As the saying goes, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." The good Republicans have resigned the party. The cowards have remained silent or slinked away. The only thing that can defeat continued Russian action and administration corruption is your ballot. Make yours send a message.
7
I wonder if the GOP would be so happy if Putin turned against them? Forget the Russians as far as Trump is concerned-follow the crooked money. But evidently the GOP still wants Russian help since they are doing nothing to promote action against continued interference.
6
Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz hold themselves up at constitutional scholars. Yet, they complete wave off or applaud the President despite the findings of the Mueller Report.
What is it about Article 1 of the Constitution that they willingly chose to ignore? What is it about checks and bathat they only chose to apply to a Democratic POTUS?
When Robert S. Mueller III was named as special counselor, Republican Senators to a person applauded him as a straight shooter who will reveal the facts. They now chose to ignore the facts.
13
I voted Republican exclusively until the 2016 election. I didn’t vote at the top of the ticket in 2016. But, it’s clear that all the accusations hurled at Hillary have been realized with President Trump.
The fact that the Congressional Republicans turn a blind eye to the President usurping the powers grant to the Legislative Branch under the Constitution is appalling. They are more about protecting Trump than our country.
9
Democrats, PLEASE fight for us and move forward with impeachment! This is what we elected you to do, this is about the future of our country and you need to make a stand for what is right, politics be damned.
I can’t express the disappointment I would feel if after all this you did nothing!! After all this we learned NOTHING, did NOTHING. If trump is free to wreck havoc for another year and run against another corporate dem in 2020 I will have lost ALL hope for my country.
9
If Republican silence in the face of clear, substantial evidence of Russian interference in our electoral process strikes you as cold, cynical calculation, that’s because it is...let’s do a quick rundown of the new math according to the Republicans:
1. Barr X Mueller Report = 0
2. Trump X Mueller Report= >0 (less than zero equaling numerical equivalent of total exoneration)
3. McConnell + 50 Cowardly Senators = MRGA (Make Russia Great Again)
4. Gag Order from Prez + McConnell Stonewalling = GOP (Grand Ole Politburo)
We are already experiencing internet bot swarms promoting how the Mueller Report is a hoax. Someone should ask Robert Mueller if in his wildest imagination he thought he would see such a full court disinformation campaign being waged due to his work.
The comatose Senate ought to be ashamed, but maybe they are thinking they could count on similar tactics for their own campaigns; certainly some PAC money from Trump himself if they just keep their mouths shut.
5
"All it takes for evil to succeed is for a few good men to do nothing"
Perhaps the use of the word 'good' is stretched a little , it is hard to believe the Senate GOP can be entrenched in the amoral/immoral behavior that they are not aware of the evil it is or the danger it has put our country into.
Trump is close to achieving his dictatorship with all the support the GOP has chosen to afford him. Will the GOP get it when a war starts with 'the wiz' neck deep in handling foreign relations?
3
IMHO I think we must have public hearings so citizens can hear the evidence. Then move to impeach and force a votein the Senate on conviction...hold the GOP's feet to the fire.
Make the republicans publically declare whether they stand with the constitution they swore to uphold and the citizens of this nation; or do they stand with a traitor, a liar, obstructionist of justice and an abuser of presidential power.
What will it be?
6
Again, it bears repeating like a dead horse. If the roles were reversed, and President Clinton had committed only one of the 10 infractions of abuse of presidential power documented in the Mueller Report, she would have already been Impeached by a Republican House and these same Senate Republicans would be on the verge of voting to convict and their Republic base would be foaming at the mouth for her removal.
Hypocrites is thy middle name!
20
Even Fox News Judge Napolitano discussed how Trump tried to impede the Mueller investigation. There has to be a candidate who says that if they win they would only accept bills that were bipartisan. We've got to get our country back to the middle. The extremes, on both sides, are destroying America.
2
Good idea.
When will the Times, and it"s readers, understand that just because they think the sky is falling, not everyone is drinking their Kool Aid. There is no collusion with the Russian government and no treason. Nothing else is just as bad. You over reached.
1
@cleo
Obviously you are okay with that kind of conduct. Not me, the longer we have a criminal in the WH the worse our country gets.
6
Trump is the President of the US and that position is not the same as a king. Trump is a servant of the people, who pay his salary. He swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. He is obliged to obey the rule of law. He has a very public position which comes with rules and obligations. But he acts like a mafia boss who does what he wants and he makes sure his rich donars are well served by him while ignoring the rest.
He is completly unfit to be president and if he stays in office he will be an unmitigated disaster for the United States. It may very well not easily recover from his assaults and his sweeping efforts to dismantle democracy. A big part of the problem is the blindness of the Republicans to the destruction of the democratic norms and laws. All they want to do is obstruct and destroy. They do not know how or even want to build anything. They are all for having a goose for dinner, not realizing that it is the one with the golden eggs.
4
If Putin were to be Trump's running mate in 2020, the Republican Congress would nod in satisfaction. This POTUS has gotten more passes on more things while Republicans are either numb, afraid of I know not what besides having a
Democratic President, or totally lacking in courage. Sort of like Bill Clinton and Democrats in past times. I has nothing to do with the welfare of our government or honesty, just power at any cost. Note the pressing issues of our times which are ignored by Congress while they fight over dogma or red herrings.
3
Republicans are enablers of Trump’s treasonous behavior:
• siding with Putin over 17 US intelligence and agencies about electoral interference
• siding with Kim over US doctors and parents that Otto was tortured in NoKor
• siding with MBSalman over American publisher WaPo over the death of a journalist and greencard holder
Just like Trump, Republicans don’t have the US interest at heart.
Remember, the bestseller in all MAGA rallies is the shirt “I would rather be Russian than Republican.”
As the book House of Trump House of Putin by Craig Unger reports, the top brass of the GOP has been in the salary of the Kremlin the day Trump got the nod as the Republican presidential candidate.
And when Paul Ryan was informed, he uttered these words: “This doesn’t leave the Party. That’s how we know we’re family.”
The Republican Party. The party of patriots. If patriots mean traitors.
7
So, Republicans are satisfied with the head of their party being a liar, an obstructionist, incompetent, uninformed, contemptuous of the law, and ready to trash the Constitution he is sworn to defend? Wow. I knew that many of them are venal, but to realize that they worship money and power more than democracy is frightening.
9
Frightening, but not unexpected!
4
GOP: Grotesque Old Party.
So much for the party that touts itself as Making America Great.
Perhaps they should change RNC to mean ‘Russia’s New Client’
7
What in Sam Hill is so hard about doing one's duty?
I appreciate Nancy Pelosi's concerns but as this Mueller report continues to be absorbed each new day the path the entire Congress (not just the Democrats) must pursue is so manifestly obvious that to NOT do that duty is almost dereliction.
I understand the GOP being Trump's party. For that reason alone there isn't a Republican soul in either chamber that will stand up to Trump.
But the Democrats have the control in the House. They are now faced with overwhelming evidence of criminality on Trump's part. They cannot and must not let this pass.
They must do the work they took an oath to do, come what may. (And frankly, it may be a tremendously powerful message to all Americans that the truth of Trump must be confronted.)
Let the chips fall where they will.
3
Ponder this quote (in the Cincinnati Inquirer) from Ohio 1st District Republican Representative Steve Chabot: "Lying is a concern, but not impeachable."
This is today's Republican Party. Chabot's comment ought to be the RNC's new marketing slogan.
5
@PaulB67 Stunning. Just stunning.
1
The checks and balances have failed miserably.
6
Once again Democrats play nice and we know where nice guys finish. Any subpoenaed witness who refuses to comply should be slapped with contempt of Congress and thrown in jail. Any of them and all of them. Democrats can’t seem to get it into their heads that’s it war. That bipartisan nonsense is over. It worked so well for Obama, didn’t it? Republican neo fascists equate compromise with surrender; they aren’t to be coddled or compromised with or given the benefit of the doubt; they are to be opposed. And if Democrats win the White House no more bygones be bygones, no more forgive and forget: commissions, investigations, indictments, prosecutions, trials, convictions and JAIL for Trump, his crooked family and cronies, and Republican neo-fascists, liars, crooks, seditionists and traitors.
5
Regarding McConnell’s “obligation” to hold a Senate trial, there’s this (quoted from the “Lawfare” blog from 21 January 2019, by former White House Counsel Bob Bauer):
…But it is also possible that, in this time of disregard and erosion of established institutional practices and norms, the current leadership of the Senate could choose to abrogate them once more. The same Mitch McConnell who blocked the Senate’s exercise of its authority to advise and consent to the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland, could attempt to prevent the trial of a House impeachment of Donald Trump. And he would not have to look far to find the constitutional arguments and the flexibility to revise Senate rules and procedures to accomplish this purpose.
The Constitution does not by its express terms direct the Senate to try an impeachment. In fact, it confers on the Senate “the sole power to try,” which is a conferral of exclusive constitutional authority and not a procedural command. The Constitution couches the power to impeach in the same terms: it is the House’s “sole power.” The House may choose to impeach or not, and one can imagine an argument that the Senate is just as free, in the exercise of its own “sole power,” to decline to try any impeachment that the House elects to vote.
The current rules governing Senate practice and procedure do not pose an insurmountable problem for this maneuver…
1
My prediction: Rumblings among moderate Republicans will swell to a roar in the next few days or weeks. Romney is flirting with outright censure of Trump ("...disgusting...." he said). That and the Iowa Republican leader switching to become a Democrat a few days ago will embolden a few more Republicans to consider leaving the GOP. I'm looking at you, Senator Romney. Then the whole shameful Trumpian construct will fall like a house of cards.
5
Why would Republicans get on the band wagon to impeach Trump & jeopardize their jobs, with the economy setting new records of growth.
3
Trump is an order of magnitude more destructive, more dangerous, more unstable and more of a threat to America than Nixon ever was. By their pusillanimous surrender to him the Republican Party is fully complicit in what seems to me the most severe test of our nation in our lifetimes.
History will judge this Party harshly indeed. So must every American patriot right now.
9
Doing nothing is what McConnell does best.
4
First, Senate Democrats should welcome Republican calls to investigate "how this investigation began." They should call Rod Rosenstein to testify in great detail about why the FBI was investigating Trump appointees and why he felt compelled to appoint a special counsel.
I am very confident that rather than treasonous FBI agents, they will find more evidence of Trump's treason.
Why am I so sure that Trump is a traitor? Because he keeps committing treason on TV and Twitter. (I am against all executions.)
U.S. Intelligence agencies and the FBI have been in a deadly espionage war with Russian intelligence for 70 years. Many of our agents have died in this war. Our Intelligence agencies accused Russian intelligence of "hacking into state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and the vendors of software and other technologies used in the administration of U.S. elections." (Mueller place 37)
Trump repeatedly and publicly has taken the side of the enemy agency that attacked us. The job of Commander in Chief is to coordinate a defense. Instead, Trump is "adhering" to Russian Intelligence, "giving them aid and comfort," by calling the FBI "traitors" and obstructing the investigation into their attacks.
Mueller was asked the wrong question. Treason does not require conspiracy.
