Relevant Topical Items 2

Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy is a really smart guy whose articles are both well written and full of cogent comments.  In this piece he digs into the Mueller's investigation into the infamous Trump Tower meeting that took place on 9 June 2016 between Don Trump, Jr and a Russian operation. It turned out to be a nothing burger.  Quote: "That’s what I had to tell myself, more than once, in reading the Mueller report’s analysis of the closest thing to “Trump-Russia collusion” in the 2016 campaign — the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting of June 9, 2016. Because if special counsel Robert Mueller is right, then there ought to be another withering two-year investigation, tout de suite, of the Hillary Clinton campaign’s far worse election-law violations. According to Mueller, the derogatory information about Hillary Clinton at issue in the Trump Tower meeting could have been an illegal in-kind foreign contribution to a political campaign. The prosecutor, however, declined to charge it out of an abundance of caution and magnanimity. To be sure, Trump Tower was amateur hour. By contrast, the Clinton campaign did not merely accept a dubious Russian offer of help; it actively solicited derogatory Trump information from foreign sources, then channeled this “opposition research” into government intelligence channels — with a resulting disinformation coup for Moscow. But while the Clinton effort merits a searching investigation to find out what caused our $50 billion per annum intelligence community to be taken for a ride, it does not merit federal prosecution for campaign-finance violations. That would be ridiculous — as it was even more ridiculous to investigate Don Trump Jr. on this loopy theory."   And,  "The Trump Tower meeting was a pointless dud. Yet, Mueller investigated it as a crime."  And,  "The whole futile exercise took 20 minutes — enough to give Putin a card to play on Trump (if you meet with the Kremlin, you’re at the Kremlin’s mercy when Russia decides to spin what the meeting was about), but not for much else. Not so fast, say Mueller’s prosecutors. Opposition research is a “thing of value” under the campaign finance laws. The fact that it was neither money nor hard assets, but just information, does not prevent Congress and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from making its exchange a felony. Mueller ultimately decided not to charge it because of what he conceded was the challenge of proving intent on the facts of the case: Because campaign violations are not inherently criminal, prosecutors must prove defendants acted willfully — i.e., they were aware their actions were illegal. There was no indication that the participants in the meeting realized they might be running afoul of campaign finance law."  And,  "If 2016 has taught us anything, it is that we should invite the FBI and federal prosecutors to have as little to do with our political campaigns as possible. Their involvement politicizes law enforcement and inhibits democracy."     https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/439817-trump-tower-meeting-a-shining-example-of-what-not-to-investigate 

The Mueller report cuts two ways. It exonerates Trump from collusion with Russia but cleverly hints of potential obstruction of justice which Democrats have happily seized upon. But as this piece suggests it also shines an unsavory light on the Obama Administration.  Quote: "With Congressional Democrats tantruming over redactions, presidential candidates out-virtue-signalling one another in denigration of Trump (for what it is unclear) calling for impeachment (again, for what is unclear) and the liberal media desperate for a distraction from the embarrassment of their two-year harassment in lieu of the main headline – “no collusion, no obstruction;” few if any among the mainstream have noticed (or mentioned) one tiny little detail in the Mueller Report… the ‘confirmed’ interference by Russia in the 2016 US Election took place – knowingly – under President Obama’s watch. But amid all this sound and fury, something odd happened. The ‘powers-that-be’ at CNN – ground zero for the Trump’s-a-traitorous-Putin-Puppet propaganda – have allowed the publication of an op-ed amid their hallowed pages that casts blame at the anointed one.  CNN contributor Scott Jennings – soon to be exiled from every social media platform we suspect – dared to point out that the Mueller report looks bad for Obama. The partisan warfare over the Mueller report will rage, but one thing cannot be denied: Former President Barack Obama looks just plain bad. On his watch, the Russians meddled in our democracy while his administration did nothing about it." https://rawconservativeopinions.com/2019/04/20/cnn-op-ed-admits-mueller-s-report-looks-bad-for-obama/  And,   https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/opinions/mueller-report-obama-jennings/index.html?

