It should be enough that Mueller contradicted Trump's claims of innocence by saying definitely that he could not exculpate him.
1
At the very least, Mr. Muller's repeated and strenuous warnings about the increasingly obvious threat of Russian intervention in the democratic process of the USA (and in Europe), should be heeded and appropriately vigorous action taken. Russia has the ability to sew even greater havoc this time around, possibly pulling off its goal of re-electing "the Donald" and thereby throwing the "Free World" into even greater chaos. This is NOT something that should be tossed aside or regarded as "the new norm".
1
After watching the debates it is clear that President Trump is above the law. Question is how? I wonder what was in the discussion that took place between Mueller and Ron Rosenstein about the final conclusion. Barr and the Republicans are making statements about how Barr gave Mueller no pressure and unlimited time and had expected Mueller to indict Trump. These statements seemed to imply we worked behind the scene to get our outcome and now will make Mueller look weak and prevent his discussion of what really happened at the final decision. Mueller, who is a follow the book man, now meets with Ron Rosenstein who INSISTS Mueller follow the old Justice Dept. regulation. I wonder how the Mueller's' staff feels about the decision to not indict Trump on his numerous yet to be proved in court, criminal actions based not on a law but an old regulation? How thin is the screen between Democracy and dictators!
1
Get a grip and report the real story: Trump was not exonerated for obstruction of justice, and the Trump campaign had over 160 contacts with the Russians, delivered polling data to the Russians, offered to trade personal debt to a Russian oligarch in exchange for access to Trump, had advance notice of Wikileaks dumps of stolen emails, and asked for and received help from the Russians in many other ways, too. Mueller did a fine job, as did the Democrats. The Republicans trotted out their conspiracy theories and abandoned their country and constituents as usual. Let’s be honest, media is the one disappointed that there were no fireworks. We don’t need a reality show. We need a relentless recitation of the facts and a demand for continued public hearings!
5
I'm a unaffiliated swing voter.
I didn't vote for Trump in 2016.
I see no need to vote for him in 2020.
He will win easily.
You costal and big city elites are completely detached from the rest of the country.
I can't imagine the democrat party will recover from the damage the progressive left has done to their party for decades.
Maybe time to split off a party on real liberal ideals?
5
I wasn't able to watch most of the hearings, but I heard no reference to the thousand or so lawyers who signed the statement that "The Great Divider" Trump was prosecutable for the offenses listed by Mueller. That damning view by the legal profession should be enuf to cow any Republican willing to hang onto Trump's bib-strings into at least deferential consideration that he's a crook and a liability to his party.
That Trump can eventually be prosecuted (if he loses in 2020) was certainly a surprise to Rep. Johnson, who gave us the only real notable exchange between a Republican and Mueller at the hearings. My guess is that he was shielded from this truth by Fox News and the right wing bubble. If it were against the law to watch Fox News, we proponents of impeachment would have a better chance of success than at present.
1
Another Times editorial damaging Mueller's reputation and testimony. There are those who would prefer a Hollywood drama highlighting the hero who flies in with a cape. How sad that we've been so corrupted by Hollywood in this way. I am furious at the NY Times for their multiple editorials denigrating this man's stamina based on age or hinting at age related mental acuity. You do a disservice to a man who gave more to this country in battle and labor than any of those journalists who need a headline on the Editorial page. Instead of attacking the Republicans for their lack of responsibility in seeking the truth as they hammered Mueller in their grandstanding, you go after the Messenger who stated that Russia is on our tail and will be for the next election all but insuring another four years for the Russian puppet in the White House. What a pity that the NY Times has fallen to such lows and forgotten what the real subject of importance is.
5
"...a Republican pontificated about the 'presumption of innocence.'"
I just can't believe Peter Baker and the poor, clueless reporting in general by the NYT on the Mueller hearings.
Baker (who lazily quotes two legal sources sure to parrot his views) and the Times reporters covered very little of the credible points raised by the Republicans about Mueller and his report, from the fact that Mueller repeatedly failed to know what was in "his" report, to the lack of an actual legal meaning for the term "exoneration" (the left wing buzz word of the moment) which was likely used by Mueller's staff, to his failing to even follow the government's mandate (in Volume II re. obstruction) to his disingenuous claim not to have heard of Fusion GPS and admission he did not even investigate that company which set up the Trump Tower meeting that the report expounded on ad nauseum. He was clearly hands-off and allowed the inmates run the asylum for him.
I'm really discouraged about the quality and breadth of the NYT's reporting. You don't seem to have the sophistication, the professionalism, nor perhaps the brains, to bother to analyze this important story beyond your biased preconceptions. Shame on you.
2
In the immortal words of Auntie Em: “Here, here, what's all this jabber-wapping when there's work to be done? I know three shiftless farmhands [Reps. Nadler, Schiff, & Cummings] that'll be out of a job before they know it.”
2
If “the job of leaders is to lead”, then the 535 members of Congress are not leaders, but followers. Each of you was elected to represent some specific constituency, not to vote your respective party lines. At this point it’s evident that the only four people that count are Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer in the Senate, and Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy in the House. Just give them their respective party representative votes, and let them hash out their agreements.
The electorate is just too lazy to read the Mueller report, they need one page of bullet points.
1
Forget impeachment. Use the information in the Mueller report during the 2020 campaign and let's move on.
We have just so much political capital to spend and if we blow it trying to impeach Trump, we will lose the election.
We can't "out Trump" Trump; leave him to stew in his own rotten swamp.
Dems need a good, solid platform that benefits the American people and use the informational gifts Mueller gave us in his stellar report.
Impeachment is an indulgent (fun) idea for people who forget we have a Republican senate.
Let's use our brains here and realize impeachment is not an option. Spend the political capital we have on a platform that works for the American people.
1
Mr. Baker, I guess we did not watch the same thing. At least, we did not see the same thing.
Mr Mueller was hampered a bit, I think, by his hearing - something with which I'm sympathetic - but his answers were mostly pretty clear, and he hewed strongly to what he had said he would do, staying within the domain of the report he and his colleagues produced. His defense of his hiring practices was strong when questioned by Republicans. His responses to careful questions were certain.
He did what he did for good reasons, including that there are other investigations under way. Someone else observed in another forum that he had to be very careful to be sure that he did not inadvertently damage those other investigations.
Mr Mueller performed well, like the Marine he is. I admire him, and we should all thank him.
6
Mueller was only a carefully chosen figurehead ,hired to bring the Presidents impeachment proceedings to congress . Carrying a much troubled prosecution record he has remarked that he doesn't remember much about the past .The reason he did not remember much about the present either ,yesterday was because his involvement with the investigation was minimal and estimate to be maybe an hour or few at the days end meeting.The 18 Democrat operative investigators were specially chosen as a hit squad on the President which would not falter by looking at any substance which concerned Democrats ,especially the Steele documents and connection to the Clinton campaign.The special counsel would have never existed without the corrupt Steele documents which Mueller and his crew know is "from the poisoned tree.
4
@Alan Einstoss please do thoughtful readers and perhaps yourself, the favor of googling “convictions related to Mueller investigation”. First up today was Nadler’s opening statement of yesterday, listing the 37 criminal indictments (and counting) already secured. One has to literally ignore reality to believe what you have proposed. A rhetorical question: How does that approach work for anyone in other areas of life?
2
Great job on repeating the counter narrative of our national reality spun by Fox, Limbaugh and friends! What do they have to say about the 6 Trump Campaign officials convicted of various felonies? Something like “Patriots caught up in a witch-hunt”? Bijan Kian, most recently convicted, was such a model citizen, right?
1
Mueller's testimony may disappoint now, but let's let it percolate. Nixon was not impeached overnight-it took months for the Congress and public to come around.
Dems just need to highlight certain exchanges and push their narrative. Rep Demings masterfully got Mueller to agree that the Trump was untruthful and evasive in his written testimony to the Special Counsel. He was not cooperative as he always claims.
Another Rep. played up the fact that many in the Trump campaign were motived by greed, notably candidate Trump, and many lied to cover it up, notably President Trump
And Reps. Schiff and Nadler both evoked responses that pinpointed Trump's illegal and unethical behavior.
The Dems are armed with an astounding amount of material damaging to the president. They just need to get it out in front of their constituents and the rest of the country and use if for 2020.
Republicans, on the other hand, can highlight some debunked conspiracy theories and attack an investigation that was overseen by a Trump appointee, Rod Rosentein.
And the democrats are really, really disappointing me on a variety of fronts. Read his report. I read Volume II. What are you being paid to do? Trying to look responsible on TV doesn’t get it. Your questions were, for the most part, uninformed and ridiculous. Schiff was on the right track, but...Everything you need for a solid case of multiple indictments for obstruction is right there. A first year law student could successfully handle this. Of, course, just reading doesn’t get you TV face time, so...
One take away for me was that Mueller seemed vague or unfamiliar with parts of HIS own report. To be unfamiliar with FusionGPS is absurd. I would like to see the time sheets of his and Andrew Weissman on who did the real work. Of course Mueller knew who he was hiring. If there is a cover up, it is who exactly was in charge, the special counsel or a hired gun.
2
Robert Mueller disappointed but mostly because of the public's expectations that Mueller would investigate, reach conclusions and then indict Trump if evidence supported it. It should have been disclosed or made clear to the public when Mueller was appointed that because of Justice department rule a sitting president could not be indicted and thus Mueller could not even consider. He said yesterday he acted as prosecutor but he couldn't do what prosecutors do: indict the president which facts would have supported. The deck was stacked in favor Trump at outset given crazy Justice rule. Past time to scuttle this irrational rule made 43 years ago by one man. If no one is above the law then you can't have rule that exempts the president.
1
What we heard, Mr. Baker, was a litany of crimes committed by Trump. YOU say that wasn't "high drama". I disagree.
4
These investigations are turning to be Democrat Benghazi. How many laws has the new Congress passed?
1
Here’s the deal: you can’t Build a castle without bricks. . Trump’s use of mockery and sarcasm during the campaigns and beyond simply do not equate collusion. Unless—you have a thin skin or if you are attempting to engineer alternate realities than the one you don’t like. All this may explain the Left’s humorlessness and willingness to build castles out of individual reeds of straw this past year. The case is just plain flimsy. Why would so many thoughtful, educated, and well meaning people commit intellectual suicide in such a worthless edifice to die in?
1
I could not disagree with this analysis more. I watched the entire proceedings, both morning and afternoon.
Mueller is not a performer, he is a doer. Eventually, when this is reviewed, that will be in his favor. He testified in a competent, non-theatrical and credible way. I wish he did not agree to adhere to AG Barr's restrictions, but he is a by-the-book man. His integrity shone through. He was honest and very believable, two things many politicians, including Donald Trump, and many of the Republicans on the committees are not.
The substance of his remarks are what we should be talking about, not his delivery of them.
6
trump's presidential campaign committee is an "entity", like a corporation, that can be sued or indicted.
in light of disclosures (including a recent criminal conviction) that at least two very senior members of trump's campaign were paid agents of foreign governments during the campaign and provided important aid to interference in the election by russia, i'm surprised no one asked mueller whether he considered indicting the campaign committee on a conspiracy charge.
2
If there were no blockbusters in yesterday's hearing, it's because the news media ignored the meat of the hearing in favor of a never-ended search for something "new" - even if that is a distraction from the story itself.
To wit: Rep. Schiff's questions to Mueller may have restated what is in the report, but they were the essence of what the hearing and report were about - and were devastating. That Mueller concluded Russia interfered in the election, that Trump and his campaign welcomed that interference, that they build their campaign strategy around it and that they lied to cover it up. The last three in particular would come as news to most Americans, the last three in particular, given as those facts were mostly buried in secondary coverage following the report's release.
Mueller's assertion that Trump was generally untruthful - ie, lied repeatedly - in his written responses under oath to Mueller in itself is a blockbuster and should have been major headline in itself. As was Mueller's unprompted response that accepting foreign intelligence in a presidential election "is a crime."
There was a ton of blockbuster material in the hearing but reporters, being already familiar with the findings, failed to recognize that what is old news to them is new and astonishing to most of their readers.
5
This is beyond "not being a blockbuster."
Mueller looked old, frail, and certainly was NOT in command of his own report. This entire spectacle made it look like he wasn't REALLY in charge, playing right into a claim that Republicans have been making for a couple of months, now (that it was the "angry Democrats" that were actually running the show and writing the report).
Representative Ratcliffe RIPPED Mueller on his claims of Trump "not being exonerated," forcing Mueller to admit that NOBODY has ever been treated like Trump, who is being held to a presumption of guilt standard that is unconstitutional. Funny that this article forgot to mention that.
Though Mueller certainly did NOT answer all Democratic questions, post-hearing analysis showed he answered more than 100 questions from Democrats, as opposed to only SEVEN from Republicans. Bias, anyone?
Robert Mueller didn't even know who FusionGPS was! How is that even possible?
6
@Andrew Well said, my friend. As a moderate Democrat, I believe the unconstitutional legal standard (presumption of guilt) being applied to anybody in the US, Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Communist, Libertarian, etc., is shameful and should be called out as such. The Democrats are beginning to lose my support as they continue down this obsessive path of not letting go of Russia/Trump and moving forward with strong ideas to improve our quality of life.
3
When did this new legal standard of "exoneration" come into the lexicon of American jurisprudence? It's just so intellectually disingenuous. Proving one's innocence has never been a standard in any legal system in the Western world. That ostensibly intelligent people would glaze over this glaring double standard just shows that their opinions are to be taken with a grain of salt. Even the best and brightest among us, it seems, is not above one's own confirmation bias.
5
The optics of the Mueller testimony weren't great, but the substance was devastating. Prior to his testimony, I was on the fence with regard to impeachment. Now I'm all for it.
5
@wp Out of curiosity, what changed your mind?
1
For over 2 years Democrats have deferred to Mueller to be America's savior. Baseless (we now know) assumptions were made about how comprehensive his investigation would be & what a roadmap to impeachment it would provide. Arguably, the case for impeachment was there, but we've known many of those details for months. After AG Barr, abetted by the duplicitous Rosenstein, was allowed to blatantly lie & mischaracterize the report, generating the headline that would be locked in the minds of most, relatively indifferent Americans, the path to correct the record was always rocky. Hearing the report from Mueller himself, we were told, would be the key to convincing the people of the truth. It is testament to the lack of leaking from Mueller's team that no one appears to have known of his physical & mental decline. Now it's revealed that he played a limited role in this investigation, even in terms of its management & oversight, much less the details. How easily we ceded responsibility to Mueller to fix the Trump abomination is on us. This doesn't diminish his honorable record as a patriotic American, but does illustrate how insulated he was from our current environment & we were from the reality of his investigation. Where we go now, I don't know, but the Mueller investigation is over, for better or worse.
1
The Democratic Party is in complete disarray and is not functioning on behalf of Americas needs or well being. They are obsessed with impeaching President Trump to the detriment of their function to secure Americas future in a global economy. They have moved themselves to the extreme left with policies that will completely bankrupt our system of government, open our borders to all comers regardless of their status, and have completely erased any hope of bi-partisan problem solving.
The Mueller investigation is over and yesterday's hearing should prove that. The statement that "no one is above the law not even the President " is open for debate and makes the Democrats look foolish even saying it. Everyone knows that the law is not enforced equally across the population. In fact if that were true then why aren't the Democrats in favor of securing our borders? Illegal entrants can break our immigration laws with impunity and are actually supported by all Democrats for doing so.
So to my original statement of being in disarray they are not only that but are now becoming laughable and soon will become the party of radicals and not taken seriously.
5
The same reason there will be no impeachment, although there should be, is the same reason Trump was elected.
To impeach a democratically elected president, as he was, is a serious thing. The impeachment talk started within days of Trump taking office, long before this Russia thing was mainstream. From far away, it sounds like "we don't like him-find a reason to impeach him." When a Dem is someday president, this impeachment talk will come back. Beware the monster you create.
If you want to get rid of Trump, start getting serious about winning the next election.
