# A Thread for the Mueller Investigation Results and Outcomes (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093 "2017-10-28T20:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 218
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4342 "2018-05-01T20:32:44Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The leak couldn’t have come from Trump or any of his people. For one thing, we know he hates leaks. I don’t think Trump even has the questions. He leveled criticism at Hillary Clinton for receiving the questions in advance of one of their debates. If Mueller’s questions were offered to Trump, I’m sure he’d refuse them on principle. This made me laugh right out loud. Principle?? What is this _principle_ whereof you speak? Thump wouldn’t know a principle if it peed on him. Unless this was irony, in which case, _good one!_ My 2 cents after reading some of the post(er)s above: Mueller should not ask thump to testify or “participate in an interview,” nor should he subpoena him. What would be the friggin’ point? Every word out of the presidential piehole would be a lie-- that’s a given. It would be nothing but a distraction and another opportunity for thump to stand up in the center ring of this three-ring fuckfest and scream, “Witch hunt! Fake news! Nanny-nanny boo-boo!” Mueller should convict and sentence him _in abstentia_. Or maybe use a nice big orange effigy. Or that wax dummy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4343 "2018-05-01T20:35:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If Mueller’s questions were offered to Trump, I’m sure he’d refuse them on principle. You used “Trump” and “principle” in the same sentence. Does not make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4344 "2018-05-01T21:17:16Z")
I think **Robot Arm** was being sarcastic there. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4345 "2018-05-01T22:50:46Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This morning, Trump is tweeting that the leaked questions show there was no collusion because there were no questions about collusion. Despite all the questions about collusion. > > Also, apparently it is impossible to obstruct justice if the original crime didn’t happen. Another Trump tweet this morning. He sure does like to bang on the “collusion” drum, doesn’t he? As though “collusion” is the only possible charge that anyone could bring that could cast doubt upon the utter blamelessness of his presidency. Also as though he’s only capable of holding one deficiency in his head at a time. I wonder how his tweets would change if we were all to start talking about his “short-fingered collusion”… ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4346 "2018-05-02T01:47:14Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I’m convinced that Trump’s people leaked it. > > Evidence includes: > [ul] > [li]The NYT said the questions were offered verbally, a sign that Mueller at least didn’t want them shared.[/li][li]Some of the questions have grammatical errors.[/li][li]Trump’s people have more to gain by leaking them (they might dissuade him from agreeing to interview or at least motivate him to properly prepare, and provide fodder for Hannity and other lackeys to attack the investigation).[/li][li]As I posted above, they aren’t really questions but instead topics and I doubt Mueller’s people would have characterized them that way if they leaked; and[/li][li]Mueller’s office hasn’t demonstrably leaked anything, while Trump’s people have leaked a ton.[/li][/ul] I also lean toward the possibility of a Trump leak. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone on Mueller’s team to leak such questions, but there are several reasons Trump might do so. Interesting timing, too, considering the move to impeach Rosenstein. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4347 "2018-05-02T02:01:19Z")
It’s looking more and more like the questions were leaked from somewhere in the neighborhood of Jay Sekulow’s office. Apparently it was Sekulow who jotted the questions/topics of interest down during a discussion with Mueller’s prosecutors where the prosecutors orally listed areas of interest about which they were likely to ask questions of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4348 "2018-05-02T02:06:06Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Dunno, but I doubt it. He’s a relentless iron-ass, he has played it strictly by the procedures, he’s had thousands of opportunities to leak stuff. By all appearances, he has held remarkable control. He isn’t allowing any openings, no turn unstoned. > > Unless, of course, he _already_ has everything _but_ Trump’s answers. The only questions are whether Trump’s answers align with what he already knows to be true, or not. It is beyond anyone’s power to change the facts already at hand, so it doesn’t matter. > > I’d think he would prefer that nothing was ever leaked, but under these presumed circumstances, he wouldn’t need to care all that much. Still, full knowledge and consent? This is not the way of the iron-ass. This is all true. I did walk back my assertion in my post #4299, but it appears to have been largely ignored. I may be walking back my thoughts about Mueller’s choice to not subpoena Trump as well, since apparently Mueller raised the possibility during the meeting between Trump’s team and Mueller’s on March 5, 2018. Raising the possibility is not the same thing as actually doing it, but still… we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4349 "2018-05-02T02:13:24Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Good catch. Correct, this was not a Mueller leak. However, as you pointed out, Mueller embodies sentiment of not putting something in writing that you’re not willing to see on the front page of the New York Times. 