and you have plenty of basis for an investigation.
I ask myself "What is Trump really trying to hide?" His resistance to releasing his tax returns suggests his most significance legal problems concern money issues. Such things as tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, bank fraud, etc. Perhaps the investigations in the other districts are dealing with these questions.
12
Up to this point, I have not believed in inpeachment, but after reading the report and the coverage across the political spectrum, I really think the House needs to continue this investigation, having Muller testifying and getting a full version of the report. From there, considering articles of impeachment may eventually come up. But three things are clear for now: Mueller and his team did an exhaustive job, Barr blithely mischaracterized and oversimplified the report, and Trump and others clearly showcase rampant corruption and little respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
16
Dems can’t worry about the next election as politicians so routinely do. That’s a fallacy. What’s true is that they were elected to do a job, in real time and not worry about the consequences. Dems need to continue following the evidence so that they can shore up the constitution. If anything, I’d expect the American people to reward their diligence. The 2018 election told us the people wanted increased oversight of the executive branch. This is it.
9
Aside from obstruction, we mustn’t lose sight of something indisputable in the report: that Russia extensively interfered with the election on behalf of Donald Trump and on behalf of sowing chaos and distrust of the electoral process. Another election approaches and the President has still not ascribed responsibility for interference to Russia or decried the illegal hacking of e-mails. What is being done to protect us from further encroachment? Looks like nothing.
15
A question whether one agrees with the Mueller report or not, or whether on believes Trump or not.
If an individual or an entity had an unlimited budget, no specified time frame, as many lawyers as wanted, completely free reign, who among us would not be found guilty of salacious crimes?
Perhaps Chris Cuomo, Anderson Cooper, Sean Hannity, or anyone you, the "opinion writer" (or reader), should be put under scrutiny for however long it takes, and, then let us see the end result.
I am not a fan of Trump, the Republicans, the Democrats, or our current politicians. The polarization they have caused is shameful. If they decide to govern instead of posturing, maybe, just maybe, we can move this country forward.
Isn't time that we concentrate on the citizens rather than political gamesmanship?
1
I think you are mischaracterizing the scope of the Mueller investigation. He was operating under much tighter restrictions than, say, Ken Starr
6
Bottom line here:
1-Have the House (because the Senate will never do it) interview anybody especially Mueller that can help shed light on the details of the report.
2-If a majority of lawyers connected to the Congress agree that obstruction was committed impeach, regardless of whether they have the votes in the Senate to convict. History will show it was the right thing to do.
3-If the lawyers say its 50-50 whether obstruction can be proved, have the House and demand the Senate pass a censor resolution telling Trump in the future not to demand collusion with any country, not to obstruct in any way, shape or form and to follow the rule of law.
4-If Trump disobeys #3 impeach him.
Otherwise he will try collusion and obstruction again.
2
Clearly the President is not up to the job. That’s a minimum standard that’s not met according to the report from the special counsel. The people need to hear more about the dis function in the White House and the intolerable mess that a non functioning chief executive has wrought on this country. Otherwise we will again be left with handlers and supplicants pushing both sides arguments and spin doctoring to us. The Russians will be back en masse in 2020 and the cycle will repeat itself
8
I deferred to Pelosi’s savvy to take impeachment off the table until I read this... “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law,” the report states.
Now I believe that impeaching Trump is not a political decision. Impeaching Trump is a democracy saving decision and should be put in process while in parallel remove AG Barr.
19
Putin would not have been successful if Trump were not so willing to catch the pass and run it into the end zone. And then to spike the ball with spite -- it could have been anyone that threw it.
Putin's interference in the 2016 would not have been nearly as effective as it was had he not had a candidate so willing to amplify Putin's war on Hillary and western democracy.
It is a story so simple a child can see it. A story so simple and plain that even Trump had reason to be fearful and paranoid that the simple truth would be told and reveal the papers of his "birth".
6
The general public is tired of this whole Russia situation. It is unfortunate but again Trump will get away with his dishonest and not illegal behavior. Day to day citizens are worried about if they have access to health care, a good paying job and a good education. Although, I agree further questioning should be done by the Congress to check the power of the Presidency, it can not be handled in a way that gives him more material to confirm a "witch hunt".
5
The sad truth is that about half of the electorate doesn't care what Trump does. They will still support him for one reason or another, or simply because they can. That's where we are. How we got her is another question and one that I haven't seen adequately answered yet.
4
It has been explained. See the excellent NYT article on the Murdoch family in the Sunday magazine section on April 7. It should be required reading.
All along, it has always been about Trump and his knowledge of his own guilt. There has never been a second of the Trump Administration where the Trump Administration hasn't had a component of Trump and his knowledge of his own guilt. Every day he has known how guilty he is. Every day he has had to contend with the idea that his guilt would become public, and now it is. And now everyone in the Trump Administration will have to decide to be guilty along with him, complicit with him in his guilt, or run as fast as they can in the other direction.
11
The Mueller report laid a clear roadmap of 12 counts of egregious obstruction and attempted obstruction, so to ignore this action by someone holding the highest office in the land would be; complicit at best, and at worst, aiding and abetting a known criminal.
As far as I'm concerned, there is only one recourse, Impeachment proceedings.
What becomes of our justice system if we don't see this through, huh? How do we even "tell" Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Philippines, and other rouge states that their justice system is dispensing injustice, when ours has declare and open war on our Constitution?
I'm glad that Mr. Mueller did not venture an indictment as this is the work that is to be done by our congress, after the special counsel /investigator concluded its findings.
6
Agreed @RobReg. Congress do your job.
Democrats should stop wasting more time and taxpayer money investigating this subject -- they have more than enough information now -- and simply vote next week to impeach Trump, even if they are pretty sure the Republicans won't. This will demark which party has integrity, and free Democrats to move on to things they may have better chances of fixing.
9
Democrats in the House clearly cannot just shrug and "move on" when confronted by this documented picture of corruption and an emperor with no clothes, even knowing that the imperial coconspirators in the Senate will never convict.
The key, it seems to this rank amateur, is for the resistance to move on impeachment or even just censure without theatrics, while sticking with the winning script of looking out for the majority of American people: basic health care with a stress on prevention, especially for children; potable water, not what people in Flint received from their government; clean air and not bowing to the extractive industries, a living wage, and so on.
And please, no more condescension in the presentation but instead a credible attitude of empathy and compassion for the regular people victimized since 2008 by a presumptuous oligarchy of plutocrats.
In other words, I suppose, firm advocacy but in a public persona like that of a certain mayor from Indiana.
5
What comes next is the presidential election because the spineless Fox-fueled Republicans won't dare impeach him.
I think Trump is going to lose the election big time, however, if he actually wins, bye-bye any hope of restoring American democratic integrity.
8
Years ago when Hillary Clinton spoke about the right wing conspiracy I thought she was exaggerating. Over the years she has been proven right. Our system of government is in deep trouble.
20
The Mueller Report is a report. It is not an indictment.
Trump wasn't indicted because there insufficient evidence on the Russian conspiracy and coordination side of the investigation. And Mueller couldn't and didn't reach a determination on obstruction of justice. Insufficient criminal evidence is not the same thing as no evidence.
There was no criminal indictment of Donald Trump because of the Nixon and Clinton DOJ impeachment era policy that a sitting President cannot be criminally prosecuted. Nowhere in the Constitution is there any support for that. The policy rests on the notion that it would interfere with the President's duties.
Bill Barr holds the extremist legal opinion that since the President is the unitary executive under Article II and thus can't obstruct justice.
Donald Trump did not run a covert stealth subtle campaign.
Donald Trump has not been a covert stealth subtle President.
Donald Trump did not become President of the United States via divine royal sanction selection.
Donald Trump did not become President of the United States by a armed uniformed military coup.
Donald Trump won 63 million votes including 58% of the white voting majority who knew exactly who he was and was not and they voted accordingly.
4
That is not why Trump was not indicted.
The Special Counsel clearly stated that they were following established guidelines of not indicting a sitting president.
3
blackmamba,
Your assertion that everyone knew what kind of man Trump was before they voted him in to office, and therefore we should just forget about it and move on is wrong. Trump is a facile liar, that is true. So which lies of his campaign does everyone believe? Everyone who voted for him made a huge mistake. He is so corrupt that you are using that fact to defend keeping him in office! He channeled the corrupt spirit of disgraced ex-president Nixon during his inaugural speech, revolting. You cannot get good fruit from a rotten tree. We are seeing that now.
1
It's increasingly clear that the major philosophical difference tearing apart our nation right now is not between progressives and conservatives but between republicans (small "r") and monarchists. Trump's acolytes, including toadies like Barr, simply believe that the president is a virtual monarch who is above the law and all-powerful and that the executive branch from which his limitless power derives is not subject to the system of checks and balances that the other two branches of government are. This goes against absolutely everything that the founders of this nation fought and died for. It also goes against everything that tens of thousands of service members fought and died for during the First and Second World Wars. These neo-monarchists simply do not believe in democracy or in the letter of the constitution of the United States and they certainly do not believe in its spirit.
Wait - scratch all that. They only believe in unlimited presidential power akin to a monarchy when a Republican is in the White House. When a Democrat is in the Oval Office, they are just as quick to denounce his "tyranny" and usurpation of the same checks and balances that they now happily cast aside.
Thus, their beliefs do not have even the virtue of logical consistency. It would be more appropriate, then, to say that they will say or do anything in order to advance their radical political agenda, regardless of principle or of the constitution.
I've got it! They're Republicans.
27
Too many media outlets -- including ones that should know better such as the New York Times -- are essentially giving the Trump campaign a pass on collusion (conspiracy). In reality, the Mueller report is almost as damaging on that front as on obstruction of justice.
The NYT's "7 Key Things" report by Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman, for example, includes the statement that the "investigation ultimately found no evidence that anyone from Mr. Trump’s campaign participated in that effort." No evidence?
What the report actually states that there were dozens of contacts between Trump campaign officials hoping to boost Trump's election chances and Russian officials who shared the same goal. As explained on p 175 of Volume 1, the decision not to prosecute was not due to "no evidence" but because "our evidence was not sufficient to obtain and sustain a criminal conviction." There is a huge gap between "no evidence" and "proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
Later in Volume 1, the reasons for not prosecuting more Trump officials become even more damaging. As explained on p 181 and following, the report repeatedly explains that decisions not to prosecute campaign officials pivoted on whether they "knowingly and intentionally participated in the conspiracy to defraud." Proving that they participated was not the road block to prosecution; it was proving that they did so knowingly, which the Mueller report points out is a requirement for prosecution.
8
A good reason to hold hearings about whether Trump obstructed justice: Alexander Butterfield's Senate Watergate
testimony. Butterfield was H.R. Haldeman's top deputy in Nixon's White House.
Senate Watergate staff, July 13, 1973: Donald Sanders of the Senate Watergate Committee staff asked Butterfield in a staff meeting if quotes in a report might have come from notes. Butterfield said the president & his staff didn't take notes. Sanders asked where the quotes came from & Butterfield said he didn't know. Sanders asked if there was any validity to John Dean's suspicions there was taping of Oval Office conversations.
Alexander Butterfield: "I was wondering if someone would ask that. There is tape in the Oval Office."
'Butterfield told investigators that, while he hoped no one would ask about the taping system, he had previously decided he would disclose its existence if asked a direct question.'
Butterfield was called to testify before the Senate Watergate Committee July 16, in front of tv cameras. His testimony was broadcast live. He was questioned by Fred Thompson, minority counsel to Senate Republicans.
Alexander Haig, Nixon's Chief of Staff, had the taping system removed several hours after Butterfield revealed its existence on live tv.
Butterfield had decided he would disclose the existence of the taping system "if asked a direct question."
Call Trump's associates to testify before the House & ask direct questions. You don't know what they might reveal.
11
Thank you NYT.
Thank you to the Foundng Fathers for their wise insight and thoughtful deliberations for protecting the generations to come, with their checks and balances in a new government that was formed from the cinders of a monarchy that believed in the corrupting notion of the 'divine right of kings'.
8
Congress can complain, subpoena, obstruct. But the NYDC will jail. I can't wait for the various state judicial investigations into money-laundering and RICO to reach their respective (and unpardonable) conclusions.
That's when Trump will be, in his own words, truly fxxked. And the U.S. can try and reclaim the moral high ground.
21
Fantastic editorial! Putting the report aside for a moment, I believe now, more than ever, on the importance of the free press as part of a democratic system of checks and balances. Undoubtuly, journalism has shined in the last couple of years and, as this editorial points out, the report further confirms the acuracy of prior reports by tenacious and courageous journalists. Bravo !
37
When Sanders answers a question she should now systematically be asked, "Are you answering this in the heat of the moment?"
35
@Martin The WH rarely holds press conferences anymore anyway. The opportunity to ask this question may not come up any time soon. Once again the Trump WH defies norms
This report exposes the essential weakness in our system. The opinion, treated as gospel by law enforcement, that a sitting president cannot he indicted effectively puts the president above the law. This drove the entire work of the special counsel regarding obstruction of justice.
Justice has not been served and neither have the interests of the American people. The president cannot be above the law if our gov is to function
44
The fundamental question is how to remove this derelict human being from the office of the presidency. At his point, impeachment is not a viable option. Being a drawn out and costly process it would not likely resolve until after the next election, and then with no certainty. The people must speak up and take the country back from the Trump gang. The way to do this is at the ballet box in 2020 with an over-whelming statement about what this country is going to be about. At the very least both chambers of Congress need to be in Democratic hands. If Trump does manage another term as president, there will be plenty of evidence and a strong case to remove him from office if the stonewalling Senate Republicans are removed. Congress and the other investigative bodies should continue their investigations and bringing to public light the criminal behavior of these crooks. VOTE 2020!
13
The problem facing Democrats now is the same one that gave An Impossible Candidate like Trump his party’s nomination.
The leading “Democratic” fundraiser right now isn’t even a member of the party - Bernie Sanders, an unaffiliated Socialist, would be a good candidate- were he 20-30 years younger.
The problem I have with Bernie is that his politics is the “Good Democratic Socialism” of the 1970s - and I don’t think his concepts of economy have changed since then.
Everybody’s concept of the best way to prioritize the economy need to change as the world changes, and I fear his haven’t.
Then comes everyone else - Joe Biden is a good old-fashioned Democratic Moderate, but also far too old for the job. Great Society values, like DSOC economics need to be recast, and I doubt either remains flexible.
As Kennedy might have said, the torch has to be passed to a new generation. We don’t need a Reagan with good policies, we need strength working 24/7, golf at most once a month.
My favorite would be Nancy Pelosi, were she also younger.
She has managed to hold together a really big tent party (all but the Trumpsnistas) - facing internal problems including one Islamic open anti-Semite, who I suspect will explode on the Floor, and be called to the Well.
Trump keeps hollering how Nazi anti-Semites are noble people- but Islamic ones are threats to the Homeland.
I only hope one breaks from the pack quickly, who can unify Clinton folks with those most hurt bu Trump - those who bought his lies.
It seems Comey and Mueller ‘book ended’ each other in strange legal judgement. Comey intervened about emails during the election, without mandate and against tradition. While Mueller, despite having clear mandate, chose not to come to judgement, despite being tasked to do just that. I suspect history will blame both
9
Trump’s effort to benefit from the effort of a foreign enemy to undermine an election is, as far as I’m concerned, sufficient cause to warrant impeachment. Any Congressional representative who doesn’t feel this way effectively condones such behavior and so too should be impeached.
13
We all need to call/write/snail mail our Congress members and tell them to do their jobs.
Pelosi is right: Trump isn’t worth it. But our country is, and it’s the job of Congress to defend it, our laws, our Constitution, and honor.
The Senate will do or not do. Take it one step at a time and, as Individual 1 is prone to say, “We’ll see what happens.”
But it is time to act. Waiting for an election that may well be too manipulated to win under any circumstance is a fool’s game.
15
Impeachment proceedings should commence immediately. Every day Democrats evade their Article 1 responsibilities is a day that the rule of law is diminished. That the Republicans won't convict is irrelevant. Republicans' failure to perform their constitutional duty of oversight demonstrates the inherent weakness of their ability to govern given their spinelessness in confronting a president who thinks he is king.
