Any discussion on the Mueller probe which begins with a half dozen assertions made by President Trump, or highly biased commentators on both liberal and conservative leaning cable stations, has immediately veered off course. There have been so many claims by commentators that getting to the facts at times seems hard. The truth is always a bit more complicated and considerably longer.
There are numerous unbiased sources of information on the internet. I am not about to launch into a discussion of “intellectual honesty” but this is severely lacking in many of the broadcast networks.
The probe is officially over so Robert Mueller can go home. Well sort of. He will be called to testified in the House Judiciary Oversight Committee as to his findings. The Justice Department has stated there will be no more indictments. At present, the Justice Department is reviewing the Mueller’s Final Report, to identify what may be provided to Congress. Under the law, the AG is not obligated to provide any part of the report, but only a summary of the important findings. The Attorney General William Barr and Deputy AG Rob Rosenstein worked over the weekend to produce the summary and it was posted in the previous blog.
The probe began as a counter-intelligence investigation by the FBI, when they received information that Russia was attempting to meddle in US elections in 2016. I believe the report will provide very similar details as given in Wikipedia, that the “triggering event” into the investigation was comments made by George Papadopoulos in a London bar to an Austrian diplomat about the Russians had damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
The Mueller investigation is now history. His investigation was limited to Russian involvement in the 2016 election. As the investigation proceeded, evidence of other criminal activities were discovered and Mueller referred these to other federal jurisdictions. The remaining criminal cases will be handled by federal prosecutors.
I believe the best unbiased source on the internet is from Wikipedia. It is constantly added to keep up with events. There are over 450 references provided on the Mueller probe and most of them are available just by clicking on the links.
President Trump has attacked the Special Counsel’s investigation over 1000 times, according to Wikipedia. Many of these attacks are unprecedented by a president, as he has the authority to appoint his cabinet officials and the Director of the FBI. I feel particularly bad on his attack and firing of AG Jeff Sessions and FBI Director James Comey. His attacks now seem aimed at the House Oversight Committees’ investigations. Note, as far as honesty, Trump’s track record is dismal, as only 4% of his statements are judged to be true, by Politifact.com . Many of them are on immigration, but I think more will come on the Russian Probe.
I can understand that there is information within Mueller’s report which must be redacted because it deals with national security or future prosecutions. I believe a redacted version of the report will be released.
Russia seems committed to meddling in elections where it can have an influence. The US will continue to be a target of meddling going forward, because our country is now very evenly divided between Republican and Democratic states. The 7 to 12 “toss up” states will determine the winner in the 2020 election.
It takes a bit of effort to search for the facts, instead of what comes via Facebook, Twitter (never use it) or other sources. There are some very good honest information on the internet, if one is selective of the source.
Stay tuned,
Dave
Links:
Wikipedia: Mueller Investigation
Wikipedia: Robert Mueller Biography
(see his latest comments, none of them are true. The last truthful statement dates back to November 18, 2018).
Another excellent fact checker.
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