Robert Mueller will give testimony in an open hearing to the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees today. This is the Open Post for all things Mueller – the testimony will probably go on all morning and all afternoon. We will likely cover everything about the testimony tomorrow, because it will be news either way – if Mueller stonewalls and deflects, that will be the story, but if he offers up some real explanations for why he failed to indict Donald Trump, Don Trump Jr., Eric Trump and more, then maybe we’ll figure some things out. Mueller and his people didn’t even depose Ivanka Trump, you know. And I “get” that Mueller doesn’t believe he can indict a sitting president, blah blah blah, but that doesn’t explain why he didn’t indict Don Jr. At all.
Ahead of his testimony, Mueller apparently asked one of his top deputies (former deputies) to appear alongside him during the hearing. Aaron Zebley will appear as Mueller’s counsel during the House Judiciary hearing, and then Zebley will be sworn in as a witness in the afternoon for the Intelligence Committee’s hearing. I don’t find this to be some kind of breach of propriety or anything – it’s become clear that Mueller was more like a manager for the Trump-Russia investigation and that his deputies did much of the heavy lifting. Mueller will likely need to ask Zebley for guidance about many subjects. But of course the Republicans are making this into a THING and Trump even got involved:
So Robert Mueller has now asked for his long time Never Trumper lawyer to sit beside him and help with answers. What’s this all about? His lawyer represented the “basement server guy” who got off free in the Crooked Hillary case. This should NOT be allowed. Rigged Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2019
So sweaty. As for this hearing… it will keep some stories and some issues in the headlines, which is why the Democrats are doing it. I don’t think much will come of it long-term, but it will be interesting.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Mueller will in all likelihood stick to a very carefully worded truth with zero biased hints. Both sides will try to word questions hoping for answers to further an agenda like impeachment or reelection. He won’t be a puppet imo. And it would be a waste of time for questions to focus on that. Focus on facts being clarified.
He’s by the book. I doubt there will be much elaborating.
It’s funny trump is already having a meltdown. I doubt he knows anything about… anything, honestly. Why exactly is he freaking out? Oh yeah, he knows he’s super corrupt and guilty. He was sloppy with his execution of illegal activities. And he doesn’t know who knows his secrets anymore because his brain is decaying.
“Focus on facts being clarified.”
This is SO IMPORTANT. for all those trumphumpers who didn’t read the report and believe 45 when he says “total exoneration!”, they need to hear, from the horse’s mouth, that 45 was NOT completely exonerated, and that there were at least 10 CLEAR instances of obstruction. and that his campaign pursued a relationship with Russia and welcomed their interference in our elections.
NOT 45, NOT Barr, NOT Lindsay Brownoser Graham, NOT Hannity, NOT Ghouliani…they need to hear from the guy that wrote the report.
and I agree that he sounds guilty. if he were, in fact, “totally exonerated”, he wouldn’t care that Mueller is giving testimony. he’d say “GOOD! Let everyone hear it from the man himself!”
ETA: I find it so laughable that all of a sudden the GOP is concerned with sticking to the rules and procedure. THEY BLEW UP THE RULES. F*CK ‘EM.
Thank you. I have been trying to say this all morning. Stop taking about his voice and focus on the report.
Just got back from lunch and listened to NPR in the car while driving. GOP Repubes are attempting to beat Meuller up over semantics for the term exonerate.
It is totally disgusting.
When Gulliani talks, an angel gets it’s wings. He and the senile Orange turd cannot talk enough in my opinion. Please never stop.
However, when Mueller keeps to script, doesn’t say enough, doesn’t have the energy to fight back, Trump and his demon whisperer win a round.
The Republicans have a fully coordinated strategy to discredit Muller and the report. Democrats are all trying to score points for themselves. In other words, it a normal day on the Hill where Democrats plans backfire and Trump’s approves increases.
Eh, I don’t know. Yes, the Republicans clearly want to discredit Mueller but they sounds desperate and unhinged. Not that it matters to Trump’s base. They will always claim the upper hand. I think the Dems have scored some very good points, for example the media seems to be picking up the “no exoneration” point and disseminating it widely.
Democrats are in the weeds. The Republicans’ questions and remarks are all lies, but they are landing easy to understand punches. Trump will be today’s winner.
I turned it on this morning in time to hear one R’s opening comments about how they plan to use this hearing as an opportunity to discover how the FBI was able to use false information to open an investigation that wasted so much time and money. It was basically “Poor Trump, he did nothing wrong, waste of money, witch hunt.” It was disgusting. He couched it as the hearing wasn’t to hear what Mueller learned directly from the horses mouth. In Repug’s eyes, it’s an opportunity to put the FBI, the Justice Dept, and Mueller on trial.