4
I was not disappointed. He was honest, answered truthfully, didn't engage in Republicans' repeated personal attacks, and let it be known to the world exactly what was done and by whom.
MOST importantly, Americans were able to see how Republicans put themselves above their duty to America, that they are fine with Russian cyberwar, that they approve of the soon-to-be despot currently destroying this country.
3
One question for the Times. Where is the balanced reporting when Democrats, “declare” and Republicans, “pontificate”? This is why many people don’t believe reputable news sources. The spin for one side or the other on an issue is unneeded and taints the reporting.
3
I don't think the Dems were disappointed, they got what they were looking for in trying to get Mueller's findings in front of the American public. Not a witch hunt, not a hoax, no exoneration of Trump, numerous examples of attempts to obstruct justice. Refuting pretty much everything Trump and Barr have been claiming seems pretty damning to me. Also it clearly demonstrated that the GOP doesn't want the truth, they just want to protect a lying and lawless president by lying themselves. The fact that so many Americans, including most of the GOP, doesn't care about truth or facts is the bigger problem.
3
Trimp in prophecy?
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
1
I'm looking forward to the release of the findings of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz in his report regarding the genesis of the FBI/Obama DOJ counterintelligence investigation of candidate Trump in 2016; it likely will provide answers to the many questions that Bob Mueller was unable or unwilling to answer in yesterday's testimony before Congress.
In particular, I'd like the answer to a question raised yesterday AND by the NY Times shortly after the release of Special Counsel Mueller's final report in April:
"Another possibility — one that Mr. Steele has not ruled out — could be Russian disinformation. That would mean that in addition to carrying out an effective attack on the Clinton campaign, Russian spymasters hedged their bets and placed a few land mines under Mr. Trump’s presidency as well."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/us/politics/steele-dossier-mueller-report.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
3
@Raconteur
Well, such disinformation would not negate many questionable contacts between the Trump Campaign and Russians, the motive by many in the campaign to win office to make money, and then the lying and obstruction of justice to cover up the above, which the Special Counsel documented in 448 pages and 1,200 footnotes.
1
@Chrisinauburn
By all means...keep it up. Continue to refuse to accept the results of the 2016 election and continue to hold meaningless roll call votes in the U.S. House where even a majority of the Democratic majority refuses to move toward the impeachment of President Trump:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll483.xml
It looks like the Democrats chickens have come home to roost. The Mueller investigation was started due to the fake Russian dossier which is why it was always a witch hunt. That was the funniest thing in the world to watch yesterday, just hilarious.
5
Then-Mother Teresa said "Do it anyway" where "it" is "the right thing" and bad consequences are also likely to occur but are "de minimis" in relation to the good.
The right thing here is impeaching PT because, although there is no burden of proof for trying charges of impeachment, no prosecutor could be faulted for concluding that the charges against PT could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Yes, there is the virtual certainty that the trier of impeachment charges would not convict; but virtual is neither absolute nor actual.
So try the case, is one old lawyer's urging. Why? What's at stake is the rule of law and subverting the other fundamentals of the best realization of democracy thus far.
If the case against PT is not proven, we will still have gone down fighting, politics and poisoned juries be damned.
The Democrats were fools to project that Mueller testifying would change anything. He told them as much when he said he would stick to the report and that was it. But they wanted to waste our time and money on yet another nonsense theater vs. talking about the tough stuff, like immigration reform, corruption in government services like water management, what to do to reform our public education k-12 (and it's not about money), come up with a plan to fix and maintain our infrastructure in the face of corrupt unions (e.g. NYC subway system), and how to eliminate redundant agencies throughout the Federal government that continue to waste their guaranteed budgets.
Pure theatrics that we had to pay for; unbelievable. Like Benghazi, let it go.
I don't know - am I being disloyal to the country and my party when I point out to a hopelessly out of touch and ineffective Democratic party that they are digging themselves deeper into a hole with every attempt to revive the dead impeachment meme?
Naaa, they won't listen anyhow.
5
If Democrats want a dramatic moment, they clearly need to create it for themselves. We wanted Mueller to come in as a referee declare foul play - and he did, but he cannot win the day.
It is time for Pelosi to stop playing the nice mom who doesn't want to split up the family. She must forsake her Clintonian notion that impeachment always backfires, get on her steed and defend the Constitution if she wants a dramatic moment. An impeachment inquiry will expose the rot and those that try to hide it. Then we will have a drama for the ages.
1
As a lifelong democrat I am sorely disappointed in my party. Clearly Muller was most concerned about the attacks on our democracy by foreign powers as he was in 2001 when he became FBI director after 9-11 and did much to prevent future attacks. The democrats were most interested in squeezing any new info out of Muller about Trump's impeachable misdeeds. The democrats would have looked much more credible and inspired confidence if they had got Muller talking about all of the info he obtained about Russia's incursions. That would have been a great education for the American public (very few of whom read the Muller report) and a push in the right direction. Instead I think the dems took a step down the long road to defeat in 2020. There are lots of good representatives. Leadership is needed.
While Mr. Mueller's session with Congress did not produce a mega-sound-bite perhaps, a lot of good material did come out.
And by creatively building a strong 2020 messaging campaign around it and pushing it out to the public - day-in day-out - the seriousness of where we are may finally sink in.
1
The savvy DC correspondents had their "optics" takes pre-written.
They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing from their coverage of 2016, which means that they will repeat their mistakes in 2020.
2
Much commentary on obstruction amounts to nothing more than hand wringing and refusal to accept Mueller's unwillingness to conclude that Trump obstructed justice.
Mueller found "difficult issues " in addition to the question of whether a sitting President can be indicted. So it's not true that the OLC memo was the only thing standing in the way of an indictment on obstruction. If there are difficult issues notwithstanding Democrats' claim of felonies committed by Trump, there can be no clear cut case of obstruction.
Probably corrupt intent was a key blocking issue for Mueller. There are other possible explanations than corrupt intent, such as Trump's frustration - knowing he was innocent of collusion - with this huge obstacle to his ability to govern.
In the end Mueller in no way concluded Trump is guilty of obstruction. As quoted in the LA Times, this is as far as Mueller was willing to go: “What I wanted to clarify is the fact that we did not make any determination with regard to culpability [on obstruction] in any way."
1
Mr. Mueller's testimony yesterday, like his detailed report, was a devastating condemnation of Donald Trump and his administration. It was the epitome of "speak softly and carry a big stick" -- the voluminous and compelling evidence contained in the report is the stick, and his calm and quiet demeanor the soft voice.
Mr. Mueller has said as loudly as he is able since last Spring that bringing Mr. Trump to justice is the job of Congress, not the Department of Justice. The relentless drumbeat of media pundits to the contrary is misinformed and counterproductive.
Does anyone who cares about the rule of law really want Mr. Barr to make the final decisions about Mr. Trump? Do we really expect an underling to prosecute their own boss? Who would serve as Judge and Jury?
Congress already has the power of to impeach Mr. Trump, that act takes a simple majority. Congress already has the power to jail or impose heavy fines on any person who stands in contempt of Congress -- no participation from the Courts or DoJ is needed.
A congressional impeachment inquiry is the obvious next step. Any elected official who actually cares about the rule of law -- including Ms. Pelosi -- should be demanding that such an inquiry begin immediately.
Ms. Pelosi instead grandstands, apparently attempting to milk as many political contributions and votes from the media spectacle is possible. It's time for the showboating to end.
Begin an impeachment inquiry -- NOW.
2
I completely and totally reject any notion that this is a fight between REpublicans and Democrats.
The consensus of the U.S. Intelligence Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Intellignece chaired by Senator Richard Burr(R-NC); The Report on the Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election; and, the recent revelations by the current government of Ecuador about Russian visitors to Julian Assange and equipment brought into the embassy in London all confirm beyond any reasonable doubt there was massive interference by Russia upon orders from the former KGB Colonel Vladimir Putin.
This is about the National Security of the United States of America and the fundamental right of the American people to choose our government in a free election. We did not get that in 2016'
No one should allow the press to reduce this to a partisan fight. Right and Wrong here is clear.
3
There is a very fine line between protecting the president and protecting the Office of the President. After his testimony yesterday I honestly couldn't say which side of that line Muller is on.
He said very plainly that the President's written answers were "less than truthful". Anyone else would have been subpoenaed at that point. If you extend the courtesy of allowing a take home test and it becomes clear the individual cheated you don't just throw up your hands and say it's too hard to do anything about it.
If you are mandated to get to the truth of a matter then that's what you do. Half measures don't cut it. Subpoenas should have been issued to Trump and his entire campaign staff. Something is not right here.
I've had complete trust in Mr. Mueller throughout this investigation. After yesterday not so much.
2
@BC - The fact remains that all Republicans are now compelled to march in lock step in fealty to the cult of trump, so I share your frustration.
@BC
"I've had complete trust in Mr. Mueller throughout this investigation. After yesterday not so much."
Was that simply based on the fact that he didn't give the responses you desperately wanted him to give?
@Lord of the Dance
Sorry to disappoint but I'm not desperate for anything. Contrary to what the reactionary right would have you believe this is due process not persecution.
When an investigator says in so many words that the President did not answer truthfully and that some of his online postings are "problematic" I expect there to be some follow up. There was none. No subpoenas were issued and the reason Mueller gave was essentially that it was too hard and would take too long.
Trust me; neither you nor I would ever get that kind of deference from a federal prosecutor, no one would. In the absence of a coherent explanation I'm afraid it's starting to smell like a cover up.
I'm sorry Peter Baker bit that hook. It is not Mueller's job to educate the public. That is the cable news media's failure. It is not Mueller's job to decide to impeach the president. That is what Congress is for. The ball is in House Democrats court. The commercial infotainment world of CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC (forget FOX) will cover the contents of the Mueller Report only when Congress forces them to do it with impeachment inquiries and hearings. This is what they were trying accomplish with Mueller's testimony and he rightly didn't allow them to get away with it. They need to do their jobs. Elizabeth Warren is right. You want a blockbuster you have to impeach. Netflix is not going to do this for us either.
2
One thread of questioning was missing. Why was Mueller reluctant to testify? Why is he reluctant to discuss the process and prefers to stay within the confines of the report?
What was your role Mr Mueller? To simply issue a report? What is your responsibility as a Citizen as you watch Trump and Barr compromise your work by stonewalling it's full release, block witnesses from testifying, and watch the Intel agencies hamstrung by McConnell's refusal to strengthen our defenses from further Election interference?
Mr Mueller, your job was not simply issue a report, it was about 'educating' the American people to the dangers we face Simply saying 'yes', 'no', or 'true' doesn't cut it.
The failure to challenge Mueller's reluctance to 'push his own envelope' has resulted in the American people concluding that is all just more Beltway politics.
The subsequent failure to start an impeachment inquiry will only result in Trump winning re-election thru continued foreign interference.
An Impeachment Inquiry is not a full Impeachment. But it will blow thru the stonewalling that is preventing the American people from realizing the peril this Republic faces.
2
What you mean is that Mueller didn't give them a ready made impeachment indictment. Now congress will have to do its job (Oh the horror!) and consider the evidence and ramifications.
If you are quite done playing useless games perhaps we can get back to work? Maybe show the voters that the Democrats are capable of accomplishing something? You know, do that governing thing? Up to now Trump has set the agenda for the nation and you have let him. You might want to change that. Do something novel, like have a vision for our nation. Outline what our country will look like in 4 years and have a legislative plan to accomplish that. This is something called Leadership, you might have heard about it somewhere.
1
If our country falls into ruin over the next decade we can point directly to articles like these that aren't concerned with substance but style. We are really arguing that it wasn't good "theater"?? Mueller laid out bare a history of felonious criminal behavior by the president and his campaign. But hey, if Mueller was only played by James Cromwell or Harrison Ford, democracy might have stood a chance.
3
For the Republicans, Mueller’s selection turned out to be a perfect pick for his job. A virtuous man who took his orders as an oath, he did not disappoint his handlers. He sat through vicious attacks on his credibility and integrity, refusing to go outside of his ordered mission. While Democrats treated him with the honor and respect he and his work deserves, Republicans knew they could libel him and he would not fight back. Americans busy with grilling and vacations will be able to rely on their President’s tweets to discover how it all went down.
1
Spot on article and a clever read. What I would expect from NYT. Hopefully the Democratic Party leadership and presidential candidates start getting the message that theater such as last night did not do anything to hurt Trump's likelihood for re-election, indeed this latest hearing increased the likelihood without question. There is time for the Party leadership to start getting smart.
2
Isn't anyone sick of theater yet? So what if Robert Mueller isn't the winner of American Idol? If Americans can't hear quiet evidence and listen to sober words, if they need a good show more than the truth of facts, then the situation is indeed hopeless because there is no one paying attention to reality. We are just an audience waiting to be entertained.
2
These hearings were not for the news and media, or the political junkies. They were for the 100 million uninformed Americans who never understood what the investigation was about or the results. The media can't be pushing for impeachment for increasing viewership or readership. This is NOT about NEWS it is about our country and saving our Republic from an enemy of the state. Please get your priorities to protecting the US and not increasing your bottom line.
2
The only people who were disappointed were those who were delusional enough to believe that Mueller was going to reveal something new or different than what was included in the 400 page report.
3
We ought to consider that the reason the Democrats keep failing to bring down the President is that they are wrong and motivated solely by impotent rage over losing the 2016 election? Whether or not that is literally true is almost besides the point; it is exactly what they look like now. It won’t help them in 2020.
4
What is "blockbuster" is the fact that Special Counsel Robert Mueller III made a very grave statement about Russian tampering in the 2016 election for President and Vice President of the United States should be a very loud, resounding alarm to every citizen of this country demanding the assurance from every Board of Election in each state that their vote casting system is tamper-proof. And if there is not a very vocal public outcry to demand free and safe elections in this country, we are sunk as a democracy. There is no democracy of one person - one (tamper-proof) vote in the United States if we have Russian or any other outside interference. And yes, I continue to believe Donald Trump's tax returns will see a direct link between Russian interference - in many forms - vote tampering, money schemes, loans, and potentially blackmail that will bring this house of cards down. I think Trump knows this -and continues his daily and relentless twittering directed toward whomever is disturbing his house of cards at the moment. All of his twittering behavior is simply to distract from the truth - which is found in his tax returns. And finally, Special Counsel Mueller, in his 11 minute televised address two weeks ago stated, ”If we had had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” Another shocking statement that should be sounding very loud alarms. That statement is yet another reason to issue court orders to subpoena Trump’s taxes.
3
Robert Mueller had no intention of performing when he reluctantly agreed to subject himself to seven hours of abuse.
He conveyed what he intended to convey to those who really listened, and he reminded us once again of the danger we face from the Trump-Putin alliance.
Mueller was urging us to wake up and save our democratic form of government. I think that he succeeded.
1
This article reminds me why Trump is in power, all bluster and TV reality show yet nothing about the truth of Mueller's words.
Back in college, I reported on a local high profile murder trial for our student paper. What was eye-opening was it was in no way like the Law & Order trials on TV. Almost an hour was spent on credentials for crime analyst, there were no theatrics from legal counsel and no witnesses cracked under pressure. But there were facts presented and a decision to render. I'm surprised a legacy newspaper like this cares more about the spectacle than the truth, but then this is the same paper who ran Hillary's emails on the front page for a week and decided Trump's wrong-doings deserved a few paragraphs. Do better.
3
Am I alone in thinking that Robert Mueller's testimony was just cowardly?
I know it is tough to change the hero narrative after all the Mueller hype. It is time that we start taking people at their words as he made it clear he was unwilling to testify in front of Congress. His unwillingness to stand behind an investigation that he spent two years working on is not a profile in courage.
3
Cowardly? Your comment is unfounded.
Mueller executed the investigation fairly, wrote the report, made it public and resigned his position as required by law.
Mueller doesn't showboat like Trump. He has allowed his report stand on it's own merits without explaining, tweeting, criticizing or complaining to anyone. How you can use the word cowardly to describe Robert Mueller is beyond my comprehension.
