Garrett Graff: “The role of Michael Flynn aide Peter Smith has long been unclear. Smith evidently tried to mount an effort in 2016 to find Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails through the dark web, and later apparently killed himself days after the Wall Street Journal reported on those efforts in 2017. Mueller makes clear that Smith’s actions were extensive, well-funded, and part of multiple initiatives by people connected to the Trump campaign to find Hillary’s emails—all of which were then overtaken by the Russian theft and email dumps of DNC and Clinton campaign emails.”
Americans Remain Split on Mueller Report
A new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds that 45% of people who’ve heard at least something about the Mueller report’s release say it does not entirely clear President Trump while 35% say it does and another 20% aren’t sure.
Meanwhile, 31% who’ve heard at least something about the report say the information contained shows Trump is unfit to be president, with 18% calling it damaging but not disqualifying, and 31% saying it reveals nothing damaging.
Jerome Corsi Isn’t Out of the Woods Yet
Garrett Graff: “One of the most surprising decisions at the close of the Mueller investigation was the lack of further indictments. But conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, at least, appears to still be very much in the sights of prosecutors. In fact, the very first mention of Corsi’s name appears in a redaction labeled ‘Harm to Ongoing Matter.’ (We know that because we only see the ‘second’ reference to Corsi’s name appear in a paragraph on page 54 of the first volume of the report.) Elsewhere, Corsi’s name is clearly hidden in other redactions, as context clues make clear he’s the ‘ongoing matter’ under question.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“If I’m still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper. None of that stuff is going to pass.”
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by The Hill, pledging to block any progressive legislation from the House.
GOP’s Reaction to Mueller ‘Fills Me with Disgust’
Max Boot: “Having declared the Republican Party to be morally bankrupt last month — after 90 percent of GOP lawmakers voted to approve President Trump’s unconstitutional state of emergency — I am not remotely surprised by the party’s dishonorable and dishonest reaction to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.”
“But I am nevertheless dismayed and disgusted that a once-great party — to which I belonged for most of my life — could become a handmaiden to foreign attacks on the United States and blatant lawbreaking by the president.”
GOP Lawmaker Views Less-Redacted Mueller Report
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, went to the Justice Department to read the less-redacted Mueller report in the department’s secure spaces, CNN reports.
“The version of the document Collins read removed three of the four categories of redactions that were stricken from the public report: classified information, material about ongoing investigations and information that would infringe on the privacy of peripheral third parties.”
“But the Justice Department kept grand jury material redacted, something that congressional Democrats are demanding to see.”
Pelosi Says Impeachment Hearings Are Not Necessary
Speaker Nancy Pelosi “appeared to tap the brakes on impeachment discussions, arguing in a letter to her colleagues that while Democrats would hold President Trump accountable following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, they could do so without initiating impeachment hearings,” the Washington Post reports.
Pelosi, who is slated to address her caucus on a conference call Monday evening, vowed that Democratic investigators “will scrupulously assert Congress’s constitutional duty to honor our oath of office to support and defend the Constitution and our democracy” by investigating the president.
Klobuchar Bets On Bipartisan Appeal
New York Times: “As other candidates roll out the policies of left-wing dreams, Ms. Klobuchar has focused her early proposals on reliably bipartisan concerns like infrastructure and privacy protections for personal data.”
“But as her rivals promise generational change, national unity and sweeping liberal platforms, Ms. Klobuchar’s big idea is far more prosaic: a win. … It’s an unusually explicit electoral appeal aimed squarely at the animating desire of Democratic primary voters: finding a candidate who can defeat Mr. Trump.”
Sanders Way Ahead In New Hampshire
A new University of New Hampshire Poll finds Bernie Sanders leading the Democratic presidential field in New Hampshire with 30% support, followed by Joe Biden at 18% and Pete Buttigieg at 15%.
No other candidate has more than 5% support.