The hypocrisy of it all was just too much for me. All I could think was that Repig’s (typo, but I’m keeping it) didn’t have any problems wasting time and money in the neverending HRC investigation. And then, just to prove my point, Trump has to bring up HRC in a tweet. Because he’s like one of those dolls who can only say a few different phrases.
@Megan – yup. MSNBC just said that. They are loud – wrong, but loud – and that will carry the day.
The Republicans lack of concern about Russian interference in our elections is gut churning. They are so craven they are failing to realize it will be very much in China’s interest to interfere in our elections to make sure Trump loses.
@Megan-That’s the only way that they would ever care–if it adversely affected them instead of benefitting them. The double-standards are enough to make you rip your hair out.
Devin Nunes is such a toady. I want to scream.
Well, let’s just say that a great many people like me (educated, rational, non-extremist, who get their news from multiple sources) have left the Republican party and will vote for whomever or whatever opposes Trump.
Can’t wait for the Democratic candidate to be announced, so the gloves can come off and they can spearhead the opposition to Trump. I just hope they’re a candidate who excites the base and not some middle of the road compromise candidate who excites no one.
I find it fascinating that these rich, corrupt and yet by and large highly educated individuals seem to have taken no lessons from the cyclical nature of history. The poor and oppressed always eventually stand up and overthrow the oppressors. We are getting to a breaking point. I am truly frightened for this country. And yet all they do is fan the flames.
Most pay no attention to history. The ignorance is truly astounding, even basic facts are unknown. And when history is ignored by the educated it is due to hubris. They think they are somehow the exception. It’s the young communists I know who are most into history and laughably still arguing Trotsky vs Stalin and think the next revolution will play out precisely as the Bolshevik one did. We live in bizarre times.
They think short-term only. And like Melania told us all with her coat, they really don’t care… It’s all so upsetting, and I do not have high hopes for Mueller today, or frankly for the Democrats, pretending they need more evidence, or that evidence even if revealed will matter, or even if it did matter, they can’t impeach… Blech…
Exactly this. They have the memory of a housefly.
I was thinking the *exact* same thing on my run this morning. Even in terms of how this time period will be written about and viewed for centuries to come: they don’t see that they’ll be on the wrong side of it. They don’t see that they will be viewed as people who not only condoned the atrocities of this administration, but enabled them.
It really is unbelievable to watch people so bereft of both self-awareness and historical context.
They are bereft morals, ethics, decency, and patriotism. Inconvenient history is easily ignored.
It scares me how apathetic I am, but I can’t waste any more energy on the circus of it all. Nothing matters anymore. I’m afraid to find out what rock bottom looks like.
The good news is that history is on our side. I went to DC and visited many memorials & the lesson I got was that MLK, Jefferson, etc were not just talking to the people of their time, but they were talking to us as well. They valued history & understood that it will repeat itself into the future….we got this.
@kris I fear this is a bottomless pit of immortality and criminality.
Trump loved Bastille Day forgets what that day in history is about. Forgets completely about the French revolution.
I mean, I guess I get some marginal enjoyment out of the supposedly innocent and vindicated monster squirm over Mueller testifying, but it also makes me extremely fearful because I wonder who is going he’s going to take his temper tantrum out on and what the price is going to be for whatever extreme thing he’s going to do to try and distract people from this.
Also, I have zero confidence that anything will come of this, no matter what he says. The GOP will ignore it and the Democrats won’t do anything with it.
The hearing haven’t even started yet and we are hearing the Democrat will do nothing. I guess we have to blame ourselves for electing people who are so dense when they look at the state of the country and do nothing.
I get so sick of the gloom and doom that some people always settle with. I’m going to think positive and hope this is the beginning of the end for Don the Con. End of my ranting. I’m going to watch the hearing now and hope to see some representatives fighting for our country.
It actually is a “thing”. Acting as a personal attorney for one party and being a sworn witness in the same case is a clear conflict of interest. It wouldn’t be allowed in any actual courtroom. Whether it matters in the current context is more debatable, but it’s not an unreasonable concern by the R’s.
I think we’re all going to be disappointed, at least on the collusion issue. Once you’ve failed to indict, most attorneys aren’t going to say much to the contrary. There’s a lot more meat to be found on the obstruction issue, and that’s more impeachable than the collusion, anyway.
It’s a quick Google education, but I’m not finding how it’s a thing… meaning people might he upset and reach for anything to derail this testimony, but that it’s just that and not illegal to have him as counsel before his testimony.
I feel like if it was a clear conflict the Rs would have presented that.
I’m sure both men will be careful to stay within the lines. Every word will be scrutinized.
There is no “collusion issue. Collusion isn’t a crime and the investigation wasn’t looking for it. The report even spells that out. “Collusion” is Trump’s narrative to distract. Mueller found crimes, lots of them. That’s what we and Congress need to focus on.