Recall that this whole thing started because the DNC became irate with the Russians for exposing evidence that the DNC was influencing the primary elections for their preferred candidate and undermining democracy.
Kind of ironic, eh?
6
“Mueller testified today that Russia committed crimes to help elect Trump, that Trump welcomed the help, and that he then lied about it.” Barbara L. McQuade
Mueller also testified that the Russians continue to attempt to interfere in our democracy. “They’re doing it as we sit here, and they expect to do it in the next campaign.”
Furthermore, Trump has basically said he would welcome the help again. He is so emboldened he doesn’t see the need to lie about it this time around.
This is the story.
NYT, the country is in trouble. We need a free press dedicated to substance. And we need a press willing to remind us of key uncovered truths such as those repeated to us today during the Mueller hearings and so succinctly restated by Barbara McQuade.
1
I am now in favor of impeachment. It is clear as day that Trump lied to us and Mueller and has failed to uphold his oath of office to protect us against a sworn enemy, Russia.
Too many in the progressive/non FOX media are making much ado about the messenger Mr. Mueller.
This is perhaps the fatal flaw of the non Trump media. In an effort to seem fair they go overboard with this nonsense about Mueller seeming out of it, confused, or unfamiliar with the report. And they have done the same countless times in the past with other issues – over 'fair'.
Mueller is 74, probably is losing his hearing a bit, maybe has other personal health issues. So what.
Everything he said totally backed up a methodical investigation that was beyond fair to the most despicable and unfit President this nation has ever seen. Nothing detracted from the report and the facts established therein.
This nation is so addicted to AHA! moments, and instant gratification, that I fear the Amygdala is the only functioning part of far too many peoples brain.
We have to think logically and rationally and save this nation from the madness.
6
Impeachment inquiry. The President has committed a crime. He is immoral. unethical and is not fit for office. High crimes and misdemeanors. It is the right thing to do.
2
In 2020 the Dems will lose big, but even then they won’t understand so corrupted are they by greed, mendacity, and the lust for power. It will be time for a new party to be born. The Dems are the oldest party, and now have become dinosaurs. After 2020 you’ll see their biggest names start to peel away. It will be one of those rare astronomical events that will fill everyone with wonder.
3
There seems to be a well orchestrated media frenzy to make sure Trump is not impeached...on both sides. Weird.
2
What an awful headline. Does everything have to be a show? Dramatic and exciting? Did anyone pay attention to the words? Well I did. Doing nothing now allows any president any time to do whatever they want with zero consequences. Is that what we are?
3
So, what could Mueller have added to what just about everyone knew before the 2016 elections? That Trump was a racist? He was questioning the citizenship of a sitting President based solely on his color. That he was a serial philanderer? A dozen women came forward. Some sixty million voted for him knowing all this.
The 2020 election is not a referendum on Trump, it is a referendum on the character of this nation. This nation failed miserably in 2016 and likely to fail in 2020 as well. Bob Mueller is not going to turn this around.
2
What bothers me is the continued double standard in Washington. With that let me see if I understand some of this. Hillary Clinton and her cronies arrange for a phone dossier on Trump, they cook up a number of other not so legal antics including easing thousands of emails. The democrats do nothing, all is okay. Trump is elected because we the people elected him as we say Clinton for who she was. Now we have the democrats turning over rocks looking for anything thy can use to attack a sitting president. You folks didn't do any of this with the shady nonsense Obama pulled? You do remember his statement to a Russian representative indicating that he would be in a better position to deal after the election?
4
Nobody should be surprised that the hearings were an anticlimax and a counterproductive exercise. Here's why:
1. The special counsel report told us what Mueller was going to say.
2. The democrats are strategically stupid, and they had no prayer of getting Mueller to say something outside of the margins. They could only make themselves look stupid.
3. In the 3rd year of an administration, if there is not overwhelming evidence (and support) for impeachment, the best jury is the electorate, not the senate.
4. If Trump runs for re-election under an active impeachment trial, he will have a better chance of winning - probably even better if an impeachment process were to end with a senate decision not to convict (which is guaranteed).
Perhaps the democrats should turn to policy and articulating why America would be better off with them in the White House. Otherwise, four more years ...
1
40 years ago, nine hundred people drank Jim Jones's coolade. Other than dying, these people had several things in common: ignorance, willingness to believe in and follow a spellbinder, isolation and fear.
Kakistocracy is rule by the least suitable and incompetent. It requires little imagination to project the havoc perpetrated by another 4 year reign by the Republican cabal. I would suggest reading "Hitlerland"by Andrew Nagorsky but it may be too late.
1
It is long overdue for the Democratic Party to turn the page and begin concentrating on the issues that will enable it to defeat Donald Trump in 2020: Healthcare; wage disparity; Russian interference in our election process.
Stop telling the country how awful, corrupt, deceitful, etc., Donald Trump is! The 65% of the country that already knows that does not need to keep hearing it. And the 35% of the nation that comprise his cult-like die-hard supporters will neither hear nor accept that message.
Enough already with the talking heads on MSNBC and CNN detailing how Trump has hijacked the Republican Party. I'm sick of it.
Take a page from how the party retook the House majority in the last mid-term election. Healthcare was the number one concern for the voters at the poll exit surveys. Come on, Democrats. Get your act together and get your election engine in high gear.
1
This viewer found his “bottom line.” The whole thing is a sad farce. With very few exceptions, members of Congress are solely interested in keeping their cushy jobs complete with obscenely long vacations. But what is the excuse of the Second Circuit for convicting Michael Cohen and not laying a finger on the guy pulling the strings? And what happened to the State of New York and all the excitement about releasing Trump’s tax returns? We are all just a bunch of suckers.
3
Mueller was interested in stemming influence from Russia. Both the Dems and Repubs are too busy trying to figure out how to make political hay.
"And then the natural question that has to be asked is why Trump tried to terminate the investigation instead of getting to the bottom of it."
As regards his own actions - because he knew he was innocent of collusion/conspiracy, and a years-long investigation would hobble his Presidency - especially in terms of foreign affairs. Initiatives with Russia would be especially suspect. Any move to reduce tensions would be cited as evidence of collusion with that country. And to the extent Trump was weakened by the inquiry his clout even with allies would suffer.
Nothing was ever going to come out of this. Mueller has been very consistent when it comes to his attitude towards impeachment/obstruction/collusion: it's in the report. There was no reason to believe he was going to deviate from what has already been said.
Some Dems are saying that this will help voters understand the implications of the Mueller report, but I doubt it. The coverage of the Russia investigation and the resultant report has gone on for so long that pretty much every voter has either already decided where they stand on the issue, or they have tuned it out completely and don't care. If Dems keep building up Mueller only to be let down every time, they're just setting themselves up for failure. Muller will not save you from Trump.
1
@Greg: I agree. The next step is for an impeachment inquiry to put the facts already discovered by Mr. Mueller's investigation into their proper context, and to extend the reach of the investigation into areas that -- while certainly "high crimes and misdemeanors" -- are outside the very limited scope within which Mr. Mueller was allowed to operate.
It is clear Donald Trump is unfit for the office he holds. As you observe, the evidence of his contempt for the boundaries imposed by the Constitution and by fundamental American values and priorities (never mind law) is flagrant and has been on display in the public record for as long as he's been in office.
Only Congress is able to act on this. It is irresponsible for Congress, the media, or any American to expect Mr. Mueller to prosecute or otherwise enforce the law.
Congress must impeach Mr. Trump. Congress must present a compelling case (as it did against Mr. Nixon and as it failed to do against Mr. Clinton) that Mr. Trump cannot remain in office.
The Senate must then convict Mr. Trump, and Mr. Trump must be removed from office.
1
I think that Trump should be impeached for ignoring the lawful House order to turn over his tax returns. But the House doesn't have the courage to go through with that. Trump has correctly gauged their toughness and found it wanting.
I don't really know what the Democrats thought they would gain by this Mueller spectacle. Unless Pelosi and other leaders give the ok they aren't going to impeach. They are betting that doing so would imperil control of the House in 2020. The problem is, NOT doing so may also imperil control of the House and the Presidency in 2020.
1
Mueller has been placed in a no win situation. His choice, and I agree with this, was not to placate either side, not to become the poster child for either side nor the whipping post for either side. He did what he knew he had enough evidence and facts to support that he could pursue in a court of law and win. As much as there are many lay persons sitting here saying "it was all there in the report to do this or that to Trump" the reality is that Mueller knew what his boundaries were and smartly did not try to go beyond them.
It is now up to the voters to make the change. But it is also up to the challengers and the Democratic party to present a platform that can sway enough votes to switch to put their chosen candidate in. The Dems do not have enough votes in swing states among those who are aligned with the more liberal platform. If the Dems are serious about winning they will have to dial back on the far left platform and find the key compromises that they and the swing voters can live with. If they don't and decide to stick with the Democratic equivalent of the Republican Tea Party in terms of not be willing to compromise you are guaranteed another 4 years of Trump. If Obama had been eligible to run again in 2016 he would have won. The Tea Party in of itself did not have sufficient votes to win. Clinton was not the answer and it was not because she was a woman, it was because of her husband and her positions. Obama would never had called anyone a "deplorable".
Two of the most impactful findings of the report is that it didn't exonerate or mean to imply that the Trump Admininstration did nothing wrong. The second is that Trump could be indicted for Obstruction of Justice if he was no longer the sitting President.
So then it should come down to whether or not Trump believes he's going to win the election in 2020. If Trump believes he'll win, then never mind about the report's finding that he could be indicted for Obstruction of Justice, he'll still be the sitting President.
Of course on the other hand, if Trump feels he's going to lose in 2020 then he should be very worried about being indicted like on January 21st, 2021. Then it would be logical for Trump to pull a Nixon and resign the presidency having Pence take over as President and issue Trump a pardon along the same lines as Nixon and Ford. Pence would then become the Republican nominee for President and would most likely lose the election but Trump will have been left off the hook.
As I prepare to write, I would be remiss if I don't admit to doing the same things I'm about to criticize.
That is comparing the real-life actions we witness to that of a movie or TV show.
Yes, Mueller's testimony didn't provide us with our 'high drama' expectations, but his job was to clarify some items he had written as best he could given the restraints of the DOJ.
Where we would like action, as the old saying goes, a hint is sufficient to the wise.
The question of did the President commit a crime as was alleged, actions that would have amounted to an arrest, an indictment, and a trial if it wasn't for the title ahead of his name.
That title is president of the United States.
Is the president above the law when he can order certain things under his authority that we find repulsive?
When I look at it from my perspective, we have in effect, given the presidency the duties as like a king.
Past presidents had the mindset not to test our rules in such a way.
This present person is like a child who has to test fire to see if it burns.
But think back to the debates, Trump did indicate that he would challenge our laws in the constitution.
Go back and look at the debates Trump had with Clinton.
Were we not paying attention?
Trump has no respect for decorum, nor protocol.
And yet, here we are.
The only way out is for WE THE PEOPLE to do our duty.
18
Southern Republicans think we're living in a football game (or WWE fandom) and NY Times reporters think it's the theater.
One group is more harmful than the other, but only one is known as our "newspaper of record".
Comparing the headlines in the Guardian (UK) and the NYT is instructive, or, rather, depressing. Even Bezos' Washington Post does better. A country's political system can't devolve as far as it has without help (intended or not) from the press.
Lives are at stake. This is not a dress rehearsal.
Or game. Or reality show.
2
sad the Dems put Mueller through this given they were warned he would most likely not up to it
2
So lies spoken forcefully get better reviews than truth spoken haltingly.
That's disappointing.
2
The empty bar photo for this piece looks like it was selected by Trump and the DOJ. Far beneath the dignity of the NYT, anyway.
The president of the United States has been found to be a criminal and you’re publishing articles about a “disappointing show?”
How would you have reported on these hearings in the Nixon years? Hard not to blame the internet for our downfall.
2
@James What crime has Trump been convicted of committing as President? Does the President not have the same rights as all Americans to be presumed innocent unless convicted in a court of law? Additionally, I'm not aware of any "Prosecutor" that has ever "Exonerated" a suspect. They merely either recommend prosecution or don't. Period.
1
@James If Nixon was in present day, there'd be no way that impeachment hearings would ever had taken place. There were still a few Rockfeller Republicans in Congress-not anymore.
@Rick
Kim, Maduro, Duterte and Al-Assad have also not been convicted. You ok with them, too? Your tolerance of Trump's malfeasance will make a good study one day. Until then, it's screwing up the country - under Trump more divided, environmentally compromised and economically skewed than ever - and infecting the rest of the world with its short-sighted, greed-motivated personal branding posing as populism. Rethink your position, please.
1
NOt a disaster. We reaffirmed that there was enough reason to impeach Trump after he leaves the Presidency.
So Barr lied!! Trump has the most criminal administration in modern times.
We must insure that outside influence and hacking into our elections are stopped. Let's go GOP let us legislate so that we get clean elections.
@SMB Just how many votes were changed by hacking? I'm curious.
"Based on the evidence, it seems highly unlikely that actions by the Russian government contributed in any decisive way to Trump’s win over Clinton." -Politifact
Why can't anyone just admit that Trump won because he ran against a terrible candidate that took multiple states for granted.
2
@Rick SMB never said any votes were actually changed by hacking. And besides, how would you even possible quantify that to get an accurate count? Contact every single voter and ask them every single event that colored how they voted in 2016?
Hillary took multiple states for granted (same reason she lost the 2008 primary by the way, some people never learn). But make no mistake, there is plenty of reason to be concerned about foreign election interference besides literal vote alterations
@Josh I don’t disagree that foreign interference in our elections is bad, as it is when we try to influence them in other countries. That said, it wasn’t like it was some newly discovered event after the fact. It was well known by the Obama Administration well before the election.
Who wrote this? Chuck Todd? What a joke. Stop your horse race nonsense, this paper is supposed to be better than that. No serious observer of politics thought the hearings would bring about shocking blockbuster moments or even much in the way of new information. Stop watching cable news and giving more credence to their ridiculous, untrue, sensational and unhelpful "analysis".
Congressional hearings aren't about spectacle and in writing it off as not a blockbuster, you ignore the actual substance of the hearing.
3
Not even a pause in most coverage to mention that Republicans do not concern themselves that the U.S. democratic process is under siege by Russians and other adversaries. As long as that interference, that prolonged attack, favors their achieving power so they can lavish our tax dollars on their donor class, they will malign anyone, mock anyone, fawn over every racist tweet from their Boss in the White House. Not a word about that from the so called liberal media. It's all about poor Robert Mueller because he did not shine on TV.
1
@alprufrock Which campaign was actually paying a former foreign intelligence operative to go to other foreign countries to gather information? None of which has been corroborated. It'll be interesting to learn what the IG and Horowitz discover.
2
@Rick Even if that were true (and much of the Steele dossier has been corroborated), I don't see the equivalence of that to every Republican in Congress in a position to push back against Russian interference refusing to do so. But, obviously, you do.
@alprufrock Push back? You mean like the Obama Administration pushes back when they knew about the attempts early on. Of course we should push back, and quite frankly most of the “dossier” is tabloid rag material. It’s no more of a silver bullet that all the hopes and dreams put into Meuller’s report, which after yesterday makes me question how much he actually had to do with it outside of being a figurehead.
Mueller told everyone he was done and didn’t want to testify. If the media was looking for a news angle, it was the R members of the Committee personally and professionally attacking Mueller and his staff. But the media never seems to focus on what a pack of unpatriotic jackals they are and their failure to see the big picture in the Russian interference in the 2016 election.
4
@James Osborne It's ironic I've never seen Democrats on these committees act like jackals either...said nobody ever. Let's face it, all these hearings are for is for soundbites and grandstanding...for both sides.
1
A false equivalency: none of the Democrats attacked Muller or his staff personally or professionally. By comparison, the Republicans had a coordinated assault.
