# 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:** 219
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4362 "2018-05-02T16:34:47Z")
Ty Cobb is “retiring”. Trump is adding Emmet Flood to his legal team. Flood has relevant experience, having been one of Bill Clinton’s lawyers representing him during his impeachment. 🙂 > **[Trump Adds Clinton Impeachment Lawyer, Bracing for a Fight on Multiple Fronts...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/emmet-flood-ty-cobb-white-house-lawyer-special-counsel.html?smid=pl-share)** > > Emmet Flood’s hiring reflects concern that the Russia investigation will drag on and that the midterm elections could result in a Congress eager to take on the White House. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4363 "2018-05-02T18:01:41Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Ty Cobb is “retiring”. Seeing as how [he died in 1961](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Cobb) it’s about time he got off the payroll. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4364 "2018-05-02T18:07:23Z")
FTR, _Cobb_ is my favorite Tommy Lee Jones movie. He was a nasty piece of work and it’s not surprising that his ghost went to work for Trump. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4365 "2018-05-02T18:10:34Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Ty Cobb is “retiring”. Trump is adding Emmet Flood to his legal team. Flood has relevant experience, having been one of Bill Clinton’s lawyers representing him during his impeachment. 🙂 > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/emmet-flood-ty-cobb-white-house-lawyer-special-counsel.html?smid=pl-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/emmet-flood-ty-cobb-white-house-lawyer-special-counsel.html?smid=pl-share) He may be retiring , but the mustache will stay and continue to work with NSA Bolton. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4366 "2018-05-02T18:47:32Z")
If you’re having trouble keeping track of the ever-increasing number of players in this saga, Politico has a handy compilation that aims to list everyone involved, what parts of the clusterfuck they’re connected to, etc. It’s nicely laid out. [Trump-Russia investigation: See the 270 people connected to the probes](https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/trump-russia-investigation-ties/) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4367 "2018-05-02T18:53:12Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > If you’re having trouble keeping track of the ever-increasing number of players in this saga, Politico has a handy compilation that aims to list everyone involved, what parts of the clusterfuck they’re connected to, etc. It’s nicely laid out. [Trump-Russia investigation: See the 270 people connected to the probes](https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/trump-russia-investigation-ties/) After people flip through that article, I think it is easy to come away confused with how all those people relate to one another and the whole investigation. Some really smart dude has basically taken all that information, fed it through these link analysis tools, and come up with a really concise way of visualizing all that data. Seriously, first flip through that Politico article to get the details, then check out how it all fits together: [link.](https://imgur.com/gallery/JznFHUM) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4368 "2018-05-02T18:57:46Z")
Something like … a dossier, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4369 "2018-05-02T19:31:13Z")
Campaign aide Michael Caputo is talking to Mueller today behind closed doors. He spoke to the Senate Intel Committee yesterday (which, unlike the House committee, is actually apparently doing its job) > **[Former Trump campaign aide meets with Mueller's special counsel in Russia probe](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-campaign-aide-meets-muellers-special-counsel-russia/story?id=54882699)** > > Former Trump aide Michael Caputo is meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Wednesday as part of their investigation into alleged Russian meddling. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4370 "2018-05-02T19:57:31Z")
Trump will eventually testify because I truly think that Trump doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4371 "2018-05-02T20:56:58Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Trump will eventually testify because I truly think that Trump doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong. I don’t think that he has any conception of right and wrong. He realizes that other people do, though, so he’ll avoid putting himself into the position where he has to justify his actions, tweets, and claims. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4372 "2018-05-03T01:00:49Z")
Of course he didn’t do anything wrong, that’s how he can be so sure that the system is rigged against him! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4373 "2018-05-03T01:17:37Z")
Michael Caputo is on CNN whining that he’ll have to move and get a better job to pay his attorneys and he hasn’t heard from some fund that’s supposed to help those caught up in the investigation. Said something about maybe not being pretty enough. It must suck to have counted on Trump to have his back after all the sucking up he’s done. - plays tiny harmonica\* ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4374 "2018-05-03T02:25:56Z")
> [@simster](#): > > He may be retiring , but the mustache will stay and continue to work with NSA Bolton. That is, when it’s not out there selling Quaker oatmeal ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4375 "2018-05-03T13:18:24Z")