18
Muller laid the groundwork for Congress to do THEIR job.
Let’s keep hope in our hearts.
22
Honestly, no two ways about it ... he is truly unfit to be the president.
But sadly, that's not going to stop any of his supporters from still blindly following him.
OH, oh oooooh ... the hypocrisy of Making America Great Again??? We should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves that this presidency is allowed to continue.
32
Although there is not enough evidence to prove Trump actively collaborated with the Russians to become president, it appears the Mueller team believes that Trump was very happy to have Russia's help & people around Trump - including Manafort & Kushner - were in contact with the Russians (Manafort actively supporting them).
It's now hard to believe Trump would have been elected without the Russian campaign to trash Hillary & support Trump.
Trump was their stooge.
Trump's spent his entire presidency working to obstruct & shut Mueller's inquiry.
The question is: exactly why?
The Congress should further investigate Trump, who appears to have passively allowed himself to be a tool of Russia's plot to destroy American democracy.
Given what's in the report, Trump's election was not legitimate. Further, Trump's spent every day of his presidency installing obstacles to the Mueller investigation & blocking the truth.
Trump's done this without shame.
Why?
The obvious answer: Trump knows he's an illegitimate president, installed by Russia.
Further, Trump is counting on Russian interference to keep him in office in 2020.
If Congress doesn't follow the road map to decide whether to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice, our democracy is finished. Russia owns us.
This is shocking but it's the result of the Report: Congress must investigate whether to remove Trump.
We're a democracy hobbled by Russian interference - including the Office of the President.
30
@fast/furious
The fact that he has done nothing at all to stop Russia's interference and that he has continued to lie and say they might not have interfered is a BIG problem that we should not ignore.
That clearly raises the question, Whose side is he on?
1
Russia chose Donald Trump, he is their guy. Mueller shows how and why. Make Russia Great Again.
18
I despise Trump, not the least for how he has coarsened the public square. Having attended NYC public schools through college, I'm no prude, but it's still shocking and sad to see vulgarities in a NYT editorial. After +2 years with a vulgarian in the White House, I suppose many of us have become inured.
15
So then it's just an illusion that there was no collusion.
9
So much great reporting today on this subject; looking forward to more! A couple of observations:
First, I thought the distinction Mueller made between "collusion" (not a legal term in this context, simply a Trump-ism), "coordination" and "conspiracy" was fascinating. Tell us more about that, please.
Russia didn't need collusion from Trump's people to hack the DNC and conduct a massive Facebook/Twitter social media campaign that influenced the election. Trump's team trying to work with Russian agents probably just gave the Russians "Kompromat" on them for future leverage. They probably laughed at the stupidity of Trump's people trying to get involved in the election interference, as the Russians had that more than covered, knowing any tapes or e-mail could be used against them.
Regarding the obstruction of justice charge, clearly there is a lot of smoke if not fire. The text about not exonerating the President is a wonderful counterpoint to his many tweets to the contrary. The 10+ instances investigated is more than enough for Democrats to start impeachment.
18
“Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”
What an unqualified statement of pure innocence. This should make us all feel better about our president, shouldn’t It? It makes one wonder why Attorney General Barr left this out of his thoroughly fair and unbiased summary.
40
@NA
Maybe he forgot...
If the Legislative co-equal branch of government's function is to keep the Executive in check, there is no way it can sit idle and do nothing now that Mueller's report is out. It would imply dereliction of duty, complicity even, if Trump is exonerated with all the evidence of his 'criminality' in front of us. Trump has been a disgrace ever since his hysteric Birtherism (with republican's loud silence!), and his constant lying and insulting as a matter of course as president. Trump is hopeless, no redeemable virtues, as he continues to trample on this suffering democracy; hence, he must be impeached and ousted before he destroys us.
15
Let's hope that Congress chooses not to impeach our mob boss President. Robot Pence would then pardon him just as Gerald Ford did to Nixon. Trump deserves to feel the full force of prosecutorial power following his ouster in 2020. Impeachment would let him off the hook and give hm the last laugh. Perhaps prosecutors will indict his children first and give him a taste of mob rule for what it is. But it would be a tragedy of the worst kind if Trump doesn't spend the rest of his life in prison.
4
@LH
I don't want Trump to remain in office for another 2 years. The risks are too great.
Trump is going to try to bring Putin here for a visit before he leaves office.
Who wants that?
10
We have long known the president to be morally bankrupt and vulgar.
Now we have proof of the extent of the darkness and mental instability of the man who runs the country.
I know that whether to impeach is a delicate political question. But the facts prove this man is unfit. The Republicans who continue to support him are unpatriotic.
16
Trump is indeed a smart guy. He outwitted the docile and hypnotized votaries of the minority citizens to vote for him. He outwitted the same to confirm Barr as his AG. There is nothing more Machiavellian than this
Cry for the beloved country
8
Barr should resign. He cannot have the faith of the department he leads after his clear systematic dissembling.
18
If Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the House Democratic leadership fail to bring Trump up for impeachment each and every one of them should be primaried.
5
Why bother, it isn't going to do any good. What the Democrats should do is focus on winning elections and running better campaigns but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
7
If you want to see an amazing preview of the Trump administration and how they deal with Trump please check out the baby scene in Myazaki's animation "Spirited Away". Myazaki must have been channeling Trump when he created that. The rest of the movie is well worth seeing, by the way. And that is an understatement. It is a masterpiece.
4
"I never had a lawyer who took notes."
Are you kidding me? No notes when meeting with Putin, no tax returns, no notes from the White House counsel.
President Trump provides no documentation -- only the loud lexicon of a 4th grader. And as seen by his responses to Mueller, he has a very poor memory of significant events.
Our president acts like an incompetent mob boss. The clown must go.
19
I've always thought the mantra of "wait for Mueller" was a cop out. What a laugh: Mueller says Congress has the responsibility and power to check the Executive.
I am encouraged by what I hear from the five relevant House Committee Chairs, especially Schiff. However, they can be stifled by Pelosi who fears Trump's base as much as the Congressional Republicans.
If only the Dems had the imagination to use the wealth of evidence in Mueller's report as a gift, as a smoking gun to rivet the nation against Trump. Just think how Mitch McConnell would use it, were the positions reversed.
I'm going to start calling him Trumpsky. And what do you call someone who defends Putin over our own Intelligence and so aids a hostile power in it's infiltration of our media? Not President, I hope. So, how about starting the impeachment process by exposing Trump for the un American he really is.
5
Bottom line. Anyone that thinks Trump is fulfilling his Constitutional obligation under Article II, Section 3, Clause 3 to ensure the laws are faithfully executed is delusional. Misappropriating funds under the guise of a national emergency, refusing to enforce the ACA are just two non-obstruction related examples. Moreover, Trump is violating his Oath of Office under Article II, Section 1, Clause 8. Impeachment may not be on the table for consideration due to concerns with how onerous and drawn out it would be. However, as a matter of principle and fidelity to our Constitution, Trump should be impeached, convicted and removed from office. That should be the only consideration in deciding whether to impeach Trump here. Has Trump violated his Constitutional obligations? You bet.
20
Republicans now have the unique opportunity to demonstrate they have a moral compass. They can take advantage of this moment a cut bait with Trump and put a qualified person up for candidacy in 2020. Trump continues to be toxic to our democracy and is unfit for office. Sure, there will be damage if impeachment is pursued, but far less so than keeping this charlatan in the Oval Office.
7
There is only one outcome that will provide justice, and restore the rule of law to the United States: impeachment and conviction of Trump, and all others who participated in these crimes.
When the Republicans refuse to do their sworn duty, they will succeed in making themselves co-conspirators with a criminal, and perhaps traitorous, administration.
Impeach Trump 2019!
7
Neither political party in the US is as interested in the health of the republic as they are in the fund raising ability of their own political tribe.
3
Mueller is a spineless gutless jellyfish. In America a man is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty. Mueller owes all Americans a one sentence summary — is Trump guilty or not? Turning the decision over to our dysfunctional and badly divided Congress and Senate ensures that nothing happens but lots of irrelevant sound and fury, and wastes valuable time which should be used by our representatives and Senators to address the many major domestic and international issues confronting our country.
4
@Alfred Francis You got that wrong. That was not the mandate that was given to Mueller. Mueller is the investigator and leader of an investigation. He presents facts (as much as his tied hands could) and then his job was to present that in a report. He did.
Of course he found plenty of evidence that Trump did obstruct justice and then it was/is up to the Attorney General and or Congress to take the next step.
We know that the Trump stooge Barr is taking a pass, so now it's up to Congress.
Mueller did his job as best he could now it's up to others.
20
So, what will the Republicans in Congress now do?
6
@Onyx M Lie to their voters, collect campaign funds, and lie some more on Fox.
Dysfunctional Democrats, yes. They’ve made an obsession of non-existent obstruction.
3
And the state of our union is?
3
I only hope democrats will hammered the findings of this report again and again the same way Trump hammered "no collusion" and "fake news"
4
"a pattern of deceit and dysfunction... criminality...[and] contempt for ... the public"?
Did we really need the Mueller report to "reveal" this? It's been obvious all along!
What the Mueller report *really* does is to DOCUMENT all this!
12
If the Dems elect not to impeach for political reasons, they are no better than the GOP who ignore Trump's actions for political reasons. What if this calculation by the Dems result in his re-election? I truly fear for our democracy. Beyond the behavior outlined by Mueller, his conduct in office has been inhumane and corrupt in myriad ways.
Both parties now have a tome of facts to either point to or ignore. They all need to do their job.
If you don't take out the trash, the house begins to stink.
11
At this stage, the Democrats really need to focus not on impeachment - which will take a long time - but on how to give the current occupant of the White House his eviction notice on November 3, 2020. Yes, use the Muller report as evidence of his unfitness to serve - but show what you have to offer the American people as an alternative.
6
“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.”
I am quite happy that Barr released the Mueller report. Trump and his cronies and the GOP can no longer claim that he has been exonerated. He has not. I am angry that the president of my country has no qualms about attempting to interfere in legitimate investigations, no qualms about bribing and threatening people around him who possess information that can implicate him, and is so self absorbed that he denies what he's said even when it's on tape and played back to him.
Surely it's time to invoke the 25th amendment for the safety and well being of our country. At the very least it is time to hold the GOP accountable for what they have helped to create. If these findings had been made about Obama the GOP would have been rushing to impeach him. They dragged both Clintons through the mud for far less. Benghazi was a horrible situation. One investigation was enough but the GOP had to dwell on it. The same goes for the emails. And yet they're giving Trump a free pass for actions that verge on criminal behavior and dishonor the country they claim to serve.
The entire group should be impeached, stripped of their pensions and forced to live without any government assistance at all. If it's good enough for long term unemployed people it's good enough for them.
4/18/2019 11:37pm
23
Social media has driven people to the ultimate feelings like hate and total denial. Stop watching TV and get off your computers and mobile devices. You are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy - he is guilty because he must be guilty, and vice versa. I have been both financially and emotionally hurt by this presidency, but I move on as I understand that I would rather have a resolution in 2020 than keep walking in the circle and then have another 4 years of the same. I recommend you do the same.
3
"But there’s still a long way to go before it can be said that justice has been done."
I despise Trump. But I don't want to see him impeached.
I want to see him crushed by the American people in November, 2020.
If we can't, then we'll deserve the pain and miserly that awaits us.
3
Please write a how to guide for parents to explain to the kids why they shouldn't lie when POTUS does, and why they would be punished for doing 1/10 of what POTUS has done while he not only gloats about "total exoneration", but has a good chance of being reelected. We as a nation must hold POTUS accountable, put country before party and most of all remember that the example we set for our kids is everything.
9
If there are a few honorable Republicans who are true patriots, they will go together to the Oval Office and demand that President Trump resign to save the country from the agony and bitterness of an impeachment trial and begin to repair the damage he has done to the presidency.
4
The votes are not there to impeach and remove. Starting the process and then failing will just empower Trump. Leave him alone, his is the most powerful tool the Democrats have to win in 2020. He has shown again and again, he is his own worst enemy; feed him some more rope.
We need to be focusing on defeating him at the ballot box. Choose a candidate that people from both sides can support. Design a platform that will heal the wounds Trump has caused in our nation. Focus on restoring the optimism, kindness and charity that have been the hallmark of America until now. These are the keys to winning in 2020.
5
Mueller failed us. Perhaps -only perhaps - can we pick up the pieces and move forward with the indictment of Trump. No thanks to Mueller.
How did Trump get to Mueller? money? I never thought it possible.
Mueller is a lifelong republican AND a friend of Barr’s.
While the report lays out many reasons for impeachment, I can see why some Democrats feel that it is not worthwhile.
What the point of impeaching Trump when there is no chance, due to a GOP Senate majority, of ever convicting him?
People seem to forget that impeachment is only a charge of wrong doing, it is not a conviction of such.
Impeaching Trump now, knowing that there's not enough support in the Senate to convict him, would be foolish. When the jury is biased for the defendant, there's no way the case can be won.
3
Republicans now have an excuse to cut bait on Trump and put a more qualified person up for office. They should take this opportunity while they can.
4
Why Mr. Barr went all out to protect Donald Trump? I can understand sycophants from Congress and Senate do that for their own political survival. But Barr? He could be comfortably retired with his good career record. What might his self interests be here? There is no upside for him. Don't tell me he is a true Trump believer!
2
Time for Mitch McConnell to throw in the towel - announce he will not oppose a vote to impeach, and that he will retire.
Pence must also step down.
Then we can begin to heal.
4
If anyone has any connection to Democrats in power please convey this message: Back off of Trump for a moment while the other investigations take place and MAKE THIS ABOUT RUSSIAN MEDDLING. It makes no sense that we are not doing everything except declaring war on Russia at this moment; force Trump's hand to turn on his master. When he refuses; go for the kill and impeach.
9
Wow ... well said!
To give Mr. Buskirk the benefit of the doubt, I will assume he wrote this piece of fantasy before the actual Mueller report was released today. Even with its many redactions, the report’s scrupulously constructed narrative exposes the absurdity of the President’s rants about a “witch hunt”. The very obvious truth is that the most important player in this drama who, indeed, has been “out to get” President Trump is ... President Trump. He is the sole author of his own legal and political misfortune. One of the saddest features of this very sad story is his complete betrayal of his own “base” — whether his MAGA fans find the courage to face the disappointing truth or not. These Americans deserved better. The whole nation did.
4
Mueller is a great disappointment. He should say "guilty" or "not guilty", not "you decide"!! This report means the American people will suffer another year of Congress NOT working on important issues like immigration and health care. We just paid millions for this report, and will pay Congress millions more for using it to avoid working on policies.
1
I have heard that law students get the following advice: if you have the facts, argue the facts; if you have the law argue the law; if you don't have the facts or the law, just argue. This seems to be last refuge of the anti-Trumpers. Mueller took the facts away, the DOJ says the law's not there, so we'll have to listen to them drowning their sorrows in whining. They know they don't have the votes for impeachment but that won't stop many of them going on and on. Meanwhile the rest of us wonder why the people we elected can't do something about the problems everyone agrees need attention. Ninety five percent of the population care far more about jobs, income and schools than whether the White House is chaotic or not. Both sides know the infrastructure, immigration and the debt all need urgent attention. Sadly it seems it will be wall to wall Trump investigation until 2020 at least.
28
@Michael Feely
And what did Mr. Trump do today? Rather than tackling infrastructure, immigration and the debt he and the GOP escalated with their tax "reform" law, he went to Florida. No doubt for a little golf and a self-satisfied exoneration celebration with some donors.
181
@Michael Feely no, as a Trumpster you are dissembling along with Barr. Mueller was constrained by not being able to charge Trump with anything so he clearly decided to leave it to Congress. Not being able to indict the sitting president temporarily places the president above the law in the legal sense. However, the Founders left it to Congress to step in where the legal system can't. Unfortunately, Mitch McConnell finds having Trump in the White House is useful for his agenda of packing the courts with young rightwing ideologues so Congress will not be doing what the Founders anticipated.
274
@Michael Feely
Clean elections are the backbone of a Democracy, not some fluff item.
100% of America deserves elections without foreign intervention- which we know happened.
Congress needs the whole report.
211
Based on the following facts. It is time to move on to doing people's work by Congress and the President.