"The government is the enemy," is the motto of the Republican Party. The government is Our Republic, as defined by the Constitution and ratified by We the People. Republicans call themselves the enemy!!!
8
This very special brand of manipulation presupposes that Trump has all the power and all the answers and that he must be obeyed. But in real life, Trump is still a coward and a liar who’s oblivious to facts, reality and common sense. Any member of Congress who is subpoenaed and refuses to show up should be jailed and grilled on what, exactly, Trump promised them for breaking the law and thwarting the Constitution on his behalf. Or are his promises just more empty threats in disguise?
6
They've got to get back to focusing on what voters insist they want: the dirt on Benghazi and tax cuts for billionaires.
4
“...Mr. Romney, a political brand-name who does not face his state’s voters until 2022...”
Minor fact check: Mitt Romney is not up for re-election until 2024. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018.
The Republicans, just like their repugnant leader, have shown just exactly what they are - complicit, criminal, anti-democratic, anti-constiltution, corrupt, in thrall to corporate money, bigoted and elitist.
They are exposed, and a significant percentage of the electorate doesn't care.
Those are facts that the Democrats have to accept and work with. And they leave a huge opportunity to appeal to the steady 55% who do not approve of Trump.
Drop the impeachment talk. Let the Southern District of New York take up the legal investigation of this perfidious and degenerate, unelected and unapproved "president". There are two incredibly important jobs that the Democrats absolutely MUST accomplish before the next election cycle and they are running out of time.
1. Prove they can and will govern for the 99%. That means working together, finding compromise, crafting legislation that addresses the issues that are being ignored or grandstanded by the GOP starting off with ethics in government and meaningful laws to get money and Russians out of our elections, but going on to income inequality, infrastructure, health care, fiscal responsibility, environmental protection, immigration, etc. These are hard areas and of course the GOP will vote against any and all Democratic initiatives but it is critical to prove that Democrats can and will deliver the people's business in the people's interest.
2. Nominate candidates who can win.
2
Why is it the Dems' plight to "agonize" over "doing the right thing?" Is it the Dems responsibility to constantly be fixing messes that Repubs create?
The Mueller report was set in motion and rendered by Trump's Justice Department. The most damning contents of this report should be wielded like a scalpel by Dems during the 2020 election. And that's it.
Even so, as a campaign issue, it should be behind how Dems are offering multiple plans to improve healthcare for Americans, while Trump and the Republicans have spent years trying to eliminate the ACA's protections, with no replacement plan offered.
And -- on the record Trump has created for himself -- the American people can decide if Trump is the president they want for the next 4 years. And if Republicans are who they want in control of the Senate.
2
Mike Lee sounds like an escapee from Jim Jones cult in ignoring anything about Donald Trump's obstruction of justice and the Mueller report, not Republican's but Trump Cultists.
I would like to know how William Barr is not charging this nut as a Domestic Terrorists, who was in the Coast Guard with a kill list of many leaders in the Democratic Party, Journalist, News people, and a Trump supporter planning to kill many people on his hit list; he had a large arsenal, and an avowed White Supremacists.
Why is not William Barr and the U.S. Attorney not charging this nut with Domestic Terrorism?
I think in light of the comments by William Barr trying to spin the Mueller report as exonerating Trump, he's ignoring this nut as a Trump supporter.
I wonder if this nut was a Liberal or Trump hater, if he would be charged as a Domestic Terrorist by AG Barr?
1
Like Ana Navarro (who worked for the Jeb Bush campaign said) - "Republicans have donated their spines to science some time ago."
1
Horrors ! The GOP fails to fall in line with the media get-Trump-no-matter-what crusade and the Times disapproves.
The voters will weigh in next November---you won't like the results.
1
Republicans fail to do anything, including keeping their run
amok fearless leader in check!
The skies have been dark for so long in the US....
Just wondering when will the people in the US get rid of that pollution they have in the government...
Maybe you already like it like that!
1
Unethical hypocrites. Extreme examples of both adjectives, one and all.
1
Trump is selfish and will sell his own family for money and few good words..
But Mitch M. is a thoughtful and artful traitor, who will sell his own country... for power and to still keep President Obama one term president.
2
Mitch McConnell might have done more damage to our country than anyone. He’s right up there with Andrew Johnson, Dick Cheney, and Trump. History will be very cruel to McConnell.
5
The reason for the caution in both Parties...is the support that Trump enjoyed in the Primaries as well as since the Election. Too many of us are still on the Trump Train...though it's seeming to slowly be running out of steam and track. Stonewalling until the inevitable end is the best that Trump, the GOP, Fox Nation, and the MAGA Club can do at this point. When McGahn and Mueller testify..and when the Deutsche Bank Records....and with any luck Trump's taxes are revealed...the evidence will hopefully persuade more of Trump's Army that it's time to surrender ! To watch Judge Napolitano,a frequent Fox Contributor, give his explanation of the many ways and instances Trump Obstructed Justice and how this presents a problem for him was compelling. Nothing more can be done for the time being..and we must be patient as the future unfolds. McGahn and Mueller will give riveting testimony ! They weren't taking notes and writing reports for nothing.It will be Historic. Still...no matter what..Trump will have support from now on.The different media outlets and personalities including the GOP have made a good living at riding the Trump Train.They have invested a lot. They'll be talking about the Fake Main Stream Media and the Deep State Conspiracies forever. Rush L., Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura etc. will need to keep the spin up.Their good incomes from Fox Nation etc. depend on it !! Thank goodness for the Democrats ! They have looked out for the Nation and all Americans !
1
The only way to save our nation of laws is for the Democrats to keep the House and take back the Senate. Even if Trump wins reelection he will be moderated by the Legislative Branch.
Only then can impeachment be a reality. That's if the country has a stomach for it.
But I am totally blown away by the lack of concern by the majority of Americans over Trump's behavior.
4
Republicans, in their complicit support of a President who committed collusion with Russians to be elected, and blatantly obstructed justice are showing their true color: complete abdication to a dangerous con man. Anybody who claims today to continue to be a Republican and is not switching to Democrat or Independent is on the same boat and should be ashamed or him or herself to put blind obedience to Trump over country.
8
@Francois Wilhelm
The collusion was between Russia and our "intelligence" agencies. The FBI and others used a Russian product - the Steele dossier - to launch a counter-"intelligence" operation against a presidential campaign. The Russians scored a big one with that causing political turmoil that has gone on for two years and still continues.
1
@jaco Your theory has been completely disproven. Read the report. Trump is not the victim here!
1
@jaco - Nope. The dossier was created by Fusion GPS, a British company staffed by former British intel agents. They gleaned info about Trump’s interactions with Russia. That’s the Russia connection. Come on... it’s like Republicans aren’t even trying to make sense anymore...
Like any good criminal, each time Republicans and their minority of "angry" voters impose their moral relativity and entitlement on the rest of the U.S. and pay no consequences, the more they are embolded. Steal elections, disenfranchise voters, lie the country into a trillion dollar war, done. Now they've given us the most corrupt "president" in our history, an ignorant, incompetent, weak little "man" who has not paused in his life's work of fraud, thievery, self-glorification and shameless nepotism. The Republican party norm is use every tool in the book to "win"--cheat, lie, steal, pervert Christianity and patriotism--then go after your opponents with baseless accusations.
So, Democrats, don't impeach because it's not "politically expedient." Sing Kumbaya, let's move on, be nice. No one will wonder what happened to our country when a morally bankrupt minority holds absolute power over the majority in our "democracy." It's all out in the open.
2
Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, a declared Trump primary opponent, and incumbent Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who seems to be on the way to declaring so in the future, will serve as dramatic, stark, principled counterpoints to these sycophantic, weak-kneeled Congressional Republicans who refuse to place country over their callow political aspirations and vigorously call out the deep corruption and rank criminality of the Fake President. Ironically, the electoral fates of these incumbent cowards may be determined less by their Democratic opponents than by the contrast between the know-nothing approach they shamelessly take to the continuous vile behavior of Trump versus the willingness of Weld, Hogan, and perhaps others, to directly confront the White House menace. Their lonely opposition to Trump, certain to receive copious media coverage, coupled with the expected personally demeaning reaction to them by him, will only assist in calling attention to the immorality of these Trump Republicans.
4
People are tired of Democrats “agonizing “ and then doing whatever the Republicans do.
4
Trump committed felony obstruction of justice. He should be impeached.
6
@Craig
The only thing Trump obstructed was a coup.
1
The truth is brutal, but then again you probably watch Fox and Friends...
Political calculations sometimes end in analysis paralysis. Both parties appear frozen and fearful of the consequences of taking a stand against egregious misbehavior of the president of the United States.
Republicans, contrary to their public statements, know they are in trouble and that a defeat in 2020 will most likely be devastating to their continuing on as a viable party. Democrats, are consumed with playing the odds for and against impeachment, placing themselves in the unenviable position of again being characterized as rudderless and inconsequential bit players in a failing musical.
We watch (and comment) as the nation's economy booms for some while most are sinking too slowly to cry out in fear knowing their voices cannot be heard as politicians bury their heads in the sand. Gridlock. it appears, has become institutionalized and Trump may be the least of our problems.
4
“ There was always just enough virtue in this republic to save it. Sometimes none to spare. But still enough.” William Seward.. sec. of State, A. Lincoln admin. I am wondering what Mr. Seward’s thought would be on the virtues of today’s republic..
3
Let's all face what we know to be true: Hillary Clinton would have been executed by the GOP had she done a fraction of what Trump has done. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment.
6
I’ve always believed that a person should be entitled to all he is honestly deserving of.... Impeach him!
3
As has become "normal" in this Bizzarro Republican Congress, nothing will happen of any significance in the Barr Senate hearings. Their feckless leaders will prevent it; McConnell and the Republican Committee Chairs. They are not at all interested in truth of any kind, only maintaining power in a criminal Administration.
These actions, for those sworn to uphold our Constitution, are disgusting. While their out-of-control sociopathic leader Trump is ranting about some fake "government coup" and how everyone who does not agree with his insanity is a Democrat (even if they are a dyed-in-the-wool Republican), they thwart Democracy, suppress clear evidence and cower together as a bunch of traitorous thieves.
Careful exposure of what Trump blithers makes clear that his infantile, false blithering about conspiracies and "unfairness" are exactly what the Republicans are doing to this nation; from sub-rosa payoffs to the rich to stacking the courts to blatant obstruction of Constitutional rights and responsibilities.
By bringing their schemes to the forefront and changing the labels to "Democrat", the Republicans are hanging themselves. So be it - they have created this hostile takeover and will bear the consequences thereof. We are not stupid like Trump.
4
How about an inquiry into how this whole hoax got started?
2
@Thor - LOL, by all means, let’s dig deeply into the Mueller Report and keep it front and center. Let’s talk about Trump’s shady international financial deals. Let’s talk about the evidence that caused Federal judges to give the FBI permission to surveil a presidential candidate. Bring it on. There is a reason why all the DC Repubs want to “move on” away from this as quickly as possible.
3
When you read this column, with the exception of Mitt Romney, it's clear these so-called Republican's are cowards and have sold out their country and their constitutional responsibility to Donald Trump, and it's a disgrace.