@Robinda seems to have rather nicely absorbed the Fox News talking points. Mueller and his deputies were appointed by the Justice Dept, which acts on behalf of the American people. Or at least it used to until Bill Barr came on the scene. They were not working for either party.
“Acting as a personal attorney for one party and being a sworn witness in the same case is a clear conflict of interest.”
are you referring to Mueller’s deputy? because he wasn’t a “personal attorney for one party”, he was the attorney for an IT person who set up HRC’s home server, and he’s being sworn in as a witness for a totally different case/issue.
unless I misunderstood your post?…
@Robinda He isn’t acting as private attorney for Muller. He is being sworn in as a witness. He handled the day-to-day administration and can directly testify to things Muller may not have direct knowledge of.
“If Zebley takes the oath to testify, House rules could disqualify him from privately conferring with Mueller during the hearing—a role he would otherwise likely take.”
Also, under House rules an advisor is different from a personal attorney. I do agree if he were being sworn in as Mueller’s personal attorney it would be a “thing”. However, that is not his role.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-requests-to-have-top-aide-aaron-zebley-appear-as-witness-during-testimony
Oh, Robinda, read the report! He wasn’t investigating ‘collusion’.
Or check out the podcast “The Report” by Lawfare. They try (successfully IMHO) to make it come alive vs a dry reading. It is easier to consume compared to 400+ pages of dry reading.
I misspoke when I characterized him as Mueller’s personal attorney, which is what I get for trying to comment at 5:00 a.m. my time. What I meant was that he’s acting as someone Mueller can refer to before answering questions and as a sworn witness in his own right. It’s simply not done in any actual court.
Mueller did investigate Russian interference in our election and specifically found that no American cooperated with them. Claiming that he wasn’t investigating collusion is a semantic difference. We were all hoping he’d finger the Trump campaign or at least Don Jr., regardless of whether an actual indictment was possible.
Not everyone who sees an issue differently is a Russian bot or someone soaking up Fox News. I have a problem with Mueller’s associate being there in this capacity based on twenty years of practicing law, not because of Fox News.
Robinda – That’s not what is happening! “What I meant was that he’s acting as someone Mueller can refer to before answering questions and as a sworn witness in his own right. It’s simply not done in any actual court.”
As a sworn in witness he can’t privately confer with Mueller. They wanted him there to answer questions Mueller could not directly speak to. This guy ran the day-to-day stuff and knows things first hand about how the investigation was conducted and the conclusions they drew.
Also, this is not a court room. They have different rules. In a regular court two people wouldn’t be sworn in and take the stand together but it happens frequently in congressional hearings.
“Mueller did investigate Russian interference in our election and specifically found that no American cooperated with them.”
on the contrary. 45’s campaign didn’t SEEK OUT HELP from them, but they absolutely cooperated with them. (and TBT, you could call 45’s plea to Russia to release the emails “seeking help from Russia”, but I digress).
From Adam Schiff:
Here’s a list of statements Mueller affirmed as accurate:
•Russia engaged in a sweeping and systematic effort to influence the 2016 election.
•Russia reached out to the Trump campaign as they were trying to accomplish this.
•The Trump campaign welcomed help from Russia.
•Donald Trump Jr. said the campaign would “love” dirt on Hillary Clinton provided by Russia.
•Trump called on Russia to hack Clinton’s emails.
•Trump praised Russia’s release of the Democratic emails hacked by WikiLeaks.
•Trump’s campaign based a messaging strategy around the hacked materials.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/watch-adam-schiff-robert-mueller-testimony-863098/
From the Mueller report, page 12, “The investigation did not identify evidence that any U.S. persons conspired or coordinate with the IRA.” The IRA being the Internet Research Agency (Russia). Yes, there are lots of contacts but this was the first conclusion stated in the Mueller report and one would naturally assume that it’s the most important. Otherwise, he really buried the lead.
I’m not defending Trump or his minions, but there are a dozen additional people other than the president who could have been indicted and it didn’t happen. My concern is that we’re putting all of our eggs in the impeachment basket while the voting public is wondering why we don’t fix healthcare or immigration. Clinton tried to run on the “Trump is a buffoon and probably a criminal “ platform and it didn’t work. If we do it again, we’re going to lose again. Just my two cents.
I don’t think anything especially interesting will come out of this hearing, but I’m still going to watch. It will be interesting to see all the squirming from the Rs.
The Republicans will try to disrupt the hearings in any way possible with their shouting, objections, and hysteria. Trump said he wasn’t going to watch but I’m waiting for his Twitter meltdown in real time.
The Twitter meltdowns will be amazing. Because what else is he going to do? He has a job title, but… I would be there are days at a time he stays in bed.
I’m so exhausted by all the hate this orange blob spews and all the apathy of those around him to the fallout. 😩
Right now, the Reps are looking like amateurs and petty.