1) The 2016 presidential election was won fair and square by Donald J Trump. None in the main stream media, the pollsters, professors, pundits and press gave Trump even a slim chance of winning the electoral college.
2) Trump campaign was extremely hard fought and both Trump and Clinton plunged right into a mud fight.
3) Clinton was one of the persons who paid a foreign agent to prepare a salacious dossier about Trump which was then used by the then FBI director to seek a FISA warrant to set in motion an investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
4) A newly elected Trump was all set to keep his promises and do the people's work when the Mueller investigation began and the then Attorney General Jeff Session promptly recused himself and Rod Rosenstein then took over the investigation.
5) Trump felt roughed up by the establishment and the opposition in congress and his hopes of becoming a great president were shaken to the core and he lashed out at everyone who he thought had cornered him, maligned him and humiliated him and smashed his sel esteem when he knew in his heart that he had not colluded nor had he done anything wrong with Russia.
6) Luckily for USA his albatross due to Mueller futzing around in the background did not kill him politically and anything that did not kill him has made him stronger, confident and defiant.
2
@Girish Kotwal If I agreed wit you, we would both be wrong.
The idea that a president can not be indicted has never made any sense to me. What if a president’s wife perished in a domestic violence situation? You’re telling me there could be no legal consequences?
6
Lots of people would just like to get on with other matters it
seems. Since impeachment is a political act, it is or is not
feasible or reasonable to pursue depending upon whether
it is in the political interests of sufficiently many legislators.
Is there more to gain or to lose by forging ahead, as some
would prefer? Since the target of opportunity just
loves to attack but still appear to be the underdog, targeted
by so many other nasty people, it would play to his base to
become the subject of an impeachment hearing. The non
base would probably just shrug, hold its nose at the stench
emitted from the proceedings, and choose other more
pressing matters to decide for whom to vote in 2020.
Nothing much else would get done, but is anything being
done anyway? McConnell and co. have no interest in
what legislation gets sent over from the House,
and vice versa.
So do they want a distraction of a circus political act or
do they want to spin their wheels trying to break
partisan warfare logjams?
Mostly it seems as if the country is at some type of turning point but has lost all ability to navigate wisely. So a lot of
pathetic floundering around will happen instead.
Personally, I'd like to ask wheeler why
he thinks water quality is more of a pressing issue than
climate change, and whether he finally got around to
being debriefed about the NOAA climate assessment report from last year. It was disappointing that this wasn't asked
during last week's Time interview.
2
We will see whether the Democratic “leadership” are really Republican lite or actually Democrats. If there is no Impeachment of Trump then we will know what they really are. A lot of ‘truth” is about to be seen.
2
There seems to be a dominant opinion that the Congress should ignore the impeachment path and simply focus on the 2020 election to get rid of Trump. I would disagree, because I think it's more important for them to do their job and attempt to uphold the rule of law.
To this end, given Mueller's road map for the obstruction charge, they should perform their own investigation and if they find that Trump should be impeached, then they should impeach him. And they should make their case very clear to the American public so it's obvious how Trump broke the law and abused his position of power.
Sure the Republicans in the Senate will never convict their dear leader, but the Congress can then at least stand up and say they did their job and supported the constitution and the rule of law. And, importantly, can then point to the Republicans in the Senate and show how they don't support the constitution nor the rule of law. I think it's important to plainly illustrate to the American people the hypocrisy of the Republican party.
2
Why can’t Democrats start small—pass a censure bill in the House for trump and his press secretary intentionally lying to the American public. That much is clear from the Mueller report, and it’s pretty hard to be pro-presidential lying regardless of party affiliation. See what republicans can really resist that, and if it starts gaining momentum? Doesn’t seem like it could make a martyr out of trump—calling him out for lying where no one can legitimately dispute—so no downside?
5
This is one of the best parts of the article and this president continues to discredit the free press, which is woven into the fabric of our democracy.
“By contrast, the special prosecutor’s report illustrates again and again that, despite Mr. Trump’s constant cries of “fake news,” the responsible news media’s reporting on the investigation was overwhelmingly accurate.”
9
I wish Jerry Nadler would invite (or subpoena) Rod Rosenstein to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Rosenstein hired Mueller; there are allegations that Rosenstein wondered whether he should wear a wire to record meetings with Trump; he agreed to extend his tenure at DoJ to be a "heat shield" to protect Mueller from criticism upon the report's release. Yet there he stood this morning behind Bill Barr: his presence seemingly an endorsement of Barr's untruthful claims about Mueller's findings. Rosenstein should come forward to explain his beliefs regarding Trump's attempts to impede the special counsel's investigation and also clarify why he agreed to be in Barr's sideshow this morning.
7
I have been resisting impeachment. I figured we could leave this for he election.
But this is a pretty clear abuse of presidential power. And it would have been worse but for administration members that either ignores Trump’s directives or talked him out of it. If we ignore this, then how long before the minions don’t ignore the orders? Then what?
Even an unsuccessful impeachment would be a disincentive to do this again.
6
Trump’s panicky reaction when he heard about the appointment of a special counsel is in itself enough of a reason to remove him from office.
9
We should first congratulate Mr. Mueller and his team for the job they have done despite the President of the USA and Russia doing all what they could to undermine their work. For I'm certain that the GRU had a special unit which goal was to impede Mr Mueller work.
For those pleading to let this go and let the American people decide in 2020, they are making a grave mistake. This issue should not be about Republicans vs Democrats. This is about the USA.
Russia intervened in 2016 to help Mr. Trump get elected. What if the Chinese decide to intervene in 2020 to help a Democrat get elected?
I won't be surprised that the Russians intervention did begin during the GOP primaries. So GOP candidates like senators Graham, Rubio, Cruz, or Rand Paul may have been victim of the same Russian covert operation.
Mr. Trump met Mr. Putin several times since taking office. Each meeting cloaked in secrecy. He even invited them to in oval office with no US press present. Now replace Trump by Clinton or Obama and the Republicans would be marching in Washington chanting treason.
This should not be a partisan issue. The future of US democracy depends on how this case will be handled by Congress. Mr. Mueller states clearly that He believes several crimes have been committed by Mr. Trump. Democrats in the House should vote to impeach Mr. Trump. Let every GOP senator be on record for what they did when asked to uphold their oath of office, which I recall is to defend the US constitution.
20
Unfortunately, Trump has become like a prophet for his supporters. No matter the truth, they are going to support him. As science cannot convince religious people that they are wrong, this report cannot and will not convince Trump supporters that they are wrong. Until Trump has a shot for another term in office, no one can stop him. In the end, it is not up to the congress but to the people to come to their senses and stand up against Trump. But I highly doubt it...
8
The House needs to show some backbone and start impeachment proceedings. So what if the Senate won’t convict, get the truth told, in public, under oath for all of the world to see. Who knows what might be uncovered in the process. The smoking gun may be hiding in plain sight, just remember to follow the money!
12
While not the smartest man ever to become president, Trump's clearly one of the most sly and anyone who thought he'd repeat the mistake he made when he chose Sessions for AG was sorely mistaken. Barr is clearly a much more polished person than Sessions, and his patrician accent can lead one into a false sense of confidence that Barr's life's work should certainly not validate. It seems to me that his letter debasing the Mueller Report, which he submitted prior to his being chosen for AG, should have disqualified him immediately from being confirmed, but anyone thinking that Trump's Republican enablers care one iota about truth and justice....So it seems to me that we will have to put the issue back to the American people in 2020. IF they vote to reelect the charlatan then he will have served out 2 terms that he won with the tainted assistance of criminals. If he loses, we will have a new leader of the Justice Department, Trump will have become a private citizen clearly subject to indictment and Barr? History has already concluded what sort of character (or lack thereof) he has.
13
We need to understand why Trump so aggressively obstructed justice. We still need to know what he was trying to cover up? That's why Congress must move forward with a full investigation, execute its constitutional role as a separate and equal branch of government and if necessary, impeach. Let's that facts come out.
15
We should not ignore the findings of the Special Counsel. Trump's efforts to obstruct the investigation were right out in the open. Impeachment hearings will be difficult, but this is what the moment demands. To turn away from this will only invite more abuses from whoever is in the Office of President in the future.
5
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning". (Winston Churchill)
The question now is how long will Trump's toadies stay in denial? In any other civilized country, a leader who behaved as Mueller describes would be run out of town.
13
Whatever the outcome, we should have laws and procedures in the system to prevent all this from happening again. To start, all candidates should have extensive FBI background checks for top security clearances and be required to release their taxes.
15
@Mark
Does the Constitution say that somewhere? I thought you just had to be thirty-five and born in the U.S.
I'm with those calling for impeachment hearings. There needs to be a reckoning here. Nixon resigned because of a looming obstruction charge contained in a potential article of impeachment; Clinton was impeached for lying and obstruction. There is no principled reason why trump should not be subjected to the same congressional inquiry.
All this "bedwetting" by the democratic leadership is nothing but cowardice masquerading as being practical.
Sure, attempts to impeach and possibly remove trump from office could fail; but the risk of that is far outweighed by the need for the public to have some sort of vindication. Either trump is removed from office for obstruction, or he is not, but regardless, at least the system will be allowed to pursue its course, and vindicate the rule of law.
trump can't be given a pass.
21
The sad reality here is that anyone willing to take an objective view of his past behavior and business dealings knew that Trump was unfit for office from day one. And anyone willing to overlook his myriad faults or overlook them for political expedience is too deeply entrenched too be swayed by new information.
At this point my frustration has given over to resignation, and the best I can hope for is that the electorate installs a new president and ends this sad chapter in our history.
24
@Oliver Buck up and support impeachment!
Let's have hearings about how "upset" DJT is personally that his idea of effective corporate governance doesn't work when you play that game with federal employees and office.
Let's hear from Mueller what a patriotic Republican sounds like. Because we've forgotten.
Then let's have every elected member of Congress publicly indicate whether this is acceptable behavior for a sitting president. Let there be a record of who stood up to condemn this behavior, who cowered and who, worst of all, condones this.
We have a ridiculously polarized country anyway. That's not going to change. But it doesn't mean we all throw our hands up and say that obstruction of justice, subverting the office of the presidency and general malfeasance are acceptable.
If the majority of voters in this country didn't get it in 2016, let's at least educate them for 2020 about real governance and what it looks like.
4
What will Republicans in Congress do with this information? They have the same constitutional responsibilities as Democrats to oversee the executive branch and hold a president to the high standards of conduct Americans have a right to expect. They don't get a pass because the investigation produced no criminal indictments of the president. The facts of his conduct are still there. Are those facts perfectly OK with Republicans?
11
"What comes next is up to Congress."
If by "Congress" you mean the House of Representatives, my advice to them (the Democrats who hold the majority) is: tell the world that you would move to impeach but you have things to do, and besides, that election is coming up. Cynical power-prioritizing? Yes, but we're all adults here. Some of us.
3
Apparently the President really is above the law. At least while Congress sits idly by letting him thwart the rule of law. Sounds like we'll just take notes for now and try to get him once he's finally out of office. But Sarah Huckabee Sanders needs to go. She admitted she was lied to the American people. She works for us, the taxpayers. We can no longer trust her.
12
Everyone believes it is now in the hands of Congress to bring justice. Truly, though, the best justice will be for us, the people, the American people, to simply vote this man down in 2020. Then he will finally recognize how little esteem we have for his awful behavior. The votes—the ratings: it’s the only thing that will get through to him.
8
How does Barr claim that Trump campaign communicating with Wikileaks was legal? Doesn't his own DoJ not want to prosecute Assange for publishing US classified data on Wikileaks? Trump hired US enemies to destroy his opposition and then covered his tracks well.
6
Although impeachment is certainly warranted and invited by the Mueller report, the Democratic leadership in Congress is apparently intent upon refusing to use the Constitutional remedy for Presidential abuses of power by impeaching President Trump. To me this is not only an outrageous breach of every Congressional member's sworn duty to "defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic," but is an inexcusably stupid political decision by Democratic leaders who have previously "taken impeachment off the table" for supposedly smart political reasons. Not pursuing impeachment will only encourage Trump and his unconditional supporters to claim that he has done nothing wrong and has been unfairly persecuted by Trump haters and "deep state" conspirators, while conducting impeachment proceedings would keep Trump on the defense during his reelection campaign and might diminish his support in Congress as well as with voters. Apart from cowardice and stupidity, there is no reason for Democrats to give Trump a pass on plainly impeachable conduct (already shown judicially by Trump's direction of the two felony campaign violations by his lawyer Michael Cohen). Even if the Senate won't convict, there are compelling political and moral reasons for the House to impeach.
7
Although impeachment is certainly warranted and invited by the Mueller report, the Democratic leadership in Congress is apparently intent upon refusing to use the Constitutional remedy for Presidential abuses of power by impeaching President Trump. To me this is not only an outrageous breach of every Congressional member's sworn duty to "defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic," but is an inexcusably stupid political decision by Democratic leaders who have previously "taken impeachment off the table" for supposedly smart political reasons. Not pursuing impeachment will only encourage Trump and his unconditional supporters to claim that he has done nothing wrong and has been unfairly persecuted by Trump haters and "deep state" conspirators, while conducting impeachment proceedings would keep Trump on the defense during his reelection campaign and might diminish his support in Congress as well as with voters. Apart from cowardice and stupidity, there is no reason for Democrats to give Trump a pass on plainly impeachable conduct (already shown judicially by Trump's direction of the two felony campaign violations by his lawyer Michael Cohen). Even if the Senate won't convict, there are compelling political and moral reasons for the House to impeach. Doing nothing is not acceptable.
2
"If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck - it's a duck."
The Mueller Report (well, the parts we've been allowed to see today) simply verifies and amplifies what we've long known about the horrifying and unprecedented levels of venality, mendacity and corruption of both the Trump campaign and Trump's subsequent administration.
It appears that Mueller and his team felt tremendous political pressure to stop short of calling "a duck a duck".
But Congress should feel no such pressure. They, along with We the People, have seen the duck in action, day in and day out for the last three years.
And America is now ready for our long-deserved bowl of duck soup.
15
Pathetic statement about our current GOP. Trump can obstruct justice, lie constantly about minor and major issues, and they do not hear anything. The GOP are all corrupt.
22
Oath of Office of the President of the United States.
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Trump, holding the highest office in the United States as President, deliberately lied and continues to lie to the citizens of the United States about dealings with a dangerous nuclear adversary.
If the invertebrate lawyers and Republicans won’t impeach Trump, the United Stares Citizens WILL!
The Constitution of the United States allows for and demands this action as a matter of course. This Trump case is one of the main reasons the Constitution exists for. Don’t negate the Framers efforts to give life and nourishment to a democracy.
7
I'd sure like to know what's in the 14 referrals. The House doesn't want to impeach and neither does the senate. Trump and his goons, Pence included, need to go to jail. There seems to be enough smoke around Trump to indicate an inferno somewhere.
4
What fantasy land does the editorial board and most of the readers of this paper live in? There was no indictment. A special prosecutor's job is not to exonerate, it is to indict. They don't work for the accused. They look for indictable (and any decent prosecutor can get an indictment on a ham sandwich) offenses. Mueller after two years and countless witnesses could not indict Trump. Continuing down this idiotic path will not only lead to the Democratic Party's ruin in 2020, it will be they and their allies in the press who are the ones guilty of colluding with the Russians. Continuing to pursue this farce just plays in to Putin's hands by sowing additional doubt and acrimony. Democrats and their allies in the press do this at their peril.
4
@Rob
Did you read the editorial? Mueller was constrained by DOJ guidelines that a sitting president cannot be indicted for criminal offenses. Look at the executive summary of the report and assess objectively whether or not anyone else would have been indicted. It’s not even close.
7
@Rob, investigating Donald Trump's entanglements with Russia and his apparent obstruction of justice is not "colluding with the Russians." On the contrary, if we let it go, Putin (and any future nominee willing to play ball) will feel even more emboldened because there are no consequences.
There was no indictment of Donald Trump because it's DOJ policy that a sitting president can't be indicted, and Mueller is conservative. Please read the editorial. Mueller's report details the "president's corrupt exercise of his powers of office" and concludes that "Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president." In other words, the report invites Congress to bring impeachment charges on the basis of obstruction of justice in accordance with "our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law."