4
Almost daily I am greeted by front page stories from the NY Times about how the Democrats are in disarray, agonizing, infighting, whatever term this newspaper is using today. Its a clear double standard and anti-Democratic. Look at this garbage story written by Glenn Thrush (wasn't he fired for sexual harassment? Oh yeah, its the Times). Thrush quotes Republican Senator Portman saying, "...the special counsel reached no conclusion on obstruction of justice.” Thrush paraphrases a "Senior Senate Aide," If the most respected law enforcement official of his generation did not have the temerity to accuse Mr. Trump of obstructing justice, why should they? Thrush then writes "That is factually accurate." What Thrush and the Times leave out is important information, namely that DOJ rules prevented Mueller from indicting anyone, which is why he did not "reach a conclusion." Thrush and the Times are being disingenuous here by leaving out pertinent information for readers in order to attack Democrats. The DOJ rules are online and easy to access but the Times prefers to ignore them choosing instead to play this sad little game of supplying partial information to aide one political party.
2
GOP does nothing?
Mueller who was just last month held up to near Saintly
Status by the DNC :
spent 25 MILLION!!!
took 625 days!!!!
issued 2,800 Subpoenas!
interviewed 500 witnesses!
secured 500 search warrants!!
The case is over, Sorry, but this isnt Hollywood, you cant just change the ending if you do not like the result. You can change History, just ask Columbus, Robert E Lee, FDR, JFK and Thomas Jefferson, but it will take a few years for revisionists to do so.
4
@Sara - wow, $25 million! How many weekly trips to Mar-a-lago does that equal?
3
@Jim Good Question, I could not tell you,but Im sure trips to Hawaii cost a lot more
Buried in the Meuller report if people would be bothered to read ALL the details
“this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime” regarding obstruction.
This is why Mueller did not indict Trump. He could not bring enough evidence to support a criminal case. Suspicions perhaps but no evidence to back them up.
2
@Mr Chang Shih An It seems as though you didn't read all the details as you didn't include the complete statement on obstruction. It reads "This report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him". It's up to Congress to act on the report, not Mueller.
2
@Mr Chang Shih An - Nope. Wrong. The report clearly says that such evidence exists but the Justice Department has a policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted. And that conclusion is front and center, not buried anywhere.
2
@Mr Chang Shih An
You didn't read the report, did you? Mueller did not indict because it is DOJ policy that they can't indict a sitting president and that is up to Congress according to the constitution. And Mueller provided the evidence and a road map for Congress. Don't you think Congress should investigate the "suspicions"?
2
"If either event brings anything new to light, Republican leaders may have to recalibrate, but they do not expect that to happen."
Of course they don't because they won't, even if Mueller found that Trump shot someone on 5th avenue. Just like Trump predicted. The Republicans are craven. It is party over country and now the Republicans have abandoned all pretext to actual policy, truth or adherence to the laws.
Cory Gardner insists there is no collusion and McConnell insists that Mueller cleared Trump of obstruction allegations despite what is actually in the Mueller report.
Of course McConnell wants this mess behind him. This is a mess he has created, enabled and promoted.
I say investigate and if they don't cooperate, impeach.
4
Although nothing should shock me at this point when it comes to today’s Republican Party, I continue to be horrified and appalled that the Republican Party has essentially given the green light to interference by Russia or any other hostile power in our electoral process and to a candidate’s welcome embrace of that interference which, by way, has the express purpose of destabilizing our nation. What could be more unpatriotic and disloyal to our country, except actual treason?
4
Of course Republicans won't do anything about it....
Why? DO they work for the people of the US... NO.
I have lost total respect and trust for the Republican party. There's nothing right now that they would do to trust them again...
We need to get rid of all those guys who are obstructing democracy! It's really about time.
4
An investigation into the corruption in the DOJ, FBI, along with understanding how a fake dossier that was funded by the Clintons and the DNC was used to start the collusion investigation is warranted. Whether you are liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, corruption in government agencies and misuse of US justice systems is not acceptable. If we cannot be assured that our system is unbiased and fair to all, then we will have chaos.
2
There is no longer a Republican Party. This current amalgamation of dishonest, power seeking shills to Trump and their 1% masters must be ripped from the American political system, root and branch. It should be replaced with a group of politicians, whatever their beliefs on economics and the best size of government, who put love of country and integrity, over personal gain.
4
Not at all surprised at the GOP "inaction" but amused that you claim to be. The partisan follies that play out within the beltway are obvious to most of us even if obscure to the denizens of the right and left. Spare me the irony.
The conversation has now shifted to what the DOJ/FBI under the Obama administration did to surveil the Trump campaign. There are major irregularities that facilitated the Russian collusion theory. These need to be addressed before anyone can determine what really occurred during the 2016 race.
2
Of course. Donald says he’s escaped with freedom and no ramifications.. You think the GOP would do anything to upset their bully leader?
3
Dear Mr. Thrush and Sen. Portman: please state the facts accurately.
The Mueller Report found sufficient evidence of obstruction so that Mueller specifically could not exonerate Trump.
Barr determined that, in his mind, Trump’s “full cooperation” with the investigation and Trump’s emotional state about the investigation deserved a Barr’s determination of “No Prosecution”.
The Mueller Report outlines 10 acts by Trump which were attempts to thwart the investigation into Russian election interference.
You should ask yourself if the President’s emotional state is sufficient to excuse dereliction of duty. And you should ask yourself if you feel comfortable with leaving national security to a man who welcomed Russian interference in the 2016 election.
2
@Rita Technically the Mueller report cannot "exonerate". Exoneration can only occur in a court of law by a judge or jury! The 10 so called attempts were toeing the line just as the Clinton campaign did or maybe crossed that line! Let's wait for that investigation to determine what the Obama administration was doing before anyone's facts are accurate!
By remaining silent about the atrocities committed by trump as outlined in Mueller report, the republicans prove that they are cowards and will never support the Constitution, democracy and the American people. If you believe in freedom, democracy, the flag and American values, you will never vote for a single republican again.
3
I hate to say this, but the GOP is truly bad for this country. I have never been a Republican but at least have always had respect for our mostly two-party system. Somehow, a faction has taken over the GOP that cares only about special interests over people, and has allowed partisanship to hijack democracy. The scorched earth policy put into action by the GOP starting with Obama’s first term has never come to any good, and never will. Perhaps the only solution is to adopt the parliamentary system many other countries have: if the elected can’t come together there is a “no confidence” motion and a new election is held. How any of these GOP stooges can think that no one will notice they tried to sweep the most corrupt, dishonest presidency under the rug is beyond me. The sycophants in office now will go down in history as the end of the party.
2
THANK YOU! Finally, a headline that states Republicans do not care about the lawlessness of the President. Of course, the "Dems in disarray" is still first, but at least someone is calling out the GOP for their silence in the face of a completely dysfunctional president and his craven, feckless enablers who ALL KNOW BETTER. As if a Democratic president wouldn't have been impeached months ago ...
3
There is nothing to do.
Page two of Mueller report reads:
"The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
2
Maybe it's just that Republicans - and and overwhelming percentage (61%, Rasmussen) of Americans in general - understand how ludicrous it is to launch an inquiry into an inquiry.
Now, an inquiry into how the Mueller inquiry began and how those folks set the thing up - that's another, vastly important and no doubt highly revealing effort. Then you'll see the Republicans overturning rocks to expose the really creepy critters.
1
For those of us that take Mueller's report seriously, and impartially, can draw the conclusion that Trump obstructed justice (and still does), one more proof of his usual longstanding corrupt lifestyle of cheating others whenever he gets a chance (just look at his real estate dealings and wheeling to defraude us, reason he so adamantly hides his tax returns)). If Trump is not called to account, and hopefully get him out of an office he assaulted with Putin's help (hence, his illegitimacy), justice will be given a 'black eye'...and a liar will be validated as 'normal'. Is this what this democracy deserves, a subservient republican party, complicit with Trump's 'criminality'? Let's hope not.
1
I continue to work my way through the entire Mueller Report. The FACTS are there. President Trump has repeatedly lied and consciously conspired to manipulate power NOT to serve the American Citizens but to feed his insatiable ego and greed. He is NOT the only guilty party culpable of destroying the American Democracy. McConnell, Ryan and many others are complicit for this current deplorable phase of our nation's history. So are irresponsible and unethical citizens like Mark Zuckerberg. The upper echelon of FACEBOOK was clearly aware of what the Russians were doing in the 2016 Election. WE THE PEOPLE can change our government's current path. I do not believe that all Republicans are evil and irresponsible. Americans representing all political parties must insist and work to remove many Senators and Congressional Representatives from our government for failing to serve the American People and uphold the Constitution. Corporate Leaders need to be held accountable as well. WE THE PEOPLE are the ones who can insist the Ethics and Accountability are restored and cultivated within our government. WE THE PEOPLE must rise up and refuse to ignore the fear, racism, greed and misogyny that are destroying this nation.
2
Is anyone really surprised that the Republicans aren't doing anything about the Mueller report? If they really cared about how Trump is running the country they would have done something log before the report was published. If it wasn't obvious before it should be obvious to all now that holding office and power is much more important than this country's business. As long as Trump can keep them in office they will back him 100%. There's only one way to solve this and that is to defeat them in the next election. That is of course if the Democratic party doesn't self destruct. Healthcare Is important, but they also need to convince the public that they will also provide a strong economy while cutting taxes for the middle-class. This message is as important as healthcare and is one of the areas that Trump can win reelection on.
2
Mitt Romney and others like him have it within their power to challenge Mr. Trump's "sickening" behavior. The Senate Democratic Caucus has open doors if these senators would have the courage to walk through them.
Mr. Lee is correct that there is a difference between something that is unflattering and something that can and should be prosecuted. Yet how can the American people feel confident that Mr. Trump's actions fall into the latter category?
Let us not forget the hearings on Benghazi or the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Those were gigantic fishing expeditions that yielded little of substance. Mr. Mueller has already indicted several key members of Mr. Trump's campaign and transition team. What more cause can there be for open Congressional hearings?
We had hearings on steroids in baseball for God's sake. If Mr. Lee and Mr. Romney get what they want, the source of Rafael Palmeiro's biceps will have become more important than that of Mr. Trump's "sickening" behavior.
2
Democrats live in some kind of bizarro world where important facts are ignored and treated as they don't exist, while trivial facts are treated with the utmost importance.
Republicans see the FACT that the FBI and others spied on a presidential campaign, miss-characterized the results of the spying and attempted to overturn the results of a presidential election. Republicans see the FACT that such actions are anti-democratic and represent a grave threat to our republic.
1
Amusing when Trump supporters spouting nutjob conspiracy theory propaganda of accuse others of living in a “bizarro world.” Sorry, not amusing. Sad, really.
1
The headline says it all, "Democrats agonize". Instead of agonizing they (House Dems)should be moving quickly to impeachment and force McConnell and the Senate Republicans to take a vote and decide if they want to be condemned by history.
4
When Mitch McConnell uses the word "collusion" and that Mueller found no obstruction and that he is going to open a counter investigation, he is being highly dishonest about the actual contents of the Mueller report.
