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Trump Is Still Guilty of Treachery
David Corn: “Barr’s note is clear that Mueller did not uncover evidence Trump and his gang were in direct cahoots with Russia’s covert operation to interfere with the US election and boost Trump’s odds. But the hyper-focus on this sort of collusion—as if Trump instructed Russian hackers on how to penetrate the computer network of the Democratic National Committee—has always diverted attention from a basic and important element of the scandal that was proven long before Mueller drafted his final report: Trump and his lieutenants interacted with Russia while Putin was attacking the 2016 election and provided encouraging signals to the Kremlin as it sought to subvert American democracy. They aided and abetted Moscow’s attempt to cover up its assault on the United States (which aimed to help Trump win the White House). And they lied about all this.”
“And, yes, there were instances of collusion—not on the specifics of the attack, but secret scheming between Trumpworld and Russia.”
“None of the evidence underlying this is in dispute. No matter what Mueller report contains, a harsh verdict remains: Trump and his gang betrayed the United States in the greatest scandal in American history.”
Why Does Trump Love Putin So Much?
Politico: “Barr’s summary makes clear that there was no coordinated high-level conspiracy between Russia and Trump to tilt the 2016 presidential election in his favor…”
“But there are also many aspects of Trump’s behavior toward Russia, both as a candidate and as president, that remain baffling. His obsession with that Kremlin bogeyman, NATO. His failure to disclose his pursuit of a hotel project in Moscow even as he ran for the White House, and his subsequent lying about it. His real estate business’ many years of heavy reliance on Russian money.”
“Strangest of all is Trump’s relationship with Putin, whom he never criticizes directly. Flash back to that fawning July 2018 news conference in Helsinki, at which Trump stood next to his Russian counterpart and said, ‘I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.’ It remains one of the more bizarre performances by an American president abroad.”
We Need to Know Mueller’s Unknown Reasoning
Rick Hasen: “Attorney General William Barr’s decision to release a summary of the twin Robert Mueller conclusions in the special prosecutor’s still-secret report—no collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign and Mueller’s punt on whether Trump obstructed justice—leaves open many questions that cannot be answered until the Department of Justice releases the report itself.”
“At the top of my list of unanswered questions is why Mueller declined to prosecute former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort or Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. for violating laws prohibiting the solicitation of foreign contributions to American campaigns, based on those campaign surrogates’ June 2016 meeting with Russian agents at Trump Tower. How Mueller answered this question could have profound ramifications for what federal law enforcement will do to stop foreign involvement in the upcoming 2020 elections.”
Mueller Leaves a Big Unanswered Question
David Frum: “Good news, America. Russia helped install your president. But although he owes his job in large part to that help, the president did not conspire or collude with his helpers. He was the beneficiary of a foreign intelligence operation, but not an active participant in that operation. He received the stolen goods, but he did not conspire with the thieves in advance.”
“This is what Donald Trump’s administration and its enablers in Congress and the media are already calling exoneration. But it offers no reassurance to Americans who cherish the independence and integrity of their political process.”
“The question unanswered by the attorney general’s summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report is: Why? Russian President Vladimir Putin took an extreme risk by interfering in the 2016 election as he did. Had Hillary Clinton won the presidency, the most likely outcome, Russia would have been exposed to fierce retaliation by a powerful adversary. The prize of a Trump presidency must have glittered alluringly indeed to Putin and his associates. Why?”
My Takeaways from the Mueller Report
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Summary of Mueller Report Released
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill received a brief letter from Attorney General William Barr summarizing the key findings from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The investigation found that neither President Trump nor any of his aides conspired with the Russian government.
On the obstruction of justice investigation, Mueller states that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” However, the determination not to file charges was made by the Attorney General and not Mueller.
Read the letter here.
The Democrats Trump Fears Most
“President Trump has publicly boasted that he could beat any of his 2020 Democratic challengers. But privately, several members of the Trump campaign see a few who could pose a threat to his re-election, and are in the early stages of building out their strategy for attack,” Axios reports.
“The three candidates that seem to concern the Trump campaign most are Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke. That’s in no particular order, and you’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to.”
Biden Leads In Iowa
A new Emerson poll in Iowa finds Joe Biden narrowly leads the Democratic field with 25%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders at 24%, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 11%, Sen. Kamala Harris at 10%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 9%, Sen. Cory Booker at 6% and Beto O’Rourke at 5%.
Early South Carolina Interest In Harris and Booker
Charleston Post & Courier: “If a majority of South Carolina’s Democratic Party county chairs had to pick a presidential nominee today, the choice would come down to a two-person duel, not an open scrum.”