@James Osborne Like Kavanaugh, or the head of DHS, or any other Administration head brought in to testify in front of Democratically led House Committee? Please spare me the pearl clutching.
Democrats needed a "blockbuster" and were desperate to wring one out of this charade. Shows you how empty, callous and plain stupid this party is. They are desperate for some dog and pony show--Cortez preening at the border supposedly looking at cages that weren't there, Omar crying her "triple-victim" tears, Cummings buffoonish show trials that solve NOTHING--to make people believe that they stand for something, have something to say besides race-and-gender garbage and can actually accomplish something. Look to Europe, Democrats. European social democratic parties have outlived their usefulness and are being ignored by the public that understands this. Stand for nothing and play race/gender politics and "victim" games. Americans are onto your scam.
3
Did we expect much more than what we got? This is a different special counsel than what we had with Ken Starr and Mueller explicitly stated what he would not talk about. I actually think the hearing was more than expected. Why do people think that we need dramatic bombast for anything to be meaningful? This man is 75, fought in a war and has had prestigious legal and law enforcement titles for most of his life. He had to think very carefully about every word he said to avoid saying what he should not and to avoid the appearance of choosing a side while congress had been preparing for this hearing for months. Plus, this report was completed over 3 months ago and involved an almost 2 year examination and was 400+ pages long and was meant for the AG-the public needed this hearing. Many of us do not remember what we ate last week and the exact time and where. People, please listen to what he said and accept it seriously AND literally.
5
I agree. People seem to have expected a Perry Mason moment. The totality of the report, with bullet pointed facts confirmed by Mueller, present a damning picture.
Let’s face it: the people who need to be informed are the fence sitters who have mostly heard Trump bloviating about total exoneration. Mueller’s testimony did just the opposite.
To the people following the case closely, their was nothing new, mostly because we already knew its conclusions. But we are in the minority.
1
I'm going to have to disagree. There was in fact, quite a revelation. Underneath the circus Mueller warned of the threat of Russian interference to come. He warned of the intensity of it, relentless pursuit of it and the consequences of ignoring it. In a blink of any eye, Republicans and Democrats nodded and moved on, hungry for at least one, just ONE sound bite that never came.
We learned that the current representation of Washington Republicans are more concerned about protecting their party and their crooked czar and Democrats would rather dig for scraps for impeachment.
We learned the uncertain present means more than an almost certain future of chaos.
8
Exactly what is the NYT and other media outlets trying to do? This is no movie, no reality TV, this is our democracy. The headline is insulting. We are not looking for bells and whistles, or the got cha moment. We are looking for some sense of this mess. What I witness was disappointing as to how some questions were presented and how some people attacked Mueller. What is more alarming and concerning is that this congress can care less about foreign countries interfering in our election process. What I saw was a clear demonstration of some people supposing to be this country representatives to dismiss that responsibility for the sake of one.
17
What did they think would happen Bob would just be like “I didn’t put this in the report because of things, but Donnie meet Vlad in Moscow and is in full cooperation with him.” Because that never happened Moscow May have helped Donald Trump but it was never in full conjunction with his campaign. Trump most definitely committed obstruction of justice but this whole Russia stuff seemed a bit to far for me.
3
@Jean-Paul Marat
How can you obstruct justice if there is no crime? Mueller said that his investigation was not in any way hindered by Trump or anyone else.
4
A review of the pre- and post-hearing spin is neither newsworthy nor noteworthy and only contributes to the confusion and misinformation around us. I can read the internet for that.
6
America is sinking while the media tries desperately to find the best way to monetize the end.
7
You can get off the moral high horse and de-seat Trump next year during a critical election.
Or you can achieve jack squat and impeach him and pretend you've won something, even once Trump gets re-elected because you wasted your time on impeachment.
Pelosi has been smart. She's focusing on more than moral superiority. She's going to help defeat Trump.
3
The issue is not Mueller, the issue is Pelosi and the Dem's weakness and unwillingness to stand up to this lawless President and begin impeachment hearings. Mueller did his job and proved the Russian invasion of our country and Trump's willingness to accept and encourage the Russians; Trump is a Russian lackey and traitor to our US values and continues on this path today. He will encourage Russian involvement in the next elections as that seems to be the only way he will get elected; the Russians have figured out how to swing the archaic electoral college system in Trump's favor as Trump will loose the popular vote in any scenario.
Mueller also has listed the obstruction of justice that Trump followed to prevent his investigation; all the Dem's have to do is follow the breadcrumbs, but they won't. In the final analysis, and as history will judge, it will be the Dem's fault that we will have to survive another four years of this traitor as our president.
3
It is now crystal clear that Mueller had little or nothing to do with the “Mueller Report” and that the investigation was run by the rabid Anti-Trump lawyers he hired.
7
Mueller has every right to be weary and done with the circus that has surrounded him.
He put out his report, said he was done, resigned his position.
Mueller has never been media glib and to think pearls of lovely impeachment worthy wisdom would just roll out of his mouth at this point was just Democrat unicorn fantasy.
Too much was expected of him at the hearing and he reacted like a real guy.
Mueller is done. Get it? He's done.
5
Mr Mueller didn't disappoint the Democrats the Dems did it to themselves knowing full well Mr Mueller would not condemn trump nor stray off his previous statements. There was nothing new came out and everyone in the world knew that but the Democrats. No doubt trump is the worst president ever but the Democrats have to get over their obsession with trying to trade barbs with trump, look how he has demonizing the four new congresswoman who are now called THE SQUAD. It make the Congresswoman look foolish and that plays right into trumps hands. Better to keep a low profile and let trump self-destruct, most Americans are tried of the Democrats talking about impeachment they want to talk about health care, and the environment time for the Democrats to moved on.
3
Peter Baker's cynical movie review of the hearings is part and parcel of how Trump got elected... the endless "normalizing" of
his shameless criminal behavior that, for some like Baker, passes for entertainment, while a sober reflection on what actually was said in the hearings would elicit a serious examination of just how
dangerous our situation is at the moment, being led by "individual # 1", apparently completely "above the law" and boastful of it.
7
Your headline speaks poorly of the New York Times; it's not news, it's not analysis, it's beneath your standards as the newspaper of record.
Robert Mueller is a lifelong, conservative Republican with a deep respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. He's a reticent, buy-the-book, old school patriot and attorney, not the political equivalent of Kanye West. Mueller's previous statement to the press should have disabused anybody of the fantasy that he would come out with guns blazing, jumping on the desk and hollering to the heavens to save the country from our miscreant, criminally-minded president. Nobody who's paying attention could be "disappointed" by his testimony. It was entirely consistent with the way Mueller has conducted himself throughout this painful period. The Mueller Report, with all its facts and nuances, was written to speak for him, and it does.
A really relevant "news analysis" would have been a discussion of why the Republican Party and their media mouthpieces don't care about the information contained in the Mueller Report...why they would rather lie about it, deflect, and ignore it...why they tacitly welcome Russian manipulation of our elections...why they enjoy having a mendacious, sociopathic buffoon in the White House. That's the only story here that matters. That, to put it mildly, is disappointing.
13
"Critics" who sit back and wish for someone else to do their job are not worth our time, much less our support.
The Democrats need to realize that indeed the next election is going to be a tough one because voters such as I are ready to vote out current Democrats who are sitting on their butts playing political games and worried about self-preservation.
Obviously, few of them understand the concept of Public Service.
As for Trump, we the People should realize that it is our task to get rid of him. Democrats and Republicans alike are obviously not going to do anything about him other than whine and stamp their little feet.
Come next election, I'd say anyone who is in office should be voted out, with very, very few exceptions.
[ If they won't give us term limits, we can make it so ourselves. ]
{Banging my head against my desk} It wasn't a "performance", it was a pair of Congressional hearings on Presidential malfeasance and Russian interference (attack) in the most fundamentally bedrock thing that makes us a democracy -- our commitment to free and fair elections.
Mueller clearly said that our President lies, and aided and abetted the Russian attack, and engaged in a cover-up.
Maybe Mueller didn't have a top hat and dancing horse, but your shouldn't need that.
Impeach already.
3
@Lawrence Yes, please impeach and continue this circus. Because a Prosecutor either recommends prosecution or he/she doesn't. Identify one time where any prosecutor "exonerated" a suspect. You can't because they don't...ever.
Oh, isn't that so sad? Somebody took their bat and ball (Hilary) and now they can't play. That is really pathetic. I can see the writing on the wall for 2020. Well, we tried to impeach the President so don't we still get a ribon?
3
this democrat voting person was not disappointed.
5
The whole thing was just totally counter productive and mostly playing in the hands of Trump. Wake up Democrats and leave that nonsense alone already!
2
Ok--there is the flood of disappointment: Mueller was not the Republican-turned-Democrat Superhero. But we shoot ourselves in the foot if we judge Mueller on .... his pained neutrality and deserved... tiredness. Fact of the matter: he and his team produced a damning report, written under and filtered and distorted by Trum's personal lawyer--Mr. Barr. The Report shows what we need to know: Trump as a criminal felon, the #1 who remains unindicted (clinging to the protection--eyeing re-election), while many more of his intimate poltiical kin are now in or awaiting prison! There is plenty to now launch the Impeachment Inquiry!! Avoiding this move will only be a confession to paralysis. And it will signal to Trump that he's got the road to autocracy wide open--more racial division, sabre rattling, threatening a free press, crony-capitalist emolument-sweetened appointments.. and aiding and abetting the creep of international authoritarian populism.
4
That hearing wasn't to impact his fans nor to impress his critics, they all already made up their mind. At this point we need to get this impeachment out of our mind.
Impeachment is the last resort and we've already had 3 years of his, what is one more? Vote him out!
You think getting him out of office by impreachment would stop producing more of his alikes, Steve Bannons, Boris Johnsons, etc?
Sure he lost the popular votes but remember almost half of the voters supported him! And there is no evidence that support is vanished yet.
If democrats can't win over that ideology, what then? impeach every 4 years?
18
@PB Half of 54% of eligible voters who actually did turn out. So 20 something percent got him into office. 46% of eligible voters did not bother to vote.
5
@Roy Partee , Yes I said half of the voters. Also with the same logic we can say about 20 percent disagree with him.
We can argue over the percentage of one side that stayed home was more than the other side but that's how any election works: By counting the number of voters who bothered to show up, not by online polls nor any approval/disapproval rating.
5
@PB
DEMS just made fools of themselves. Their call for RESISTANCE Latino style did not work. Clinton, Obama and the leadership should be investigated for the "RESISTANCE" calls. More dangerous to US Democracy than Russia or China.
4
The Mueller Report and Mr. Mueller’s testimony at the Congressional Hearings leave no doubt that the Russians have had, and continue to have, a massive influence on our election. Choosing our president and potentially any elected members of Congress. The President should be leading the fight against this meddling. Instead he is not only not discouraging it, he is accepting it as “the new normal” in the words of Robert Mueller.
We might have won the “Cold War” but we are loosing this war with even greater consequences.
4
Mr. Mueller has served his country with distinction and did so again yesterday.He wanted to have his report speak for him-a talented team worked with him to produce the results of the investigation.Mueller was a reluctant witness but the House Committees prevailed on him to appear and speak of the report.He should receive no criticism for his reaction to being asked rapid fire questions in five minute segments.I challenge anyone to do that and not commit perjury by answering too quickly.He studiously told us one more time that Mr.Trump encouraged the Russians to be involved in his campaign,that Trump lied to his team and that there was a strong case for obstruction of justice.If everyone wanted high drama,they should have engaged Robert DeNiro, Mueller’s SNL alter ego, to appear and read the report with all of his performance skills.
3
Perhaps the surprising supposed weaknesses of Mueller’s testimony were not the result of Mueller’s mental or physical weaknesses. Perhaps these confounding effects stemmed from deliberate tactics employed by Republicans to diminish the Special Council’s effectiveness. As a life long debater & debate coach, my teams & I have employed & worked to diminish our opponents by employing what is a very effective technique known as “speed & spread” debate. House Republicans—particularly in the morning session—employed these techniques well. Slamming an uninitiated speaker with a torrent of words & ideas as fast as you can in a room that has acoustical challenges will make even the most brilliant and prepared speaker appear weak and/or uncomprehending. Many of my novice debaters who later became champions were confounded in just this way until they learned to calmly pull back the curtain and reveal the mirage. Mr. Mueller deserved more respect. The importance of his investigation & its conclusions matter too much to the maintenance of our Democracy.
2
During other presidencies, a "Mueller Report" would have had devastating political consequences. Over the last two years, the flow of lies from the White House has numbed me so that I no longer engage with appropriate outrage. With no consequences of note from the powers that be, my energy to react and object has been blunted Yes, I still believe in the US Constitution and its checks and balances, but I now see it's vulnerability. It depends on people of conscience in power on both sides of the aisle.
1
Lets talk about the denial that is obvious throughout most of these comments. The message for Democrats is loud and very clear, move on, get a realistic platform, and at least soften the radical edges. If this keeps up, the Democrats will not only lose the Presidency, but the House also, and in a grand manner.
1
I'm sure Bob Mueller is not surprised to wake up this morning and discover he has been made the scapegoat for our dysfunctional Congress and our wholly partisan Justice Department,
If the media and the people of this country judge Bob Mueller by his television "performance," rather than his 400-plus page report, his extensive and exhaustive investigation, and the truths and realities revealed by that report...
...the consequences on the future of our government and this nation may not be reversed in our lifetimes, if ever.
Have we forgotten what this is about? As Mueller reiterated, the Russian government interfered in the 2016 elections in “sweeping and systematic fashion.” And they are continuing to sabotage our democracy…daily.
The American people's response to this? We might take our cue from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Hong Kong who have been protesting in the in the streets for seven weeks.
2
Why is anyone surprised and why did they expect more?
Director Mueller stated that he would stay within the confines of his report. He actually gave a little more in emphasizing that the chief executive was as circumspect in his answers under oath as he is when speaking to his core. Also Director Mueller appears tired possibly because the last two years have been a delicate situation where he kept his staff in line, on task, and goal oriented. For the White House to celebrate means they did not listen, did not read, kept on drinking koolaid, and were expecting drama. Justice moves slowly.
1
Halting? Dim? Unsure?
My assessment changed over night. Mueller's appearance was not made for movie or TV. Thank goodness.
What I think will endure is the character Mr. Mueller emanated:
Honesty
Humility
Courage
and uncompromising Loyalty to the Law, the country, his staff, and his report.
Compared to the the "performances" of Trump and Barr? Well there is no comparison.
6
Republicans will be gleeful over this headline. Mr. Baker is a respected journalist but misses the boat with his take on how Democrats view the result of the hearings.
The substance of these hearings did not alter the facts about the real crisis of a presidency compromised by foreign interference and mired in deception and cover up. That is what I got from the testimony.
Perhaps the disappointment if it exists comes from wanting the Special Counsel to do the work that falls to Congress under the Constitution.
My disappointment is with the major media so far failing to publish appropriately serious reporting about the gravity of having control of government by these people for whom win at all cost is the first priority. As time goes on I think that will change, there’s more to come.
4
@MG
"presidency compromised by foreign interference and mired in deception and cover up". I can only assume you are referring to the Obama Presidency with this. After all, Obama knew about Russia's attempts to influence the election and did next to nothing about it. Even in October of 2016 he was still saying that elections cannot be rigged, no serious person believes that. Even after what his own Justice Department was briefing him on. Maybe this is what he meant when he was overheard telling medvednev to pass along to "Vladamir" how much more flexibility he would have after the elections.
Please impeach, please I implore you...Trump will walk away with 400 electoral votes in 2020 if you do.
Dems in the morning session made strategic error by continually citing parts of the report and asking Mueller to affirm. Deadly dull stuff might have worked in a law school seminar, but not on live, drawn-out TV. They should have picked 2-3 key questioners with the rest ceding their time, tried to create a narrative, and they should have prompted Mueller to respond to misleading GOP statements when it was obvious he wanted to but was cut off. Afternoon session was much more engaging for anybody who bothered to tune back in.