Nobody’s seen him since it started. He’s watching it and stress-eating KFC, guaranteed.
Diet Coke cans around the bed, napkins all over the place (or would he use the sheets?), greasy fingerprints on the phone….
I think people waiting for some big “aha!” moment will be sorely disappointed. Mueller isn’t going to deviate from his report.
This will be a big nothingburget. And if The Squad keeps it up they’re going to get him re-elected. That stuff doesn’t fly with a lot of people.
Nah. If anything, senior Dem leadership’s failure to hold him accountable will re-elect him. For a lot of us, the fight shown by the newly-elected House members is the only thing keeping us from abandoning the Dem party entirely.
What ‘stuff’? Being female? Having dark skin? Speaking up? They were elected by their constituents. They didn’t have an outdated secret group of individuals (electoral college) select them.
@Beaniebean – I hate to put words in her mouth but I don’t think she was being racist or sexist. Just because they are women of color doesn’t mean they are beyond reproach. They are very far left which turns a lot of people off. They have let perfect be the enemy of the good occasionally. The ethics investigation into Omar marrying her brother. They have flaws just like everyone else.
I personally don’t think they should fade into the background just because they make others uncomfortable but I can understand Lucy’s concerns.
(I also think posters should be given the benefit of the don’t, exceptions being posters that habitually prove they don’t deserve it, before taking it to the darkest, malicious interpretation.)
“They are very far left which turns a lot of people off. ”
they are not “far left”. unless rule of law, trying to save the environment for future generations, health care for all (regardless of income), and getting corporate money out of politics are “far left”. these are things that are accepted as mainstream in most developed countries.
anyone who tries to paint them as such is being disingenuous. and Omar DID NOT MARRY HER BROTHER. being investigated by people out of revenge is not a “flaw”. people need to let that BS go.
but, I’ll bite. what about them is “far left”?
“Stuff” being dragging the party so far left that we lose the center left and center right, the group of voters who actually elect the president. “Stuff” being videos where you’re seen calling the president a mother f’er (even if we agree.). Independents and center voters on both sides hate this stuff, regardless of whether the person saying it is a man or a woman, has dark skin or light or Christian or non-Christian religious beliefs.
I really believe if we lose the presidential election, it’s because we’re indulging in short term feel good moments like calling Trump a MF’er without concern for how those comments impact our long term goals. Because of where I live, I’m surrounded by center right people. None of them seem excited about voting for Trump, most generally just shake their heads when you mention him. We could win those votes if we handle things with a bit more restraint.
@ROBINDA
Center left + Center right = GOP 1990’s policy. Trump will easily get them what they want. They have no need to vote for a Democrat. Republicans work on appealing to the base only and win. Dems take their base for granted and try to appeal to Republicans and Independents.
Sounds like you haven’t actually listened to what the squad is standing for. They are for kicking both corrupt corporate Dems and GOPs out. That’s why some Dems don’t like them, because they too are bought and paid for. They stand for universal healthcare. They stand for a living wage from one job instead of needing 2 to survive. The stand for the level of subsidized education that Europeans have. The GOP wants the country to increasingly be left in educated.
In fact according to the townhall meetings on Fox, many average and poor Republicans actually agree with their policies. Yet the corporate media and GOP go around smearing them on petty superficial points and so call educated Dems agree with these people. You are voting against your self interest by demeaning these brave women.
So ridiculous. I voted for Ayanna Pressley to do EXACTLY what she is doing: fighting back against a regime that is hellbent on destroying our country. Sorry you don’t like it, but understand that she represents over 800K in her district and most of us overwhelmingly support her.
@ Robinda-Are you an independent? Because I am and I am REALLY effin tired of people speaking on my behalf, playing psychic when most of you have no idea what the independent mindset is.
Most of us are apolitical, non-voters or inconsistent voters, and most of us feel entirely disenfranchised and disgusted by the two-party system. If you think a newly-elected member of the House using a mean word to describe Trump is going to discourage us from voting you’re dead-ass wrong.
But you know what WILL discourage us from voting?
The kind of absurd strategizing and party politics that are taking place among Dem leadership right now. This is EXACTLY the kind of shit that left-leaning independents DESPISE about the Dem party: impotence, inefficacy, analysis paralysis and prioritizing seat retention and power over the needs of their constituency—very GOP lite TBH.
Sitting on their hands because they’re too afraid to make the hard decisions and leaving it up to the voters to save this democracy is PRECISELY the kind of thing that disgusts voters like myself and makes us think that both parties are useless.
And @ Lindsay-STOP perpetuating unproven accusations about Ilhan Omar. Seriously. Dems are so gross sometimes the way they parrot RW talking points about members of THEIR OWN PARTY. Ugh.