"The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion. "
"That information prompted the FBI on July 31, 2016, to open an investigation into whether individuals associated with the Trump Campaign were coordinating with the Russian government in its interference activities. "
Page 1 Mueller report
"But collusion is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law." page 2
"We understood coordination to require an agreement-tacit or express-between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference." page 2 (they did find eager and extensive cooperation)
Regarding obstruction of justice, that is Congresses purview to determine, there is ample evidence in the Mueller report and McConnell knows this better than anyone.
3
Not surprising. The GOP would've begun impeachment of a President Hillary Clinton on Day 1 for something they made up, had the Electoral College not changed the election outcome.
4
Both parties in both the House and Senate appear to be "running down the clock." Very few have the spine to stand up for justice, or to perform their constitutionally mandated duty. Instead, they abdicate their responsibilities to the nation, trembling and wringing their hands as they focus exclusively on the political backlash of any action. They will continue to dither and argue until the end of Trump's term, possibly for the next SIX YEARS.
Democrats are putting far too much faith in the 2020 election, forgetting that a significant portion of the electorate votes on charisma, personality, appearance, rumor, and shallow slogans because most are too busy struggling to make a living, or too distracted (does anyone really need the Kardashians at all?), or too lazy to pay close attention. That is why Fox News and others of their ilk succeed--people do not fact-check their innuendo, rumor, and blatant lies, and then reject the truth when anyone else presents it. The GOP can sit tight and do nothing simply because they can.
6
Can we extend your comments to cover your own letter? Have you been paying attention to the actions by the democrats in Congress and the stonewalling by the White House? If yes, how can you accuse them of running the clock? If no, you should read your own letter and get the message.
Why should the Republicans "press" for anything? Mueller's report was rather thorough, the number of witnesses interviewed, subpoenas issued, etc., is staggering....And in the end? No collusion, by anyone. The Republicans want to put it the pass and move on, the Dems? Not so much, they want to continue the same failed 24-7 tactics that gave us the report in the first place. The Dems lost the 2016 election. They need to come to grips with that and focus on winning in 2020. Give it over already!
4
@Joe
Whenever anyone says "no collusion", it convinces me you didn't read the report.
"the word "collud[ e ]" was used in communications with the Acting Attorney General confirming certain aspects of the investigation's scope and that the term has frequently been invoked in public reporting about the investigation. But collusion is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law." Mueller Report page 2.
3
Two things stand out in this article, aside from the general deafening silence from Republican Senators;
1) ‘Don’t let Trump be mean to me on Twitter’. Mean? These are professional politicians- surely they have been challenged, criticized, debated before. What exactly are they afraid of, now? And of course, no concerns about the validity of the 2020 elections.
2) Senator Ernst floating the ‘Trump enemies out to get him during the campaign’ theory. What an insult to the intelligence, The modernity of Urbandale, Iowa’s Republicans. What, they only listen to Fox News? Not their local ABC, NBC, CBS national news- never turn on a PBS channel? Never talk with friends, neighbors that might be Democrats?
As a Senate Impeachment trial unfolds on all networks, it will become more and more evident where the lies, the fake news comes from. That’s what these Republicans should be afraid of. And probably are.
Not to worry. Speaker Pelosi will save them the embarrassment.
3
When strategy eclipses honesty all is lost in democracy.
That’s where we are now.
Politicians, so-called Statesmen, want to turn their heads away from the extreme corruption and criminal behavior throughout Government in the direction of “progress” and “change”.
It is nothing more than a charade aimed at maintaining the status quo and maintaining the illusion that all is well.
We live in a tumultuous time when “going backward” is the order of the day.
God save us (and at the moment, I’m an atheist).
11
Republicans are not going to do anything against Trump. And it's not necessarily because they're afraid of him tweeting negatively about them.
It's all about stacking the courts with conservative judges and getting legislation they want passed. That's it. The judicial nominations are LIFETIME appointments. Trump is literally committing obstruction in public, right now. But republicans are going to simply ignore it, because they are getting what they want. Nothing else matters.
As far as whether the Democrats would do the same thing; I'm not sure. Part of me thinks they would. However, Democrats have been eating their own for a while now.
5
I didn't think trump was allowing any of his personal attorneys to testify before either the house or senate. Yes I understand that Barr's actual title is Attorney General, but when he had his press briefing before the release of the Mueller report, he came across as trump's defense attorney rather than a neutral party. I can only figure that none of these people who keep standing behind/following trump care much about what history will say about them. trumps legacy is doomed. the history books will not be kind to him.
7
This is not so complicated. Mueller pointed out multiple instances in which Trump obstructed justice. He said that if he could clear him he would’ve said so. Therefore, Trump specifically was not cleared of committing a crime. He was only not indicted because Mueller felt that the justice department had a policy which prevented indictment of a sitting president. Therefore, it is incumbent upon Congress to try him for the crimes which he committed.
13
What might have created an atmosphere allowing the GOP to do nothing on Mueller's findings? Perhaps Barr's initial summary that led to news analysis like this in the NYT did its job?
NEWS ANALYSIS
A Cloud Over Trump’s Presidency Is Lifted
By Peter Baker
March 24, 2019
WASHINGTON — For President Trump, it may have been the best day of his tenure so far. The darkest, most ominous cloud hanging over his presidency was all but lifted on Sunday with the release of the special counsel’s conclusions, which undercut the threat of impeachment and provided him with a powerful boost for the final 22 months of his term.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/us/politics/trump-robert-mueller.amp.html
10
@Richard Robbins
Exactly, ignoring Barr's history of covering up Iran Contra, and the Trump administration lying every time they open their mouths, large parts of corporate media decided to take Barr's blatant lies about what the Mueller Report said at face value, unconcerned with the fact that only two sentence fragmented were quoted from the report, and his public statements didn't even match those.
Anderson Cooper spent his day saying, "but shouldn't we be happy that the President wasn't in a conspiracy with Russia?" Instead of expressing journalistic skepticism, which news organizations used to apply to even honest administrations, most of the pundits just said "Trump won."
All of you that work for corporate news organizations need to start taking the threat of a president who calls you the "enemy of the people" seriously. This is a guy who likes to imitate a politician body slamming a reporter to the ground and repeatedly calls for violence against the press.
A few weeks ago Trump was threatening his political enemies with "police, military, and Bikers for Trump," while his ally, Steven King, Republican Congressman from Iowa posted an ad for civil war on his Facebook page.
In decades of researching abuses by U.S. intelligence, I never called them traitors or sided with the enemy, like Trump, but I did see body counts in the tens of thousands as right-wing death squads given impunity by presidents like Trump, murdered the press and human rights advocates in S.A.
@Richard Robbins Agree the author could have written it more neutral, but he played it straight-facts. He did go on to say in next paragraph that "things still hung over head.." I have read before and maybe this is incorrect, but the "article headline" is written by another news dept/group and not the author?? That could be the problem.
The hypocrisy of the Republican Senate is beyond belief. Had Obama done one of the twelve things outlined by Muller in the report regarding obstruction, he's be out quicker than you could say, "I love my party over my country" and that's EXACTLY what is happening here. Keep those tax hikes from the rich while America crumbles because of your inaction. SHAME!
17
The piece today by Glen Thrush starts with his editorial tucked in:
“WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans see the special counsel’s report — with its stark evidence that President Trump repeatedly impeded the investigation into Russian election interference — as a summons for collective inaction.”
Why not state that leading Republicans politicians have expressed a particular view and ask “why?” Why not, at a minimum, use phrases such as “in this reporter’s opinion” in order to minimize conflation of the reporter and the ostensible subject of the reporting?
3
@Michael Friedman
Because the objective facts show that Trump committed numerous felonies while obstructing an investigation into Russia's attacks on our electoral systems.
The "liberal" media keeps giving Trump the benefit of the doubt as if there is any doubt. Mueller was charged with investigating attacks by Russia on our elections and Trump accused our national defense agencies of Treason and kept trying to obstruct the investigation. If any of his subordinates had done what he ordered them to do, he would have created a conspiracy.
Although the media keeps concentrating on Facebook and hacks into the DNC, the real attack was when Russia actually hacked "state board of elections, secretaries of state" and vendors of direction technology.
The job of Commander in Chief is to coordinate a defense against attacks on our Republic. Instead Trump is "adhering" to Russian Intelligence, "giving aid and comfort" to our attackers by accusing the investigators of treason and obstructing their investigation. I am against all executions, but this is treason, by any logical reading of the Constitution.
Republicans have spent 50 years saying, "the government is the enemy." It is time to believe them. The government is Our Republic, as defined by the Constitution (which they keep attacking), ratified by We the People.
They call our Republic the enemy, and support a president who takes the side off the enemy in a 70 year old intelligence war, obstructing justice to help them!!
1
Boy, the politics of Trump/Mueller is Kurosawa’s Rashomon writ large. Rashomon is a movie where 4 very different versions of a crime are recounted by 4 people. Brimming with action it is also an incisive examination of the nature of truth. And so it is in Washington today and only getting worse and worse as two completely opposite narratives are being spun by the right and the left on the events of Russian election interference and obstruction of the ensuing investigation. The actual facts don’t seem to matter. Making believable a highly politicized story that claims the other side are really corrupt is the only narrative that is in important in bi-polar diseased American politics. And so it has been for many years and while this happens the most important focus of all Americans coming together in bi-partisan unity to fix their dysfunctional, easily manipulated election systems and processes is ignored.
12
@Duckdodger
I am not a team player. I spent the Obama years criticizing his abuses and the Bush years criticizing his abuses, and anyone who is on these comment pages regularly knows I have nothing nice to say about the Clintons.
I am a searcher for truth. I have spent decades reading declassified documents while researching and criticizing abuses by our intelligence agencies and FBI, but unlike Trump, I never called them traitors or took the side of those attacking the U.S.
It is not both sides. Democrats keep begging for compromise and treating Republicans like reasonable people with whom they happen to disagree. Meanwhile Republicans attack the plain meaning of the Constitution and call our government, which is Our Republic, "the enemy."
Trump calls Democrats "treasonous" because they didn't clap for his speech.
Right-wing terrorists murder more Americans than international terrorists. Trump calls them Fine People. The left isn't murdering people. The left didn't commit 7,000 hate crimes in 2017.
We have been at war with Russian intelligence since WWII. In March of 2018 Putin personally presented animation of Russian nuclear missiles raining on Florida. Our Intelligence Agencies accused Russia of directly hacking into our actual election systems, not just the DNC, and not just "a couple Facebook ads." Trump called the FBI agents trying to stop them traitors, while ordering his subordinates to obstruct the investigation, according to Trump's own Republican appointees!
Jesus Kentucky please prove us wrong by doing something right and ditch Mitch.
17
‘Please, God, don’t let Trump be mean to me on Twitter.’”
Says it all.
9
As Democrats agonize? They only thing Democrats are agonizing over is what the best political move is and making sure they don’t overplay their hand. Headlines like this make it hard for half the country to take the NYT seriously even though the articles are often much more balanced. It’s a shame.