😃 It may have been prior to Mueller being appointed, but I do hope that the information about the Veselnitskaya meeting was leaked on the day that Trump was going to meet Putin by the investigators, rather than by Adam Schiff. Using the media to cause Trump to reveal information or do something incriminating seems within the realm of possibility, even under Mueller. He did lead an anti-intelligence organization, after all. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4350 "2018-05-02T02:17:37Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I may be walking back my thoughts about Mueller’s choice to not subpoena Trump as well, since apparently Mueller raised the possibility during the meeting between Trump’s team and Mueller’s on March 5, 2018. Raising the possibility is not the same thing as actually doing it, but still… we’ll see. I just heard and I’m trying not to gloat. 😃 It’s not even gloating at you, because I totally understand why you’re speculating that this is unlikely. It _is_ unlikely. It’s a precedent that’s been broken exactly once. And even then, Clinton was smart enough to change his mind, after which Starr effectively tore up the subpoena. (Although honestly, the effect was the same regardless.) The gloating expression you see on my face–or you would, if you could see through your screen–is simple delight… sheer, unadulterated _glee_… while imagining Donald Trump sitting in front of a Grand Jury, facing the stonelike presence of Mueller and his relentless questions. All alone. No attorneys. No handlers. No Sarah Sanders or Sean Spicer\* spin. Just Trump and his complete and total inability to tell the truth for more than five minutes. (And even that length of time is being generous.) I’ve been waiting for something like this since Lewinskygate. I’d rather it have been a war criminal like Cheney, but Trump is mighty sweet too. - Why am I only now realizing the appropriateness of their initials being “SS?” Hee. Okay, technically she’s SHS, but fuck it, it’s still dumb but amusing. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4351 "2018-05-02T02:22:10Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s looking more and more like the questions were leaked from somewhere in the neighborhood of Jay Sekulow’s office. Apparently it was Sekulow who jotted the questions/topics of interest down during a discussion with Mueller’s prosecutors where the prosecutors orally listed areas of interest about which they were likely to ask questions of Trump. I don’t think Trump is afraid to meet with Mueller and he probably doesn’t fear prosecution. I suspect he probably wants to tell Mueller face to face what he told James Comey face to face: let’s just drop the whole thing…or else. Leaking the documents is what Trump wants. He wants to turn this into a war of public opinion versus the rule of law. Ordinary people can be convinced to vote against their own interests. Ordinary people can be convinced to oppose the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4352 "2018-05-02T02:29:43Z")
> [@choie](#): > > I just heard and I’m trying not to gloat. 😃 It’s not even gloating at you, because I totally understand why you’re speculating that this is unlikely. It _is_ unlikely. It’s a precedent that’s been broken exactly once. And even then, Clinton was smart enough to change his mind, after which Starr effectively tore up the subpoena. (Although honestly, the effect was the same regardless.) > > The gloating expression you see on my face–or you would, if you could see through your screen–is simple delight… sheer, unadulterated _glee_… while imagining Donald Trump sitting in front of a Grand Jury, facing the stonelike presence of Mueller and his relentless questions. All alone. No attorneys. No handlers. No Sarah Sanders or Sean Spicer\* spin. Just Trump and his complete and total inability to tell the truth for more than five minutes. (And even that length of time is being generous.) > > I’ve been waiting for something like this since Lewinskygate. I’d rather it have been a war criminal like Cheney, but Trump is mighty sweet too. > > - Why am I only now realizing the appropriateness of their initials being “SS?” Hee. Okay, technically she’s SHS, but fuck it, it’s still dumb but amusing. LOL, I do understand your levity. 🙂 However, I do think for the very reasons you describe (in delightful detail, I might add), Trump will attempt to fire Rosenstein/Mueller before the opportunity arises for Mueller to carry out the scenario. Or Trump may delude himself that he could finesse his way through an interview with his attorney(s) present. Which isn’t possible even if Sekulow kept a cattle prod to hand. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4353 "2018-05-02T04:30:34Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t think Trump is afraid to meet with Mueller and he probably doesn’t fear prosecution. I suspect he probably wants to tell Mueller face to face what he told James Comey face to face: let’s just drop the whole thing…or else. If Trump met with Mueller it will not be just the two of them and it will be recorded. However I agree that Trump may want to meet with Mueller, but that just means Trump is an idiot who thinks he is smarter than Mueller. Dowd quit, remember, when Trump wanted to talk to Mueller. Or it might have been when the subpoena came up and Dowd learned how bad things were. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4354 "2018-05-02T05:18:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If Trump met with Mueller it will not be just the two of them and it will be recorded. However I agree that Trump may want to meet with Mueller, but that just means Trump is an idiot who thinks he is smarter than Mueller. Dowd quit, remember, when Trump wanted to talk to Mueller. Or it might have been when the subpoena came up and Dowd learned how bad things were. People are saying… that whoever leaked this is trying to influence Trump to not talk to Mueller. (As you know, the best way to get Trump’s attention is through the TV). They are well aware that Trump thinks he is so awesome that he can bullshit his way through this and won’t listen to his attorneys. I guess we’ll see if it works. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4355 "2018-05-02T06:04:44Z")
If Mueller wants to interview Trump all he has to do is call him chicken. Trump wouldn’t be able to resist showing that he’s not afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4356 "2018-05-02T09:40:15Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I think **Robot Arm** was being sarcastic there. Let me just check on that… [Yup.](https://tenor.com/view/simpsons-sarcastic-sarcasm-machine-explode-gif-7533973) > [@psychobunny](#): > > If Mueller wants to interview Trump all he has to do is call him chicken. Trump wouldn’t be able to resist showing that he’s not afraid. So Trump is Marty McFly? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4357 "2018-05-02T12:16:25Z")
The main reason I can see to question him is that, while Trump will lie, he’s not very good at it. Several times he has wound up divulging information he should not have divulged because he got so fired up. His lawyers know that–hence why they don’t want him talking to Mueller. If he could be relied upon to lie successfully, they wouldn’t be worried. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4358 "2018-05-02T13:22:24Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So Trump is Marty McFly? No, he’s Biff. I wish Mueller would just subpoena him, take him to the grand jury, and ream him so many new assholes he won’t know which one to use. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4359 "2018-05-02T14:10:12Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > If Mueller wants to interview Trump all he has to do is call him chicken. Trump wouldn’t be able to resist showing that he’s not afraid. If Mueller wants to interview Trump, there are two sure ways to make Trump run right in to the interview room: 1. Put the word out that Hillary doesn’t want him to. 2. Tell him that Obama previously wrote an executive order saying that he can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4360 "2018-05-02T15:06:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Cohen was slammed by The Enquirer on the cover page. When CNN asked him if he thought Trump was trying to send him a message through David Pecker’s Enquirer, Cohen replied “What do you think?” > > If so, it looks like Cohen’s cooperation vs. loyalty _is_ in play. I just stumbled on this Rolling Stone article. I had no idea — apparently Cohen has deep lifelong ties to the Russian Mafiya. > **[A Brief History of Michael Cohen's Criminal Ties](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-brief-history-of-michael-cohens-criminal-ties-628875/)** > > From the Russian mob to money launderers, Trump's personal attorney has long been a subject of interest to federal investigators And while I had previously heard the quote from an e-mail from Felix Sater to Michael Cohen saying “our Boy can become President of the United States, I don’t think I’d ever read the fuller text of the email. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected. We both know no one else knows how to pull this off without stupidity or greed getting in the way. Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer. I will get all of Putin’s team to buy in on this”. But I’m sure this is just more nothingburger ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4361 "2018-05-02T16:15:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This made me laugh right out loud. Principle?? What is this _principle_ whereof you speak? Thump wouldn’t know a principle if it peed on him. Unless this was irony, in which case, _good one!_ Irony, yes; two scoops of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=217) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=219)