Now that we've seen the report, it's impossible for anyone to argue that Mueller intended for Barr to make the decision about obstruction. (And Barr does appear to work for Trump.)
Btw, Mueller's report describes numerous instances of coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians. I find it bizarre that anyone would want to sweep this behavior under the rug. Trump, with Mitch McConnell's help, appears to have killed legislation to protect our elections by requiring paper ballots and audits. Why?
6
Although trump is being his authentic self, does not mean he is a decent person.. The fact he was not exonerated because there was not enough evidence, should not bold well with decency. It would be nice to think that a president should be held to a higher standard than simply not being behind bars. It's no great compliment to say that the degree of corruption, lies, viciousness in this administration cannot be proven in a court of law.
3
Have we lost our minds as citizens that the President’s behavior should be acceptable and tolerated in the nation’s highest political office? Are we delusional in thinking that he acts in the nation’s best interests first and foremost? I don’t know what is more shocking, the President’s behavior or the Republican Party’s hypocrisy. For as long as I live, their complicit behavior will tarnish their brand. I will NEVER vote for another Republican candidate.
They don’t love this country; they love only power.
17
"That the president’s norm-shattering behavior has become so flagrant and familiar doesn’t make it right."
This point can't be stressed enough. But the public has become so jaded that half despair justice will ever be done and the other half hope it never is.
Just as Donald Trump has worn down his staff, he's worn down the country. It's a real shame that those most eager to read the full report already believe this president has obstructed justice and likely was part of a criminal conspiracy were it not for illegally destroyed emails by Gannon and others.
But It's also a shame that the other half clearly don't care or believe the president when he screams "fake news".
On that score it looks as if the president has already "won" but if Congress reads the full report, and determines duty demands they consider articles of impeachment, then they have a chance to administer the type of justice Robert Mueller could not.
17
"If the report — and the entire saga around the Russia investigation — has one through-line, it is the dishonesty at the heart of the Trump administration" this is all we need to know to show , DT and his cronies in the senate out the door in the 2020 election. If our democracy have survived this winter, it will be stronger then before.
7
The fact that the Donald is in the White House is the fault of the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton. He was not put there by the Russians but by a former candidate who was horrible and untrustworthy. As a Democrat this should be a wake up call to all of us to select a Presidential candidate who can win and then The Donald will be gone! If we continue down the road with the perception that we are adopting a socialist agenda of single payer healthcare, free college and are not reasonable on abortion and immigration we will lose again! Time to wake up my fellow Democrats!
5
@Just 4 Play This political agenda sounds pretty good--universal medicare, college paid tuition, etc. this is social democracy--check out Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada--this system works very well--these countries are the best countries to live according to polls. Time for people to wake up and demand social democracy!!!!
2
@will smith
By the way Finland just had their entire government resign over healthcare and in Canada wait times are up to 6 months for elective surgery. Also the tax rates for everyone is over 50%. Not as great as you suggest
Russia has compromised and owns the President of the United States. If I were an Ukrainian, Pole, or German, I would sleep with one eye open. Americans should do likewise!
Trump’s taxes please?
4
Nancy Pelosi should be leading the charge to impeach - but she doesn't want to end her career wasted in legal quagmires with the President.
And I'm sorry to say this but the heads of the most crucial committees : Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Elijah Cummings are weak and ineffectual. In fact the entire party is..
They can conduct their hearings - get in a few jabs- but the end will yield nothing and our country will still be led by a maniac. Who by they way must be feeling really good right now and will probably be re-elected.
The list of Presidential candidates is long and boring- and I don't see anyone who would be able to defeat Trump.
1
Aaron,
So, give up before the primary fights begin? Great political strategy, Dude. Trump will surely win with that attitude.
The Mueller report confirms the stench of corruption that permeates the Trump administration. The rotting carcass of his presidency contaminates the American political system, from the spineless Republican sycophants in the Senate, to the mephitic utterances of congressman Jim Jordan, to the mendacious propaganda of Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The fetid atmosphere that infects the Oval Office emanates from the fact that in Donald Trump's White House, ethics, integrity, and truth, are nothing more than decaying carrion.
9
If nothing else, this report at least prevents today’s breathlessly spinning republicans from writing a revised Trump legacy into the history books. They too will be in there, forever intertwined with the disease that is Trumpism.
6
It is now apparent that Trump is a career crook who, for years, has paid detailed attention to covering his tracks and maintaining deniability. In view of these stunning revelations, it is utterly incomprehensible that this level of corruption and dishonesty has been fully embraced by Mr. Barr and the elected Republicans in House and Senate. How far lower will this country sink before voters will say enough is enough?
8
No amount of black ink redactions can cover up the half truths, lies and crimes of this man.
The Republican controlled Senate is unwilling or too afarid to block anything that the House puts forward to limit or punish this man.
Surly come November 2020 "We The People" can elect a person we can again Admire and Respect.
3
One funny and unique thing about this: it is well known that Trump doesn’t read. He will never read this report, rather he will turn on Fox News to get them to interpret it for him.
My issue with Trump is just that - he doesn’t read. He has no grasp of issues and policies - he just turns on Fox News and shock jock radio and parrots what he hears. Our last president was a constitutional law professor. This one is a clueless con man.
Perhaps there was no Russian collusion. It doesn’t matter. The real problem is that the man is totally unfit to lead our country. Is this really not obvious to the entire world??
8
"If your opponent is temperamental, irritate him". (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) This is a dangerous approach when dealing with Donald Trump, but it must be followed. Yes call Mueller before congress! Call any other witnesses that know the real Donald Trump and his secret dealings. Subpoena his taxes! He will melt down. He will self destruct. Our country must know that there is a possibility of justice, even when the rich and powerful are the ones that are responsible.
12
Trump is a professional and remorseless liar. I wouldn't lend him money or enter into a contract with him. He should have no place in public service. I think the report makes that abundantly clear.
6
The Trump Administration must be held accountable to the ethical standards of our founding fathers.
They would have overlooked--perhaps with a wink--President Trump's multiple consecrated and unconsecrated liaisons.
They might have endorsed his pursuit of property,whether inanimate or human.
They would NOT have backed down from stripping Trump of his powers for the simple reason that America--states united, or not--will NOT submit to the will of a foreign government.
Pour yourself a cup of tea, why don't you?
4
Any new busboy in a restaurant can tell you about being hazed by the veterans. They hand him a pail and tell him, go get a bucket of steam.
"A long way to go"...meaning, nothing specific. Just a long way. "It can be said'' by whom, exactly? You know. Someone who says stuff.
Yeah, a bucket of steam. Just like that.
Let's be more hard-nosed here, shall we? Justice isn't going to be done because the agencies and people whose job is doing justice aren't going to do it, deliberately. The processes by which justice is done have been subverted, deliberately. And millions of voters have in effect seceded into another America where the law is about power and narrative, not evidence and duty.
If "this report, even in its censored format, is an important step toward putting the truth of this presidency in the public record. But there’s still a long way to go before it can be said that justice has been done", then the role of the media would be to cross that long way immediately and do justice instead of waiting for it to "be done". The censored versions and more Trump slogans aren't good enough. There's a precedent here with the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and the Panama Papers. So The Times ought to get the whole thing un-redacted, verbatim, without a black line over so much as a comma, and run it for the world to see. The Times ought to get Trump's tax returns and do the same thing with them.
Enough steam. Put the truth of this presidency in the public record.
6
Abraham Lincoln's words from the Gettysburg address are as appropriate today as they were in 1863. "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Government of, by, and for the people is being lost, but not in a cataclysmic battle. It's being quietly stolen one stealthy, calculated decision at a time, by duplicitous, cowardly men who know exactly what they are doing. With Citizens United, any pretense that the government would represent the citizenry was destroyed. Unlimited power to sway congress was handed to oligarchs and corporations. Now, based on a "memo", the President is above the law, so we have a defacto king.
Quite honestly, I think Mueller took the easy way out. If he had stuck to his guns for a face to face interview, Trump would have lied, because it's what he does. The obstruction of justice was so obvious, and the illegal orders so numerous, how could he possibly conclude there was no intent. We are no longer a nation of laws, and Lincoln must be vomiting in his grave.
9
Trump's political handmaiden Bill Barr made a mockery of the Mueller Report by discarding the facts in the document and mischaracterizing the report's findings.
On nine occasions, Barr lied and said there was no conspiracy and collusion when the report states otherwise.
The NYT editorial states: "The special counsel investigated 11 incidents in which the president may have obstructed justice, the same offense facing Richard Nixon during Watergate and Bill Clinton during his impeachment."
That's incredible.
In some parts of the report, the White House can best be described as a Bouncy House run by a college fraternity.
Barr never really had a shred of dignity or self-respect but hid this well when he testified before congressional representatives.
Nobody should be surprised if they learned that
Trump found Barr at the Republican Party's Bargain Basement Discount Center without his requisite metal American flag pin on his lapel and a "For Sale" sign around his neck.
Years from now, Barr will simply be remembered as another of the Trump swamp's lapdogs and fixers who turned their backs on this country to serve a self-serving, con man who'd sell this country to the Russians for the right price.
7
The sad thing is, despite Mueller clearly stating that his report does not exonerate the President from obstruction charges, Trump said it did, and all the zombies in his base believe Trump!
This is like Night of the Living Dead in real life.
7
There has been a treasonous tarnish on the Trump campaign and presidency from Trump's bizarre deus ex machina descent down his gaudy Trump Tower escalator in front of paid actors.
Nothing has been real. Putin, Wikileaks, the Mercers and Adelson, the nepotistic "kids" in their 30s and 40s, Flynn et al. -- all had their own agendas.
Barr like the Congressional Republicans has continued the corruption. Party politics mingled with extremist ideologies, money, power and arrogance underlie everything.
None of them care about the American people, public good, or democracy. There is no honor among thieves.
History will judge them all.
Thank you to Mr. Mueller and his investigators, to those who refused to obey a tyrant's hints and orders, to the media for their superb reporting and clear accounts, and to the legislators who will do their jobs to bring their Constitutional authority and co-equal powers to deal with the obstruction and corruption of the Trump regime.
Democracy itself is in danger. A man put into the White House by Russia continues his destructive swath trampling laws, the Constitution, decency, the environment, and the vulnerable.
Truth must out.
No redactions.
No alternative facts.
No cover up by Trump's new Roy Cohn.
4
Whether Trump should be impeached is a question independent of what new laws must be adopted to prevent future presidential campaigns from playing footsie with foreign governments. The 2020 camapaign is already underway and Congress should make this its number one legislative issue. While Russia may favor Trump now, the Republicans must realize that any foreign power with substantial hacking ability might favor a Democrat in the future. This foreign "aid" trend must be nipped in the bud.
2
Game Over.
Over two years of constant hyperventilating and hysterical coverage of Russia collusion ... for this? Opportunity costs. How many other worthy things could have been covered by the media instead of this? Instead we got a thoroughly destructive episode that made everybody look like incompetent fools. Our educated elites look like manic court jesters.
We all knew Trump was a clown, and we now know with certainty that even the self appointed masters of righteousness and all that is good can't see past their own ideological biases.
This is truly an epic embarrassment for the media, good luck with your anti-Trump 2020 campaign.
Nobody will be listening. Why should they?
3
@Tom Scharf, it sounds like you haven't read the Mueller report. Responsible journalists got it right. The only ones who should be embarrassed are those who still think Trump did nothing.
4
“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,”
This is the most damning statement in the report. However, it is not damning of Trump; it is damning of the Mueller Team. It is a clear indication that while the Mueller Team could not make a case for obstruction, they were determined to insinuate obstruction of justice on the part of the president. I did not vote for Trump, and I had hoped that Mueller was the straight shooter that he is reputed to be and that he would give an honest resolution of this affair, but the above statement crushed that hope. The statement insidiously implies that an accused must be proven innocent and that any ambiguity should be interpreted as evidence of guilt. To insinuate a crime you cannot support after an exhaustive and relentless two-year investigation is Kafkaesqe and Orwellian.
AG Barr's exposition of the obstruction case (or lack thereof) is persuasive. Trump was angry about the investigation, because he saw it as a witch hunt, because his campaign was not guilty of any of the underlying accusations. Despite that anger, he never in any way derailed the investigation, and the White House provided unprecedented cooperation to the special counsel. He never suborned perjury (unlike Bill Clinton) or destroyed documents or performed any of the acts normally associated with obstruction.
2
@Charles, Robert Mueller is a straight shooter. The report details 11 instances where Trump committed obstruction of justice. The report makes clear that Mueller, a conservative, adhered to DOJ rules that you can't indict a sitting president, but that the evidence is there for Congress to "apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office." That's an invitation to impeach, not an insinuation.
Apparently (according to the report) Trump's campaign was guilty of trying to coordinate with the Russians on numerous occasions, although the evidence didn't rise to the very narrow definition of conspiring with a foreign government. I'm sure Trump knew about it, and that's why he tried to end the investigation. But Barr's explanation is silly on the face of it, especially coming from a lawyer. Obstruction of justice--i.e., firing FBI directors and special counsels, promising presidential pardons, badmouthing the investigation to his followers--is illegal. It's a crime, even if he did it for foolish reasons (which he didn't--remember his reaction when learning about the special counsel? "I'm f'ed")
I find your claims that Trump provided "unprecedented cooperation" and that he never suborned perjury just baffling. The Mueller report makes clear that he did not cooperate; in fact he threatened a legal fight when asked to testify. He suborned perjury from Michael Cohen and attempted to suborn perjury from Don McGahn, among others.
3
Well done, New York Times for doggedly uncovering the facts in this investigation with top-notch reporting; all the while being called out as “the enemy of the people.” I don’t always agree with this newspaper, but I am surely proud to tell the world that The Times is my hometown paper! Keep it coming!
2
You write: ."...Mr. Mueller was unable to bring criminal charges against the president himself,..."
No. Mr Mueller was UNWILLING to bring criminal charges.
Big difference.
One that requires a response from Congress.
4
The single most important thing for Democrats to do is to keep the facts out front and center for the coming weeks while congress is out of session.
Also, I hope at least one news paper in this country will have the guts to have the headline read "SHAME" followed by a photo of Barr.
1
William Barr has decided to be the personal attorney of Donald Trump, not the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. True to his audition memo and his history as a dissembler for George H.W. Bush in the Noriega scandal, Barr boldly lied in his news conference.
Barr was not required to interpret the Report of special counsel Robert Mueller, but even if he had such a role, he had no legal right to suggest falsely that Mueller had exonerated Trump on either conspiracy or obstruction of justice.
To the point of sounding ridiculous – Barr kept repeating Trump’s mantra of “No Collusion” for the headlines. William Barr needs to be removed as Attorney General to live with his legacy as an unprincipled fixer.
The more immediate matter is for Congress to subpoena the evidence uncovered by Mr. Mueller. Congress also needs to put under oath the people in the White House who refused to lie for Donald Trump (like Donald McGahn) and the people who did lie for him (like Sarah Sanders).
Robert Mueller is a good man, a good lawyer and a heroic figure. Unfortunately, he made a couple serious errors, one of which was not insisting that Donald Trump appear before the F.B.I. and answer questions on the record. Had he done so, Trump might be finished.
The ball is in the court of the House of Representatives, and Democrats must not shirk their Article 1 duties, regardless of what Speaker Nancy Pelosi would prefer.
4
Democrats, if you don't IMPEACH NOW, you can forget my vote forever. I don’t care what you think the Senate may/may not do. You also need to be able to walk and chew gum - pass legislation while impeaching. Prove you are worth what you say your worth. Step up to the plate....or you will lose in 2020. I guarantee it.
@ citizen
The best way for a Democrat to win in 2020 is to run against 45. Impeaching is counterproductive.
1
The Mueller Report does not matter. Every day the president shows the world what
an unintelligent, unkind, disrespectful, egocentric, dishonest bully he is. We all know.
He is the report!
Listen, people! We know he's corrupt but we've got bigger fish to fry. Let's keep real issues on track. He will fall on his own clay feet. Time to stay on message: health care, college costs and loans, rebuilding our infrastructure, green energy, fair taxation, etc... Focus!