Thank you TC…their ideas are not radical. they are ideas and policies that would benefit EVERYONE in the country, especially the less fortunate. they see the gov’t as something that is supposed to TAKE CARE of its people, which in turn makes people more productive, which in turn leads to a more prosperous country.
but all the GOP has to do is call them OMG SOCIALISTS! and because people are so afraid of that word (because they’re too stupid to know what it means, or too lazy to find out what it means) that they are like “they’re radical terrorists!”
What what – Sorry for saying that. I should have looked into it more but I really didn’t care if she did or didn’t. A lie makes it halfway around the world before the truth can get its shoes on. I concede I was wrong.
Still the problem is a lot of people believe it, she is being sketchy in how she is handling it, she is the only one who could put this to bed and she won’t, she has ethics investigation hanging over her for tax fraud.
My comment was not sexist or racist. It was about their approach.
I was referring to their approach not their race or gender.
@Lindsay. – thank you. I was having trouble posting a response. Restraint is absolutely necessary.
Agreed Lucy. Thanks for pointing this out.
What what : I think they are amazing goals personally but what I think doesn’t actually matter. Just like other countries that consider these ideas basic principles don’t really matter. What matters is what most Democrats and Independents think. A survey by Gallup in December found 54 percent of Democratic respondents wanted a “more moderate” party. Unfortunately we can’t afford to alienate that many people..
“I would say there’s an energized moderate majority in the Democratic Party,” Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy at centrist think tank Third Way, told NBC News. “They’re quiet compared to the activist voices on the left, and there’s a difference between volume in decibels and volume in numbers.”
Political Analyst say these ideas are Far Left (I like a lot of them but again that’s irrelevant):
Among the items that could well make it onto the 2020 general election platform are “Medicare for All” (including cancellation of employer-provided private insurance and reimbursement levels so low as to drive hospitals out of business); a Green New Deal proposing a close-down of fossil fuel use in just 10 years; immigration policy that effectively opens U.S. borders to the world by decriminalizing unauthorized entry and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency; endorsement of no-limits abortion; allowing prisoners to vote; and enlargement of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Other items being bandied about by the 2020 Democratic presidential field include free college for all and elimination of college debt regardless of income, providing free health care to undocumented immigrants, various threats to “take on” wealthy Americans and large corporations through break-ups and higher taxes, a guaranteed income for people whether they work or not, a huge low-cost housing construction program and subsidies for low-income renters, a return to a 70% top income tax rate and a “wealth tax” on people with net worth over $50 million, reparations to all African Americans, and free child care and preschool for all, regardless of income.
I’m reserving judgment on this – There’s merit in hearing Mueller in his own words, even if he reads from the report, given that Barr got the first words in in his widely covered statements and did his best to undermine the contents.
I agree. I think it’s a pretty big deal that he’s there testifying. At the very least, people will have to dismiss both Barr’s and Trump’s “interpretations” of his report as misleading.
And with Doug Collins’ statement, you can already see how the Republicans will try hard to spin this. Trump and his family are innocent, witch hunt by the Dems. Sigh.
I do think there is some merit to having Mueller testify even if he just reads the report. Only 7% of Americans have read the whole thing and about 50% of Americans haven’t read a single word of it. A lot of people are visual or audio learners (or nonreaders, or lazy) and hearing and seeing something on TV may enlighten them.
However, everything is so freaking partisan that changing minds will be a tall order. About 83% of Democrats and 16% of Republicans believe he committed obstruction of Justice and that has stayed pretty stable since the report was released. Everyone loves echo chambers that validate their beliefs so the analysis of his testimony will depend on your source, which probably shares your values. Republicans are going to turn to Faux News and they will edit, spin, destort, ignore facts and whatever else they can do to continue their narrative.
I do really hope the undecided learn from this. They don’t have strong partisan bias and hopefully can view it objectively. Maybe it will stay more people to “our side.” This testimony will not really achieve anything for people already in Democratic or Republican camps.
Pelosi doesn’t understand that we don’t care if Trump can’t be impeached by the Senate. That’s old school.Americans want her to stand up for the rule of law and our country. To fight even if you don’t win. Winning is not everything, pushing back alone is important.
Yup. She thinks that a 2020 Dem win is a sure thing, which is unbelievably short-sighted and irresponsible on her part.
She’s really not the brilliant 3D chess player that moderates like to paint her as.
You have to stand up to a bully, period. That is what no one in leadership seems willing to do.
They basically say, “Oh, he’s doing wrong things, but we’ll let the people decide/voters handle it.” Well, what is THEIR job and secondly, part of this mess involves election interference!
Dems are still dropping the ball even now, if what I’m reading on Twitter is correct.
They are not talking about what he’s saying they are talking about what he sounds like.