1
Sorry the long anticipated “show” was not up to your expectations. Maybe that’s because Mueller does not accept his role as an entertainer? The hearing was not reality tv and should not be described in those terms. Mueller confirmed that serious crimes of obstruction of justice were committed by a sitting president. Either congress will try do something about it or they won’t. Articles like this one are a distraction.
3
Mr. Mueller conducted himself with admirable impartial dignity; being disappointed with Mr. Mueller's "performance" is the same thing as being elated by Ms. Harris' "scoring points" at the Democratic debate at Mr. Biden's expense.
2
Lesson to be learned is: if your star witness is very reluctant to testify, don’t make them.
3
Yes, there were shaky moments. And there were insistent character assaults driven predictably by Jordan, Nunez, etc all., who were intent on gaslighting the facts. Indeed,
Mueller was often cut off mid-sentence and treated with contempt and disrespect by the Republicans.
Yet Mueller’s infamous disdain for word salad remained constant, despite some halting delivery in the morning.
In all, my takeaway is best expressed by the Bard: “The better part of valor is discretion.”
1
If Dems would lead, people would follow. Mr. Mueller has cleared the path, but it appears Pelosi et al won't take it. What are their voters supposed to vote for?
1
I was a bit stunned that Mueller did not seem crisp and on his game. The hearings did not make for good optics.
There is much that only those in high ranking security know. "The security of the United States comes first" We the people are not privy to this information for a reason.
1
It is the Democrats responsibility to impeach this President and not try to 'pass the buck' to some other party. It is clear that impeachment is called for and it is them not Mueller who looks bad. Impeachment is an tactic as much as a process and it will indeed wound Trump. It shows power and sanctions on the President and needs to be done now.
1
Democrats must decide what the actual goal is. If it is to remove Trump from office, impeachment is not the answer. For impeachment to remove the President, 20 Republican Senators would have to be convinced to convict. Nothing that happened yesterday (just as nothing in the report) is going to make that happen. Removing Trump from office is going to require winning in November 2020.
But the Democrats may have a different motive than removing Trump. Many say that even though it's in vain, we need to take a stand against a lawless president--- what message is sent by NOT impeaching Trump? This is a fair question, but supporters of this option need to answer the follow up question: what message will be sent by the Senate voting not guilty--- not falling short of the two thirds needed, but not even getting a majority to convict?
For years the Republicans in the House voted to repeal Obamacare even though there was zero chance of success. I suppose they thought they were making a stand and signalling their resolve to their base. If the Democrats want to do theater as a symbol, they should ask whether it would help or hurt the cause of removing Trump in 2020.
1
There was no "problem" with Mr. Mueller's "performance." His testimony was elegant and restrained. His body language was perfection -- he never flinched. The problem is us, an audience of citizens and journalists so corrupted by the culture we live in that we have become incapable of recognizing true greatness when we see it.
2
This is baffling and bewildering.
Yesterday our congress was handed an explicit account to consider when future dealings with this president arise that are as weird as ones in the past.
Yesterday's appearance was welcome and beneficial to congress and to the citizens who might not have understood (I for one) William Barr's actions.
18
I think all the pundits and critics are missing the substance of the report and the testimony. This is what I heard: (1) Russia attacked the election to hurt Hillary and help Trump. (2) Team Trump welcomed the Russian help. (3) Team Trump was in frequent contact with Russians. (4) The Trump campaign passed campaign strategy and polling data to the Russians, while Trump's business was negotiating a Trump Tower deal in Moscow. (5) When they were caught, they lied about it. (6) Trump tried to cover it up and end the investigation.
72
@Gene Willlams yep 100%
9
@Gene Willlams
Thank you Gene Williams.
I am in 100% agreement with you.
I was frustrated by most of the coverage in the NYTimes and the Washington Post; I found it to be overly harsh of Mueller. Republicans behaved like angry little boys in their "questions" of Robert Mueller, never allowing him to answer.
8
@Gene Willlams
This is it exactly! And wasn't it great to have public hearings? I am mystified by the punditocracy that is claiming this is a loser for Dems. Quite the opposite. It is the beginning of building the public case against a corrupt administration - no matter what Politico says!
10
I have several relatives who are attorney's, and must say, that good attorney's are both careful with language and careful with asserting claims. They are trained not to say too much and not to claim too much. Yes, I know, on TV dramas and high profile trials they focus on the dramatic moment when a smart lawyer offers up evidence or in a series of questions reveals guilt on the stand---but that is not the real world of lawyering. I would add, that, certainly Mueller's age was a factor in his halting testimony, but, the Republicans manner of machine gun questioning and contant interrupting Mueller's responses was not only disrespectful, but, contributed to what is perceived as a weak performance.
30
@Amanda Jones I too saw a lawyer who wanted to stick strictly to the facts and not use any words that might be misconstrued. I've sat in on several trials and never seen the Perry Mason style of lawyering. It looks good on TV but not in court
2
There was drama and excitement as we came closer and closer to the completion of the Mueller Report and then there was disappointment. Mr. Mueller left it up to us to draw our own conclusions. Then there was the buildup to yesterday's hearings. We were finally going to hear from THE Mueller of the Mueller Report and people were disappointed.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no savior who is going to bring enlightenment to unbelievers. We are not going to be rescued by Robert Mueller.
Going into yesterday's hearing, people expected Mr. Mueller to have memorized every line in the report and know what page very piece of data was. One news source headlined that he had forgotten three things from the report, which is beyond the pale.
We have met the hero and it is us. We, the voters, have to secure the elections for 2020 and if we are stopped by Mitch McConnell, a person with way too much power, then we have to get out the vote in such high percentages that there are no questions about who won.
24
@Rebecca,
Good luck with that.
In all fairness, yours is one of the most intelligent posts I've seen on this forum. I just happen to think that more than half of the country (especially from an Electoral College standpoint - the only one that matters in November of 2020) disagrees with you.
BTW, not memorizing every line of the report would be acceptable, but how could you possibly be involved in that investigation for 22 months and NOT know who/what FusionGPS is? It's like he wrote a paper on WWII in the Pacific, and it's not that he didn't know the significance of "AFs water treatment plant," he didn't realize the US was fighting the Japanese!
2
I have not read or heard dismal reviews of Mueller's performance other than from Trump. So, I do not know what the criticisms are Mueller was clearly trying to speak directly and with precision. He also clearly was not going to speak about any ongoing investigations. He also clearly had no interest in getting drawn into discussions on topics unrelated to his immediate task or outside his immediate purview. Lastly, he did not want to be there. I do not blame him for being as taciturn as he was. I, for one, was impressed by his demeanor.
28
@Mark W. Miller,
Where have you been for the past 18 or so hours?
https://www.dailywire.com/news/49843/media-response-muellers-testimony-brutal-james-barrett
https://deadline.com/2019/07/robert-mueller-hearing-media-pundits-hearing-matinee-idol-1202652475/
Even obviously-biased anti-Trump local journalists:
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/columnists/zurawik/bs-ed-zontv-mueller-hearing-media-20190724-do4sdny3enbxxfcixlimsjpdfy-story.html
Disappointment with Director Mueller's testimony may be a result of expectations tempered by motion picture narratives. No, this wasn't a remake of "Mr. Mueller goes to Washington" starring George Clooney. Instead we had the real-world experience of a 74 year old, honorable gentlemen seeking anonymity in retirement. It appeared that the acoustics in the hearing room were less accommodating than what we could hear on television. Perhaps Director Mueller's fluency shows the effect of age, as does my own. And while he projected neutrality and professionalism in his description of events, the interchanges with Congress-persons Lofgren, Schiff, Quigley, Stanton, Welch, Demings as well as his rebuttal to Congressman Armstrong were enough affirmation of the report that bears his name and his opinion of the honesty of the President and the moral climate of the Trump political campaign to at least warrant censure of the President. It is unfortunate that 40 percent of the republic and more than half of the Congress are neither interested in the facts or rightful conduct. But this is not the fault of Director Mueller. The real takeaway is how much the country has changed for the worse. As was mentioned yesterday, Robert Mueller, an appointee of President Bush, was confirmed as FBI Director 98-0. Today, much of what used to be his political party would prefer to excoriate him.
31
I’m a Democrat. Robert Mueller did not disappoint me. Not one bit. In fact Robert Mueller made me proud to think how fortunate this country has been to have him in its grasp for so many years.
In older age are we supposed to be catchy, snarky, pushy to make us look intelligent and diligent? I hope not. I’ll take calm, thoughtful, an attempt to be sure, any day, as a means to show who we really are, the person we are.
I respect Robert Mueller. I’m grateful for Robert Mueller. Can’t we all be? Have we gotten so used to seeing someone loud, hollering, making up words as he goes along, with nothing behind those words to represent leadership? Maybe it’s us who has to think about what’s disappointing today, not being critical of Robert Mueller.
42
@MIMA Spot-on MIMA. I'm a Republican and a Trump supporter and I heartily agree with everything you said. Robert Mueller is a great patriot and dedicated public servant of our great country.
5
@MIMA,
Mueller wasn't the problem, yesterday. He's a little slower and grayer than I remember, but he did almost exactly what you'd expect (just slower).
The DNC, and especially Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, heaped the weight of the heavens on Mueller's shoulders, as if he was a modern day Atlas. THEY are the ones that created this spectacle, put Mueller into the line of fire, and are responsible for the "optics" of yesterday's hearings, especially when so many of them said the "optics" were exactly what they were going for.
It shouldn't surprise anyone. What they did to Mueller was EXACTLY the same thing they did to Ms. Ford, last September. They took a reluctant witness, kicking and screaming, tried to establish a "guilty until proven innocent" precedent against "the bad guy," and then left their witness exposed and vulnerable, and things went badly for them.
Frankly, I suspect Mueller will now be discarded by the DNC, much as Ms. Ford was, and Anita Hill was, three decades earlier.
My view is the Democrats are going to ride this trope right into defeat in 2020. The public at large is woefully tired of hearing about this and wonders why our elected officials can’t seem to get much in the way of real business done.
24
@Thomas Smith Republicans promised the most beautiful health care. Republicans have got kids in cages indefinitely. Republicans are not hampered by congressional investigations, they do it all the time.
The business you want done republicans are not interested in. They got their Bush Tax Cuts Part 2 and the inheritance tax removed. Please do not wish for them to do anymore of their Good Deeds, okay?
10
@Guy Walker,
And yet all most Americans are seeing from the DNC, right now, are endless attacks on Trump (which even most Democrats now see as unfair), twenty debaters trying to drive the party off the left side of the table, and "The Squad."
The business most Americans want to see is the business of BUSINESS, and GDP growth is up, unemployment is at historic lows, and just TODAY, new polling shows Americans are more upbeat about the economy than they have been in almost 30 years.
The majority of the US does not live in the echo chamber that is the NYT opinion section. "Your side" is losing, right now, and after the anti-Trump onslaught, the big items on the horizon now include:
1. The DOJ OIG Report on the Carter Page FISA warrants is coming. Soon.
2. US Attorneys Huber and Durham both have grand juries seated in their "investigate the investigators" mandates, and Jim Baker and Andrew McCabe are already sounding like they're ready squeal. Don't forget, the only reason the Horowitz Report (Item 1, above) isn't already out is because Christopher Steele was worried he'd be scapegoated, and spent 16 hours talking to Horowitz' investigators.
3. One of these people is going to get Glenn Simpson and Natalia Veselnitskaya in front of a grand jury. It might be hard to explain, when someone finally asks the question, "Why, exactly, did the two of you have dinner together on both June 8 and June 10, 2016, keeping in mind that the Trump Tower meeting was on June 9?"
4
@Thomas Smith
Mitch McConnell is why more isn't getting done. He blocks everything - even bipartisan bills if he doesn't like them.
2
Oh my. Testifying that the president could be prosecuted on multiple counts of obstruction if justice could not be more dramatic. That’s as dramatic as it gets. Confirming that conspiracy with Russia likely thwarted the will of the people to elect a legitimate president is as dramatic as it gets. I am dumbfounded that millions are not in the streets protesting for days and weeks on end demanding his ouster. Look at Puerto Rico, look at Hong Kong. Why are we allowing this??
17
interference in Hong Kong would likely result in WWIII. That might be why.
@James C.
I don't even know what you mean. I was referencing the amazing power of the residents in Hong Kong in the form of massive, enduring protest. I suggested no "interference".
1
@Matthew
"Confirming that conspiracy with Russia likely thwarted the will of the people to elect a legitimate president is as dramatic as it gets".
I am reminded of what Obama said just a couple weeks before the 2016 elections;
"There is no serious person out there who would suggest that you could even rig America's elections, in part because they are so decentralized. There is no evidence that that has happened in the past, or that there are instances that that could happen this time"
LOL, which is it? Never mind the trump cover-up, Obama lied to the American People because he thought Hillary was going to win.
3
I do not agree with any of the media's interpretation of Mueller's testimony, tagging it as they do a feeble effort, suggesting Mueller was shaky or confused or incapable. What I saw was a man with high integrity, sticking to his report, easily fending off attacks from the GOP grandstanders and gaslighters, who were making a disgrace of themselves in the process. And his statements were curt but in the affirmative with both committees in regard to the untruthful and even criminal nature of "Individual #1" and his many counts of obstruction of justice. The take-away for me was clearly that an Inquiry for Impeachment should begin posthaste by the Democratic-led House, and this without question. The characterization here of Mr. Mueller is mere news hyping and erroneously so, perhaps catastrophically so, as we'll see from future GOP attacks on people like Mr. Mueller, and on our now highly vulnerable democracy.
17
I was riveted by the entire testimony for hours and I'm getting rather irked by the Peter Bakers calling it boring. It was not. Like many Americans, I guiltily had not read more than excerpts from the report, and this was the movie I wanted and needed. I doubt anyone really thought Mueller would give a song and dance. He stuck to his report and showed his strength and ethics throughout. I especially enjoyed the redness of Nunes' face as he struggled to constrain himself to the imposed civility of the proceeding. Priceless!
11
Anyone that has been keeping track of what is going on should have known there would be no new great revelations coming from Mr. Mueller. He as much as said so weeks before.
Now it's time for Democrats to work with what they got. Trumps denial of "no collusion, no obstruction" is shot to pieces. That Russia is even now is tampering with our election process has been laid out for all to see.
7
What I saw-an elderly man harangued by some angry white men who harassed, harangued, and belittled. Speech spewed out in a torrent of words. "Would you repeat that please?"
What I saw-an honorable man who stood by his report. No drama there; just the facts sirs.
What I heard- a loyal man sounding the alarm that we Americans have to secure our elections from all regimes which would seek to change the vote.
What I saw- a man who speaks truth to power.
Thank you, Robert Mueller for your service.
7
Try to walk a mile in his shoes! Bob Mueller knows so much; a presidency is on the line. He maintained his dignity. He answered what he legally could. He displayed his deep and abiding respect FOR THE LAW, in sharp contrast to a lawless president and to his own party, totally unconcerned with the presidents high crimes and misdemeanors! Imagine how shocking it must have been for him when the GOP members attacked his methodology and integrity instead of focusing on the substance of his findings. Listen carefully to, or read, his actual testimony, delivered quietly, deliberately and 100% truthfully. The bombshells are there. This is deserving of thanks, respect, praise, and perhaps, his report and testimony will save our democracy.
3
Insofar as the super-hype of Mueller's appearance before the House committees took expectations of some, maybe most (on both sides) to ridiculous levels, so goes the precipitous drop to Earth's atmosphere. Many- bolstered by anchors on TV ( I mean you MSNBC)- seemed to be wishing for a savior. This was not fair or realistic. not fair to Mr. Mueller, so tired of this trying to still stay above the fray.
Still the hours of testimony was fruitful for the public.It was fruitful for Democrats,showing some excellent questioning, while also showing Republicans for the defenders-above-all, mean-spirited at times, that they are. This was plenty and very worthwhile.