Trump Was Worse Than a ‘Useful Idiot’
Garrett Graff: “As Mueller laid out in his 448-page report, Trump’s behavior during his campaign and first two years in office makes clear that Trump was not simply a ‘useful idiot,’ a clueless pawn manipulated to Russia’s ends. It’s worse than that.”
“Mueller paints a detailed, consistent, and compelling portrait, compiled and amassed through both comprehensive documentary evidence and sworn testimony, of a man so immoral that while campaigning to be commander-in-chief he ‘expected’ to benefit from an attack by America’s leading traditional adversary, even asking publicly for more help from Russia; a man who promised to ‘Make America Great Again’ but who was so unpatriotic that his campaign fielded numerous inquiries and offers of help from Russia without ever once contacting law enforcement or US intelligence; a man who swore to uphold the Constitution at his inauguration, but was so insecure that despite evidently not even doing anything wrong, his first instinct was to obstruct the justice process repeatedly; a man so narcissistic that he swore to defend the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic, yet his first instinct was not anger at the authoritarian who attacked our democratic process but instead to magnify that attack by lambasting and undermining the professional, career intelligence and law enforcement officials who protect our country; a man so greedy that he lied repeatedly and openly to the American people about how he hoped Vladimir Putin would deliver hundreds of millions of dollars to his personal family business; and a manager so clueless and disrespected that his own senior campaign staff were carrying not one, not two, but three separate, unrelated criminal conspiracies even as they have purported to work on his behalf.”
“The Mueller report outlines a portrait of a man completely unsuitable as the protector of the Constitution and arbiter of national security, a leader wholly unable to separate the good of our country from his own business interests, so lacking a moral compass that he would be unfit to lead a publicly traded company or possess a low-level government security clearance.”
Biden Will Kick Off Campaign in Charlottesville
“Two sources familiar with Biden’s preliminary plans said the former vice president will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president on Wednesday in Charlottesville, Va., the site of a clash in August 2017 between white supremacists and counterprotesters that claimed one life,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Biden then will fly to Pittsburgh for a rally in the afternoon and then come to Philadelphia, where he will hold a rally at the Art Museum, though the sources said the plans have been shifting in recent days and could change again.”
Moore Wanted Women Banned from Sports
Stephen Moore, who was nominated by President Trump to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, has written that women “should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men’s college basketball games,” asking if there was any area in life “where men can take vacation from women,” CNN reports.
In one column for the National Review, Moore complained about his wife voting for Democrats: “Women are sooo malleable! No wonder there’s a gender gap.”
In another, he called it a “travesty” that “women now feel free to play with the men.”
Staking Out Robert Mueller
CNN recounts how four reporters staked out special counsel Robert Mueller’s office every day for 18 months.
“Our mornings followed a pretty standard routine: one of us would arrive around 6:50 a.m., set up our camera by the garage, and look for Mueller and his team to arrive… The unofficial FBI uniform of a bright white dress shirt — Mueller does not like his team wearing shirts with patterns — helped to spot people.”
Trump Insists ‘Nobody Disobeys My Orders’
President Trump told MSNBC that “nobody disobeys” his orders after special counsel Robert Mueller wrote in his report that many of Trump’s attempts to derail the Mueller probe failed because his aides often refused to do what he asked.
Herman Cain Withdraws as Fed Candidate
President Trump announced that Herman Cain is withdrawing his name from consideration as a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
Just last week Cain said he wouldn’t withdraw.
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Joni Ernst Says Mueller Testimony Not Necessary
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) “said Monday she didn’t think testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller would be necessary in the days ahead, a sign of the clear split between Republicans and Democrats about how to pursue the findings from the two-year probe into President Trump and his campaign,” CNN reports.
Social Security Headed for Insolvency by 2035
“The financial condition of the government’s bedrock retirement programs for middle- and working-class Americans remains shaky, with Medicare pointed toward insolvency by 2026,” CNBC reports.
“That’s the word from the latest report by the government’s overseers of Medicare and Social Security. It paints a sobering picture of the programs, though it’s relatively unchanged from last year’s update. Social Security would become insolvent in 2035, one year later than previously estimated.”