Seriously. Speaking only for myself, I elected my representatives to stand up for what’s right and to fight for that. Whether they’re able to do it successfully is not as important as standing up for the values they cited while running, values that figured heavily into my decision to vote for them.
I’m also reading on social media that Dems are deep in details and letting the other side land punches (however false/off-target).
I want someone to ask a simple question – Was RM allowed to fully complete the investigation? I suspect he was told to wrap it up.
I disagree. She doesn’t think a 2020 win is a sure thing, at all. She also doesn’t think impeachment is a sure thing. there are a lot of Dems in unsafe seats and she knows that if they vote for impeachment, they will likely lose those seats. Plus, he’s not going to get removed. So we would likely lose a bunch of seats, hand a big political win to Trump, and pretty much guarantee him the 2020 election.
Everyone seems to assume that the House would impeach easily, but I don’t think that’s true. I think its possible, but by no means a sure thing.
Winning isn’t everything, sure, but losing the impeachment battle would likely come at a REALLY steep cost to Dems.
NOW, before people attack me because “he should be impeached!!!!!”, I think that opening an impeachment inquiry would give the US people a lot more information. I think it would lay bare a lot of the facts. I dont like the notion that it’s completely off the table according to House leadership at this moment. Nothing should be off the table with Trump in the white house.
But Pelosi’s calculus isn’t as naïve as people think.
Nothing will change.
How do the R’s work up their faux outrage in defense of their capo? Are they that stupid or just totally corrupt? Rhetorical question.
Both.
Oh okay, I’d hate to be able to say anything honest here about the Republican party let’s all just lie our asses off and pretend they are of any use whatsoever.
Whoopee! Mueller says that his report did not exonerate Trump!
I am so let down by Mueller himself. I guess I expected him to sound like a John Kerry elder statesman, but he sounds more like a soft spoken Foghorn Leghorn.
I think he sounds fine. He sounds a lot better than the overcaffienated, faux outraged GOP reps.
Jon Favreau just tweeted that it took the Rethugs less than an hour to start screaming about socialism. Sigh.
Kitten, It’s exhausting to watch them tap dance, grandstand and perform for Trump and the base. I’m glad I have to leave for work because I wouldn’t be able to handle much more.
I’m so tired of Dems doing everything by-the-book, the implication being that the GOP will do the same when we KNOW they won’t. It’s all theater for them and they do it because it WORKS. Their base of idiots will applaud and Trump will likely get a bump in the polls. Ugh.
Now that is true. They are so shrill, those GOPers. Thanks for the perspective!
It’s not what he sounds like it’s what he’s saying. Listen and learn.
Don the Con sounds deranged. And what he’s saying is 90% lies.
Any Georgia posters here? Is Doug Collins just generally a giant asshole? Does he strangle kittens for fun?
Used to live there. He reps the northeast part of the state, ‘Deliverance’ country.
Seriously this shit is insane in the membrane. So frustrating.
James Sensenbrenner whining about fishing expeditions after his part in Clinton’s impeachment is the height of hypocrisy
After watching all the lead up with George Stephanopoulos and others touting what an expert Mueller is at testifying, Mueller is coming across as rather flustered and unsure. I still think this whole thing will be a nothingburger, unless Emperor Babyfingers can tweetstorm himself into a hemorrhagic stroke.
The only people talking about nuthingburge are the people burying their heads in the sand and refusing to accept that we have a crook in the Whitehouse. Mr Mueller said this investigation deserves the attention of every American. Listen and learn.
I hereby officially declare that Trump is a crook. I have also been watching (and rewinding this for clarification for myself) since it started. There- is that good enough for you? I still don’t think this testimony will result in any meaningful legal/congressional action.
My BF says he’s not coming across as very smart. Sigh.
I already know certain outlets are going to paint him as “confused.” I’m hoping he settles in and becomes more assertive. I wish he wouldn’t say “um, uhhh” so much.
I wish he were presenting better.
I wouldn’t say he doesn’t sound smart, he just doesn’t sound slick or polished. But yeah it’s a given that the deplorables will scream the he’s feeble, ill, addled, whatever. I can’t watch/listen anymore, tbh.
The Democrats are reading his report back to him and he’s affirming what in the report are correct. The republicans are talking about everything except what’s in his report. Mr Mueller has a quiver in his voice which the republicans are latching unto instead of what is being confirmed that Don the Con obstructed the investigation several times and refused to come in and meet with him. There are lots to be learn if we want to learn what this president was and up to.
He has no problem answering the questions from Dems. He seems a bit taken aback by the unhinged screaming of the Rs. He’s an honorable man and may have expected the same of congresspersons. A mistake nowadays.
Thanks for all the information. I’m at work trying to figure out what’s happening from my BF who is sitting in his ambulance and watching on his phone, Twitter, and here. Appreciate it, guys.
