U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller just spoke minutes ago to the American public for the first time in years. It was over two months after he ended his investigation of Russian attacks on our presidential election in 2016 and whether or not President Donald Trump and/or his aids have conducted a conspiracy about this and have obstructed justice regarding it.
Mueller didn’t really provide anything new in his 10-minute speech. He merely confirmed items in his 448-page report of his investigation conducted over a period of almost two years with nearly twenty full time prosecutors working for him. Mueller again confirmed that there was Russian involvement, which has been contrary to President Trump’s assertions. He said of the report, “the written work speaks for itself.” Mueller indicated that there was evidence that President Trump obstructed evidence. He lays out ten incidents in which that may have happened. Most of those incidents we saw Trump do.
Mueller also said he was retiring from the DOJ, which we already knew. He also in this speech that this was the only time he would speak to the American public about it. Many Americans will not be satisfied with that. They will want investigating committees in the House of Representatives to subpoena Mr. Mueller. They will want their representatives to able to question Mr. Mueller.
Mueller said the Department of Justice’s Legal Office guideline did not permit him to bring criminal charges. Mueller affirmed what his report seems to suggest, that the U.S. Congress should now address the issue, which suggests possible impeachment proceedings. Mueller said that because of this guideline, “charging the president with a crime was not an option we could consider.” Mueller also said that if he and his prosecutors thought the president had not obstructed justice, “we would have said so.”
Some Trump supporters argue that impeachment should not be carried out because it would “tear the country apart.” I think that is an ignoring of the U.S. Constitution. It lays out the authority of Congress to conduct impeachment when necessary. If our founding fathers thought there should be no impeachment under any circumstances, they would not have put that in the Constitution. Then, why did they?
Our nation was created as a rebellion to the King of England. He exercised undue powers over the American colonies that was unfair and provided no representation in Parliament. The king could therefore do as he pleased. Therefore, the U.S. Constitution prevents the president from doing as he pleases and therefore being above the law.
I suspect the guideline goes against the Constitution. It has never been confronted in court. This story is not over. This guideline seems to make the president above the law. It says the president cannot be charged with a crime while he is in office. If that is true, then the president is above the law. Mueller had said in his report that the president is not above the law. So, Mueller abided by the guideline but indicated he did not agree with it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will now be under more pressure to allow impeachment proceedings to begin. She has lowered the boom on President Trump, especially last week. But she has said Trump is “not worth” impeachment. Her attitude seems to be to let the American people decide if they want this president to continue in office by voting in the next presidential election, in 2020.
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