2
A big part of the problem is that the media and the DC pundit class held up Mueller as some kind of superhero. While appearing to be an honest actor, he is not and has never been anything but a GOP loyalist. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Mueller directed the round-up of 1,000 immigrants who mostly happened to be in the wrong place (NYC area) at the wrong time. Some were in prison for a year; none turned out to be terrorists. He helps the Bush administration promote the fake intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion.
The way that Trump and the Republicans in Congress now attack Mueller shows you how extreme the party has become. A loyal party member, who has helped the GOP implement its vision of an unchecked executive with dictatorial powers, is being vilified as a Democrat making up stuff to take down their dear leader.
See Bob...what goes around, comes around. Look at the thanks you get for lying and circumventing the law for your party.
1
As others here have said, the "blockbuster" was never going to happen and is a trumped up media idea. Mueller made clear he did not want to testify and that he would stick to the report. His aim was to steer clear of anything beyond it, and the committee members made that quite difficult to do, which is precisely what should have been expected. The Times should not be jumping into the circus.
2
Maybe Congress should get to work instead of grandstanding about impeachment. Immigration reform would be a good start.
@Joseph Falconejoe The problem is, anytime immigration reform looks like it’s going anywhere the tea party wing of the GOP blows it up for not being punitive enough. Now they’re getting the border policies they’ve always wanted, and it’s a humanitarian disaster.
1
Describing this situation as some kind of movie that despite the hype turns out to be a bust is disingenuous at best. Russia did and IS interfering in our democracy! Several of Trump's close aids were in contact with Russians who have direct ties to the Kremlin. A few of those aids have been charged and convicted for their illegal activities or actions related to this situation. Trump Jr., and Kushner met with one of those Russians at the NY based Trump Tower. A meeting Mr. Trump would later lie by claiming it was about foreign adoptions. While the instances mentioned may not be illegal, they most certainly strongly indicate Trump is morally and ethically bankrupt to his very core. He continues in that vain by lying about his failed attempts to obstruct and influence the investigation conducted by Mr. Mueller. Many of those attempts we have all seen via his tweets. To excuse Trump's actions or behaviors is approving Russia/Putin electing the POTUS not we, the American people!
4
Something's not quite right with this picture. Why has no one considered the possibility that Muller's reticence may have been compelled by threats to him or his loved ones? If this sounds far fetched, let me point out that before Trump the idea that an American President would applaud the leaders of Russia and North Korea would have seemed laughably grotesque. Nothing is what it seems any more.
1
The country is fighting an uphill battle. The POTUS and the GOP are fine with criminal behavior. Their goal is to do away with democracy, and move to autocracy, to embrace Plutocracy. If only one segment is fighting to save democracy, it is necessarily going to be uphill.
The citizenry needs to look in the mirror. Our participation in democracy is dismal, with voting turnout right at the top. I think we are going to lose our aspirational democracy, and it will be as much our fault as the criminal element in the GOP. Even now, much of the country is ignoring our historic acceleration to corruption and criminality.
2
Who said this was supposed to be a "blockbuster" hearing? Everyone knew Mueller wasn't going to say anything that wasn't already in his report. But ordinary Americans -- as opposed to New York Times political reporters -- have not read the report, so the goal of the hearing was to get the report's conclusions on the air in front of a national TV audience. I only watched the first 20 minutes, including Nadler's questioning, and Mueller's straightforward answers that the report did not exonerate Trump and that the only reason he wasn't indicted was because he's the president, and I knew by then that the hearing had succeeded.
5
Following Mueller's testimony, the president, Fox News and various members of the Republican Party are doing one of the few things they do well, which is to go into bombast mode, in an attempt to interpret reality for their witless base. Whenever you see one of these concentrated, organized attempts to insistently get across a particular message through repetition and, basically, speaking loudly and at length, the law of "unlikely insistence" once again tells you that the truth is likely the opposite of what is being professed with such desperate emphasis. Any big Fox News line is itself a tell of a lie.
Mueller confirmed what we should all know by now: that the president's campaign welcomed and wished to use the help that was being offered by America's foreign enemies, regardless of whether or not a formal charge of conspiracy could be proven to legal standards; and that the president obstructed justice many times in an attempt to destroy the investigation that could uncover his crimes. The president in so doing revealed "consciousness of guilt", as he continues to show in all his efforts to insist that the Putin government did not interfere with or have an effect on the 2016 election; and in all his continuing obstruction of other investigations into his criminality.
Republicans continue to try to shout down reality, knowing that for the least intelligent and the most corrupt of its supporters, this will be effective in shaping the narrative.
3
This moment is dramatic enough for me:
REP. LIEU: "The reason again that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of the OLC opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting President, correct?"
MUELLER: "That is correct."
4
@Joe Kurland
You should have continued to watch Mueller's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee after his exchange with Rep. Lieu:
-In Mueller's opening statement that came later before the House Intelligence Committee, the former special counsel said he wanted to "correct the record" on his exchange with Lieu.
"That's not the correct way to say it," Mueller said. "We did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime."-
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/did-mueller-mean-trump-could-be-indicted-when-he-leaves-n1033901
1
OK moderates...can we now stop focusing on the Mueller Report and Russian Interference and "we must get rid of Trump", and start talking about ideas, like the Progressive Democrats are and have been doing for quite some time now?
1
I am old enough to remember when Trump was going to be impeached for colluding with Russia. Impeaching him for trying but failing to obstruct an investigation which proved he did not collude with Russia seems like thin gruel. It smacks of an unhealthy obsession. That obsession is not widely shared outside the Democratic Party.
2
The whole thing was a dud and for every point the dems made the republicans scored points too.
Honestly, what was Mueller thinking in picking a team of people with strong political ties to Clinton? Sure, asking about that kind of thing in MOST cases is wrong but in THIS kind of case it would have been better to find people with no ties or loose ties. All that did was set up reasonable questioning of impartiality. Bad call.
Impeachment is a done deal. Its over and if the dems keep pushing it and not talking about issues that hit people in the pocketbook or their communities then they are going to get hammered next year.
The leading candidates for the White House have all been forced to take positions on reparations, illegal immigration and healthcare that are going to kill them in swing states and put those new democrats in the house from flipped seats in jeopardy.
AOC and the "Squad" have become the face of the party. NOT good outside of liberal bastions.
You have progressive groups trying to primary sitting dems.
The party has a lot of work to do and focusing on a pointless impeachment effort that is likely to alienate voters is not a good place to invest time.
2
Anyone who judges Mueller’s testimony as a “disaster” is looking at Mueller from the point of view of Trump.
The point, quite clearly, is to look at Trump from the point of view of Mueller, or more particularly his report.
I find it astounding how little self-awareness even well-educated people show at the extent to which Trump and his carnival circus has shaped their perceptions of, and expectations concerning, politics.
If Trump is what we expect out of politics then we are beyond crisis as a nation. We are already over the brink.
Much better is to JUDGE TRUMP by the norms and standards of the American political tradition, as defined in its legal system and embodied in its custom and decorum.
That, Mueller did quite well.
The sure sign that he succeeded was the terror of Trump, expressed as always in sheer blazing rage.
2
If we have grown accustomed to TV performances rather than the facts, we are all responsible. Mueller clearly stated that the investigation was not a hoax and that Trump was not exonerated. Why the heck isn't the news media focusing on THAT?
3
Will the Democrats learn the lesson now that endless promotion of a Cold War spy plot with the hopes that some 15 Republicans will vote to impeach Trump in the Senate doesn't work? The undeniable existence of obstruction (as Trump was cleared of collusion) can't substitute for trying to win back voters tricked by Trump in order to win in 2020. They and the media over-promised and under-delivered by calling Trump an agent of Putin, setting themselves up for failure. Victory comes through (left-wing) politics, not process.
1
It is time for all of us to re-read, or read, The Society Of The Spectacle, by Guy Debord.
I think Trump and Barr’s hit jobs on Mueller and his reputation may have gotten to Mueller. In a reasonable government Aaron Zebley would have been able to speak.
Mueller refused to read from the report for the Democrats who asked him to. But when Mueller wanted Zebley to respond to a question by a GOP House member Mueller responded himself at the GOP House members request.
The Democrat's big show crashed and burned. The hearings were a total washout for those who expected Mueller to sink USS Trump.
It was sad to see a good and capable man in the twilight of his life struggling to understand direct questions. I'm amazed the Democrats didn't vet him first and discover he would be a terrible witness. I now understand why he wanted his chief aide with him -- I suspect the aide did most of the work putting the report together.
It's time for Democrats to move on. If they seriously think they can unseat Trump, they've been smoking too much Colorado Gold. Biden struggles to get a coherent sentence out. Warren and Sanders want to end all private health insurance and open the borders totally. Try selling the end of private health insurance to union workers in Michigan who have gold plated health plans paid for by automakers.
4
Obviously, some in the media, like Mr. Baker, want to promote the so-called optics of the Mueller hearing. Meanwhile, our democracy has been and is currently under attack by Russia, and the Republicans are and have been complicit by either saying or doing nothing to stop it. The Republicans, and columns like this, promote a narrative to a media-fed need for shock and awe.
Democracy is participatory, and you're either responsible for supporting it and reporting it, or you're not.
4
Trump and the TV/internet era have so conditioned us to bombast that reasoned discourse is easy to ignore. Even discourse loaded with proof of presidential incompetence and illegality. Sad and dangerous for America.
2
Mueller is guilty of doing his job very well but not overstepping to do Congresses constitutionally mandated job for them at the same time.
Good for him. Shame on them.
2
The only thing that should disappoint the Democrats, and indeed all right-thinking people the world over who value democracy, is the feckless indifference of 97% of the American public and a good many of their paid representatives in Congress to even reading the summaries of the Mueller report, much less the whole thing. People who deliberately choose to sleep contented in their ignorance will wake up one day and realize when it's too late that they've paid the price for their mental laziness and indifference to hundreds of years of democratic tradition for which so many previous generations struggled, often as Churchill famously said, with blood, sweat and tears. Fare ye well to all those over-stuffed and empty-headed ignoramuses who have nothing better to do than criticize the testimony of a true American hero, who should now be allowed to enjoy the remainder of his retirement in the peace and tranquility he so richly deserves.
1
Question to all clamoring for impeachment: what exactly do you think that is going to do?
Only a vote of the Senate can remove a President. Do you think Mitch McConnell would ever do that?
Do you think any new evidence that might emerge would shame Trump, someone who has no feelings of shame whatsoever, into resigning?
Do you think any of the deluded 45% of Americans who support that man would change their minds?
1
If “our” government won’t do anything about Emperor Trump, then ‘we the America people’ must.
And when we do that, then the government will truly become ‘our government’.
Today, as in 1776, it is the people of America who have both the power, and the responsibility, to fire a; loud, public, sustained, ‘in the streets’, but totally non-violent “SHOUT (not shot) heard round the world” to ignite an essential Second American people’s peaceful “Political/economic & social Revolution Against Empire” — as was earlier and less fully shouted-out by Bernie Sanders in his 2016 campaign as merely a “Political Revolution”, without fully describing it as an American people’s peaceful complete Political/economic & social “Revolution Against Empire” [as Justin du Rivage’s 2014 deeply researched and definite history of our first one is titled].
1
Through the long, national teeth-gnashing and ripping apart of garments by the Democratic Party there is one undisputed fact that cannot be ignored or dismissed--they have only themselves to blame. Even though the Russians interfered with the election along with Trump's uncurtailed boorish behavior, it was still Hillary Clinton's election to lose, and lose it she did. Hobbled by hubris and incompetence, saddled with indifference by many in her base, she limped to election day and lost by a whisker.
So now, in lieu of governing, the Democrats wail and seek retribution. Had they only put this much effort and passion into the 2016 campaign...
2
Mueller is a Republican. How did Democrats not see this coming?
2
Did you see the same hearings? I thought it said a whole lot if you were paying attention.
2
I don't know what these media analysts expected yesterday but it sounds like they were waiting for a Jack Nicholson moment ("You can't handle the truth!!!"). This was not a hearing meant for people to be entertained. If people want entertainment then watch a movie. Silly nonsense coming out of these media people is all it is.
1
I wasn't expecting much. I liked Mueller's clipped responses, they came off as no-nonsense and very authentic to me. Yeah, he looks older, so what? The end result will be the next election. Even if republicans cheat and get help from Russia, we can nail them with sheer numbers, it's up to us. We better get as serious and dry as Mueller was though -- if this squabbling and self-righteousness continues, we'll either lose, or our majority will be less than we need to completely reverse it all.
24
The reaction to Mr. Mueller's testimony illustrates the double standards we the public use. Mr. Mueller speaks haltingly and he is accused of suffering from dementia. President Trump speaks haltingly and he is just Trump being Trump. Democrats give pointed details on their proposed public policies and they are accused of being fiscally irresponsible or socialist. Trump describes his policies in generalities and non sequiturs and we just shrug. Trump and his Republican enablers appeal to our reptilian limbic systems, and it works. As I try to remind my fellow Americans, Putin is laughing at us.
23
@Buba Brown Trump does not speak haltingly. He can barely get a coherent sentence, or even phrase, out of his mouth. And that’s with the help of a TelePrompTer.
The Democrats foolishly put all of their focus on Russian collusion (as an excuse for a horribly botched 2016 campaign) when they should’ve been reaching out to voters with popular policy proposals.
Unfortunately, policies popular with the public tend to be antithetical to corporate interests and the Dems are too timid to challenge those interests.
So they offer lame proposals that won’t excite working class voters, such as a $15 minimum wage -that doesn’t happen until 2025. On issues that resonate with younger voters such as climate change, so fearful of upsetting the energy sector, the Dems won’t even allow a debate dedicated to that existential issue.
Trump is now in the drivers seat for 2020, thanks to the establishment Dems ineptitude.
5
This headline sums up what’s wrong with the coverage. It focuses on how it played rather than what was said, politics over substance. And even the politics are dubious. In the lead-up to the hearing, every Democrat I heard expected Mueller would stay close to the report—he’d clearly stated as much. Is it really Democrats who were disappointed at the lack of “blockbuster” moments, or the media? What gets overlooked when you’re only looking for fireworks TV: The President was not exonerated and can be indicted when he leaves office. Crimes were committed. The Russians interfered with our election and will do it again because this President and his Republican groupies have no interest in stopping them. Substance, Mr. Baker: it’s there if you pay attention.
10
We have come to expect so little of President Trump in terms of character, morals, integrity, or just plain decent behavior that no one really cares any more about all that. Even if Mueller had said that the President did commit a horrible crime, most people would not care. That is the new normal. So Democrats are barking up the wrong tree if they are trying to unseat him through impeachment or even just trying to shame him. We have gone past all that. The only possibility is to defeat him in 2020, but even there the pathetic group of candidates on the Democratic side stand no chance.
3
His testimony was a big nothing burger as kids would say. And I am an ardent Democrat. When will this baloney all cooked up by Schiff END?
4
What is disappointing? Mr. Meuller clearly stated that Trump is not "totally exonerated". Why must it be made to look like a failure on the part of the Democrats. They did their job bringing his testimony to the American people. It is not for Meuller to pass judgement, only to publicly state what his findings were.
Why must this be a political back and forth. Let the facts stand for the record. trumps can claim as many silly opposites as he wants. He's not a racist. He is the smartest person to ever hold the office. His inauguration crowd was the biggest in history. etc etc. But we heard Mr. Meuller, in gentle and in truth state that this President is not innocent of all charges.
2
In retrospect, all anyone really needed to hear was Congressman Adam Schiff's opening statement.
1
Please stop with these critiques, as though it was a theatrical performance. We didn't seek entertainment, we needed clarification and got it.
18
Thanks for the reality tv version of “The End of America”.
1
Mueller is clearly terrified of speaking before an audience and terrified of saying something wrong. Fear makes you stammer. When I get in front of a lot of people and speak, I do the same thing and your brain shuts down a bit.