2
The entire Democratic Party platform now revolves around the axis of "Russiagate", a giant garbage fire conspiracy theory.
Not climate change, not economic injustice, not foreign wars, not health care, no, a giant conspiracy theory.
And many millions of people will never let go of their now internalized beliefs.
The whole 3 year episode culminating in this day shows how cultish the media is. They are a doomsday cult whose Day of Judgment has come and passed. But they will cling to their faith using contortions of mind that looks dangerously close to causing permanent damage. For some of the most deranged like Marcy Wheeler, Rachel Maddow, Seth Abramson and their readers, it has likely already caused serious damage to their mental health.
But the worst part is not the rot in the media. It's that this is helping push various nations closer to war with Russia. Europe, Canada and the US are spending billions they can ill afford on armaments and bases to encircle Russia. Just imagine what could have been accomplished had they strived for peace.
But continuing to fantasize about obstruction or impeachment is so much easier than mounting an actual Resistance effort.
Having an actual resistance effort would include changing the political leadership and direction of the Democratic Party, which is D.O.A. as a topic, so apparently it’s best to keep this circus going through 2020, virtually guaranteeing a Trump 2020 win.
4
@Chris, why is investigating--and proving--Russian attacks on our election the same as going to war with Russia? And who exactly is building bases to encircle Russia? Do you think it would be better to sweep it all under the rug? How do we protect ourselves from future attacks?
I think Democrats can continue investigating Trump's entanglements at the same time as they propose--and pass--health care, gun safety, and environmental laws.
Partisans are fixated on this meh of a story and will lose in 2020 because they refuse to move on.
2
Tomorrow is another day. Trump is already texting about firing people. He'll be on a revenge tirade. Paid my taxes and thought look at the mess and chaos we are getting for our money, Trump and his filthy mouth, Barr slinking around the corridors of Justice, Sarah Sanders lying 24/7.
1
Leader Pelosi was correct when she said this man wasn't worth the effort required to impeach him. Why disrupt Congress and spend our money on an impeachment trial? Let's just vote the bum out and hope that justice and karma will find him once he's out of office. I'm sick of him and his Republican cohorts already.
1
Congress must impeach McConell and republicans that are not bought up by corporation and are not crazy tea party fundamentalists should align with a democratic senate to impeach trump as well.
Enough!!!
Seems Mueller and Barr has a friendship.
I bet Mueller was told to wrap it up without further inquiry.
Mueller may have deceived us as well.
I now trust no one other than my state Governor . My reps. In the senate have let me down.
We are a plutocratic dictatorship.
Let’s hope our vote might matter although doubtful.
We r on our own state by state.
New England should merge
We need strength against dark times politically and socially.
Community matters.
Forget the churches after this debacle.
"No one is above the law"
It doesn't get ANY clearer than that!
And a great BIG "Thank You" to the NY Times, and ALL the news outlets that kept their integrity, and their mission of investigative journalism.
Long live the 1st Amendment!
6
Nonsense.
Mueller has stated flatly that no evidence has been identified that implicates Trump or any of the campaign staff, or any Americans, with a conspiracy to effect the election in concert with Russian actors - state or otherwise.
Yet, based on what the N Y Times and other outlets have published, numerous Demomcratic leaders have said, and accusations from former government officials - are we actually expected to believe - that Mueller found no instances of giving false evidence, lying to the FBI or Congress, or other illegal activity related to the preparation, distribution of the Steele document, or its inclusion as evidence in FISA warrants ?
Baloney.
Mueller has completely ignored all illegal activity on the Trump opposition side, despite it being clearly within his authorized purview. And there had to be some.
He has conciously ignored crimes. Otherwise McCabe would already be in irons.
His conduct is clearly one-sided, clearly biased.
And the analyses in his report, written by a bunch of Democratic hacks, are full of clear but short statements declaring innocence, followed by chapters of hypotheticals and dissembling.
The whole thing is a disgrace.
1
@Objectivist, the disgrace is that anyone would be talking about revenge against the FBI.
The Mueller report states flatly that there were plenty of instances of Trump associates and family members seeking to cooperate with Russian agents. The reason there was no indictment is that it wasn't technically a STATE conspiracy, but rather cooperation with various Russian actors (Kilimnik) and oligarchs (Deripaska). Manafort gave internal campaign polling data and identified battleground states on a continuing basis with Kilimnik on the understanding that he was passing it to Deripaska, one of two oligarchs closest to Putin. The Trump Tower meeting would have met the standard of conspiracy if Mueller had concluded that Trump, Jr. was smart enough to know that what he did was illegal.
@SandraH.
The report also states flatly that the transfer of polling data by Manafort was unconnected to effort to effect the election.
Fascinating, how deftly - and scrupulously - you avoid the topic of how Mueller chose not to investigate the Clinton Campaign's financial and information sourcing connections to Russia, particularly the origins and dissemination path of the Steele Dossier.
Its content had origins in Russia.
If he had, it would have likely undermined the legal validity of his entire investigation.
Shortly before he took office Mr. Trump agreed to pay 25 million dollars to settle claims of fraud and racketeering.
I knew then that the man is a criminal.
2
“But there’s still a long way to go before it can be said that justice has been done.”
Why does it have a long way to go? Oh that’s right, with the GOP. Barr, Sarah Sanders, Hope Hicks, et. al. to lie and debase themselves, the road will be long and fraught with the machinations of Trump who tries to “look like a flower but is proving to be the serpent under it”. The “games afoot” not quite “game over” for Trump.
What comes next? Let me tell you. Nothing. Nothing will happen. The oligarchs will continue to rule while everyone waits for the next Muller Report.
“Look over there while we plunder and destroy everything “
1
This subscription is the best non-essential monthly expense I have.
1
All President Clinton did was cheat on his wife and lie about it. President Trump cheated on the whole country, as well as the laws he was sworn to uphold.
2
What about all the Russian money laundering the tRump's excelled in? Or is that still under investigation?
Of course his usual lawyers didn’t take notes. Mob lawyers don’t leave such trails. Mob bosses don’t like it- trump.
The deceit, boldface lying to the American people and complete lack of regard for protecting American elections from a hostile foreign power are a disgrace. The latter should be ample proof of this vacant, hateful, morally despicable man from holding even the office of dog catcher.
The worst person to ever occupy the Oval Office in history. By far.
2
Keep investigating, start impeaching. Keep the bully on his heels and let the bone-spurs do the rest.
1
Congressional Democrats must find their courage and impeach this criminal president. What Trump has done is vastly worse than what Nixon did.
If Congressional Democrats don't move impeachment forward, they will have permitted Donald Trump to become an elected dictator.
These are the times that try men's souls. And now is the test of whether Democrats will stand up for American democracy.
2
The House should impeach the president. To not do so, to not go on the record with an indictment of Trump's abuse of power and unfitness for office, no matter the chances of a conviction in the Senate or the political consequences in the 2020 election, would be an affront to the rule of law, our democracy, those who have lived and sacrificed their lives to maintain it, and an affront to future generations.
9
I want Trump held accountable for obstruction of justice, as revealed in the report.
How we do that effectively, I don’t know.
But I do know that now this buck stops at the steps of Congress.
21
Today marks the end of the Trump presidency. Mueller and Barr, who are capable, experienced public servants, have outwitted Trump. Slowly, the truth that Trump is simply a gangster will sink in far and wide -- as the contents of the Mueller report are discussed, and as Congress calls for further public testimony. Moreover, under the appearance of "serving" Trump as his new fixer, Barr will investigate the origins of the investigation -- bringing in the FBI, which, Mueller tells us, "will likely reveal more crimes." Even evangelicals will start falling away... Law and our democratic values and institutions will triumph in the end.
19
We can only hope...
1
Mueller's report will have no effect.
While the Dems can impeach in the House where only a simple majority is required the Senate requires 67 votes to convict.
20 GOP votes are needed to combine with 47 Dems to get to 67.
You will not get that.
The rich part of the GOP will excuse Trump's crimes in exchange for tax cuts for the rich, slashing social programs and gutting of financial and environmental regulations.
The lower income part of Trump's base still believes Trump will restore their economic status.
They believe Trump's venom about immigrants.
Building a wall or deporting all illegal immigrants will not make coal competitive with natural gas and will not affect the wage differential between manufacturing jobs in the US and out of the US.
The Dems will not get the votes of the rich but a candidate who addresses the economic concerns of the lower income voters will return these voters to the Dems.
But calling them deplorables and ridiculing them and telling them they will never gain lost economic status as HRC did is not a recipe for success.
4
Further outrage, real or contrived, is futile. President Trump is not subject to any criminal charges and he will not be removed from Office no matter what the Democrats do. It should also be recognized that Mueller's report is a Prosecutor's narration. It is by definition biased. It is a guarantee that the President's response (the defense) will be in opposition.
Mueller abdicated the primordial responsibility if a Prosecutor, he should either indict or shut up. He did neither.
4
@Phever Did you read the report? Mueller very clearly states that internal DOJ policy prevented him from indicting, and thus the job of prosecuting the report's damning, SPECIFIC FACTS of Trump's crimes must be taken up by Congress.
As to whether Republicans will try and block any impeachment, it's irrelevant. Congress has a job; the allegations should be prosecuted; and if the GOP wants to shield their criminal President, let them. American voters deserve to see their complicity.
55
@Phever Mueller had a specific brief that was discharged by the report. He was not acting as a typical prosecutor. Nor did not have the authority directly to indict DJT. Or to "shut up". He was charged with investigating and reporting to DOJ. You're mistaken.
1
It over .... move on..
5
Yes, just accept a pattern of corruption and deceit, and don’t find out what was in the redactions. Wonder what you’d say if the man in question were Obama.
6
If you think “it’s over” you are terribly naive. “It” is just beginning.
Indeed. We are a long way from being able to say "justice was done".
But make no mistake, Mr Mueller's words are clear enough. He did not mince words where he could be clear and accurate:
" the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office"
“We determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the president committed crimes,”
The clearest, though is the Don himself
“Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”
Only one who knows his actions are less than desirable would ever think it much less say it out loud.
23
An investigation which took almost 2 years to complete is instantly dismissed by Democrat politicians and the NYT as a coverup. You asked a question and got an answer, but don’t like it because doesn’t support your preconceived opinions. Mueller and his team did their job and the results are in. Time as you say, to accept and “Move On”. Or risk alienating the electorate and losing your influence because you are sore losers who continue to whine and throw tantrums when things don’t go your way.
5
There are political risks, but to dust of yer hands and say “done and done” is not what the Constitution requires.
@baba ganoush No one here is calling Mueller's report a cover up or whining. It details 11 instances of obstruction of justice. It specifically says that it does not exonerate DJT of obstruction of justice. Congress should properly review the report and make its own determination on how to proceed. That's what Mueller recommended. And several indictments and convictions of high level WH and Trump campaign staff were obtained. That's hardly exoneration of this administration or the Trump campaign.
No one here who cares about this country is moving on. We aren't whining either. We want our elected representative to uphold the law even if we have a sitting president who refuses to follow it.
And I only see one whining person throwing temper tantrums. And he's the subject of this report. And not exonerated.
2
@baba ganoush, I was quite happy with the results of the investigation, which you seem not to have read. Did you really believe that it exonerated Trump? Please read it. Don't believe what Fox News tells you.
The very best, two word description of the entire Trump Regime :
“ crazy shit “. Thanks, GOP. The depths of your lust for power and cowardly collaboration should never be forgotten, or excused. 565 : exact number of DAYS until November 3, 2020.
See you ALL, on that glorious Day.
20
On obstruction Mueller gave his opinion. He is not AG, so duly noted, but not good enough. He is not exactly as impartial and disinterested, as portrayed. He and his office were called out publicly by Trump. To me, his strategy is payback, and I have no doubt that if he could have indicted he would have. Next best thing is this take we see today. On collusion, there is nothing. One could argue that the Democrat campaign was much more involved with Russian meddling.
The irony to those of us who see a double standard and two tier system? Trump didn't do anything illegal on "collusion" but maybe is a criminal anyway. Somehow we are all certain of his intent, even though Mueller could not be. But HRC Clinton did violate the espionage act, repeatedly, but the FBI is certain they knew she didn't mean it. Just careless.
The press almost unanimously assured us that Trump colluded. We are still to trust them. Obama told us that the Russians could never effectively meddle in our system, and chose to say nothing to voters beyond that. Meanwhile, his people and administration were sure that the Russian conspiracy would explain their failure in 2016, and that citizens would agree.
Which Obama do we believe-pre election Obama, or post -election Obama? Which press do w trust? The ones that insisted that collusion was real and virtually treasonous, or the press that now says obstruction is the issue?
2
Collusion is still an issue. He did collude. Trump willingly and knowingly received help from a hostile foreign power. He had communications with that Russians, aware that they had stolen DNC emails. He then coordinated with WikiLeaks when and what to tweet and say according to when WikiLeaks was going to release certain stolen DNC emails. Apparently, Trump didn’t conspire with the Russians to steal the emails. And he would have had to have done that in order to be indicted? Seems like a high bar for collusion to me.
1
Every single day that this Fake President remains in office is a day of existential peril for this country. As the Mueller Report lays shockingly bare, with abundant evidence, we have installed in the White House a totally amoral person, only guided by the worst of human instincts and impulses, which he will unequivocally resort to to protect and further the interests of only himself, not America. Time is of the essence. Trump must be removed from office via the most expeditious possible path.
22
Basically, you supposedly cannot charge a sitting president with a crime. So he is above the law. All those who argue against impeachment because Mueller could not charge Trump, according to a policy by the DOJ that is not in the constitution, fail to realize that leaving him in office will give him time and opportunity to destroy the functioning of the government's supposed checks and balances. So this absurd DOJ stance and fear of disrupting the country by impeachment will allow Trump to us this "over the top fairness to a president" to give him time to illegally and surreptitiously gut the institutions of government. His sworn duty is to uphold the constitution, which he clearly does not do. He undermines it. Trump has always used the law to break it and unless impeached he is allowed to go on doing this.
8
At first it seems like many Democrats like Adam Schiff thought they had a hole in one with the start of the Mueller investigation but as the ball finally landed on the green after a long drive it was far short of the hole with the flag barely in sight. Now they attempting to putt for an eagle but if their read of the green is as good as their original projections, the ball will rim out and eventually they will double bogey...
1
This is a very expected response from Trump supporters. But it gives Democrats much more to go in, and there is more upcoming information on the Trump finances from several sources. The rest of us do not intend to let this corrupt man off the hook.
2
Bellowing Trumpeters are now golf commentators. This gets more ridiculous every day.
1
This man has made a tragedy of the rule of law and the office of the presidency. The Democrats must do the right thing which is to impeach for the honor of the country and constitution. They may lose more votes by not impeaching. Maybe mine.
3
Enough already.
No one who didn’t take Federal White Collar Crime in law school is going to understand how obstructing an investigation into collusion- WHEN THERE WAS NO COLLUSION- could possibly be a crime.
Everyone is sick of this. Let’s move on to some policy issues and maybe hear about what else could possibly be going on in the world.
2
@Greg, you're welcome to move on. I think the rest of us want to know the entire story, including Trump's potential money laundering for Russian oligarchs. We also want to know how to protect ourselves from this kind of behavior by any candidate in the future.
Capitalizing Trump's claim that "there was no collusion" doesn't make it any more true. According to the Mueller report, there were numerous instances of cooperation between Russia and Trump's campaign (including changing the GOP platform). They just didn't rise to the very high bar of a conspiracy indictment.
I hope you supported the legislation from the Democratic House to require a paper trail and audits in our elections. I hope you also supported their bill for universal background checks and expanded subsidies in the ACA.
2
What is going on in the world is that Trump, and the fascists who control him, are daily unravelling the fabric of our democracy. Yeah, let’s talk about anything else.
This President was ill-informed, ill-prepared and ill-tempered when he announced his candidacy, he was the same as the nominee and has proven the same as President. His lies, his exaggerations, his insults and his determination to use hate and fear to divide this country further in the hope of winning re-election in 2020 is despicable. He has all but destroyed the Republican Party and embarrassed the Country on the world stage.
It may not be possible to remove him from office through impeachment, since it would require 66 votes in the Senate, and Republican Senators are terrified that the reaction from his base support would end their career in public service. They forget that if public service is their mission, it supersedes their ambition.