“With 11 months to go until the Feb. 29, 2020, primary, U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey are the clear popular nods (not necessarily in that order),”
Democrats Vow to Continue Trump Investigations
“Top House Democrats, anxiously awaiting the findings of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, insisted on Sunday that their own investigations must go on regardless of whether the Justice Department accuses President Trump of wrongdoing,” the New York Times reports.
“Expecting the ‘principal conclusion’” of Mr. Mueller’s 22-month investigation to be made public by Attorney General William Barr as soon as Sunday afternoon but lacking any information on its findings, they sought to play down Mr. Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference and possible ties to the Trump campaign as a relatively narrow endeavor that does not relieve Congress of its own oversight responsibility.”
The Latest on the Mueller Report
Playbook: “All the ingredients are coming together for what can only be described as one of the most critical weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. First, at some point today, we will probably know more about the Mueller report — probably just the top-line information, the takeaways as Attorney General Bill Barr will describe them. Second, Congress comes back to town tomorrow, and by Tuesday, the Capitol will be crawling with lawmakers, who will be forced to answer questions from reporters about the contents.”
“This is the kind of situation that will test Congressional leaders. The big questions: Will they be able to tamp down frustrated rank-and-file members who want more information than they are likely to have by early next week? Can Democrats successfully force all briefings to be unclassified, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have called for? One of the biggest challenges — especially in today’s media climate — is that leaders will try to have their party speak with one voice.”
How O’Rourke Is a Threat to Sanders and Biden
NBC News: “While Sanders’ allies have worried that O’Rourke could eat into the Vermont senator’s base of young progressives, Biden may end up being the one with the most to lose among mainline Democrats more concerned with electability than political revolution.”
“Instead of shoring up his progressive bona fides in the face of left-flank attacks, O’Rourke has emphasized a Biden-esque message of civility while making a case that he can win the White House by stumping in the very Midwest states that Biden allies argue “Middle-Class Joe” is most capable of carrying.”
Quote of the Day
“Absolutely. I think the report needs to be made public. It needs to be released to the Congress and it needs to be released to the American people. This has consumed two years of the American people’s time, and we need full transparency.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by NBC News, calling for the full Mueller report to be released.
Joe Biden Leads Democratic Field
A new Fox News poll finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic presidential primary field with 31%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders at 23%, Sen. Kamala Harris at 8%, Beto O’Rourke at 8%, Sen. Cory Booker at 4% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 4%.
Pete Buttigieg Is the Anti-Trump
NBC News: “While Trump obtained deferments to avoid Vietnam, Buttigieg signed up for military service when his generation went to war in Afghanistan. He comes from a small Midwestern city rather than the Big Apple. And perhaps most important to primary voters and some Republicans, his politics are informed by a deep grasp of history, philosophy and ethics that are at odds with Trump’s rejection of expertise.”
“That helps explain why, for a growing group of Democrats — from the elite salons of New York, Washington and blue-checkmark Twitter to the small-dollar cash mines of the 50 states — Buttigieg is fast becoming the diamond in a presidential primary rough full of better-known and better-funded rivals.”
Trump Begins Rust Belt Defense
“President Trump is mounting a defense of Rust Belt states that delivered his 2016 victory and will serve as the key to his reelection bid next year,” The Hill reports.
“The president will travel to Michigan next Thursday to stage his first campaign rally since a number of top Democratic contenders jumped into the presidential race, part of what is expected to be an effort to visit battleground states in the months before the general election campaign begins.”
Beto O’Rourke Is a Generation X Cliche
Elizabeth Spiers: “O’Rourke was a skater (sort of); he was in a punk band called Foss; he was, we learned recently, part of a hacker collective called the Cult of the Dead Cow, where he ran a bulletin board called TacoLand. You know this type: Home decor dominated by vinyl. Wore eyeliner every day for three months in the mid-’90s. Still talks about that Joseph Campbell book that really made him think. I’ve never met O’Rourke, but I wouldn’t be surprised to read next that he once considered naming a pet or a child after Stephen Malkmus, the frontman for Pavement.”
“I don’t object to this, personally. I’m a Gen Xer, too — born in December 1976 — and I’ve been imprinted with many of the standard Xer cultural markers. I know that Powell Peralta is not a law firm; that in global thermonuclear war, the only winning move is not to play; that selling out is a moral failure and not a desirable state in which customers have purchased all your inventory. I think Fugazi is a reasonable name for a cat, and if I’m being ruthless in my self-interrogation, I have to admit that high school freshman me would have probably had a crush on high school senior Beto.”
“But O’Rourke so completely — and hilariously — embodies the stereotype of a white male Xer that if someone wrote him into a dystopian fantasy about a youthful 40-something ex-punk-rocker dropped into politics (reluctantly and with some conflictedness, of course) to save America from a selfish boomer narcissist who failed upward into the presidency despite a history of corruption and incompetency, the character would be way too on the nose.”