This is an excellent assessment of the political left's continuing insane antics following the release of the Mueller report. It reveals media hypocrisy throughout and continuing even now. Quote: "Despite the oceans of pixels, buckets of ink, and hours of  TV and radio coverage respecting the Mueller report, there are two important things underplayed or ignored: the ubiquitous nature of Russian interference from 2014 on, which Obama ignored, and the real target of the witch hunt -- General Michael Flynn (and why). To get there, let’s  first quickly review the pre- and post- report major media coverage. There are countless examples of the media beclowning itself when the left’s dream of a slam-dunk against the president failed. It was like the election night follies all over again.
 "  And,  "It’s not unreasonable to believe this entire $30 million hoax of an investigation was not only to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s victory over Hillary, but as well to cover up Obama’s failures to respond to Russian interference to protect his crackpot nuclear deal with Iran."  And,  "It’s Easter Sunday and Passover. For those who value truth, hang on. I think it has been slow in coming, but coming it is."     https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/04/things_the_media_ignored_in_the_mueller_report.html
 

Rightly so, this item suggests it is time for Democrats to accept reality. Quote: "Democrats have been living in a fantasy world since the clock struck midnight after November 8, 2016. Rather than accept reality and the results of historic victory of Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpGrassroots America shows the people support Donald TrumpTrump speaks to rebel Libyan general attacking TripoliDem lawmaker: Mueller report shows 'substantial body of evidence' on obstructionMORE over Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonGrassroots America shows the people support Donald TrumpEx-FBI official: 'Links and coordination' with Russia happen everydayEx-FBI agent: Americans should be 'disgusted' by Russian interference in Mueller reportMORE in the last presidential election, Democrats have clutched to conspiracy theories. The first fantasy was that the 2016 election was tainted by “fake news.” When that backfired, because after all it was the mainstream media that had to apologize for its biased coverage of the race, the narrative had to change. Democrats then settled on another conspiracy theory, hand woven by the Clinton campaign and deeply entrenched within the Obama administration Justice Department that was led by collusion truthers. It could not be that their unlikeable, untrustworthy, and inauthentic candidate, dogged by decades of scandals, who never bothered to campaign in Wisconsin had fairly and resoundingly lost to a man who connected with the forgotten men and women of this country with a clear and strong agenda. Democrats had to find a new scapegoat. They claimed that Vladimir Putin plotted to “subvert an election” and that Russia helped “swing it for” Trump. We have been living in their fantasy world where every single thing revolves around Russia ever since 2016."    https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/439680-time-for-democrats-to-accept-reality

The Democrats got everything they asked for but keep changing their demands.  They think Mueller let them down.  He failed to satisfy the main Democrat demands/expectations. He was suppose to find Trump guilty so they could immediately start impeachment proceedings. Quote: "Democrats in Congress should stop launching baseless attacks against President Trump, and should use their oversight authority to find out why the Obama administration was inexcusably asleep at the wheel for so long, how top officials at the DOJ and FBI were able to take advantage of our system and get away with it, and what can be done to ensure it never happens again. At the same time, Democrats should stop moving the goalposts; first, they wanted an investigation into the 2016 election. Then they called for a special counsel and praised his integrity. Then they got Barr’s letter summarizing Mueller’s findings and suggested it was inconclusive or flawed. So they demanded the full Mueller report, and when they got it, they changed their tune yet again. Now, they demand that Mueller testify before Congress as they continue their search for evidence that simply doesn’t exist. The bottom line is that Democrats got everything they asked for, but none of it was enough. They are so upset our president didn’t collude with a foreign nation to undermine our democracy, they can’t seem to move on and do what they were elected to do: serve their constituents, none of whom even consider the investigation an important issue. American voters will not soon forget their endless attacks on President Trump and their two-year obsession over non-existent collusion. Now, we deserve an investigation into the investigators."    https://explainlife.com/moment-we-have-been-anticipating-republicans-tear-into-obama-out-for-blood-this-time-14036/?  Now get this bit of idiocy courtesy of Nancy Pelosi.  These people are clearly mentally unhinged and blind with rage at Barr, Mueller and anyone else who does not agree with them and their arrogant self delusions.  Quote: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and other top Democrats declined Friday to view a less redacted Mueller report. Top Democrats responded to a proposal from Attorney General (AG) William Barr to view a less redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that confirmed President Donald Trump did not collude with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. In the wake of the Mueller report’s release, Pelosi and Schumer said that Mueller needs to testify before Congress. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nalder (D-NY) said that Mueller should testify before his committee because they “clearly cannot believe” what Barr tells us about the Mueller report."   https://thebeardedpatriot.com/pelosi-rejects-ag-barrs-offer-arrogantly-sets-up-constitutional-crisis/