5
If kids locked in cages isn't enough to make congressional republicans squirm and publicly denounce the dictator in chief, then what hope does obstructing justice have?
Republicans are so afraid to antagonize their base, a basket of marinate-ables stewing in right wing propaganda sauce parroting the same lies about Mueller and the Democrats every hour of every day. They will believe Trump above all else, no matter what the NYT reports.
However Dems in the House were elected as a check and oversight of this mad king. They must impeach lest other presidents think they will get away with the same or even worse. Those who refuse to appear before congress must receive a one year in jail card, not a 100k parking ticket. Dems need to use a tiger, not just paper alone.
9
I was a young adult during Watergate. What caused me to take an interest in Watergate congressional hearings were seemingly scripted defenses from congressional Republicans protecting President Nixon. All those Republicans sounded like a broken record. It stuck me as odd they were all saying the same exact thing.
With an inkling of the idea in my young mind two diametrically opposed facts - that Nixon committed a crime and obstructed an investigation and that Nixon was a victim of “people out to get him” and was totally innocent - cannot both be true, I paid attention.
The words of the one Republican Senator, whose intention to vote for Impeachment of President Nixon, summed up my own conclusions of the Watergate hearings and also explained my suspicions of the state of congressional Republicans at that time, paraphrasing - Blindness to and denial of facts and evidence; loyalty to Party over loyalty to country; failure of GOP Senators to honor their Oaths of Office; that the duties to govern, of government, and responsibilities to all people are much greater than dereliction of duty. This summation applies today.
Todays Republicans viewing Volume 2 of the Special Counsel’s Report as a congressional option do so for political gain and for all the reasons stated by that one lone GOP Senator decades ago. Failure to address possible crimes, abuses of power by a sitting President is a greater crime to this country - rejection of the Constitution, the rule of law, and democracy.
14
There are so many opinions and so much analysis of this presidency so far but nothing to show any elegance of Mr. Trum as individual or as President of a powerful country. History tells us the demise of any such powerfulness degrades as people get disoriented. that is what GOP leaders are doing. They do not go for correctness. they go for strategy or rather wrong strategy to stay in power - country or future does not matter to them. Does it show an indication of decline of US civility, dignity and greatness leading to a collapse of the US civilization? only time will tell.
2
@amalendu chatterjee America is fine. Considering the 24-7 distraction the Dems and most of the media have thrown at this president, the President seems rather razor focused, the economy is doing great, it was announced the economy grew 3.2% (no economist thought this was going to happen), the North Koreans are no longer firing rockets over Japan and we got the remains back from POW's, efforts continue to work on the trade imbalance with China, NAFTA was reworked, the VA is being overhauled, more more in the budget to update the military, he got his tax cut done, parts of the wall are being built, got us out of needless treaties with Iran, and the Green movement, amongst other things...not bad considering the entire Dem Party and some of the Rep Party work against him, plus the constant beating he takes from the Media, the Mueller investigation (collusion proven false), etc...
1
Of course the Republicans do nothing. They already have most of what they want, which is complete power to undo the New Deal and every other lliberal/progressive policy since the Great Depression. They want to return us to the circumstances of the original Gilded Age, and they are almost there.
Russia helped elect Trump? Not if your base listens to Rush and watches Fox. The United States is morphing into Weimar Germany in the 1930s? So what? I'm breaking my oath to uphold and defend the Constitution? What's that? As long as we've got anti-abortion judges, my base won't care.
Horrible; disgusting; ultimately terrifying.
10
I think the person most everyone wants to hear from is Bob Mueller. Why didn’t he bring charges against Trump or any of his family members?
Was it because he didn’t have enough evidence or was it for political reasons?
Maybe it was because he didn’t consider what Trump did a crime. Clear evidence of obstruction of justice is falsifying or destroying documents, lying or suborning perjury to prosecutors, the FBI or Congress.
But is firing or threatening to fire Comey, Sessions or Mueller obstruction when the President has a legal right to do those things? Are requests for loyalty or to “go easy” on Flynn obstruction if they are only requests? Is it obstruction of justice to lie to the New York Times? To the public at a press conference?
I think most every adult in this country would like to hear Mueller’s answers to these questions.
4
@Steven Roth
Trump can fire anyone he wants, UNLESS he's doing so to obstruct an investigation. Additionally, attempting to obstruct justice is still a crime, even if he doesn't succeed. He attempted to fire Mueller, but White House counsel refused.
Other ways an individual may commit this offense include, but are not limited to, the following acts:
Influencing or injuring an officer or juror generally (18 U.S.C. § 1503)
Obstruction of criminal investigations (18 U.S.C. § 1510)
Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant (18 U.S.C. § 1512)
Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant (18 U.S.C. § 1513)
Destruction of corporate audit records (18 U.S.C. § 1520)
The elements necessary for an obstruction of justice charge are
1. There was a pending federal judicial proceeding;
2. The defendant knew of the proceeding; and
3. The defendant had corrupt intent to interfere with or attempted to interfere with the proceeding.
As far as I can tell, all three apply.
2
Even before the 2016 election Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was defying the Constitution in refusing to hold hearings to provide the required "advice and consent" on Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. That defiance of our "rule of law" has continued with the election of Donald Trump with his unwillingness to enforce the "emoluments clause" and now joining in Trump's "obstruction" of impeachment as the only legal avenue to remove a man who is a "clear and present danger" to our democracy. Sen. McConnell and his fellow Republicans have become "willing accomplices" in authoritarian rule, and they also need to be impeached. That is why its crucial that the Democratic House draft "articles of impeachment" that implicate the Republican Party and take them to the American people in November, 2020. That election will possibly be the most fateful one since 1860 when democracy [aka "the Union"] was also on the ballot.
37
@Paul Wortman
Even if Mitch had let the Senate hold hearing the Senate would have rejected Obama's choice. It made no difference to not hold a confirmation. Mitch did not defy the constitution if he had Obama would have appealed to the Supreme Court.
@Paul Wortman okay - let's talk about 'defiance' -we're still waiting for The Obama Administration's Eric Holder to hand over documents on the 'Fast & Furious' Case....and yes the American people would like to see the 33,000 emails that Hillary wiped off her servers (that they technically 'own' by virtue o being on gov't servers, are gov't documents)....there's lots and lots of stink that Democrats left behind on the last run-through...
@Cathy
Im good with that.
And let's investigate how the Bush Administration "fixed" the intelligence* to get 45,000 troops killed or wounded in Iraq in a war based on lies, which led to MANY deadly attacks on U.S. embassies there.
And let's investigate exactly why U.S. counter-intelligence was investigating most of the Trump campaign. I look forward to hearing FBI agents testify under oath on exactly why they were investigating Carter Page since 2014, and how he ended up in the Trump campaign.
I am only interested in Truth and Justice so let's start investigating and stop obstructing the investigations.
I have been against Hillary implementing Republican policy (like regime change in Libya) and if you can find any evidence you are welcome to put her on trial. I'm a Bernie fan. If you can find evidence that Bernie committed crimes, I want to him tried.
Now that we have Trump's own Republican appointees testifying that he ordered them to obstruct justice are ready to put him on trial?'
*See the Downing Street Memo, where the head of British Intelligence tells his Prime Minister that the decision to go to war in Iraq had already been made by the Bush administration and the intelligence was being "fixed around this decision" nine months before the invasion began..
GOP wants to "move on"....but to what?
They have failed to do their job of oversight.
We have solid evidence of Russian interference in our election.
Trump obstructed to avoid more focus on Russian interference.
Where are the cybersecurity hearings or action plans to protects us against further cyber attacks by Putin?
There is no-one home at the White House or Senate.
29
@Leslie Duval - Maybe they want to “move on” so they can free up some time for another Benghazi hearing... You know, doing the “work of the people.”
3
For Republicans, it’s all about raw power. Pure and simple. Sooner the Democrats understand this the quicker they can respond with their own ‘scorched earth’ strategy.
13
@Dersh “God, y’all want power and I hope you never get it,” an angry Graham said to the Democrats.
"They" think the same thing about "us," pure and simple. Where does that leave everyone?
And I consider Senator Lee's casual dismissal of Trump's likely criminal behavior to be, basically, the end of the end of the Republican Party as an organization committed to uphold and defend our Constitution.
Talk about "sickening"...
17
Not the least bit surprising, given that Republicans of late have been living in an alternate universe. Down is up, winning is losing, lies are truth, and of course, DJT is a saint. They have completely gone off the rails and won't be returning to reality anytime soon.
10
Romney might have been speaking of himself when he said, 'sickening'. A wealthy man at his age, supposedly upstanding and pious and already having all the perks of a one percent-er runs for office not to increase by one the number of exclusive clubs he's free to attend, but to fix big problems thereby making his country a better place and himself worthy of all the privilege he's enjoyed since the day of his birth.
2
Why would the Republicans in Congress care? Russian espionage and the collusion of the Trump campaign may have been the decisive factor in Trump’s electoral college win. They probably admire Trump’s repeated obstruction of justice that helped prevent Mueller from getting more information.
Today’s GOP isn’t the least interested in defending our country from a foreign adversary who intervened on their behalf. They just don’t care. That’s why there’s silence or even gleeful public support.
What is wrong with these people?
47
@Demosthenes
They have been calling or government "the enemy" for 50 years. Can we start to believe them yet?
1
Robert Mueller left his Superman outfit in the phone booth on the corner of 14th and F Streets, NW. Will someone of sane mind please pick it up ( I wanted to say "don" it but ugh) and fly to save us? Please! Time is running out.
American politics has become so incredibly partisan over the years. Looking from a distance it seems the GOP has largely gaslighted this as a party strategy, covered by their own Fox News.
I don't like the way Democrats are strategising around the Mueller report now. They are trying to provide oversight using the Mueller report as a roadmap, and yet they let the White House stonewall them every step of the way.
The Mueller report provides enough evidence to start impeachment hearings on the current President of the United States. Let that sink in for a moment.
Forget about the GOP playing defense for Trump, and blocking a possible impeachment in the senate. Congress has an obligation to defend the constitution. If the goal of these hearings is to get to the truth, voters will understand and not let the GOP or Trump spin its way out of it. If congress doesn't draw a line here, then the next president can get away with even worse behaviour.
65
@Dutchie
If there is a next president, not named trump!
2
@Dutchie
The three 'times pick' comments, Netherlands, Paris, and NY, sum up where we are.
Safety in complacency at home, and concern from afar.
re: impeachment, if not now, when?
3
@Dutchie It's way too late for the GOP to have a come to Jesus moment. In for a penny in for a pound. They won't lift a finger to help the Democrats. Isn't that obvious at this point. From a tactical viewpoint the GOP's United We Stand strategy is brilliant. They will let the Democrats engage in pointless committee investigations, divisive intraparty debates over impeachment. Much energy will be wasted. Lots of bad blood sown. And in the end we won't learn anything new. In the meantime they will quietly advance multiple agendas that serve their interests. Control the Senate & you control the most important lever of power in government: the judiciary. The courts are the source of the Republican's power, their blunt instrument in the cultural war that divides us. The GOP is playing a long game. Trump will be gone soon. They will still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve all of their objectives. Their main goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Trump has gotten two SCOTUS appointments, he may get more. He’s moved much faster on lower-court appointments than Obama did. The legal arm of the conservative movement is the best organized & most far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long term goals. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary, and you can stop the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
2
Mitt is the new McCain.