The beautiful thing about Trump testifying is that Mueller almost certainly doesn’t _need_ Donald’s - you should pardon the phrase - info. It will all be lies, of course, some of which will be actionable, sure. But I have no doubt that Mueller already has his case typed up. Pushing Donald is just to keep him off balance and making mistakes. The more Donald talks, the guiltier he looks. ---
**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 3, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4376 "2018-05-03T15:37:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Trump will eventually testify because I truly think that Trump doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong. I could see him actually testifying – it would be crazy, but I could see him actually agreeing to it. I sense what’s more likely is that he’ll talk about doing it as a stall tactic, and allow his allies in congress and in the right wing press to hammer away at Mueller, Rosenstein, Comey, and the “Deep State.” I suspect Mueller will either be fired or will have at least been the target of an attempted firing by Summer’s end, and perhaps by the end of Spring. The Republicans want time enough to recover from the political fallout, which will be intense, but they don’t want to wait until there are even more explosive allegations that come to light. I don’t see how Trump stops the evidence from surfacing - someone’s going to at least try to pick up the pieces of Mueller’s investigation and we know damn well that Democrats will be howling the moment it goes down. It wouldn’t be enough to fire Mueller; he’d have to fire Rosenstein and Jeff Sessions as well, which could be done, but he would really be risking a civil war with the Senate if that were to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4377 "2018-05-03T16:49:26Z")
So we’re all getting a big kick out of Rudy’s remarks on the Stormy Daniels covfefe but he’s opening up new legal fronts in the Mueller investigations as well. (Joy Behar thinks that Rudy is underbussing Donald for Revenge on not getting a WH position, btw.) Here’s a short excerpt from a short RawStory bit on Jeffery Toobin’s reaction to Rudy’s claiming that Comey was fired for not confirming publically that Donald was not a target of investigation. Here’s the link to the story, with the video exchange from CNN. The part with Toobin starts at 2:42. > **['That's corrupt intent': Toobin says Giuliani blew up Trump defense by...](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/thats-corrupt-intent-toobin-says-giuliani-blew-trump-defense-admitting-comey-fired-russia/)** > > CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on Thursday argued that Rudy Giuliani's interview spree has done a disservice to his client, President Donald Trump, by providing evidence that the president had "corrupt intent" when he fired then-FBI Director James... > [@RawStory above](#): > > While speaks to Fox News on Wednesday, Giuliani asserted that Trump had fired Comey because the FBI director refused to tell him that he was not a “target” in the Russia investigation. > > On Thursday, CNN host Poppy Harlow wondered, “Did he just blow up the president’s claims of no obstruction?” > > “It hurts Donald Trump,” Toobin agreed, “and helps [special counsel] Robert Mueller proving corrupt intent. I mean, this is the core issue with the obstruction of justice investigation.” > > “It’s quite clear that the president has the right to fire the FBI director,” he continued. “What he doesn’t have the right to do is fire him with a corrupt intent. That’s what obstruction of justice is. And if he fired him because Comey wouldn’t exonerate Trump, that sounds to me like a corrupt intent. ‘I’m going to fire you unless you exonerate me in your investigation of me.’ That’s corrupt intent.” America’s Mayor, ladies & gentlemen! ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4378 "2018-05-03T16:54:17Z")
That story seems mistaken. Comey himself testified to Congress that he did tell Trump that he was not a target, so it doesn’t seem possible that Trump could have fired him for refusing to do this. What it seems to be confused with is that Comey refused to publically announce that Trump was not a target. Whether that’s obstruction or not might be another issue. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4379 "2018-05-03T16:59:09Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > (Joy Behar thinks that Rudy is underbussing Donald for Revenge on not getting a WH position, btw.) I breathlessly await more in-depth analysis from the astute and well-informed legal mind of Joy Behar. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4380 "2018-05-03T17:06:23Z")
Cohen’s lines were [tapped](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/feds-tapped-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-s-phones-n871011) and at least one call between the White House and Cohen was intercepted during the time leading up to the Cohen raid. (On edit, it’s not clear when the call took place, merely that the tap was in place at that point. The call might have been after the raid.) ---
**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 3, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/4381 "2018-05-03T17:52:07Z")
Trump’s legal situation is in a tailspin and rapidly plunging toward the earth below. Expect something rash soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=218) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=220)