It is time to hold hearings in the House on impeachment and begin the long process of cleansing this country from the scourge of this unfortunate misfit.
13
The true aim of Mueller's investigation was to discredit and devalue Trump's astounding election victory by propping up the ridiculous fable that Trump's win was due solely to Russian covert propaganda efforts. Trump correctly viewed the investigation as a political nuclear weapon aimed directly at his Presidency, and fought back against it. His completely valid criticisms of the investigation are now being cited by his political enemies as evidence of "obstruction of justice." This is the politics of personal destruction taken to the nth degree.
3
@Paul McBride astounding election victory? He lost by 3 million votes and only got the electoral college by 77,000 votes in the Midwest.
14
@Paul McBride
In which universe?
3
The report factually tells us that the press is not "fake news"!
The press including this newspaper reported that Don McGhan was told by the president to fire Mueller.
Our president told us that was "fake news".
It turns out "the enemy of the people" as the president calls the press is one of our best hopes to make sure this president's lawlessness is documented for the American people.
All the president's men saved him from his own terrible conduct. However, the president's intent was to protect himself and he was not concerned about breaking any laws.
The press must continue to give us the truth even though our president will lie with impunity.
The rule of law must be a top priority for this nation otherwise we will have lost all that truly makes America Great.
13
It's maddening to see all this nitpicking and legalese about the Mueller report and the frightening failure to see the big picture that will affect the future of this nation, which asks, do our leaders need to respect the Constitution and the rule of law? The answer should be obvious, so if we do nothing about the abomination of the trump administration then the seeds of acceptable wrong-doing maybe planted in the fabric of our politics and governance for years, and the next scoundrel that is elevated to the presidency can also proceed in the manner of trump with the knowledge that it will be forgiven. We cannot wait until 2020, Congress must not rest until the whole truth is uncovered, and if the Republicans refuse to do anything, the Democrats must use any legal meas available to get to the bottom of this putrid affair.
17
That sentence in the report that they would declare the President did not commit obstruction of justice if the evidence warranted it, but "we are unable to reach that judgment" - it's repeated three times over in the second volume (page 2, page 8, page 182) just hammering the point home over and over. The analysis sections then back it up - that there's a case to be made...If the Democrats in Congress want to pick up all this ammunition and use it.
5
Any rational citizen who reads the report can only come to one conclusion: Trump should be impeached. We've known it all along, but the litany of specific facts regarding Trump's malfesance is still breathtaking to behold.
Our President is a criminal who makes Nixon look quaint. Time to go.
17
@Todd unfortunately, there are a significant number of irrational citizens who take Trump at his word that he was exonerated. They are generally out of reach.
It's very interesting that with all the norms and precedents this administration has shattered, the one norm they cling to is the Justice Department policy (policy, not written established law) that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
So Mueller decides he won't even try. He passes the buck to Congress, where the Republicans will roll over and play dead for fear of being primaried and blame the Democrats, who won't have enough votes to do anything about it. Our republic dies a little more each day - death by a thousand fleabites of greed, corruption, and lies.
The worst thing to come out of all this is that Trump and the Republicans have just made a roadmap for hostile nations on how to hijack a republic and get away with it.
9
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, Donnie? Can I be VP now?
2
I can't imagine that the long friendship between Barr and Mueller will survive after Barr exposes himself as a political hack who would misrepresent two years of exhaustive investigation and show he is willing to lie for a man that Mueller knows to be a liar. I can't imagine a man who's face belongs on some legal Mt. Rushmore will take kindly to the fact that he would be the last honest person in the pipeline from here on out. If Barr is willing to bend the law and the truth in service to the unlawful actions of this president, he'll bend or ignore the constitution as well. I can't imagine Mueller letting that happen.
5
It looks as if Trump was too incompetent to obstruct justice, but it did not stop him from trying. If federal laws on obstruction were not broken, clearly the law needs to be brought up to date to cover activities that are spelled out in the report, including when a president attempts to obstruct justice and is thwarted by his underlings. All I know is that if anyone other than the president tampered with witnesses in a criminal investigation or attempted to stop the investigation they would be indicted and probably convicted. I believe Trump’s long time lawyer and fixer that Trump is a con man. I hope he does not con his way out of the unseemly conduct of which he is clearly guilty as (not) charged.
3
@Phil Dunkle, I think the Mueller report makes clear that Trump did commit numerous obstruction of justice crimes, but that the investigators could not indict because of DOJ rules. The report invites Congress to pursue obstruction charges.
Anyone that is well read, and has heard DT speak to interview hosts on Nightline, Larry King, etc., knows that he has had dishonesty, and fiscal problems his entire life. He was not the kind of person, even the banks wanted to become involved with after several decades. It wasn't rocket science to figure out what was going on in DT's head for the last several years, or what was playing out in his administration. Mueller and team went right up the edge of obstruction, and subpoenaing DT, would of been like pulling teeth with a pliers over a year's span of time. It is better that the truth is out there for all to see, including Congress. Only those people who are in denial about the intent of Russia, and the role it played in social media, will believe that there was no great wrong committed by DT, and his campaign. I still can't believe that 62.9 million people voted for DT, a man who was seriously mentally ill, versus 65.8 million who voted for Hillary Clinton, a woman who would of been President, had the Democrats previously worked quickly to be rid of the electoral college, after Al Gore's defeat in 2000 by it.
4
President Trump repeatedly demonstrates his utter contempt for the rule of law, but because he's President and the chief legal officer of the country, he can't be indicted. And because of this insane "logic," Republicans will do nothing to protect the country they swore an oath to protect. Here I thought we fought a revolution, in part, to assert that no person is above the law.
If you're a supporter of President Trump, just remember all this should a Democrat be elected to the White House in 2020.
2
Remember that quaint notion about presidents and others in positions of authority avoiding even the "appearance of impropriety"?
Here we have a president who doesn't even understand the meaning of the word "propriety." His behavior, as described in great detail in Mueller's Report, shows a person who stopped at nothing to derail a valid investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election -- interference intended solely for his sole benefit.
Sadly, it is wishful thinking on the part of the Editorial Board that Congress will do anything about Trump's myriad transgressions. Even if the House Democrats were otherwise willing to bring impeachment charges against Trump, they know it would be a complete waste of time because the Republican majority in the Senate would never vote favorably on the articles of impeachment because they have hitched their broken-down wagon to this hideous asteroid.
If the Democrats take the Senate in 2020, however, and (god forbid) Trump is re-elected, then it becomes somewhat more likely Trump would be impeached. We can only hope.
3
1). "attempting to shut down or interfere with the nearly-two-year Russia investigation" Most of those, possibly, all were not actions actually carried out. Although Trump talked about it, subordinates shot them down, one by one. No actions taken therefore that were criminal.
2). In the interest of intellectual honesty, let's look at the facts.
- no indictment
- no conspiracy with Russia
- only attempted meddling with the investigation
its a big yawn
Its time to move on.
the media that promised a big dark conspiracy has been proven wrong. Let's try not to follow them down another rabbit hole of conspiracy theory, eh
3
@Joe Yoh, you don't have to follow the story if it doesn't interest you. It's the most consequential political story in my memory--literally the first time a campaign has cooperated with a hostile foreign power to undermine an election.
1
On top of the fact that America has been criminally interfering with democratically elected foreign goverments on a massive scale for many decades, the stench of hypocrisy here is overwhelming.
Perhaps Americans should also take a look at Saudi Arabia and Israel, they have had a much greater say than Russia in US internal affairs over many years.
Maybe they should check their priorities and instead investigate war crimes, starting with Henry Kissinger and going all the way up to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
How about indicting known liars and people that perjured themselves before Congress like James Clapper, John Brennan, and Robert Mueller himself?
What about the novel idea of defeating Trump at the ballot box with, you know, good policy proposals?
I was foolish enough to believe there would eventually be something resembling a day of reckoning, that at least some honest people would come to a realization that there was nothing there. Maybe it will come someday but I'm quickly becoming disillusioned of this happening. Today, of all days, they simply doubled down, changed the target, acted as if the crimes are more obvious than ever.
The hoaxsters whose careers are now riding on this garbage have spent 2.5 years leading a faction of gullible, vulnerable people down a rabbit hole, and encouraged those people to internalize this conspiracy theory at a borderline religious level, are not going to give up what they have built.
This is shameful and immensely damaging.
2
@Chris, perhaps the gullible, vulnerable people being led down a rabbit hole are those who believe Donald Trump and Fox News. I urge you to read the report.
This is absolutely like he is screaming sky is yellow even though he knows beyond any doubt that is blue;however, to keep control of the conversation and facts he will stick with the claim that the color is yellow at whatever costs to his personal credibility or dignity or character even in the face of criminal consequences and hurting anyone including family that says otherwise. Complete contempt for truth, honor, and valor- the worst of humankind is in the Presidency and the process of ejecting his sorry behind cannot be any worse for the nation than it is now-it will hurt during the operation, but only then can true healing begin and march on the path towards a better future without corruption, tainted intent, and complete stupidity cloaked in lies, deceit, and rancor.
1
Here's what I don't get: DJT's supporters want to "MAGA." Supposedly they are diehard patriots, America First, commie haters, etc. So how can they accept the fact that the man they revere was preferred by Russia, (presumably because of his maleability), and elected with Russia's substantial help? I've been trying to understand this for two years - and keep coming back to the fact that it is nonsensical.
6
@btcpdx I have the same questions about his evangelical followers, including Mike Pence, who consider their faith the centerpiece of their lives.
3
@btcpdx they were big fans of Putin through the 8 years of President Obama's term of office.
Bravo NY Times, again and again, for the turht here and the PROVEN truth of your reporting all along the way. YOU have been totally exonerated against the fake news claims. The truth ALWAYS wins out and if our democracy IS to survive not only as a democracy but a beacon, albeit faded, of truth and justice, then the FULL report MUST made to the voting and taxpaying public. Or else, well, what then have we become? What then will we be as a nation, as Americans?
2
Mueller disappoints. He must now testify before congress to explain in plain English his reasons for not finding obstruction of justice. Was it that the DOJ memorandum precluded him from a finding of obstruction?
If it was the DOJ memorandum, what the heck was the purpose of this whole 22 month exercise?
We must know if Mueller was compromised, like Barr was.
1
Trump's behavior is beyond childish. The Mueller report reveals the actions of a spoiled child. The descriptions of the Whitehouse as Adult Day Care of a Toddler, a bully, becomes a vivid picture. What a sleazy President we have. Sad day for the USA.
3
"...despite Mr. Trump’s constant cries of “fake news,” the responsible news media’s reporting on the investigation was overwhelmingly accurate."
These, to me, are the most important words in this editorial. Thanks to the NYTimes, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and a whole host of other responsible media outlets, the truth and excellent reporting kept the American public abreast with the "facts".
4
The Mueller Report is, after two years of Trump, in a sense irrelevant. There has been no need to investigate what has been manifestly clear all along; regardless of what Mueller reported, Trump is unfit for office.
Republicans are ignoring numerous examples of his failure to execute the duties of his office in a fair and competent manner, and the blatant corruption in his using it to enrich himself. They are turning a blind eye to behavior that should be addressed through the 25th Amendment. There is the collusion that is truly despicable and undeniable.
If one took the report and substituted “Clinton” wherever Trump’s name comes up, there is no doubt that Republicans would be demanding impeachment for those actions, and Fox News would be inciting riots. But then, they have been calling out “Lock her up!” all along now.
The problem going forward isn’t just Trump. It’s whatever are we going to do with the party and supporters who have embraced him?
By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.
9
Barr's immediate resignation would not even begin to redeem whatever reputation he has left after his performance re Mueller
4
The sanctity of our republic cannot cannot rest with the decisions of one or two individuals. It must rest with the people. Official, public legal proceedings must take place where the substance of this report is subjected to testimony and cross examination. Whether that is an impeachment proceeding, a criminal or civil trial in federal or state court, or a congressional committee, this matter must be fully aired out in public. We the people deserve to know. We have a right to know.
One of the arguments that has come out today is that Trump attacked this investigation to shut it down was because he was upset about it. Really? This is a defense?
I understand the concept of state of mind, but feeling pressured and upset and angry is never justification for using one's political power to shut down an investigation. This must be explored.
As a citizen, I find it deplorable that our president can behave in this fashion, can do what he did and be treated like a Pollyanna. How many times was John Gotti put on trial before he was finally convicted? Trump is no Pollyanna. He may have dodged this one, but as with the Mafia boss, there will be more to come.
He knows it too. His financial dealings are currently under investigation and they alone could easily do him in. What is most telling to me, is that today he didn't speak to the press and crow about his victory. He knows what is coming.
24
Independent of crimes committed or attempted , the most important part of the report is the fact , described in painful details , that the President is utterly incapable of discharging his duties . The worse part is not what he has done but what he may do during the time he remains in office .
11
@Bernardo Izaguirre MD
Which is why it's a moot point whether or not mcconnell and the gops in the senate refuse to impeach.
If congress doesn't at least try to impeach they are not protecting the US from rump.
We no longer have the luxury of waiting for the next election.
2
I like how this editorial only spends one full paragraph (out of 24) on the no collusion finding, even though that was the entire basis of the investigation.
I also like how there is no mention of how we got here, like the reliance on the Steele dossier or the use of FISA warrants against US citizens. Or how about the fact that the report cleared AG Sessions?
Trump derangement syndrome indeed.
3
Actually, the conclusion was that there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy, which requires an agreement or meeting of the minds. Plenty of evidence of collusion, including multiple instances of the campaign sharing private polling data with a known Russian agent who could funnel said data to the IRA to improve the efficacy of their interference in the election. Maybe you should actually read the report.
8
Also, the basis of the investigation was Russian interference in the election, which was proved. The second issue was whether there was a conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, third was the issue of obstruction. As prosecutions were brought against multiple individuals for commission of crimes related to the first issue, it is hard to argue there was no underlying crime.
5
@LegalEagle - Trump is so thoroughly entwined in this whole dirty business that you seem to have forgotten that the "entire basis of the investigation" was to investigate Russian interference in the US election, not Donald's involvement specifically.
I like how your comment doesn't spend one single sentence mentioning all the evidence of crimes committed by Donald and the conclusion that he only avoided indictment because he's the president and that responsibility properly lies with Congress.
5
Trump’s 2016 election was predicated on a sophisticated disinformation campaign against his opponent by the Russians. Although in a criminal sense, there may have been no coordination, there certainly was complacency with its intended effects.
The Justice Department cannot indict Donald Trump and for reasons of political expedience neither should the House by way of impeachment proceedings, because the Senate would never convict. But it would be unconscionable for the American people to re-elect him.
9
I don't understand how little has been discussed about the significant differences between the cases of Nixon and Clinton and that of the Trump investigation. It has been claimed that congress has the same rights to grand jury evidence that it had under these two investigations, making a claim that it is simply a matter of asking permission by the AG. I wonder if this is true. In both the previous cases, congress was conducting investigations into the impeachment of the president and, as the courts had decided that these were effectively judicial proceedings, that they had as much right to grand jury evidence as would a second investigation related to what the grand jury found. However, Nancy Pelosi has made a strategic political decision to not pursue impeachment. In fact, they have decided not only not to impeach, but also not to make an official investigation into it. Were they to do so, they would have almost unfettered legal access to virtually all information related to the current executive and Trump himself, including Trump's taxes and any grand jury information from Mueller's and other investigations
The Attorney General's news conference was staged for fox viewer's and was nothing more than political spin. This non-victory for the president may carry the headlines for a day or two, but something greater was lost today; faith in our institutions of government. This is a sad day for America and the ideals that America once stood for.
28
It’s unclear why, knowing the legal/policy constraints imposed upon him, Mr. Mueller accepted the position.
1
@Regards, LC Because he was assigned to investigate if there was any collusion. He found none. The obstruction of justice issue came up after the fact.
@Rob, not technically true. The investigation found numerous instances of the Trump campaign meeting with and cooperating with the Russians. All of this evidence didn't rise to the level of a criminal indictment for conspiracy with a foreign state (in part because much of it was done with individuals like Oleg Deripaska).
