YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER, BUT I DON'T MIND

Now that Robert Mueller’s public testimony is a matter of record, I suppose I ought to weigh in on what I make of the Mueller years.  Long story short, it wasn’t what I expected, much less what I hoped for, but I’ll give him a B+. 

Hamstrung by a Department of Justice opinion that sitting presidents can’t be indicted, Mueller obtained guilty pleas and/or convictions for Trump’s campaign chair, his national security advisor, and (via SDNY) his personal lawyer.  Trump refused to testify in person, lied in his written testimony, and spent the entire two years of Mueller’s tenure as Special Counsel trying to fire him.  Congressional Republicans either looked the other way, or actively tried to discredit Mueller and his work.

Nevertheless, Mueller persisted.  He issued a report that made it clear that Trump’s campaign tried their best to collaborate with Russia to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and that Trump himself obstructed justice on multiple occasions as he tried to shut down the probe. 

I wish Mueller had leaned harder on Manafort and Flynn, who – if their current plea bargains stand – got off pretty easy.  I interpret Mueller’s remarks on Wednesday to indicate that the investigation into Donald Trump Jr’s “If that’s what you say I love it” meeting with Russian spies is still ongoing, so I’ll withhold judgment on that issue. 

Most of all, I wish Mueller had shown a little more concern with the spirit of the law than the letter.  It would have been great if he’d showed some frustration after William Barr lied about the conclusions Mueller’s team reached; and when Donald Trump refused to testify under oath; and at the DOJ memo that prevented him from indicting Trump in the first place.  But that’s not who Robert Mueller III is.  He’s a calm, competent professional, who plays by the rules, even if the rules suck. 

It seems pretty clear that Mueller and his team understood that the way around the obstacles in the Special Counsel’s path was through Congress, and the impeachment process.  Mueller made it clear that his report did NOT exonerate Trump. 

That should be all that the House leadership needs to start impeachment hearings.

I know that Nancy Pelosi has been slow-walking the idea of impeachment.  I assume that’s because she’s seen internal Democratic polling that suggests that impeachment is an issue that is more likely to hurt than help Democrats in 2020.  I have some sympathy for that argument, although ultimately, I think it’s wrong. 

Congress has a constitutional responsibility to hold the president accountable if he’s committed high crimes and misdemeanors.  They’ve been given ample evidence that Donald Trump has done both.  Refusing to act on that information makes them look weak. 

Donald Trump is betting that he can win in 2020 by energizing his base.  Nancy Pelosi’s strategy seems to be to frustrate the Democratic base.  I’ve been willing to cut her some slack, because she did a good job holding the Democratic caucus together in 2017-18, but time’s a-wasting. 

Ultimately, what I wanted from Robert Mueller, and what I want from House Democrats, is at least an attempt to bring the Trump crime family to justice.  Mueller got part of the job done.  I hope Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues understand that it’s important to try to finish it.  Hold hearings, get the facts out there. 

The outcome of the Nixon/Watergate impeachment process seems foreordained in retrospect, but when impeachment hearings began in 1973, only 19% of the country supported impeachment.  Public opinion shifted when the truth was revealed.  Today, according to a CNN poll conducted in June, 41% of the country supports impeaching Donald Trump. 

Public opinion may not matter as much today, since the Republican Party has been thoroughly Trumpified.  But if, when the case goes to the Senate, Republicans want to support Trump’s corruption, Democrats can at least force them to take that position publicly, one by one, in a roll call vote on the Senate floor.  That way, future generations will know who sold American democracy to the Russians (and the Saudis, and who knows who else?).