The republicans were embarrassing to watch. Asking him only yes or no questions tells me that they want to limit their liability and are not concerned about knowing the truth. They lost an opportunity to look impartial and their behavior told us that they frankly don’t care about America and don’t mind looking the other way with regard to Russia and criminal activity.
2
I’m saddened by Baker’s article. Why is he reviewing Mueller’s testimony as if it was a made for TV movie? This is what is wrong with the “great” journalists today. We’re there sound bites, were there gotcha moments. Our previous journalism greats (Cronkite, Murrow) reported the news. They did not preface their stories with titles like the one presented in this article. Gasp! Democracy is doomed by the constant breaking news mentality of media’s stars. Enough!
13
@Gen
And these same reporters win the major prizes!
So much great journalism is created in the often ignored smaller newspapers.
@Gen I absolutely agree. At the first break the NBC pundits were saying no "headlines", no "sound bites",no "smoking gun"-whatever cliche', how disappointing it was for Democrats. It is all performance now which is why the media cannot take their eyes off Trump - and even with negative criticism keep him ever in the spotlight. They were not paying attention to what Meuller said or did not say - just how the theater played out and what they could say about it. The only thing I heard all day that seemed important were remarks by Rachel Maddow about the importance of public testimony. I have counted on mainstream media and I am in despair.
Peter Baker adopts the "reality t.v." version of politics to the peril of all Americans.
Failure to appreciate the evidence of trump campaign cooperation with Russian invasion of US sovereignty is sheer stupidity.
All Americans will suffer from not heeding this evidence: the trumps were boosted into the white house by Putin's work.
This is not a movie. This is not mere t.v. This is about who holds the power of the presidency & that this power was wrested into the hands of trump by a foreign government.
Americans need to acknowledge this. Sure trump will continue to lie & deflect. That is what he does.
Mueller's frail humanity in the face of this overwhelming situation should be embraced. We are all frail in the face of criminality. The USA is vulnerable. The Russian assault on our sovereignty has succeeded.
Meanwhile, Republicans gloat and deny. Where is the outcry against these treasonous turncoats?
The Republican party has abandoned its commitment to Americans and to the USA. Republican have joined hands with the invader, Russia.
Mueller's shoulders are frail and stooped. We need to stand by his side and fight with him.
Anyone mocking Mueller mocks the last bit of decency of the old Republican party and mocks what is best about the USA: commitment to honesty, to evidence, and to US sovereignty.
6
I cannot believe the story of the day is Mueller’s performance.
Our sovereignty as a nation is at stake; the Russian government continues to interfere in our elections; McConnell incredibly is blocking a bipartisan bill on election security.
There is overwhelming evidence that the sitting President broke multiple laws including witness tampering & obstruction of justice.
Yet the story seems to be that Mueller didn’t perform well enough.
He had to testify because most Americans are too lazy to read the report. He’s not as media savvy as our reality TV star President; and it’s for that which he is criticized.
Just pitiful.
6
Of course, to you, it doesn’t matter WHAT he said, just HOW he said it. The fact that you need it to be like “a movie” shows the destruction of America.
NYT, you are electing Trump and people like him (who care more about making “good television” than doing actual political good) with articles like this. You’re creating the narrative and the culture of our nation.
I guess some people can feel entertained as we watch our nation crumble.
3
Note the immediate releases of Trump-lauding videos before Mueller had even finished testifying.
Trump was declaring victory no matter what happened yesterday.
Now the fools in the media who promote spectacle over substance help Trump by putting Mueller on trial for seeming frailer than expected.
Good gravy! If you are journalists seeking truth, then stop acting like fashion show judges and responding to every new thing strutting across the catwalk.
Sift and winnow!
5
@D.A.Oh
Bravo.
Our nation is totally broken if prosecutors findings are casually dismissed because of their theatrical performance.
Pass the Brawndo.
3
The NYT reporters knew much of the Mueller Report but for the average person to hear Mueller tell us that Trump obstructed justice, tampered with key witnesses and Russia interference with our elections while Trump cheered them on was very disturbing. Congress should impeach Trump. Furthermore, Mueller put to rest the Trump lies that the report totally exonerated him - he would have been indicted if he were not President! This proved Trump is a crook!
5
It's time to move on.
Oh, how horrible! It wasn't as enteraining as ... The Apprentice.
1
Two thoughts
Nothing there there
Suggest next time let's interview the guy who actually wrote it.
5
Interesting how none of the contradictory evidence provided by some of the republicans was not mentioned at all by the NYT. Gotta keep that narrative going. For instance, it has come out that Kilimnik who is painted as a Russian spy in the report is a actually a state department asset. This giant detail was never mentioned in the report and when Mueller was asked about he declined to comment. This is one of dozens of willful omissions in the report and the grey lady will not touch them.
3
These were important hearings.
For all who care to listen, factual egregious transgressions were confirmed dispassionately by Mueller.
The Democrats, for once disciplined, stuck to a limited number of important questions, and got to read aloud themselves portions of the report, when Mueller referred them to the report.
Some of Mueller's terse answers were damning for the occupant of the White House.
This will be preserved on live TV for posterity at least, if not for immediate use against the occupant of the White House.
For most who will not read the report, it's very useful public information to refer to.
Mueller's reluctance makes his testimony more compelling, not less.
In contrast, Republican senators only resort was grandstanding on gossipy side issues, that show their utter lack of patriotism.
How can you care for American Democracy and fault the FBI for being alarmed at the deluge of evidence of Russian intervention and the numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and various Russian operatives?
3
It was overwhelmingly clear Mueller said Trump could be charged with obstruction after his term is over. If that’s the case, why is Trump fit for being president now?
15
...because genius Mueller still didn’t have enough evidence to charge even if he wanted to. If you listened to him he said while the OLC says a sitting president can not be indicted ANY president, once out of office, can be charged.
2
Justice is a boring grind. It doesn't make headlines. And Trump knows it. He treated this as a victory and the news outlets proved him right. Yesterday was about getting testimony in the record. The Big Emotional Impact is what Trump and news outlets both want first. That's where the ratings come in. Truth is second, and that's where Trump and many news outlets differ. But justice is the problem, the long slow boring unfolding of it in real time.
13
@Not Pierre I couldn't agree more. No Democrat that I knew thought there would be a dramatic moment. That was the news media telling us what we wanted. What I saw was nuanced. The media and Republicans don't do nuance. The media wants the big TV and headline moment. It was all there. The devil is in the details.
3
Law enforcement is about evidence and facts, not “performance” and theatrics. Although Mr. Mueller may be ill or tired, the factual substance of his testimony is clear. We have a man in the White House who has the lowest of legal, ethical and moral standards. It is an established FACT that the Russians actively and deeply interfered in our elections and conducted disinformation campaigns to aid Trump. He and his campaign enthusiastically embraced that interference and the help of a hostile foreign power to win. In my view, that is not only unAmerican, it is anti-American to the core. That interference and effort to destabilize our nation continue. And to top it off, Mitch McConnell refuses to let bills that would enhance our election security come to the floor for a vote. THAT should be the headline: Russian interference and disinformation is a serious national security threat and the Republicans refuse to do anything about it.
12
If you have not read the entire Mueller report or watched all of the testimony your opinion is irrelevant.
Facts are all that matter.
A lack of tv drama is irrelevant.
Multiple counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering and perjury were committed.
Begin an impeachment inquiry.
Oh and the GOP are pathetic and disgraceful.
38
@Futbolistaviva: Agree about the last sentence, but with all due respect, all that is necessary is to read the two executive summaries in the report.
The “blockbuster” is that Russia interfered and continues to seek to interfere and influence our elections and our policies. And that the person occupying the Oval Office and his associates lied and sought to gain financially from it. Why isn’t that the top headline not only on this newspaper but every paper in the US?
61
@SusanNC
You are exactly right.
Why indeed?
Media prefer to think of the world as a relentless media circus & that is trump's element too.
Meanwhile: the sad facts are that the USA was invaded by Russia & that Russia succeeded in installing its man in our White House.
Republicans defending trump are turncoat traitors. That should be the headline news.
4
The following thought cycled through my head on a loop throughout the 7 hours: I cannot believe this man is touted as the premier prosecutor of the land. Can only imagine the criticism if the same performance came from a woman.
Nonetheless, his report speaks for itself and substantively his testimony was beyond damning to the president. Let’s not take a page from the Republicans and kill the messenger especially when the facts support the position for impeachment.
10
Mueller clearly needed prior evaluation for his hearing & need for hearing aids.
7
@McG
Agreed. I'm stunned the Democrats didn't vet him and discover he would be a terrible witness. It was sad and painful to watch him testify.
2
@McG
My thoughts exactly and it explains why he wanted someone with him.
Being H.I., people don't get that environment and context helps.
"For all of the dismal reviews of Mr. Mueller’s performance, the day did not end talk of impeachment..."
Oh yes...there was definitely talk of impeachment, alright.
There was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, silencing the plaintive bleating of Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) as he once again implored Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
While Nadler was evidently oblivious to the pathetic debacle that unfolded in Chairman Nadler's own House Judiciary Committee yesterday morning. Speaker Pelosi understood exactly what had happened:
"Pelosi rebuffs Nadler on impeachment after Mueller flop"
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/24/pelosi-nadler-rebuff-impeachment-mueller-hearing-1432925
8
I hate so much that the media has made it seem like all Trump critics care about the Mueller saga. I’ve barely followed it. I don’t care, never did, mainly because I knew how it would end: with a whimper. I know Trump is a despicable person whose policies are immoral and/or skewed only to the benefit of the very wealthy. I also don’t doubt that he may have committed crimes, but (a) he probably had fall guys to do the real dirty work and (b) rich people don’t pay for crimes short of murder. Call me if he murders someone, (by hand not by proxy). Otherwise just report on all the garbage laws and EOs and judicial rulings being handed down to us plebs under this administration.
2
"Blockbuster ... action star ... made-for-TV." It comes down to that, does it? Mueller was never known by anyone to be a made-for-tv action star. He had to be dragged to the hearing and he said beforehand that he would not read from his report. He knew he was walking into political theater and wanted none of it. Soon after Mueller's monosyllabic offerings the ultimate gas bag, Donald Trump, was heard to shout on the South Lawn that he didn't do it. We all hope he won't do it again.
Trump has presented us with a crisis in governing. This is not going to change and could worsen if he is reelected. He must be removed from office.
16
In a way I hope this puts this issue to bed and the Democrats start focusing on ways to win the next election and improve teh country. I'm afraid the Democratic leaders in both houses are making the exact same mistake Hillary made in the run up to the election which was focusing on Trump's character and not clearly articulating a vision for the country or why she should be president. Let's not fall into the same trap.
8
@Doug Israel
Good luck winning 2020 if courting foreign espionage is fair game for Trump.
1
Mueller cleared Trump of collusion.
End of story.
21
@Morgan01944 Trump wasn't cleared. Beginning of story.
5
@Morgan01944 Where? When?
4
@Morgan01944 Sorry, not the end of the story. There's plenty of corruption and malfeasance to see here.
3
The Democrats eat the pie in the sky and grow more thin every day. Down on the ground, the Republicans are eating the Democrats lunch.
The terrible price will be 4 more years of Trump. The entire Russian thing was a concoction of the MIC/CIA mindset mouthed by Hillary. They still own the DNC and until they don't, this childish approach will continue in the form of Biden the old hack and AOC the infantile screamer. They both talk about good things, but their styles do not excite the public any more than Trump's.
Noby in this race is balanced except Tulsi Gabbard and the Hillary crowd will keep her out.
12
What Democrats were disappointed? This article doesn’t say. Headlines like this are destructive, overly influential and irresponsible. I watched the news last night - I saw no evidence to support this headline. I also did not have a sense that “Democrats” were expecting huge revelations and they were prepared for an unenthusiastic Mueller. And if 1 news outlet comments that Mueller seems less sharp, so say you all.
These sorts of headlines should be beneath the NYT.
39
@Judith Stern Mueller wasn't "unenthusiastic." (1 He seems to be ill. He is also hard of hearing. (2 The lead investigator of a complex team of investigators - how many? Nineteen attorneys, 40 FBI agents, and uncounted assistants and staff people - would not know everything by heart in the report. Probably asking the second-to-the-lead would have been better. Nonetheless, there is quite enough evidence to impeach Trump. If they were taking into account his worst actions - pulling out of the climate accord, which will ensure destruction of life on Earth if he gets another term; crimes against humanity on the Texas border; crimes against humanity in boosting Bin Salman (or whatever the guy's name is) after clear evidence that he ordered the killing of Kashogghi; boosting him constantly while Saudi Arabia committed genocide against Yemenites -- these are atrocious crimes. This man is destroying our country. The Republicans, called "an insurgency" by two members of The Heritage Foundation, which is no "liberal" organization, and no longer a political party, is beyond evil. Professor Noam Chomsky has said the crimes of this party and of Trump against the planet's ecosystem cannot be encompassed by human language and certainly not by the banal term, "evil." Want any more? I am enraged at the Democrats for not moving to impeach. They should. They don't. They probably won't.
It is not in Mueller power to exonerate our President. Our President is INNOCENT until proven guilty...PERIOD. Mueller is a prosecutor. Put in place to uncover any conspiracy by the Trump campaign with Russia. He failed! There was no conspiracy by the Trump campaign. Obstruction? No on that also. Why? Per MUELLERS own words at the hearing...The investigation was supplied EVERYTHING they asked for by President Trumps administration. From witness requests, thousands of documents, etc. Mueller stated the investigation went on unimpeded, and that he was not obstructed. NO CRIME!
Do not blame our President, his supporters, or Mueller, for the fact that the Democratic Party and the MSM mislead you. We are not responsible for THEIR actions. Regarding Muellers appearance yesterday? Obviously he had little to do with compiling his own report, which is a very sad, as this means it was Dem bulldog Weissman and his cronies that prepared the report. Also obvious was Muellers disagreement with key elements he wasn't aware were stated in the report. Like the fact that he didn't recommend charges against our President due to LACK of evidence, not just the DOJ rule of not indicting a sitting President.
And for all of you hanging on Muellers words that our President can be indicted after he leaves office? Mueller confirming that is like confirming that the sun shines. Of course Trump can be indicted. But what the question should have been to Mueller? What's the chance he'd be convicted?
16
@Dawn Montgomery
If you read the report, you would know that Mueller presented multiple lines of evidence supporting potential obstruction of justice and witness tampering charges. An attempt to interfere with the investigation (and Trump made many) IS obstruction of justice, which is absolutely a crime.
From: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obstruction_of_justice
"18 U.S.C. § 1503 defines "obstruction of justice" as an act that "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice."
Someone obstructs justice when that person has a specific intent to obstruct or interfere with a judicial proceeding. For a person to be convicted of obstructing justice, that person must not only have the specific intent to obstruct the proceeding, but that person must know (1) that a proceeding was actually pending at the time; and (2) there must be a connection between the endeavor to obstruct justice and the proceeding, and the person must have knowledge of this connection."
Trump's orders to McGahn to stop the investigation, as well as to have Sessions limit the investigation through Lewandowski, meet these criteria. And there are other instances.
3
@Dawn Montgomery
Our President is INNOCENT until proven guilty...PERIOD.
Let's all agree on that. The Mueller Report proves him guilty of many behaviours that many would agree, were he to be charged, are egregious for a president to commit. But he as not been charged. Why, Dawn Montgomery, is that the case?
1
@Angus Cunningham, OLC rule says a president cannot be charged with crimes while in office. Only Congress can hold him accountable via impeachment but when the entire republican senate is in on the crimes, it is impossible to get a conviction. I still think they should open an impeachment inquiry today and ignore the corrupt senate. We don't need a conviction to let the country understand our president is a crook and a traitor.
Please publish an article about every fact confirmed/revealed by Muller.
37
@Common Scents Good response. They won't, I'm afraid. Look to theintercept.com for better investigations.
This is the type of hyperbolic headline that makes me very disappointed in the NYT.
86
Democrats: Accept it and move on.