In considering "the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office," is it time to replace the legal terms 'collusion' and ‘coordination’ with the word 'connivance,' i.e., knowledge of and active or passive consent to wrongdoing?
Conniving with a hostile foreign power may not legally rise to the level of a federal crime, but it's certainly an impeachable offense, punishable either by Congress, or at the polls.
18
@Jose Becerra
How about "condoning", i.e. knowing someone is doing something wrong and looking the other way.
2
The president didn't fail at a narrow definition of obstruction for a lack of trying.
The Trump tower meeting is another fail, this time to collude, but not for a lack of trying.
The presidents bullhorn narrative has to countered by Congress, or he will have won, while failing to be exonerated.
Mueller has to testify.
14
It’s very odd that the basic premise of “collusion” - what ever that may be - was not found despite almost two years and millions in costs, that the Democrats now shift to obstruction of justice as their rallying cry. If there was no collusion then what, exactly, did he obstruct? Also, the Justice Dept. Is a part of the Executive branch and subject to the direction of the a President, so if he chose to dismiss any appointee in the department he is free to do so, though I think it would have been a mistake to do so.
3
@Thomas Smith
Collusion is not a “crime”. Mueller states this in report. So it was his job to find irrefutable conspiracy. The fact that he didn’t does not mean there was no collusion. We’ve all seen it.
9
@Thomas Smith "Collusion" isn't a crime. Obstruction of justice is. He wasn't cleared of that and Congress has the report to act on 11 instances of evidence of obstruction.
@Thomas Smith, you're following Barr's fringe theory about a unitary executive. Mueller makes clear in his report that obstruction of justice is a separate crime and requires no indictment on the original crime. No president can exercise the powers of his office with corrupt intent, including dismissing AGs. Just ask Richard Nixon.
Trump's clear attempts at collusion would have been best brought to light under questioning. Mueller let Trump skate because he allowed a take-home test that Trump never completed.
Congress will never move on Trump.
"It is up to Congress to decide whether the behavior described in this report meets an acceptable standard for the country’s chief executive." It seems clear to most everyone except the the current incarnation of the GOP and Trump's base that this behavior does not meet an acceptable standard. But the fact that the GOP and the majority in the Senate have tolerated and even embraced this behavior seems to indicate the deciders in Congress have already made that decision.
10
So Trump wasn't successful in his attempts to obstruct justice because his aides refused his directives to do so?
Doesn't this constitute the crime of incitement? Or in other words, an inchoate offense?
This is quite likely the legality his biggest fans at the FBI will invoke to frogmarch Trump out of the Oval Office immediately after his ouster in 2020.
1
So basically Mueller's team is saying they would have presented this evidence to a Grand Jury to determine whether to indict on obstruction charges, and let a jury decide the criminal culpability, but because Trump is the President and can't be indicted, they left the question of criminality and Presidential fitness to the Congress. So why did Barr interject his opinion, when Mueller clearly left the question for the Congress? If he had wanted the Attorney General to decide the question, Mueller would have so stated.
30
Mueller outlined ten episodes of obstruction on Trump's part, but the number ten does not accurately describe the constant barrage of obstructive tweets, remarks, and actions that President Trump actually made. He made dozens upon dozens acts of obstruction for each episode.
One episode is that he fired James Comey. But how many times
did he tweet ugly, unsubstantiated lies about Comey? How many different lies did Trump himself tell us about why he fired Comey?
And today we learn that he tried to get Rosenstein to take credit for Comey's firing.
How many times did Trump tell Don McGahn to fire Mueller?
And how many times did he tweet lies to America about the investigation and Mueller?
Each episode outlined by Mueller has dozens of examples. Taken together, they amount to HUNDREDS of attempts by Trump to quash the special counsel'd investigation.
What more do you need to establish Trump's corrupt intent?
Shouldn't the sheer number and volume of his efforts to malign and/or stop Mueller show intent?
28
Although it would be tempting to commence impeach proceedings the House should decline the opportunity. Certainly Trump’s proven behavior is impeachable. Responsible Democratic leadership must recognize that such an initiative will cause irreparable damage to the American people and weaken the country internationally.Control Trump for the rest of this year and then the run up to the election will dominate. Let the American people impeach Trump at the ballot box.
346
@Milton Lewis That creates the risk of a second term for Trump. Remember no one thought he had a chance of winning. Not this newspaper, not any popular poll, not even Trump himself thought he'd win. And yet here we are. Action is needed immediately. We can't trust the ballot box anymore.
149
Agree with @Vexations. Action is needed now. This president has consolidated power and rigged the courts like no other president in history. And the GOP and Senate leadership has only continued to line up behind him. The House and Democrats need to lead - now!
113
@Milton Lewis I put it to you that every day Trump remains in office does irreparable damage to this country. I put it to you that the reluctance of Democratic leadership to vigorously defend the institutions of our government against Trump and the GOP does irreparable damage to this country. I put it to you that the idea that our democracy is too frail to withstand the effort of holding our leaders and our elites accountable for their actions does irreparable damage to our country.
Given how much else has failed in the onslaught of Trump and the GOP on our institutions, your faith that the ballot box will save us is a rather thin reed to clutch - especially in light of the efforts the GOP has put into undermining our elections, and the demonstrated ability of Russia and other actors to corrupt the process.
155
Just finished reading the publicly available parts of the Mueller report.
What comes through most plainly is Mr. Trump's incredible incompetence.
With a man this foolish, corrupt intent is going to be very hard to prove. The thought that the old guy might not be of sound mind keeps intervening.
So that leads us to the 25th amendment. The Mueller report provides everything his corrupt cabinet could possibly need to argue for removal for unfitness.
733
@Andrew Smallwood the level of incompetence is alarming when you consider our national security. this is the scary part. the rest we can recover from as long as he is not reelected.
48
@Andrew Smallwood
And the GOP see nothing. Scary time in this country.
57
@Andrew Smallwood
You are so right what more can be said. Thank God for Mr. Mueller , his staff the fact that Mueller is a man of genuine integrity A true American who believes in the constitution and the law.
For two years we have been emotionally invested in Mueller ‘s survival to finish this investigation.
I look forward to Mr. Mueller speaking on the hill. He is everything that Mr. Barr is not. Mr. Barr believes asylum seekers need to be permanently put in detention and their children in cages. His sense of justice falls directly in line with Trumps hatred of brown people and everything that resembles the meaning of democracy
Unfortinately Trump has been proven in 450 pages of the Mueller report not to be worthy of the office of the presidency .
40
Would someone with sufficient legal credentials like to explain whether someone lower in the pecking order, say a deputy assistant Secretary of State, would be indictable if he or she had engaged in the same behaviors that Mueller has documented for the President? In other words, did the President get a pass here, or not?
243
He certainly did not get a pass. But it’s up to congress to follow through.
32
@John Mccoy yes, the low level official would.
26
@John Mccoy The presidency does get special treatment in the Constitution - the last paragraph of Article I, Section 3.
4
I haven't heard a word of comment from Republicans in Congress today about the redacted Mueller Report. Are they going to lie and pontificate to protect their leader? It really will be up to the Republicans if we are to remove Trump from office before 2020. I'm waiting to hear the sleazy rationalizations from Mark Meadows, Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Lindsay Graham and all the other usual suspects.
But the House must impeach.
28
The most salient, the most shocking conclusion that we as citizens can draw from the report: Mr. Trump impeded, attacked and undercut an investigation into an attack on our election by a hostile foreign power. That should be our red line.
229
@teach
And if he did it, as some would suggest myself included, in service to a disordered ego, that disordered ego is a danger to our nation. Making the 25th as viable, maybe even more so, than impeachment for essentially conduct unbecoming.
13
@teach
The second most shocking conclusion is that, as the president gets certain protections from indictment, he also has a higher than legal responsibility to serve the country before serving his own interests. It's apparent that trump is failing to see that our laws are fully executed and that he serves himself before serving the country, if at all.
1
Congress, more specifically the House is the co-equal branch with the authority and responsibility to investigate and obtain the full truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Political ramifications, election timing, etc...are irrelevant.
15
Where is the backbone of the Democratic Party?
The notion that impeachment might not be optimal for the 2020 election outweighs condemning this behavior?
If it's all a political calculation, then the Republicans should be congratulated for their savvy move on Merrick Garland.
205
@Skillethead They're afraid of backlash like 1996 after Clinton was impeached.
4
@Skillethead
There is no point in impeaching him because the senate would never convict. He has done enough right out in the open to justify his impeachment - even without the Mueller Report. But, it would be a waste of time better spent crafting legislation that might save the country if the Democrats win in 2020.
13
@Joe Runciter Crafting legislation that has little to no chance of passing with this Republican Senate?
7
At the very least, this report shows his contempt for the rule of law, his contempt for the American public, and his abject refusal to adhere to his oath of office. Whether or not he can be charged with actual crimes, which Mueller left to the Congress to decide, he is clearly not fit to be President. Now Congress has to do it's duty.
838
@Michael Gilbert only if McConnell says so.
11
@L'historien
And that will end any impeachment ideas. The McConnell loggerhead is probably a large reason why there has been no impeachment discussion.
11
@L'historien-Mr. McConnell is complicit in Trump's recklessness and criminality on many levels. He took the lion share of $7.35 million offered up to GOP campaigns by oligarchs linked to Putin. He sat on his hands during the gov't shutdown and is a hard-line opponent of campaign finance and election reforms, which makes sense given the money he's received from Russia. With Kentucky facing an opioid crisis and black lung epidemic, his constituents are not well served. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns
Kentucky is Second Most Dependent State on Federal Money http://www.wkyufm.org/post/kentucky-second-most-dependent-state-federal-money#stream/0
3
It's not up to Congress; it's up to Republicans. The Democrats already know Trump is unfit for office and will remove him if not for GOP obstruction in this matter.
1151
@Ray
So true. Republicans will own this one for years to come and especially as more details reveal themselves with time and new administrations in charge.
89
YES.
30
@Ray
Yes. It appears Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice and it is clear that the Republicans, especially in the Senate, have pledgeed their allegiance to Trump and Putin and not to the constitution and are obstructing any action against Trump.
If we the people don't vote Trump and the Senate Republicans out of power, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
99
Can we then have an explanation of why the Times front page headlined “Cloud lifted over Trump presidency” the day after Barr’s misleading summary was published? For that matter, you’ve never explained the Oct 2016 headline “Investigating Donald Trump, FBI Finds No Clear Link to Russia”, either.
68
@Alex I've noticed the same thing. The Times' headlines suggest that they don't read their own stories, but they really are hoping to get invited to Trump's next wedding.
3
I thank the Gods below and above every day for the invaluable investigative reporting, and commentary, of The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Politico, The New Yorker, and so many other outstanding news publications and media outlets who are keeping pressure on this criminal administration. Charge me double. Charge me triple. But find charges that will stick against Benedict Donald. THANK YOU NYT!
186
It has been said in the lead-up to today that Trump would weaponize this report. It is time for Democrats to play that game, too. There is enough here to tarnish Trump in the eyes of the middle of the voting spectrum. His base can't re-elect him. Keep this front and center and let Trump dig himself deeper with his false narrative.
24
There is a major issue that is being left out by the narrow constraint of Mr. Mueller’s report. In the face of the obvious Russian assault on our election, Trump chose to ignore the attack, and in fact helped cover it up. Instead of acknowledging the problem, and ordering the appropriate authorities to defend the attack, he ignored it and has done nothing in the last 2 years to advance legislation, and fund personnel, to organize a defense to the next cyber-attack. This alone should justify impeachment and conviction of President Trump.
555
@Eric Ryan Actually, Obama was in charge during the election. Trump couldn't order anybody to do anything until after the inauguration.
5
@Robert James
well, let's see if the Don does something now, shall we?
Obama knew something, but the extent was not known until 2017. It's all Don's now though.
17
@Robert James and President Obama was constrained by Mitch McConnell who promised to go nuclear if President Obama intervened to stop the Russians. This is all on the Republicans. They own every bit of it.
106
I hope many Americans read this editorial, not just Times subscribers, most of whom are liberal leaning. It’s a fair summary of the report’s conclusions and speaks to the special counsel’s strict adherence to the rule of law. I plan to read it a few times.
This editorial is in stark contrast to Trump’s lies, skirting of the law, and blatant disregard of our democratic principles.
Now let the Congress move forward with its investigations, subpoenas, and interviews. I look forward to hearing testimony from Robert Mueller, who was conspicuously absent today at Barr’s whitewashing of Trump.
Finally, thanks to the free press and media for an outstanding job despite the withering attacks by Trump and his minions.
57
@Barbara
I hope many Americans read the full yet redacted report to see just how on point this editorial is for themselves.
A born detailed-oriented and trained academic, I value the question the answers and question the source (and their motivations) and that original sources are vital to that inquiry process.
2
@Barbara.
Like Trump, his most ardent supporters have shown themselves unable to read for facts and unable to interpret the facts they do glean. They have even less patriotic company amongst the Senate Republicans.
1
I wish Republicans would look beyond party and do the right thing. They would not want a Democrat President who engaged in the same tactics. I am so saddened to see them put partisan loyalty over protecting our nation from tyranny. I hope they carefully read the report and commit to act To protect all of us.
29
@SPN
Sadly, the chances of Mitch McConnell & Co. doing the right thing are nil to none.
11
Don’t hold your breath, republican cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
1
Good luck with that.
Here’s how I console myself. Millionaire Robert Durst, who got away with murder for decades, eventually got caught and will stand trial soon. Al Capone, a truly evil fellow, was put away for tax evasion. OJ went to jail eventually, for an unrelated crime, not the murder of his wife and her friend.
My sincerest wish is that Mr. Trump will live long enough to get his comeuppance for his years of criminality. I also hope that his progeny will be dogged for the rest of their lives and eventually prosecuted. We can see who Trump is and what he’s capable of doing. He’s a bad guy; it’s that simple.
Trump is the Energizer Bunny of wrongdoing. Let’s hope he doesn’t wear everyone down. Hopefully, NY State has some interesting paths to follow and justice will prevail.
162
It's appalling that anyone can still support Trump. He lies, he cheats, he gloats, he pontificates in weirdly inarticulate sentences, he puffs, he pants, he scowls. Presidential, he is not. And he has done so much damage to this country; it's hard to imagine how we recover from it.
72
@Anne
Look around. We're recovering from it - even while he is President.
Let's hope we get Trumps tax returns, Trump corruption is just good enough so far to have kept him out of jail. No doubt like Al Capone, a careful read of his Tax Returns will reveal theft, corruption and evasion.
12
There is indeed a long way to go. Congress and courts and the DOJ and the people (assembled when needed) all have a role. News outlets that note, correctly, “so much for exoneration” also have a duty to reflect on who they are and what they could have been thinking to publish “Cloud Lifted” headlines less than a month ago. Media can and should give up, at long last, on “benefit of the doubt” for public officials. Your world will not end, trust me.
3
You’ll have a hard time persuading me that history will view Trump as anything other than one of the worst American presidents—if not THE worst. Granted, he didn’t launch two unnecessary wars like George W. Bush, giving rise to all manner of unforeseen consequences. Bush was dumb, but he wasn’t indecent. Whereas Trump’s combination of incompetence and immorality reaches historic heights. With Richard Nixon, historians can at least point to solid accomplishments—he ended US involvement in Vietnam, created the EPA, signed an important weapons treaty with the Soviet Union. Trump, by contrast, has very little, if anything, to redeem him. He’s invested much in a handful of initiatives—a southern border wall, a North Korean treaty—that have failed. His signature legislative achievement—a massive tax cut—has proved both unpopular and ineffective. What historians will be left to appraise is an American president who aligned himself with foreign enemies, undermined democracy, used his office for personal gain, broke laws, lied constantly, was vain, arrogant, bigoted, and cruel, and was so inept a leader he failed to get much done even when his own party controlled Congress. They will speak of him as they do of Caligula, an embarrassing example of imperial madness, of how not to behave.
478
@g all true but it’s only Thursday he’s got time to make it worse
25
@g True, but he won a populist election. A master of manipulation. A tremendous actor. Maybe an Academy Award? He’s very, very, very good at his game. We should learn this lesson lest we forget.