Losers in arms.
6
It is my earnest desire that every one of these cowards are voted out of office very soon. They are all un-American. They are all completely partisan and care nothing about our country.
I read the whole darn thing and I think there's a lot to do in getting our country back on track.
I can't stand these people. They make me want to scream.
23
Republicans want the Russians to interfere on their behalf again. It is as simple, and disgusting as that.
35
History will not regard them kindly. They are doing as much to ruin this country as trump. Enablers, sycophants, fear-filled weaklings who are more protective of tax cuts for the rich than the constitution. Shameful and disgusting.
15
Sen. Rob Portman said what many Republicans argue, that "the special counsel reached no conclusion on obstruction of justice."
They refuse to acknowledge what Mueller said on page 2 of volume 2 of his report, where he explained "we determined not to apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgement that the President committed crimes." He continued, "Fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgement when no charges can be brought [because of the DOJ rule that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime]." One judged to be a criminal but not charged with a crime is denied a legal forum to clear his name.
One can disagree with Mueller's decision not to report a judgment that the President committed crimes, but one cannot say he did not conclude that the President did so.
23
Republicans know that very few Trump supporters will actually read any of the Mueller report and will instead rely on misinformation from right-wing media and Trump himself. That's also why Trump will fight tooth and nail to keep people like Don McGahn from appearing in televised hearings. Donald knows the power of television and he knows his base. Republicans are just along for the ride at this point, no matter where it leads.
12
The Republicans are great at outrage-the smallest misdeed or mistake by a Democrat is fodder for endless haranguing and hand wringing.The Republicans are also great at denial-no misbehavior by a Republican is acknowledged-it is unthinkable that they would ever be critical of another Republican no matter how egregious the infraction of law.It is particularly shocking that they have no words to condemn the Russians for attacking our voting system..Their mentor Mr.Reagan went to Berlin and said, “Mr.Gorbachev tear down this wall”.He was a Cold Warrior.The Republicans have nothing to say to Mr.Putin-they have lost their voices as Russia is still attacking us- this time at the ballot box.
12
The NYT is very interested in the possible abuse of power represented by president trump's obstruction. Yet still incurious about the use of the NSA FBI and British intelligence by the previous administration to spy on the Trump campaign. They should at least be excited to investigate who Joseph Mifsud worked for. He's the first to bring up the hacked emails ,before they became public, to his mark Popadopolis.
The Times finds the President so disgusting they've abandoned their job as a news gathering organization, if you stare into the void too long... Ironically if they'd simply done their job in an honest way the President wouldn't be in a good position for reelection.
5
This is another rather routine story that reminds us of what we already knew -- that Republican politicians don't have principles, they have conveniences. A story worth telling... but meanwhile, I scrolled down the Times front page... and down and down... and didn't find a single story related to the environment in general or climate change in particular. Eventually, under "In other news" I found an item about the EPA weakening water quality standards. That was it.
The planet is being poisoned and this is the best the Times can do?
9
@writeon1 The planet is being poisoned, Trump, McConnell and the assembled sycophants are fine with that.
Until the GOP is gone and out of power there will be no action on climate change, the environment, social security, Citizens United, gerrymandering, etc, etc.
The first action toward solving any of our problems is to reclaim our government.
8
And I thought the white walkers from Game of Thrones were horrible. The Republican party's new campaign slogan is:
If you can commit a crime and get away with it, you can become president of the United States. Also it doesn't hurt if you also win the endorsement for president from the KKK's official newspaper, "The Crusader"* and have the support of an adversarial dictator.
*Trump was endorsed by two newspapers in 2016 - i.e., (1) the National Enquirer and (2) the Crusader.
** I had a sneaking suspicion that the Republicans in office didn't bother to read any of the evidence files in the 3 class action lawsuits that were filed against Trump University (the evidence proved he was guilty of fraud and racketeering, which is why he bought his way out of a trial), but I did think they'd at least bother to read up to page 2 of the Mueller Report, at a minimum.
PS: There are several other legitimate cases that have been filed against Trump - both acting as a president and as an Individual.
Individual No. 1's swimming in it.
Grounds for impeachment are not limited to the Mueller Report.
11
This whole affair is so childish. In no other aspect of their lives would grown ups allow themselves to be so naive. When confronted with inexplicable behavior, the adult response is always to search for a motive. So it's wise to "follow the money." Isn't it obvious that the Republican Party has morphed into a Russian sleeper cell funded by the richest man in the world, Vladimir Putin? Republicans are allowing the Trump catastrophe to continue because they're all getting rich. To argue that otherwise proud men grovel at Trump's feet because they supposedly fear a primary challenge if they oppose the Mafia Don--when they all can easily make 5 times as much in the private sector--is just silly.
9
You actually think Republicans are not doing anything about the Mueller fake Trump Russia collusion nonsense fairy tale investigation? You think Republicans will allow Democrats to try and rig an election and then attempt a coup attempt with no repercussions?
You should read other news sources.
There will be a plethora of prosecutions. The weasels have already started turning on each other.
Unfortunately, shocked Democrats relying on the MSM for information will wake up one day with their heroes being arrested on national tv and be confused.
4
@Ken - This is quite funny. Arrested for what?
2
@DR
I’ll give you three guesses.
First, find some clues.
1
@Ken let me guess you attend all of trumps rallies,your the president of his cult fan club. trump cries a lot when he thinks something is making him look bad (even when its own fault). Mueller a republican was appointed by trumps pick for Asst. AG, after trump fired Comey, and Sessions had already recused himself. good luck with your delusions.
It appears that Repub's have picked up Trump's habit of not reading anything. A briefing on Barr's 4 page memo is good enough for them.
8
@RNS
They are going to let William Barr take the public lead on obfuscation now. I predict he will wade so deep into arcane legalese that he will have average viewers bored to tears in no time.
The GOP seems to completely have a different gripe on reality . Mr. Lee who is attempting to be little Trump in training is an embarrassment to all elected officials.
Yes Utah is different from Mississippi however uttering nonsense on the senate floor just once again shows how low you will go to deny climate or any other progressive agenda you want to destroy thinking . He is a senator but as acted like a c movie actor whose time has passed.
This presentation was repulsive because don’t tell victims of hurricane Sandy there is no climate change and political incompetence.
With Trump in office for another term we all will be living in cages because of the hate generated by incompetent leadership within the GOP party. The party of stooges puts all Americans at risk.
7
Of course. It's all about elections.
GOP will continue their silence, because they pretty much all work from the same sheet of music. On the other hand, Dems will eat their own in the evolving 2020 race. They are scatter-shot and rarely focus all-together on something. Right now it looks like they are prepping for a Biden take-down. Look at today's NYT front page.
Feelings of hopelessness and dispair will only intensify.
3
If the Democrats are unable to impeach Trump because of the Republican Senators, then the Democrats should use Trump's violations as a cudgel against them in 2020. Expose Trump's crimes, reveal them for their seriousness and tie them to the Senators' lies and coverups for criminal activity.
Everytime these Senators make public statements that support Trump, tie them to Trump's crimes and horrible positions. Trump has generated an enormous catalog of terrible actions and statements that will keep hundreds of ad producers working for two years. Use their lies against them. Swift boat them with real facts, with the truth.
12
Drawn into complicity through fear. It's pathetic. Oath violators, every one of them.
7
What Republicans are doing is outrageous. I hope enough people actually contact them to let them know.
5
I don't like Trump one bit.
But, I am off put by the Federal Government's use of the Steel Dossier, a report funded entirely by the Democrat National Committee, for which, so far, none of its contents have been verified independently.
Using that document to get wiretaps from a FISA judge?
Well, let's just say that indeed that approach does smack of wrongdoing.
Again, I am no Trump fan. But, I am also not so blind that I cannot see wrongdoing in using a report funded by the DNC to get wiretap permits.
If that happened to me I would feel like I am in the old Soviet Union for sure.
2
@Michael
I'd suggest you at least learn how to spell the name "Steele" when employing such debunked rhetoric, since the Mueller Report obviously had a lot more to go on and was not relying on the claims made in the report written by an ex MI6 agent, but I'm sure that it would be asking too much.
9
@Michael
The Steele Dossier was originally funded by Republicans opposed to Trump.
3
Pelosi should make an open vote in the House on impeachment. No party line. Without Republicans, the vote will be lost, and it should be the end of it.
Then focus on 2020 election while keep investigating.
4
I expected as such. Our system is broken.
5
AG Barr did his job very, very well. He gave his "summary" with resulting headlines and that was the end of the story. Every action taken since Barr's "summary" was released has been portrayed as beating a dead horse and worse.
Both Trump and the GOP want this gone, gone, gone. For good reason as it threatens them. Where is democracy and the rule of law? Where is constitutional duty? It's on the left being labeled as derangement by the GOP and Trump.
Thanks, fellas. NOT.
We read a few pundits writing about duty to investigate further but that's about it. We are advised that the country does not have the appetite to carry investigation forward or that election considerations take precedence to the constitution.
It's an extremely sorry state our government is in with ALL our representatives failing to uphold the rule of law.
And Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office having gotten away with it all. AGAIN.
7
I knew there was a reason I could never be a Republican.
Though it's traditional, the Republican cynicism displayed -- volunteered -- is tragic. It is also dangerous. Republicans now chortling that they've gotten away with behavior they would have acidly condemned, and investigated at length, had it been committed by a Democrat are setting precedents that the nation will regret.
What you tolerate you teach.
19
I've said this over and over again, Mueller let the country down by not issuing a strong enough retort to Trump. He made it very easy for Barr and the rest of the GOP to perform their gaslighting act. Democrats are on their own.
9
Only one person has a thorough understanding of all the material gathered by the Mueller investigation, and that person has stated flatly in his report that he is unable to establish that any American citizens knowingly conspired with Russian actors - state or private.
So, the rest of you are just blowing a lot of hot air.
2
@Objectivist
That's not actually what it says...
The Muller report details 144 separate instances of the Trump campaign conspiring with Russian agents (and then lying publically and in front of investigators about every single interaction).
The Muller report details how the Russian government actively interfered with the 2016 election with the express purpose of aiding in Trump being elected... it detailed how Trump and his campaign knew about the Russian's efforts, welcomed those efforts, assisted those efforts wherever possible, and created a media strategy in order to capitalize on those efforts.
What the Muller report failed to do was to prove this criminal conspiracy "beyond any reasonable doubt", as the law requires for a prosecution, with the explanation why they couldn't reach this level of evidence being: 1) Destruction or encryption of emails and electronic communications, and 2) outright lying on the part of many of the witnesses.
So yeah, LOTS of evidence of "American citizens knowingly conspiring with Russian actors", specifically Donald Trump personally and most of his campaign staff... just not enough for a guaranteed conviction.
Trump is a traitor.
1
@James Constantino
Well, congratulations and thank you for proving yet again that press-driven obsession and left wing ideology trump common sense whenever is suits the needs of the left.