In 16 months you can do something about it.
Work now to get out the vote.
19
He couldn’t even give a straightforward answer to Schiff’s set-up question “Was the investigation a witch-hunt?” Mueller answered, “I don’t think it was.” Smilingly like he had given the right answer, but then Schiff then had to give him a second chance. “It was not a witch hunt?” Mueller then robotically answered, “It was not a witch hunt.” Giving the impression that it was.
8
@Edward
Yes, Edward, to those uninterested in more than single sentence answers, that might well be the impression taken away from Mueller's categorical denial of Mr. Trump's self-serving characterization of an inquiry that has served to prove the huge danger to democracy from Russian interference in US electoral processes.
Mueller's testimony made two things clear to me:
1) Congress has the duty to impeach Trump on obstruction of justice with the evidence on hand.
2) Congress lacks the courage to do their duty.
We really didn't need 7 hours of testimony to prove what we already knew about Pelosi and the Democrats. Pelosi should have called for impeachment the minute she finished reading the report. Instead she dithered. Now Trump will probably walk.
That to say nothing of the clown car that is the Republican performance.
15
It all simply goes to show that Mr. Mueller was right all along: it was the report that mattered, however one views it, not any gloss upon it the putative author might give.
10
As a Republican, I read this story with amusement.
As in using the words "declaring" by Democrats that "no one is above the law"; but using the word "pontificating" to describe Republicans protesting "assumption of innocence."
Regardless of how Mueller show is spun - it was not a Box Office smash.
And as to proving "massive" interference by Russians - all we heard from Democrats was a public reading of Chapter 2 on obstruction.
Chapter 1 which detailed "massive" Russian interference was hardly read into records by Democrats in the afternoon session.
To me, the problem for Democrats is like being only slightly pregnant.
They think POTUS has massively committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" - but many if their fellow Democrats think that it was just a little misdemeanor.
Nothing I say here will dissuade hard core Democrats bent on impeachment - really, the ballon is massively deflected.
They might as well make Baby Trump balloon as their mascot if they just want to energize their base.
But impeachment of this POTUS is deferred till 2024 when he will have finished his second term.
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The Democrats have made yet another strategic blunder. They must move on from anything associated with their make believe Russian Collusion Hoax. They must distance themselves from being painted as “The Squad” look-alikes. If they want to have any chance at all at winning in 2020, they must focus on things about which Americans care, such as healthcare and immigration etc. Stop the theatrics, stop wasting time and money, and do something Americans care about.
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@Scott K
Trump's attack on "The Squad" triggered many Democrats into a knee-jerk embrace of The Squad. Getting candidates on record strongly supporting The Squad and getting their picture taken hugging them will be a powerful campaign tool for Trump and other Republicans. Trump threw out the bait, and the Democrats bit it hard.
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@Scott K
Sorry, but this isn't "the squad". The Squad are the only Democrats with substantive ideas--and I would lump people like Sanders and Warren in that group. The people focusing on this silly Mueller Report and Russian interference tend to be the so called "moderates" whose only idea is "get rid of Trump."
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Disgraceful to make Robert Mueller participate in not one but two back-to-back Congressional inquiries. As was said by others, the rapid fire questioning, ping ponging among sections of his vast, detailed report, was difficult for a man of the Greatest Generation to deal with. He comported himself with dignity and patience. My party blew this one, big time. He warned you, folks, he didn't want to do it.
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He is not a member of the greatest generation. The greatest generation was of fighting age in World War II. Mr mueller was born in 1944.
@Eve Waterhouse It was disgraceful to make this gentleman come in and testify ONLY because anal-retentive losers like Schiff and Nadler have NOTHING to show for all their bombast. A note: Mueller is one of "The Greatest Generation" he volunteered to fight in Viet Nam, was a Marine squad leader and earned a Bronze star for Heroism. And now pathetic, weak democrats try to use him to further their own ends. These house hearings are a joke. Get rid of them and these buffoons like Nadler, Schiff and this illiterate Elijah Cummings parasite. Get back to business, please.
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We didn't need any drama, just the facts. We got that.
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@Jeanne
The fact is that after an extensive (and expensive) investigation, there was NO collusion between Trump and the Russians. Case closed.
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@Phil
In your heart of hearts, Phil, was this case ever open? How do you explain Trump's "I love Wikileaks" and Wikileaks passing to Russian intelligence agents voting data it had on the US electorate?
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The Mueller hearings were the Democrats' "Operation Market Garden" and once again, history repeats itself, as it became "A Bridge Too Far".
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Mr. Mueller's testimony may have illustrated the pluses and minuses of growing older. (I am 75). He may have issues with short-term memory, lost his focus, and created an impression during the morning part of his testimony before both an adoring and hostile audience that he was no longer in his comfort zone. - If Director Mueller appeared to be momentarily dazed - it may have been because he was thinking something akin to, "I have devoted my life to service and country. Why are some of these people treating me with vitriol, contempt, and hostility. Don't I deserve more respect and kindness." - Yes - you do, Mr. Mueller. - Throughout his testimony Mr. Mueller demonstrated one of the benefits of aging - a clear sense of right and wrong - a lifelong commitment to ethics and values - and a loyalty and patriotism to America that serves as a role model for all of us. - Thank you, Mr. Mueller, for everything you have done. Best wishes.
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@Thank You, Mr. Mueller
If I could recommend this 100 times I would. Mr. Mueller is an American hero. He deserves our respect.
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Trump had a very bad day yesterday. Mueller said, among other things, that he was not indicted only because of DoJ rules, that he could be indicted when he leaves office, that he was not exonerated, that Russians meddled and are still meddling, that Russians interfered to help Trump, and the list goes on. Were you watching?
And what of the disgraceful behavior of each and every Republican on both committees who clearly chose to defend, deflect. lie and abuse in order to protect a criminal president? No comments about them?
The New York Times should be ashamed of you. Your journalism teachers are likely regretting giving you passing grades.
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@PeterHe withdrew his statement about being prevented from reaching a conclusion on obstructing. This made his comment on post presidential indictment general rather than specific to Trump
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@Peter yes, I did watch, including the part where Mueller corrected himself to say not that he declined to charge but declined to make a decision and could not explain why it was his place to “not exonerate” given our Constitutional mandate of innocence unless proven guilty. But who cares about the Constitution these days?
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Depends on your definition of bad day. If the definition was the hope that yesterday's hearing would reveal to voters the illegality of Trump's actions and his disqualification from re-election, then the Democrats did have a very bad day. Trump slightly increased his likelihood of winning reelection in 2020. The take away for most general voters will be that Trump and his allies did not criminally conspire with Russia and that yesterday was all about politics
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It is shocking to me that the New York Times is more worried about the theater than the facts. The facts were clearly impeachable. Unless our bar is on the floor at this point. What a terrible piece this is!
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@Suzanne Perkins : The U.S. congress IS mostly theater.
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@Suzanne Perkins
The fact is there was NO collusion between Trump and the Russians. Case closed.
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Every Republican who spoke yesterday is treasonist and must be imprisoned for life with no pardon or. parole.
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Ok it wasn't a great performance but I believe Mueller handled himself well. The questions were, in most cases, complicated and stated rapidly. Mueller had to evaluate the question and see if it was one he could answer legally. Leading to some hesitation. He answered the main question could the President, according to the evidence, be tried as a criminal when he left office? His answer YES. The Republicans made speeches and tried to show the whole investigation was inconclusive.
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@Donald Forbes that’s a process question. Could he, not should he. Any president can be prosecuted as a private citizen.
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Even if there more drama and Mueller cracked, finally declaring, "Yes, of course I think this conman should be thrown in the hoosegow, his illegitimate administration dismantled, and all of his assets confiscated!"
Trump and co. would STILL have run his typical victory lap and cover-up.
Every court case Trump has LOST, he'll pay a massive fine or settlement then still declare victory because he didn't go to jail and/or claim he was done in by a corrupt judge.
This is the way gaslighting works -- never showing doubt but living the lies 24/7 .
Trump is more of a cancer than a man.
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Clinton and you have heard this before was impeached for lying about sex in the White House-what a blockbuster! This guy has lied about governing and running for the office of the presidency-to republicans today no big deal and they love him and would die for him well politically at least.
The dems do not want to impeach with all the facts they have now but fear this corrupt president because they will lose power in 2020.
You know I am 80 or will be in two months and so glad I changed my registration to independent years ago, Both parties are worthless to me and this country is not the one my family of italians came to with hope in 1922, voted and served in both world wars without any hesitation. Under Trump I no longer recognize America.
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The Democrats wanted Keyer Soze show up at the hearings, but got Verbal instead.
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Not disappointed, a Democrat.
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Mueller’s probe was no witch hunt or hoax
Despite talk that ignorance provokes
Yet the House proceedings
And his party’s pleadings
Gave a boost to Donald and his folks
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@Larry Greenfield well played sir.
If you are an engaged citizen and get your news from a variety of sources other than Fox News, you don't need to read Muellar's report or listen to Muellar's testimony before Congress to know that Trump, Barr, McConnell, and Republicans in Congress are liars, corrupt and unfit serve in the offices they hold. Shame on them and shame on us for our apathy. Will our Republic survive!? I tremble at the thought that Trump and his mob might succeed.
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@Floyd Lewis, wow a Democrat calls Republicans liars. I’ve never heard that before.
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Has everyone been conditioned to view politics through the lens of pro wrestling or reality tv?
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@Bobby Boulders I still watch Game of Thrones for drama. Or baseball.
Politics is serious business.
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Trump's 'vindication' pronouncement is pure propaganda. We're talking about a Vietnam Veteran, 12 yr FBI Dir (unanimously confirmed) vs our pathological liar of a President.
If you didn't hear what Mueller said regarding Trump and his groupies, you were choosing not to listen. One of the ongoing matters of concern is that no one, from either party or WH, seem to be interested in following up on Russian interference.
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So New York Times...he has you playing his game. Now even you present seven hours of hearings is a "movie" to be rated like any other reality TV show. Failed because it wasn't a "blockbuster."
This analogy, clever as it may seem, suggests you too see the American public as a bunch of sheep in front of the television waiting for some shock and rush of adrenaline. There are still, I believe, a great many citizens who want information so they can make up their own minds and perhaps begin to understand what is happening. Is it possible to view what we saw yesterday as an appropriately somber occasion in which very sobering testimony was delivered?
You are contributing to a view of the world that has our government resembling some never-ending Super Bowl with sides scoring touchdowns; our "pundits" sounding more and more like sports announcers commenting on performance, not substance.
There are a great many voters who are intelligent and trying to be informed. And thoughful. Write for them. Please. This is offensive.
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So well put. This citizen was not looking for a "blockbuster" moment, and the Times degrades the importance of the hearings by framing it as a media event. This is the type of reporting - and headline - that was unfortunately prevalent in the run up to the election.
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@loiejane
Thank you for this comment. So very true - what we saw was serious testimony from someone who was probably calculating extremely carefully what he could and couldn't say and how not to be dramatic. I was glad to get clarification from Mueller.
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@loiejane Thank you for this. Our media is most certainly aiding and abetting the image of this all as a reality show. The fourth estate is sometimes doing a good job of digging and exposing. More often it is jumping on the bandwagon and helping us slide into dangerous territory.
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What kind of an “analysis” is this? Robert Mueller confirmed on TV that the president embraced Russian election interference, then (criminally) lied in his sworn written testimony to Mueller while simultaneously not responding to questions (new news right there) and did everything he could to thwart the investigation – “obstruction” by any other name. Mueller confirmed that the reason he couldn’t indict the President of the United States was a DOJ memo and that the president could be indicted after leaving office.
And the best you can come up with is “dismal reviews of Mr. Mueller’s performance...,” and “a gleeful Mr. Trump…” You quote a well-known attorney who said the morning was a failure. What about the afternoon? You could have quoted dozens of other prominent analysts, scholars, politicians and experts who would have had a very different take.
A good analysis would have correctly identified what’s truly newsworthy and essential - that Mueller confirmed Trump is driving one of the biggest threats to our democracy in our country’s history.
The Times, with its huge readership, has an important role to play in forming the narrative, which will help determine whether the press stays free among other things. So the Times decides the focus should be the performance, not the red alert regarding Trump’s genuine threat to our democracy. Mueller’s performance wasn’t disappointing, but yours, and your paper’s, is.
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@Robert
Thank you for so expertly stating far better than I could what I have been alarmed about about the NYTimes for awhile. This isn’t a game. It is the fight of our lives.
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@Robert
Thank you for this post.
@Robert
Mueller also said that Trump and his administration in no way impeded his investigation. And Hillary paying for a dossier the source of which came from Russian operatives - would you say that was embracing Russian interference?
Impossible to spin this into a success if the goal was to push the ball forward on impeachment. Not sure Mueller even read the Mueller Report.
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The president broke the law. Why should we not impeach?
I think we are giving Muller too much credit!
4
Mueller was genuine and lacked flair. So what? He laid out the facts: Russia invaded our country, committed espionage to elect Trump, who asked for the help and gladly used it. We know Russia plans to do it again.
Trump is a Russian stooge and Mueller warned us all.
This isn’t a game. Our very democracy is at stake.
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@Demosthenes when did he “ask for help from Russia?” When he joked about about releasing the 30,000 emails that Clinton destroyed?
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@Rob if Trump's tax returns were released, we'd all see what kind of help he's been getting from Russia for the past couple of decades.
Immediately after that "joke" by the way, the hackers went to work. The very same day.
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@Rob
He wasn't joking.
2
Mueller's testimony was absolutely essential even if it was flawed. The Republican arguments are absurd, outrageous and in some respects disgusting. That they stand by Trump is truly an assault on everything we hope we are as a democracy. Trump never should have been allowed to file as a candidate for the Republican nomination let alone be allowed into the White House.
The next step should be impeachment hearings, which should be unrelenting. At some point a decision will need to be made, whether to take the case to the Senate. That can only happen if the country has a bipartisan consensus to remove Donald Trump from office. If they fail to meet that test, they the House can vote to censure Trump. Under no circumstances can they let the Republicans legitimate the Trump presidency through this process.
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@Yankelnevich Trump's Presidency was legitimized by the Electoral College. The same mechanism that has been legitimizing Presidential winners since 1787. He played by the same rules that the 44 previous Presidents used. You may not like him, but those are the facts.
@Rick Good grief, Trump was put into office by Russian intelligence and effective voter suppression efforts in key swing states. There is nothing legitimate about Trump or his election.
1
The title of this article is wrong. If anyone was expecting a 'Blockbuster" hearing from Mr. Mueller was not living in reality. A man of few words, he came to the hearing out of respect for the law and the constitution. He was hired to do this job which he did tirelessly and then to be subjected to rudeness and in some cases disrespect from some of the GOP Congressman was absolutely disgraceful and demeaning. Do not judge Mr. Mueller by his demeanor or his voice in the room yesterday, judge him by his service to the nation. Not everything you see on TV is a reality show.
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@ALN
Few things are more unreal than a TV reality show, and sadly it seems the entire country is turning itself into a reality show, with the NYT being complicit.
1
I don’t care how he said what he said. I care about what he said. This was not a theatrical performance. It was not reality tv. This is not a useful or needed headline or analysis.
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@L. West.. Totally! As well the Lawrence Tribe link is not representative of Tribe's take. Baker is disappointing. In genera at this dire time, the media, cable, broadcast, print, aiming to be respected and reliably allied with the truth, should stop trying to get attention at any cost.This headline should have identified as "opinion" next to the byline.
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It’s disappointing and unfortunate that Baker, in the opening of his “movie” review, leaves out Mueller’s statement that Trump can be indicted when he leaves office. That fact is in itself the “blockbuster”.
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@Potter
Thank you for that cogent insight. So much of “reporting” is just “opinion”, and should be prefaced with” in this reporter’s opinion”.
So often the NYTimes treats events as if they are reporting on a sports match.
They are one of the best we have, but in these desperately dire times, they could do a lot better.
6