7
@g Trump's massive tax cut increased mine massively
2
Mr. Mueller's report is of course damning. The evidence of Trump's criminal conduct is beyond argument at this point. The only question we must answer now is how we, as a nation, will respond.
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. Quite simply, the nation now has no advocate to enforce the law. We only have Trump's personal consigliere in the office of the Attorney General.
Mr. Mueller plainly stated that had he found no evidence of Trump's obstruction of justice, he would have so stated. After Barr's performance this morning, it is clear that he puts Trump's personal interests in avoiding prosecution above the nation's interest in the rule of law. And with Barr's actions today, we are yet one step closer to a dictatorship.
Barr's sickening display should disabuse anyone of the notion that we are still a nation of laws. 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.
And understand this: Trump will not go quietly, either in 2020 or in 2024. He now knows our laws do not apply to him.
196
@Charles Dodgson-The only reason he won't go quietly is if he thinks a larger threat remains. Hopefully the Gamble case on the Supremes docket won't go forward.
3
We are on a very slippery slope when the Attorney General states that the emotional state of being of the President of the United States is reason to condone or excuse unethical – if not illegal – behaviors and actions intended to impede – if not obstruct – an inquiry that seeks to protect and preserve our democracy.
As adults, we’re all expected to behave in a moral, ethical, and mature manner; especially the President. If not, what is the future of our society? Our civilization?
There need not be any debate on this point; and yet, we continue to debate it and evade it.
The level of deceit, dysfunction, divisiveness, and destruction this administration has wrought on the American people - on the world - is unprecedented.
Honesty, integrity, character, decency, empathy, emotional maturity…these are the threads that weave together the fabric of our humanity. They are minimum qualifications for the President of the United States and leader of the free world.
Have we forgotten this?
50
If Trump gets himself so worked up emotionally that he cannot help breaking the law then he is unfit to serve and should be removed from office immediately.
8
@Susan
Exactly! Thank you!
If we start using our emotional reactions as excuses for for damaging, destructive, unethical actions...
...we're on a descent we may never recover from in this nation.
@Kelly Grace Smith
And I ask myself where is GWB ? Colin Powell? Flake? Collins? John Roberts? David Brooks? and other so-called Republican leaders?
Aren't they also patriotic Americans? Do they have any shame? honor? decency? patriotism? humanity?
They will all remained stained and stinky long after DJT is gone.
Congress needs to DEMAND the full, unredacted Mueller Report, and if Barr or Trump say no, Congress should take them to court and use the partially redacted report that we can read as evidence.
Congress should ask Robert Mueller to appear and to answer questions.
Mueller has made it clear that he wanted Congress to consider how to handle this matter.
Barr has besmirched his own name and "reputation" by lying to us, now multiple times, since his first letter to Congress about the Mueller report.
This is not a close call.
We have a POTUS who clearly fails to understand the rule of law, thinks he is untouchable, and then tries to coerce all of his flunkies to lie on his behalf.
You tried to put one over on the American people one time to many. It is time for the "stuff" to hit the fan, and for you to face up to your actions, Donnie.
An American Voter named Joe
32
A geneticist should study Mr. Trump’s DNA, he is actually the only human being made out of non-stick material. Nothing sticks, no racist comment, no abuse of power nor the hundreds of lies. Just baffling. He will not only get out of this one but likely be re-elected and do worse things bc he feels invincible. God save us.
1
But, but - they worked so very, very hard to convince the basest of the base that it's all a smear, a hoax, a snipehunt! It didn't work? You mean, Mr. Mueller didn't say that? You mean, the rotten, sneaky 'Dems' haven't apologised yet for being so very mean? How is that possible? Could smoke clearing, are mirrors being polished up to shine brightly?
It is now all up to the House. Let's all of us do our duty as citizens and let the House honour Jemmy Madison when he wrote, "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution" and Barbara Jordan when she said, "the Constitution charges the President with the task of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, and yet the President has counseled his aides to commit perjury, willfully disregard the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, conceal surreptitious entry, attempt to compromise a federal judge, while publicly displaying his cooperation with the processes of criminal justice. "
"A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution." Let's go.
12
We'll find out in 2020 what kind of country we want to be. Will we tolerate the obscene, or just say no.
The clock is ticking as the whole world watches.....
40
"The special counsel’s report reveals a pattern of deceit and dysfunction."
A person doesn't cultivate this kind or degree of pattern over night or on a one-time basis. Patterns of deception and dysfunction are personality traits that exist and brew and continue to develop throughout someone's entire life.
There have been so many open and reported examples of this man's deception and dysfunction while in office, not to mention in his own personal business affairs prior to being elected president.
The issue at hand isn't so much a pattern of deceit and dysfunction by this man, but includes those around him who allow, tolerate, take part and approve of this behavior. Whether his supporters stay with him because of fear of retaliation or worse, because they will get rewarded down the road, in the end, this kind of pattern is being permitted, endorsed and highly praised for what needs to be done in order to get agendas passed.
While John W. Dean's famous quote "there is a cancer growing on the presidency" was aprepos during the Watergate scandal, the attitude and mindset of this administration today is far more sinister and dangerous.
The unknown factor is what will Congress do, if anything, and what direction will they go. Will Congress finally put the country over politics and find the courage to acknowledge and go the distance that is required.
There are clear signs that many things do not add up. It's time to sharpen those pencils and try again.
12
"Then on Thursday, just before the report was made public, the attorney general tarnished himself and undermined the integrity of his office by dissembling about what the report said."
Now prepare for Nunes, Graham, Grassley, McConnell, all of them to line up behind Barr's corrupt spin, even after reading the redacted report. Barr's goal was to dominate headlines for three weeks with a summary, letters, the presser, exhaust media and the public with speculation, drip drip drip Fox with talking points and line up a counter narrative. Barr went so far as to supply the (underacted?) report to Trump's lawyers (something Kenneth Starr didn't even do) Talk about corrupt. Nadler and company need to smother this false counter-narrative with truth, facts, evidence all detailed in the report. Enough of the spin.
47
Congress shouldn’t be too overzealous in pursuit of impeachment since they risk to further erode the perception they are unwilling to govern than to reinvestigate what was already investigated.
Redundancy usually is a good scenario for protection by duplicating a process and /or to backup something for an anticipated conclusion, but in this case the redundancy is an attempt the change an outcome on this basis of the same set of facts.
But this inevitably will not fade away slowly because the egg stains on many faces has tarnished their own reputations and redemption is now justification even if it is only self serving.
1
@MDCooks8
I don't think "redundancy" means what you think it means.
Let's go to school: Mueller is the investigator. Congress is the litigator. The investigator hands his work to the litigator who may or may not want more info. From anywhere. Then they decide what to do.
That's his job, that's their job.
3
If redundancy no longer means duplication, then tell that to people who were laid off after a corporate merger.
This is a free country and it is your prerogative to believe what ever thrills you...
What Mueller said about Trump was almost as bad as what Comey said about Clinton. "We're not going to indict, but what he/she did was really, really, bad."
4
@J. Waddell how so? Trump surrounded himself with felons who were dealing with the Russians and engaging in other crimes. Hillary Clinton had a private email server which didn't violate any Dept of State regulations at the time.
1
@J. Waddell, so having a private server is as bad as condoning and facilitating a cyber-attack on our elections by a hostile foreign power? Also, Comey editorializing on the conclusions of an FBI investigation is not the same as a special prosecutor presenting his report.
Finally, let's not forget that the report doesn't exonerate Trump--it just passes the prosecution to Congress.
@J. Waddell - not quite, Mueller said we can't indict because he's the president, but here are 11 counts of obstruction that Congress ought to indict him for.
The Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, must have had his reasons for deciding against—despite a cornucopia of evidence that clearly demonstrated presidential “collusion” with the vast untruthfulness of Donald Trump’s empire—bringing an indictment against the sitting president.
Most citizens are not experts in the law. Mr. Mueller evidently had difficulties getting to the kernel of “intent.” That he held back from this grave step is a testament to his respect for the law and his honor for the institutions that inform our (now-shattered) country.
I think it more than possible that Mr. Mueller found this president’s conduct so disgusting and morally reprehensible and indefensible that he shaped his report so that the Congress would continue to pursue the threads of the Trump campaign’s “collusion” with Russia. If the Special Counsel had crossed the Rubicon and indicted the president, only to have the Supreme Court later invalidate him, thereby fortifying the president in the eyes of the law as opposed to the court of public opinion, his work would (could?) be interpreted as being deeply personal. So Mr. Mueller took the way of honor and prudence and left breadcrumbs aplenty for those to follow who may.
We now understand, here, today, his hesitancy to be precipitous with his findings in regard to the conduct of No. 45–as a private citizen and as a president.
His work was well done—the very definition of cautious conservatism that Republicans would do very well to emulate.
112
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Bravo. Well said. I especially applaud your closing sentence. Mr. Mueller almost appears to be reminiscent of a vintage Republican.
15
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Mueller failed to comply with the primordial duty of a Prosecutor: indict or shut up. He did neither because he politicized his investigation.
3
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Worthy thoughts but what to do with the observations Mueller and his teams have had regarding this Congress - particularly McConnell's Senate?
It has to be obvious to Mueller and his team, as it is to many of us, McConnell's Senate feels intensely compelled to look the other way on Trump's misdeeds and flawed intentions.
Has this report given McConnell's Senate a need to check their own behaviors and oaths?
6
This result points to the flaw in the Special Counsel statute when applied to the President. Because the Justice Department policy precludes charging a sitting President, a Special Counsel does not work when investigating the conduct of a President, because the the Special Counsel is subject to the rules and regulations of the Justice Department.
8
@T Mo
Don't forget that Democrats were most in favor of the Special Counsel statute, after seeing what an Independent Counsel did to Clinton. Be careful what you wish for.
2
"The wonder is not how well the bear dances, but that it dances at all."
Lost in the political cut-and-thrust is not the findings of the report, but that one had to be written.
I dropped out of the GOP in 2011, when it became clear to me that the party (dominated by the Tea Party) had nothing to offer me or the American people. I did not - could not - imagine the depths to which it would sink to "Make America Great Again."
247
No, in fact it does establish obstruction, but since a sitting president cannot be indicted or charged with a crime, the report explicitly lays out the basis for congress to impeach if they think it warrants, as the only constitutional remedy.
I just have 2 questions: one lawyer in the justice Department writes a memo & the entire concept of no one is above the law is discarded? Does that mean if the president commits murder on live tv, the only remedy is impeachment in the house & conviction in he senate?
162
@Michael Kauffman
Some of us think that the Office of Legal Counsel opinion (which is not the law, simply an OPINION) is WRONG.
The example you give (Trump carrying out his comment that "I could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and I would not lose a vote") CLEARLY would require prompt adjudication, not waiting for a term of office to end before a court trial could commence.
The example of US Judge Walter Nixon is instructive. he was first convicted of lying to a federal grand jury, and after going to jail, was impeached and removed from office because he would not resign.
That says it is constitutional to TRY and convict a federal officer while that person is in office, and only thereafter impeach that federal officer.
If the POTUS were indicted, under the 25th Amendment, he/she could be deemed unable to carry out the duties of office (having a legal disability), and the VP could serve as "acting POTUS" for the duration of the trial. If the accused POTUS were found innocent, the 25th Amendment disability ends.
Congress needs to pass a law that says that POTUS is susceptible to trial while in office, and wipe out that OLC opinion.
37
Well, not if it’s on 5th Ave.
"They ultimately decided not to charge Mr. Trump, citing numerous legal and factual constraints, but pointedly declined to exonerate him."
“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,” Mr. Mueller’s investigators wrote. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment.”
Talk about a trick bag spilling over with mixed messages.
In layman's terms, it seems to boil down to this: we know he isn't completely innocent, but he isn't guilty enough to bring charges either.
The $84,000 question seems to have fallen squarely in the lap of Congress - will they conduct their own investigation and begin to hold hearings on this murky and muddied misleading pile of questionable justice.
Just when I thought this nightmare was nearing a close, in reality, it's barely just begun.
66
@Marge Keller said "In layman's terms, it seems to boil down to this: we know he isn't completely innocent, but he isn't guilty enough to bring charges either."
Not exactly.
In layman's terms Mueller was saying:
1. The guidance of the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice (DoJ) is that we do not indict a POTUS while he/she is in office.
2. Because we can't indict (even if we had clear proof), neither do we simply throw out accusations that cannot be defended in court, for lack of an actual court case.
3. Since DoJ is not in a position to accuse a sitting POTUS, we leave it up to Congress to handle this matter.
The end of the report quotes an 1882 Supreme Court opinion.
Quote:
In sum, contrary to the position taken by the President's counsel, we concluded that, in light of the Supreme Court precedent governing separation-of-powers issues, we had a valid basis for investigating the conduct at issue in this report. In our view, the application of the obstruction statutes would not impermissibly burden the President's performance of his Article II function to supervise prosecutorial conduct or to remove inferior law-enforcement officers.
And the protection of the criminal justice system from corrupt acts by any person-including the President- accords with the fundamental principle of our government that "[n]o [person] in this country is so high that he is above the law." United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 220 (1882)
End quote
27
@Joe From Boston
Thanks very much for the clarification, the key quotes cited and for offering a more balanced and accurate summary.
6
@Joe From Boston of course, none of Trump's cult will ever believe anything other than what Trump, Barr, and the rest of the rightwing noise machine are telling them, i.e. Trump has been completely exonerated.
5
More of the same with Trump. He's been skirting the law his whole life for the sole purpose of serving himself. The past two years are no different. Add in the propaganda and misinformation provided by Fox and the power of Twitter.... voila.... our democracy disappears and a misfit assumes control
361
And to think how Congressional Republicans tried to take down Hillary Clinton over her emails and the Benghazi tragedy! Talk about real witch hunts. Well, this same crew is going to stick with the White House and shrug it all off; that’s their MO. If Republicans weren’t willing to part ways with Trump for his gross irresponsibility and blatant lack of fitness before now, no report is going to outweigh what they find politically expedient.
973
@NM -- esteemed daughter,
Mueller pointed out plenty of evidence pointing to the president's obstruction which Barr ignored. The Benghazi hearings were witch hunts which were successful...they destroyed Hillary Clinton. The president tried his best to derail the Mueller probe but his aides, in disobeying him, saved him from himself.
58
@NM The mishandling of classified information is a strict liability crime, which means that intent is not an element of the crime... unless your name is Clinton.
11
@LegalEagle
Then why haven't Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice been indicted for their use of private email servers when they were Secy. of State and Natl. Security Adviser respectively? Where is the public outcry now that it has been revealed that both Jared Kushner and Ivanka have been using private email servers for their official communications?
45
Good. Finally some editorial with a semblance of a backbone.
It is worth for Congress to get the best legal minds together and get rid of this calamity and his gang out of our lives and into Prison. Federal, high security prison.
290
So basically Justice decided not to assert formally that Trump committed a crime because they can't actually charge a President with one. Which is another way of saying we have a criminal president who is above the law.
Not to mention he knew Russia was trying to help him and did nothing to stop it.
I'm not a big fan of impeaching any president, but if this doesn't meet the bar, what does?
855
“Knew Russia was trying to ‘help’”??
Uh, yeah. They took meetings and conspired with Russia.
Geez, people, none of this is innocent or casual. This is crime. These are criminal actions.
59
@Wendy. Yes. The way it works out this is our own Catch-22. Life imitating art.
3
@Wendy Unindicted criminal comes to mind as a description of Trump among others. Can the law meet the criminal actions or is the law (or its defenders aka Barr or DoJ rules) deficient? Does a failure to indict open the door to further abuses on a devastating scale? Seriously frightening for our democracy.
10
But it does not establish collusion, nor obstruction of the non crime. Can we please mice on now and solve some problems?
3
@Paulo
Obviously, you have not read the report. Read it and then come back and say again that there was no collusion or obstruction.
13
@Paulo
The greatest threat to the integrity of our democracy and effective working of our government is ending and punishing those officials who are corrupt. Without accountability thru the rule of law our country and prosperity is doomed. So Paulo wake up behavior like you really care about the future of our country!
John
2
@Paulo - it actually establishes a clear pattern of obstruction, citing numerous individual instances, and recommends that Congress take the necessary steps to end his corrupt misuse of power.
4