Trump says Mueller should not be allowed to testify about investigating possible obstruction of justice

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by OutThinkz

Donald Trump has said Robert Mueller should not be allowed to testify to congress about his investigation into the president’s possible obstruction of justice and links to Russia.

“Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple,” the president tweeted, after Mr Mueller appeared in front of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on Wednesday.

“In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt. Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!”

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The president has repeatedly hit out at Mr Mueller as “conflicted” – without evidence – as well as calling the investigation into Russia election interference a “witch hunt”. The aim for Mr Trump has always been to undermine Mr Mueller’s credibility throughout the two-year probe.

Mr Mueller’s report did not find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy but did find evidence Mr Trump had potentially obstructed the investigation.

Shape Created with Sketch. Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Mueller investigation: The key figures 1/12 Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS 2/12 Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images 3/12 Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP 4/12 Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP 5/12 Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA 6/12 Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP 7/12 Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP 8/12 Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP 9/12 George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP 10/12 Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images 11/12 Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP 12/12 Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS 1/12 Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS 2/12 Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images 3/12 Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP 4/12 Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP 5/12 Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA 6/12 Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP 7/12 Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP 8/12 Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP 9/12 George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP 10/12 Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images 11/12 Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP 12/12 Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

Presenting his report in May, the then-special counsel indicated he was prevented from indicting a sitting president – saying such an action was “not an option” – because of the legal opinion of the Justice Department.

He did not use the word “impeachment” but said it was the job of congress to hold the president accountable for wrongdoing.

“But the questions should be asked,” the president said in a second tweet on Monday. “Why were all of Clinton’s people given immunity, and why were the text messages of Peter S and his lover, Lisa Page, deleted and destroyed right after they left Mueller, and after we requested them(this is Illegal)?”

Mr Trump was referring to Peter Strzok, who led the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server. He also worked on Mr Mueller’s probe into the president’s possible campaign links to Russia.

Mr Mueller is expected to testify before congress in back-to-back hearings on Wednesday in a move that could potentially lead the Democrat-led House of Representatives to begin formal impeachment inquiry proceedings.

In a statement preparing for the upcoming testimony, house judiciary committee chair Jerrold Nadler said the testimony would provide “very substantial evidence” against Mr Trump.

“This is a president who has violated the law six ways from Sunday,” said Mr Nadler, a New York Democrat, on Sunday.

He added: “We have to present – or let Mueller present – those facts to the American people ... because the administration must be held accountable and no president can be above the law.”

Mr Mueller has said he does not intend to reveal anything more than what he laid out in his nearly 400-page report. But many Democrats in congress will hope the public testimony could push forward the case for impeachment when he is asked about the 10 examples of the president’s alleged obstruction of justice.

Republicans are likely to follow a similar line of questioning line to Mr Trump, and ask Mr Mueller about his team.

bunkscudda on July 22nd, 2019 at 13:51 UTC »

Mueller files report

Trump claims report exonerates him of any wrongdoing

Mueller says report is his testimony, and all his testimony answers will come from it

Trump threatens Mueller because he’s scared shitless of what he’ll say..

..from the report..

..That Trump says exonerates him..

?!?!?

Cock_Guy on July 22nd, 2019 at 13:25 UTC »

"I object!!!"

"Why?"

"Because it's devastating to my case!"

TThom1221 on July 22nd, 2019 at 13:21 UTC »

I honestly can’t fathom how his supporters can’t see how guilty and insecure this makes him look.

He just looks cornered.