I’ve been dipping in and out of it but he seems nervous and a bit off kilter by the way the Rethugs are basically attacking him – I don’t think he was prepared for this kind of attack from his own as he is also a republican. They are behaving like a pack of rabid dogs performing for their master who is watching. I feel bad for the guy.
I don’t care what Mueller’s voice sounds like. Listen to his words. He confirmed that #1 Orange toad was not exonerated; #2 he’d be indicted if the pesky DOJ memo didn’t stand in the way; #3 Orange toad will totally be hauled out for indictments once he leaves off; and #4 he would not discuss campaign’s traitorous actions because of current impending FBI investigations.
Yes he’s not a showstopper like those screaming, irrelevant GOPers but he matter of factly cited everything we need to know. Orange Toad won with help from the Russians and the Russians tampered with the election.
I thank Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler and Ted Lieu for their pointed questions that broke down those conclusions.
Who is Steve Chabot and is there an Alex Jones conspiracy theory he has not swallowed?
He’s been the rep for the Cincinnati area since the early 90s except for one small blip where a Dem had it until the district was gerrymandered to hell (check out OH-1. It’s insane). He is the effing worst.
Source: born and raised in his district and still live close enough to have to be exposed to his bullshit opinions
Any time I despair about how backwards Alabama can be I think about Louie Gohmert of Texas and it puts a spring in my step that lasts all week.
Texan here, God he is an embarrassment. I honestly thought he might froth at the mouth.
Tommy Vietor called him the human incarnatoin of huffing paint.
My father, who was from Oklahoma, would have referred to him as a human hitching post.
I would think pro-DUI driver Matt Gaetz is the worse. Along with that toady Devin Nunes
Yes Mr Deutch
Lordy, the Alabama Rep conducted herself civilly.
What’s really striking to me is that the Republicans aren’t even pretending to care that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. They’re just scoring sound bites for Fox and the deplorables. Once again they are winning the propaganda war.
Someone on Twitter noted that they are doing the Hannity defense line by line. Seriously people, why are you quoting a failed tv host?
Who is the man behind Mueller with the glasses and moustache?
Oh, look, the Florida drunk is grandstanding.
Why did I not expect the republicans to attack him? I should have but as a member of their party I thought they would have been at least courteous if not convivial. He does seem taken aback by their demeanor. I think it comes off as very rude and offensive and may not work well for their party special counsel is not playing along with the rethugs.
You would have thought the Rs would be more supportive of Mueller, considering they think the report completely exonerated Trump et al.
Rep Jeffries questioning rn is legit
I was very good, agreed. I wasn’t sure what Mueller meant by disagreeing with his analysis.
It’s so funny, we hear what we want to hear. Some people believe this is a good day for Don the Con. I hear mr Mueller saying “Trump could be procuted after he leaves office” …and he insisted several times that he did not exonerate the President on Obstruction of Justice. That’s what I heard.
I heard the detail that Trump asked his lawyer to make false records to cover up that he tried to fire Mueller. I knew he had lied about wanting to do it, asking the lawyer who refused to do the firing to write a letter for the record lying seems like a bad thing.
People are watching this like there is going to be a “you can’t handle the truth” moment from the movies. That’s not going to happen. Real life courtrooms are far less dramatic and instead getting admissions from the witness is the goal.
And then there are great own goals like that GOP former prosecutor who got Mueller to confirm that dump would be charged with obstruction if it wasn’t for the OLC memo saying a sitting president can’t be indicted. It’s actually a huge admission that confirms Dump is only protected by this memo at this point and the office of the presidency. Which means they should impeach him.
The rest of the GOP are screaming infowars nonsense and with Mueller not being aggressive in his responses to them, they look like they are attacking an old man.
Eh. I think most people are savvy (and cynical) enough to understand that this hearing won’t lead to any bombshells. MSM has made that clear by emphasizing that Mueller won’t deviate from the original report.
But this hearing does matter and WILL matter in a historical context. It’s not nothing to have Mueller on-record saying his report didn’t exonerate Trump and that he believes he could be charged once out of office.*
*which means he will do ANYTHING to win another term
Mueller has never been aggressive in any of his testimonies or questioning. He is calm, measured, won’t raise his voice, merely state the truth unequivocally and without drama while his accusers bray like a pack of unhinged hounds. If there is a bombshell moment, it will be said with quiet determination, integrity and dignity.
There’s no doubt that President Trump is ruthless and corrupt, but the drawing out of this report & testimony when absolutely nothing will come of it, is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever witnessed.
Mueller is hard of hearing, not feeble.
I agree! Get the man some #$#!~ hearing aids! He can’t hear anything. It’s so frustrating! Unless the audio in the room is a lot worse than what we hear.