Your completely incorrect statement:
"What the Muller report failed to do was to prove this criminal conspiracy "beyond any reasonable doubt", as the law requires for a prosecution"
demonstrates this clearly.
"beyond any resonable doubt" is the criteria for a guilty finding, in a trial by jury.
It has nothing whatsoever with the filing of an indictment.
Prosectors may charge someone and bring them to trial on the flimsiest of evidentiary content.
They do it all the time.
Then it's up to the judges and juries to recognize prosecutorial misconduct and replace careerism with justice.
This is not a difficcult statement to understand:
“[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
"When is it appropriate to misuse power so that you’re using your federal assets to go after a political opponent? It sounds very much like something you find in Russia or someplace like that,” she asked an audience in Urbandale, Iowa, during the congressional recess."
That quote from Ernst applies equally to Trump's attempts to force Sessions to investigate and jail Hillary Clinton, as reported by the NYT as buried in part of the Mueller Report.
The united front of Republicans combined with the "agonizing" of the Democrats, bodes poorly for democracy, which as the cliche puts it, is "hanging by a thread."
I'm wondering how Pelosi and Nadler will continue their charade of not impeaching without oversight investigations when the president has said he won't comply with any congressional subpoenas.
Capitulation by Pelosi on impeachment, coupled with Republican unity on allowing the president to commit the equivalent of ripping up the Constitution in plain sight, won't end well.
7
So Mueller was prohibited from indicting Trump. Instead he set forth in great detail a slam dunk case for obstruction. No case for Russian collusion was made. Is it possible the obstruction had anything to do with that?
I think the wheels of Justice and popular opinion will get around to Trump. I am heartened that a version of the Mueller Report is the number 1 top selling book on Amazon. It's also number 2 on Amazon. And number 3. America is paying attention.
9
@Scott B
Lost of evidence for collusion (144 separate instances of colluding with Russian agents, all of which were lied about afterwards), just not enough hard evidence to convict "beyond any reasonable doubt" for criminal conspiracy.
The republicans like conflating the word "collusion" with "criminal conspiracy", and falsely claim that since there wasn't enough evidence found to convict on the latter, the former must not therefore exist. Don't indulge this lie.
1
Sen Mike Lee is no surprise. But Sen Romney also has no interest doing anything more than talk. None of them respect the Constitution which calls for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Trump jumped way over that bar.
3
I live in an urban neighborhood but reverse commute to work in a regular suburb with regular folks doing regular things. In my office of 600 educated and well paid professionals, there’s about half a dozen progressives (easily identified because they make no secret of it). The only people who care enough about the Mueller report to demand action are those progressives, who are apoplectic, and possibly some possibly mainstream Democrats, who mostly seem to suffer in silence. I think most everyone is moderate to conservative. Conversations over coffee and lunch reveal that overwhelmingly, most people don’t care. They recognize Trump for what he is and seem to perceive no revelations in the report. They seem more fixated on AOC - not favorably - than Trump. Mostly they’re just putting in a day’s work and going home. I think this is representative of America outside of the urban Democrat strongholds. The Republicans seem to know this.
32
@MWR and this why the country is in the sorry state it is and will continue to trend downward. People will continue to slog to work. People are underpaid and only get 2 weeks vacation. People are lucky if they get adequate healthcare, even though they pay top $$ for their insurance. The infrastructure in the country is in steep decline. Meanwhile the Whitehouse, the Senate and House all make top dollar for doing nothing!! But...as you say; "...most people don't care." "Mostly they're just putting in a day's work and going home."
I am a mainstream Democrat leaning toward progressive. I am not apoplectic. But I do watch with utter amazement wondering how bad does it have to get before people actually DO CARE. It is so very sad.
19
When the bottom falls out and the trillion dollar deficit sets inflation on fire... these people will quickly find their anger. It appears we’ve never been special... authoritarianism and oligarchy are just fine when our immediate economic interests are served. For many, their interests are not being served as they struggle with low wages and lack of healthcare... those progressives in the office recognise this, looking beyond their own self interests. I suspect they also believe in our historical balance of power. ... now lost.
12
@MWR I think your comment hits the nail on the head. To most people, the report was far more of a vindication of Trump than a condemnation. Yeah, there were some iffy things going on, and yeah, Trump isn't the kindest individual, but to them that's all just background noise that they've come to expect from any politician.
Politics is a game for the wealthy; most people don't care about the minutia and subtleties of the report. In part, this is because it doesn't interest them and in part because they just don't have time.
It may shock some readers of the NYTimes to hear this, but for a large portion of America, as long as there isn't 100% proof that the President is a Russian agent, most people are OK with the status quo.
3
Mr. Barr is Mr. Trump's avatar for tyranny under the law.
13
It's a breathtaking abdication of their scorn duty to the Constitution and an unabashed betrayal of our democracy. To lose it all for Trump is to lose for nothing.
38
"I consider this to be, basically, the end of the road,” said Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah,
This statement hopefully speaks to the Republican chances in 2020.
93
There is more than sufficient evidence in the Mueller Report to prove that Trump is guilty of criminal conspiracy. Republicans hope none of us read Section II, where it is there in black and white. It was not for lack of evidence that Trump was not charged with conspiracy, but because Justice Department policy precludes charging a sitting President.
Republicans will not stop the charade because their political funding and election prospects depend on it.
50
@Tom Sz.
The only reason that it is not a conspiracy is that Trump's appointees refuse to follow his orders to obstruct justice.
Trump's real crime is "giving aid and confort" to a hostile intelligence agency attacking our election systems, by publicly calling U.S. counter-intelligence agents traitors and obstructing their investigation.
Treason doesn't require conspiracy.
This is no surprise to me - as a Republican, I feel the same way.
"Inapprpriate" perhaps - but a serious Nixonian crime, heck no.
Since there is a talk of impeachment still in the air.
Let's remember, Nixon resigned only after a gang of Republican senators went after discovery of "smoking gun" and told the president "the game is up."
The Democrats on their own did not have the votes to convict Nixon in the Senate.
So, even before the House had passed a single charge of high crimes and misdemeanors - Nixon called it quits.
And "our long nightmare was over."
We are nowhere near a Nixon repeat.
1
We are nowhere near a Nixon repeat because republicans refuse to do their job.
13
You’re right that we’re nowhere near a Nixon repeat, but that’s largely because today’s Republican Party is so devoid of ethical foundation. Mike Lee is no Barry Goldwater.
10
@Neil
So, it's okay to commit a crime as long as you can get away with it. Republicans really have gone all the way in their endorsement of Trump because that has always been his mantra, and now it's theirs as well - apparently.
7
Of course the GOP Senators will do nothing! They will do absolutely nothing that may upset the Trump base and put their seats in the Senate in jeopardy in 2020.
12
If there's still anyone out there that thinks American democracy as we knew it is not dead, you need look no further. And hell, I'm an optimist!
40
Of course. Once you've sold your soul, you can't buy it back.
75
The Republicans want to forget about this and try to hold their seats, 22 of which are up in 2020, and the majority, which can be lost. McConnell himself is the most unpopular Majority Leader in his home state since Tom Daschle lost HIS seat.
But they cannot forget this even if they want, and it's not just because the Democrats in the House are investigating. It's because the "their guy" in the White House doesn't and NEVER knows when to leave well enough alone and keep his silence. So instead of merely spiking the ball, claiming victory and exoneration, and changing the subject, Trump keeps picking at the wound.
Now he's calling a legitimate and legal investigation into his administration "an attempted coup" and "an attempt to overthrow the government". Hint: Whenever Donald Trump accuses anyone of anything, it always means he's doing exactly that himself. Always. Every.Single.Time. He's the one attempting to overthrow our Government and the Republicans, scared of him, scared of being primaried, scared of his Tweets, are sitting silently by or trying to deflect.
But they can't because Trump won't let them. He NEVER lets anything go-- "destroy" your enemies (percieved or real) no matter how long it takes. That's whytion, he STILL wants to put Hillary Clinton in jail!
Only one, ONE Republican senator has even pursed his lips, Romney. You'd think Ernst & McSally, sexually assaulted by men just like Trump, would at least stand up, but even they won't. Cowards!
111
@Dadof2
Republicans have been calling our government "he enemy" for 50 years! The government is Our Republic and their campaign slogan is that they are traitors.
Why don't Democrats point this out instead of continuously trying to compromise with self-described "enemies" of the U.S. government?
When they accuse Democrats of taxing and spending, why don't you say "taxing and spending is what Article One of the Constitution tells Congress to do." When they complain about regulating trade, why don't you say the Constitution demands that we "regulate trade."
Democrats need to welcome the investigation into why U.S. counter-intelligence was investigating the Trump campaign. I'm pretty sure its not because the FBI is full of traitors.
Let's ask them under oath, why they started the investigation.
2
The GOP is morally bankrupt. At least Obama didn’t need Russia to win an election.
98
"...a summons for collective inaction." The irony is palpable!
Thank you, N Y Times.
22
Ok so Senate Republicans will not further investigate Trump. What about Russian interference? What do they plan to do the next 2 years? Nothing it seems except try to attack the FBI. Fiddling while the country burns.
115
@Daniel Salazar They won't do anything about Russian interference because the the Replublicans benefit from their engineering our elections.
7
@JulieB Maybe they'll change their tune when Russia decides to push for a Democrat, just to divide us further.
1
@Paul Now that's an idea!!!
Do you think any Republican has even read the Mueller Report? As far as I can tell, every Trump supporter continues to mouth the same excuses and nonsense as though there were not 448 pages that include some 10 to 12 spelled out cases of obstruction of justice and 140 meetings with Russian contacts as well as all the other detailed, evidence supported account of the corrupt current president.
The Republican Party is dead. Those are zombies. The only thing they care about now is following Trump's attack, attack, attack ugliness (aimed at Mr. Mueller, the FBI, Democrats, or whoever) while Trump himself golfs and tweets.
This is all part of the record now. There are 12 other investigations. Some of the Trump people may still end up in jail.
Kushner et al. will continue to play footsies with murderous dictators like MBS, while they continue to accept bribes.
Will justice triumph? Not if it is left to the Republicans. History will not be kind to them. They are deep in some fact-free Jim Crow zone now, hating immigrants, hating Democrats, hating Muslims, hating women, hating the FBI, hating everything but money, power, and bigotry.
On the bright side, they can keep Trump. And I am more grateful than I can ever express that I am not a Republican.
159
@SMB for a zombie party, they are stocking SCOTUS and lower court judges, the effects of which will last 50 years.
10
@JulieB To the detriment of us all, sadly. Just look at the latest SC ruling about class arbitration, even more power taken from the little guys and funneled to the top.
1
Is it maybe time to do away with the Senate?
6
@Petras
Good open argument. Our democracies are not working for the average person. They work brilliant for rich families. Democracy was supposed to replace principalities when all it ever did was give people a fake vote in a system that was never for them.
1
The US constitution is far and away one of the great political approaches ever conceived.
It should not be doctored because of misconduct of Trump and McConnel.
