Excessive Russiagate

More here than I expected: From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.07.19, Paul Mirengoff at Power Line discusses Emmett Flood's letter to William Barr regarding the short comings of the Mueller Report. Two and a half years, and he didn't even bother to read the instructions.

Flood gets right to the point:

The [special counsel’s report] suffers from an extraordinary legal defect: It quite deliberately fails to comply with the requirements of governing law.

Flood cites two major ways in which the Mueller report suffers from this defect. The first problem centers around its statement that the evidence “prevent[ed] [the special counsel’s office] from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred” with respect to possible obstruction of justice. Flood explains that “conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred” was not Mueller’s assigned task, because making conclusive determinations of innocence is never the task of the federal prosecutor.
. . .
The second big problem with Mueller’s report is that it didn’t do the one job Mueller was tasked with. Under the relevant regulation, his duty was to “provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.” 28 C.F.R. Section 600.8(c). But on the question of obstruction of justice, Mueller made neither a prosecution decision nor a declination decision. Thus, says Flood, “none of the Report’s Volume II complied with the obligation imposed by the governing regulation to ‘explain[] the prosecution or declination decisions reached.'” (Emphasis in the letter)

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, ABC: Barr Inclined To Let Mueller Testify Over Trump’s Objections

Alternate headline: Attorney General makes a virtue out of the inevitable. This might be an interesting conflict if in fact William Barr had any realistic choice in the matter:

Attorney General William Barr still believes special counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to testify before Congress, despite President Donald Trump’s apparent objection, according to a source familiar with the attorney general’s thinking.
As the head of the Justice Department and Mueller’s boss, Barr could attempt to block the testimony if he chooses.

Note the word “attempt,” and note well the conditional attached to it. The drama arises from Trump’s Sunday-evening tweet in which he declared that Mueller “should not testify” to Congress:

I still want Mueller to testify, even if Trump doesn't. A good Republican could ask a lot of interesting questions. Larry C. Johnson poses some good ones. The Malevolent Farce that is Mueller and the Russia Hoax.  Mediaite,  Ken Starr Comes For Mueller: Committed an ‘Unforgivable Sin’ With ‘Whiny,’ Leaked Letter to AG Barr. He has a point. Ken Starr was lambasted by the press for years for investigating Slick Willy, while Mueller was feted by the crowd, until the moment he failed to deliver. AP, Senate Democrats say Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is “afraid” of the findings from special counsel Robert Mueller and failing to protect U.S. elections after McConnell tells them it's over. Ed at Hot Air, McConnell To Dems: Welcome To The Russian-Aggression Party, Pals. But, 57% of Democrats Believe President Trump Guilty of Treason, if treason consists of beating Hillary Clinton in a race rigged against him.

WaPoo ("secret" link) Barr to Trump: Invoke executive privilege over redacted Mueller materials "all but assuring that Attorney General William P. Barr will be held in contempt of Congress." Yeah baby; that'll get Nadler's goat! Jen Rubin, Heading for constitutional convulsions. Burr, Senate inquiry will divulge more on Russian interference

Frontpage Mag has an amusing alternate history post in Special Counsel Report on Russian Interference in the 1984 Election featuring Teddy actively colluding with the Soviets to defeat Ronny.

White House instructs former counsel Don McGahn not to comply with congressional subpoena. Fine. Behind the Black, Honoring elections is no longer the Democratic Party way. WSJ, The Pseudo-Impeachment - Democrats hold show trials rather than vote to oust the President as Paul Bedard in the WaEx writes Liberal Media Scream: Anti-Trump media fears he’ll never leave office.

Also from the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.07.19, Don Surber writes of how The walls are closing in on Obama's spies. We can hope. CNS News, Judicial Watch Sues FBI/DOJ for Top Obama Officials' Communications About Russia and 2016 Election. Doing the work that "journolists" won't. Red State, Is A Major Real Scandal About To Break Soon?

The question now remains when we will see pre-dawn raids on the homes of those who hatched the plan? Will we see SWAT teams entering the home of James Comey at 5:30 AM with a CNN van coincidentally standing by? Will we see FBI agents descending from helicopters into the home of James Brennan? Clapper? Strozk, Page, or the Ohr residence? How about Sally Yates, Rod Rosenstein and Comey who used a discredited piece of opposition research paid for by the Clinton campaign and DNC to obtain a FISA warrant against Carter Page?

Da Hill, James Comey is in trouble and he knows it

James Comey is right to be apprehensive. He himself ate away at the soul of the FBI, not in small bites but in dangerously large ones. It was a dinner for one, though: His actions are not indicative of the real FBI. The attorney general’s comprehensive examination is welcome and, if done honestly and dispassionately, it will protect future presidential candidates of both parties and redeem the valuable soul of the FBI.

Arguing semantics, FBI's Wray: Spying is 'not the term I would use' to describe Trump campaign probe, but his boss does.

"Well, it's not the term I would use. Lots of people have different colloquial phrases," Wray said during testimony on the FBI's budget for 2020. "I believe that the FBI is engaged in investigative activity, and part of investigative activity includes surveillance.”

Byron York, WaEx,  No question there was spying on Trump campaign, but how much?. Probably much more than we know, and Papadopoulos Suspects Other 2016 GOP Campaigns Were Spied On, too (Da Caller). He thinks they took a run at Ben Carson in addition. Tom Maguire at Just One Minute thinks it's Very Interesting. "It means I want to see that Inspector General's report." What are the odds of this charity partnering with Link campus to create a think tank that chooses Mifsud as its first director?, links the Mysterious Mr. Mifsud with the Saudis and others. At Am Spec, FH Buckley worries that we are Sinking to Third World Status "Why did the FBI and CIA spy on the Trump campaign?" Because they could. Matt Vespa at Town Hall This Columnist Noticed Something Odd About How The NYT Reported On The Trump Spygate Story. It's not really odd, just think of them as Democrat operatives with bylines.



At Hot Hair, AllahPundit hopefully suggests Michael Cohen Starting To Spill Secrets About Trump Allies? in an attempt to blackmail the President into a pardon?

I approach all news involving Trump and his cronies as TV drama so my mind naturally turned towards the most dramatic possible scenario to explain why this might have leaked. Here’s my best shot: Desperate to avoid prison and all out of leverage to get the feds to agree to further delay the start of his sentence, Cohen covertly approached Trump with an ultimatum. Either POTUS pardons him, for “old times’ sake” or whatever, or Cohen’s allies on the outside begin to empty his archives of the dirt he’s accumulated on Trump and his circle over the past decade. If Trump doesn’t comply, Cohen’s allies will begin leaking immediately after his departure for prison — first small stuff related to figures only marginally connected to Trumpworld like Jerry Falwell Jr, then gradually bigger stuff that hits closer to home, like the Trump family and finally POTUS himself.

He better be careful or he'll find additional charges.