I agree, he’s having an issue with hearing
Maybe it is sound/acoustics. I read a tweet claiming an audience member reported it was difficult to hear both questions and answers.
Watching now and I’m already exhausted. This shit just needs to be over. Impeach him, charge him, throw his ass in jail. My stance from the beginning has been that, although the law states that a sitting president cannot be indicted, desperate times call for desperate measures. This is an unprecedented case and it’s clear that the current strategy is not only useless but dangerous. Fully admit that this is from a lay perspective, but that’s my opinion. What is it going to take?
Him losing in 2020 and Trump going to prison with his sons in 2021??
Unfortunately, like when Bill Clinton was impeached, he will not be indicted by the Senate. This is why Pelosi isn’t gung ho. She knows he has the senate majority and won’t be indicted after impeachment. Most people don’t even remember Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998, by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228–206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221–212 vote). He then finished his second term as president and he is now …well you know
My question about this farce is the same as anything regarding US politics these days—to what end? What will come of this event? Absolutely nothing, yes? Another waste of time and taxpayer money for yet another dog and pony show, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
Out of all the terrible and often times WASTEFUL shit that the GOP has spent my tax money on this is probably the thing that I’m least upset about.
Why “farce”, exactly?
I happen to appreciate congressional records, they’re part of that thing called the rule of law.
I think the point was to read the highlights of the report to a public that won’t read it for itself. That’s not a waste. But yes, nothing concrete is coming out of this.
FACT: The OLC rule *only* benefits the GOP and they know it. No Dem candidate would ever do even 1/100th of what Trump has done but plenty of future GOP candidates would and will. That’s why they don’t care about the precedent it sets. F*ck, they LOVE the precedent that it sets
Geatz is the epitome of Florida man.
When I look at his square mugshots the word “meathead” pops up. Yeah he looks like a backwards drunk moron.
The words to the Great Big Sea song (written by R.E.M.) “It’s the end of the world as we know it” have been replaying in my mind the past few days in the run-up to Mueller’s testimony:
That’s great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes
Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs
Feed it off an aux speak, grunt, no, strength
Ladder start to clatter with fear, fight down height
Wire in a fire, representing seven games
A government for hire and a combat site
Left of west and coming in a hurry
With the furies breathing down your neck
Team by team reporters baffled, TRUMPED, tethered, cropped
Look at that low playing! Fine, then
Uh oh, overflow, population, common food
But it’ll do
Save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed
Dummy with the rapture and the revered and the right
Right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
Ha, I was thinking about this song, too, although I’m old enough to think of it purely as an REM song.
I don’t feel fine…but am working on acceptance.
Oops, my Canadian bias is showing through as Great Big Sea is a super band from St. John’s, Newfoundland. They probably didn’t get much airplay in the US.
LMFAO Canadian bias indeed – for the record I can’t staaaaand Great Big Sea.
Excuse me? “LFMAO Canadian bias indeed”? The fact that you can’t staaaaand the band is irrelevant to this conversation.
Their constant calling up Mueller to testify constitutes harassment and even persecution.
Please refresh my memory. How many times has mr Mueller been called up to testify in this case? I don’t remember another time.
On this case? Just today.
um wut?
easy there troll. how is it either? has he said he feels harassed? or persecuted? methinks you don’t really know what those words mean.
Mueller just eye rolled Nunes’s description of his hiring!
I didn’t see it since I’m at work and only listening but I was imagining Mueller’s blood boiling at Nunes’ entire performance. I know mine was. JFC.
I was very troubled when Mueller couldn’t say which president hired him “I think it was Bush”. The questioner corrected him and said it was Reagan. I’m telling you there’s something wrong with Mueller. Either he cannot hear or he is infirmed in some way. That was the reason why the hearing was such a disaster
OMG I am sooooo loving that massive picture of Boris Johnson that Nunes showed during the hearing. Johnson is soooooo caught up in this and with him as PM he WILL sell the NHS to the money grubbing US pharma conglomerates who are only interested in money and not helping people. Epic trolling by Nunes (who I can’t stand).
“Truth is a force of nature”- DT on Twitter now, bragging.
Good God.
Even the progressive bloggers are reporting that this was a flop. I tend to agree as I can’t see how today’s events have changed anything.
Do Trump’s tweets against Mueller count as interfering with a witness? By appearing before a congressional committee, Mueller is no longer just an investigator, but also a witness, isn’t he? So could Trump’s tweets be taken to be an attempt to indimidate Mueller as a witness before that committee?
Mueller seemed like he was out of it…barely present and didn’t prepare or know anything in the report. He answered barely any questions.
“I want to add one correction to my testimony this morning,” Mueller said. “I want to go back to one thing that was said this morning by Mr. Lieu, who said and I quote, ‘You didn’t charge the President because of the OLC opinion.’ That is not the correct way to say it. As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.”
A disaster.