4
@Petras, how is that going to happen? America will allow 100 (seems like a ) lifetime well paying, do-nothing jobs to be eliminated?
All Senate Republicans do is lie and themselves obstruct justice. Regardless of Senators' lies the Mueller report is clear: there is ample evidence of obstruction to impeach Trump.
Both Nixon and Clinton were impeached for obstruction of justice: the 1974 articles of impeachment accused Nixon of “interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations” into the Watergate burglary; in 1998 Clinton "prevented, obstructed and impeded the administration of justice."
But Clinton was only about lying about sex. Trump lies about everything, more like Nixon. Both Nixon and Trump directed subordinates to lie, both dangled pardons, and both repeatedly lied to the public about the investigations.
Mueller refrained from charging Trump with the crime only because of a DOJ opinion prohibiting that. So he gathered evidence while "evidence was fresh" so Congress might impeach, saying no man is above the law. But Republicans and Fox News lie and lie and lie and lie that Mueller cleared Trump. They are so corrupt they will investigate the investigators instead. Just like thugs loyal to a mob boss all Republicans care about are "rats."
During the Clinton trial Senator Graham said, "Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.” If so, Senate Republicans should be impeached. They have no honor, no integrity, and have sullied their federal offices protecting a President filthy with obstruction.
77
Yes! Thank you! In Secrion II of Mueller’s report it is there in black and white. Trump was not charged with conspiracy for llack of evidence, but only because of the Justice Department policy against charging a sitting President.
26
@Tom Sz.
Mueller was investigating the wrong crime. Treason doesn't require conspiracy.
Let's put Mueller under oath and ask him of he saw any evidence of Treason.
By tree way, if any of Trump's appointees has actually followed his orders to obstruct justice, there would have been a conspiracy.
It’s true that most Republicans, and, I’ll wager, most independents, don’t see why President Trump should be punished for repeatedly and loudly proclaiming his innocence of what we know know, to a moral certainty, to be scurrilous and false charges of treason and conspiracy.
3
@Douglas: 116 contacts with Russians. So Mueller didn't find a signed contract between Trump and Putin? That's not how Mob Bosses work, you know that right?
These people are criminals. There's absolutely nothing good about them. Trump and his underlings in crime need to be thrown out.
Read the report. Don't get the synopsis from Trump. Trump lies. OK?
3
Saying one is innocent isn’t obstruction. Repeated actions and words to impeach an investigation is obstruction. Trump repeatedly did the latter.
1
@Sophia Mr. Mueller and his top assistant, Mr. Weissman, both have had a lot of experiencing putting Mafia bosses in jail for conspiracy. It's not that hard. You arrest a little fish and squeeze him until he rats out the big fish. They tried that here but the little fish they squeezed (with serious felony charges and long prison terms) didn't have anything to give. Nada, zip, nothing. That's why the special prosecutor's office concluded that there was no conspiracy. Your religious faith in the existence of such a conspiracy in the face of all the evidence is touching, but unpersuasive to all but your co-religionists.
3
It's way too late for the GOP to have a come to Jesus moment. In for a penny in for a pound. They won't lift a finger to help the Democrats. Isn't that obvious at this point. From a tactical viewpoint the Republican' United we Stand strategy is brilliant. They will let the Democrats engage in a pointless committee investigations, divisive intraparty debates over impeachment. Much energy will be wasted. Lots of bad blood sown. And in the end we won't learn anything new. In the meantime they will quietly advance multiple agendas that serve their interests. Control the Senate & you control the most important lever of power in government: the judiciary. The courts are the source of the Republican's power, their blunt instrument in the cultural war that divides us. The GOP is playing a long game. Trump will be gone soon. They will still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve all of their objectives. Their main goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Trump has gotten two SCOTUS appointments, he may get more. He’s moved much faster on lower-court appointments than Obama did. The legal arm of the conservative movement is the best organized & most far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long term goals. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary, and you can stop the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
14
@Bill Brown I do hope every democrat heeds your wake up call!! Quite sobering.
2
I have called my Republican congressman and have written him email asking why 140 contacts with Russians is normal activity for a campaign? I asked him did he think Trumps directing people in the campaign to lie and writing a letter totally misrepresenting the truth of what happened in a meeting, possible obstructed Mueller’s teams ability to make the case for conspiracy. I then stated that by not continuing the investigation he and the Republicans were positively rewarding Trump for his obstruction as opposed to charging Trump with the felony he obviously committed. By not wielding its power of oversight of the executive branch of government, the Republicans in the senate are destroying the constitution and allowing the imperialization of the Presidency. The entire constitution was a rejection of King George and I wonder what the founding fathers would think of the crowning of King Trump by the Republicans. We the people have to call, email and write our congresspersons and express our outrage so that the powers grab and the lawlessness of the White House is curtailed and impeached!
64
@Edwina Simmons
Did he answer? Saying nothing?
Surprise, surprise. To most of us, the Republican party has been the mouthpiece of con-artists and deplorables for a long, long time. They've been remarkably good at pretending to be the party of law and order, fiscal responsibility, religious and social virtue, national security and other nice-sounding things. Yet, they've been the opposite. It's time the Democrats remind everyone that it's they who are the good guys all around.
39
@Cynical
The fact that someone cannot see this shows how deluded and mindless average people are.
2
@Mogwai
Unfortunately while the Republicans attack them mercilessly 24/7, centrist Democrats have been completely unwilling to fight back.
Republicans keep calling our government "the enemy." Why do Democrats refuse to call them out on calling themselves the enemy of our Republic?
Republicans accuse Democrats of taxiing and regulating trade, and spending money. Why won't Democrats say "taxing and spending and regulating is required by Article One of the Constitution? It is the whole point of a Republic.
Why do Democrats keep trying to compromise with self described enemies of our government who NEVER COMPROMISE, but pocket every peace offering from Democrats, then proceed to insult and investigate them?
Why don't centrist Democrats fight back, instead of fast-tracking their judicial nominees like Chuck "doormat" Schumer was doing last year?
As a non US citizen, I'm very much alarmed by the inaction of the Republican party.
Painting the conclusions of the report as not serious enough to even warrant further examination means either indifference or complicity.
Democrats are not really any better, with a good number of them worrying about reelection rather than doing their "checks and balance" duty.
If it shows anything, it's that US elected officials stopped pretending working on behalf of the country or it's people.
108
@Arnaud: You are right to be alarmed, as so many of us US citizens are, that tyranny seems to be the path forward. Donald Trump has managed to find the very few loopholes in our Constitution that never envisioned a tyrant of his magnitude. The much vaunted "checks and balances" have failed, and our country is on its way to one party rule and flagrant disregard of democratic institutions and protections.
13
@Arnaud
You are absolutely correct. America is an authoritarian police state for the billionaire families and corporations who own everything.
10
@Arnaud
For three years, the Democrats sole focus in life has been trying to undo an election they embarrassingly lost even though they used the government to spy on their opponent and attempted to frame their opponent as a Russian quisling.
They have no interest in doing anything for the American people.
If you ask yourself why the Democrats threw everything they had at Trump, why they vilified him so, why they insist on his removal, it becomes quite clear, now, knowing everything we know.
If they did not get Trump first, the criminality they were involved in to rig an election would surely be exposed and they would surely face severe sanction. They had to take him out and replace him with someone pliable to the deep state.
Rigging the election morphed into the attempted coup.
Well, they did not get Trump first.
The weasels are competing to out weasel each other in a lame attempt to save their own skins.
How long will the MSM keep on wearing their emperor’s new robes?
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There being no new evidence, the is nothing to do.
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It’s NOT the Republicans who are complacent. Democrats have never taken seriously, the outrageous behavior and communications coming from the White House. They have no passion. Their responses are limp in general. Consider the Kavanaugh hearings. What was the Democratic response to Lyndsey Graham’s hysterics? Senator Bennet knows how and so does Senator Sanders and Senator Warren. But the Judiciary Committee? Booker, Harris....Al Franken...Democrats threw Franken under the bus over suspicious allegations. But when it comes to Trump, Democrats are not so inspired WHY?
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Because they are cowards and are more concerned about their re-election prospects than standing up for what’s right and serving our country.
Are Democrats really “agonizing” over impeachment or are they simply debating among themselves as to how best to go about investigating leads to Trump’s misconduct provided in the Mueller report? The Democrats I’ve heard speak about it in the media do not appear to be befuddled or indecisive. All agree more investigation into Trump misdeeds is required, it is simply a matter of how to go about it. Your headline is misleading and frames the story to the Democrats disadvantage.
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The latin word conspiracy means to breathe togeather.
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This is a silence that roars like the ocean. If our founding fathers could see the GOP their eyes would roll like dice. When the members of an equal branch of government fear a tweet, the whole idea of a democratic system has been filed in the round one.
But still, the most puzzling question is: What kind of person would even bother to give weight or concern to what a tawdry character like Trump thinks of them? The only possible answer is self-interest over rule of law.
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Their fear makes them the wrong person to hold such important positions
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2020 should be a referendum on Republicans enabling an unfit president to dismantle our most treasured institutions
The reason we are divided is entirely due to Mitch McConnell and his complicit republican senate members who refuse to govern, obstruct all legislation and fail to lead.
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“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 what the Mueller report says. And it goes on to say it can not make that statement of exoneration.
How can that report be described as an exoneration, a vindication, a time to wave the flag and have a parade?
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The senate and the GOP are a disgrace.
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Trump is melting down in full view of Americans and it will not matter one bit to Republicans as long as McConnell can continue to ram his far right judges through.
If Clinton had so much as taken a phone call from a Chinese citizen purporting to have hacks of a Trumps taxes these very same people would be calling for a treason trial and conviction. The hypocrisy of republicans has become so blatant it's just a standard operating procedure for them. I fear that the country has become numb to it and the win at all costs mantra of McConnell has degraded our democracy to levels possibly never seen before.
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@Chris
And let's not forget Oleg Deripaska and Rusal's (Russia Aluminum) recent major investment and job creation in Kentucky. Kentucky! You know, McCONnell's home state! Small world, isn't it! (With some VERY small people in it!)
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@Chris Trump may be melting down, but he and the republicans seem to keep winning.
Something is very wrong.
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@caljn Trump is not melting down. Apart from his personal foibles, his domestic and economic influence has allowed the longest economic success in decades. True, he does not "play nice", but look what Obama accomplished by doing that--nothing.
The leftist and Democrats continue to run into the walls and each other. All, it seems, that they want to accomplish is to give away stuff, e.g. free tuition, socialistic medicine. Yet, they have no sound economic plan for us being able to afford these give aways. If you want to buy votes, try sound economic policies and less government interference.
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Translation: the electorate is too busy texting and into social media on their electronic toys to bother with this latest political complexity. Let someone else who gets it handle it. Or better yet, let's just ignore it and instant message our friends instead.
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@Tournachonadar This is a classic case of the populace fiddling while the country burns.
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The Senate has been at peace with doing nothing for a long time.
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@Christy-Sue Huber I think you mean the Republicans in the Senate. The House has already passed several important bill this year. The Republican leader of the Senate will most likely not even bring them up for a vote.
Put the blame where it belongs.
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