# 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:** 341
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6803 "2018-08-24T16:26:42Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > …And I’m starting to get the feeling that Sessions is getting so pissed at Trump maybe he’ll start his OWN investigation into him. That, would be great. No cites, just a feeling. Oooo…that would be yummy! Don’t tease like that. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6804 "2018-08-24T16:57:37Z")
I get up every morning and read the news with glee. Watching those corrupt assholes go down will make it all worth while. Now I know how the hippies felt in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6805 "2018-08-24T17:02:59Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I get up every morning and read the news with glee. Watching those corrupt assholes go down will make it all worth while. Now I know how the hippies felt in 1974. Not until you fire up a joint, you won’t. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6806 "2018-08-24T17:08:33Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > They’re going up the ladder. And. who is “up the ladder” from the CFO? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6807 "2018-08-24T17:22:47Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Call me crazy, but maybe- just hear me out- maybe he’s only finding wrongdoing on one side because\* that’s the side that’s doing the wrong\*. Oh, I doubt that, but I will defend risk-based investigations and prosecutions, and we are at greater risk from crimes committed the “side” that is currently running the government. And stop using “side”, dammit, this isn’t a football game; we are talking about political parties, only one of which has admitted that the Party is more important than the country. (That directed at news organizations, not you) ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6808 "2018-08-24T17:31:50Z")
“Rudy, it’s Don. I’ve decided to flip. That gets me immunity, right? Then we can go back to talking about my electrical college win, right?” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6809 "2018-08-24T17:36:42Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I get up every morning and read the news with glee. Watching those corrupt assholes go down will make it all worth while. Now I know how the hippies felt in 1974. Tired, depressed, and exhausted. If you had gangrene in one of your toes and had to hack it off with an ax, would you celebrate? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6810 "2018-08-24T17:41:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Tired, depressed, and exhausted. If you had gangrene in one of your toes and had to hack it off with an ax, would you celebrate? To be honest (and possibly too graphic) my late husband did, in fact, have gangrene in his big toe (it was black as a lump of coal right before the surgery), and by the time the doc amputated it, we were indeed celebrating. (A year later that leg was amputated-- not exactly cause for celebration, but it had to happen to save his life.) Didn’t hack it off with an axe, however. So, yeah, I’m celebrating. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6811 "2018-08-24T17:42:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Tired, depressed, and exhausted. If you had gangrene in one of your toes and had to hack it off with an ax, would you celebrate? Sure would. Because no more gangrene. Though I doubt I’d be dancing. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6812 "2018-08-24T18:13:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Tired, depressed, and exhausted. If you had gangrene in one of your toes and had to hack it off with an ax, would you celebrate? I’d be happy that the infection hadn’t become septic and spread irreversibly to all of my systems. On a lighter note, a little ditty has been running (ha!) through my head: > [@](#): > > And now they’re flipping, flipping, faster than lightning. > That is, you see, the smart strategy! > And all the flippers gonna give testimony > Give information, on their crime boss! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6813 "2018-08-24T18:49:13Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I have five dollars cash American that says Cohen turns back and says the “candidate for federal office” was Pence. Well, _ **that’s** _ weird. [Vice President Pence Now Being Investigated For Campaign Fraud](http://dctribune.org/2018/08/23/vice-president-pence-now-being-investigated-for-campaign-fraud-his-ties-to-russia-and-manafort/) Fair warning, there is no substance to this blog post, little but speculation and unsupported statements, but still. > [@friedo](#): > > None of this makes the least bit of sense. Read the [criminal information on Cohen](https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/criminal-information-on-michael-cohen/3188/). The crimes he is accused of (aside from the tax evasion and bank fraud) are all related to the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal payoffs, and those payoffs were directed by and reimbursed by Donald Trump. You are arguing that something in this administration is not likely because it does not make sense? Really? Not to push a joke too far, but do we have any evidence other than Cohen’s less than reliable or unambiguous word that Trump directed the payoff? The contents of the safe might shed light on this, or might only establish that he was aware of it. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6814 "2018-08-24T18:54:32Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Well, _ **that’s** _ weird. > > [Vice President Pence Now Being Investigated For Campaign Fraud](http://dctribune.org/2018/08/23/vice-president-pence-now-being-investigated-for-campaign-fraud-his-ties-to-russia-and-manafort/) > Fair warning, there is no substance to this blog post, little but speculation and unsupported statements, but still. > > You are arguing that something in this administration is not likely because it does not make sense? > Really? > > Not to push a joke too far, but do we have any evidence other than Cohen’s less than reliable or unambiguous word that Trump directed the payoff? The contents of the safe might shed light on this, or might only establish that he was aware of it. I thought later in the document they clarified that ‘candidate for federal office’ then became president. Secondly - Pence was never a ‘candidate’. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6815 "2018-08-24T19:00:04Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > And. who is “up the ladder” from the CFO? 😃 CEO. [sub]then presumably the CDO, CCO, CBO and finally CAO.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6816 "2018-08-24T19:01:22Z")
All right, that earned a chuckle. Good job! ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6817 "2018-08-24T19:13:55Z")
> [@andros](#): > > “Rudy, it’s Don. I’ve decided to flip. That gets me immunity, right? Then we can go back to talking about my electrical college win, right?” No, Don, I think we should stick with truth isn’t truth. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6818 "2018-08-24T19:14:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not enough. She voted to convict on 8 counts. The silver lining is, when there is a mistrial (as opposed to acquittal or conviction) the STAES can retry cases for the same or very similar crimes. So this Trumpy juror may well have given the states all the rope they will use to hang the crooked fucker. Example: California could prosecute the separate act of conspiracy bank fraud because Manafort has never been prosecuted and convicted or acquitted of that charge. There was also a hung jury on the four bank fraud charges for his dealings with the Federal Savings Bank in Illinois. The state’s double jeopardy law also allows a second state prosecution after a mistrial. If Trump pardons Manafort on the charges from this month’s federal case alone, then **he would still face prosecution in New York, Illinois, California Virginia**. And now, Grassley and Graham are making noises that they will support Trum in firng Sessions and appointing a more obedient stooge who would in turn fire Meuller … \*\*BUT they want to wait until AFTER the “mid terms”. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6819 "2018-08-24T19:26:17Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > No, Don, I think we should stick with truth isn’t truth. “Yeah, that’s good. That’s deep. All my haters won’t be smart enough to understand that, of course. Because they’re haters.” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6820 "2018-08-24T20:04:55Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I thought later in the document they clarified that ‘candidate for federal office’ then became president. > > Secondly - Pence was never a ‘candidate’. Cohen used the phrase “candidate for federal office”; the legal filing used a phrase something like “Individual-1, who later became the president of the United States”. There are two elected federal offices, president and vice-president. They run on the same ticket - against the expressed intent of the founding fathers, btw - but they are separate offices and I will argue that both people on the ticket are candidates. The phrase “a candidate for federal office” - again, not part of the legal document - is somewhat odd, and can apply to Pence as well as Trump. Pence never made sense as a running mate; people who like Pence certainly weren’t going to vote for HRC or Bernie. Pence is exactly the type of person most susceptible to threats and blackmail - he would care about his reputation, and that reputation depends on traditional morality that politicians seem to have such trouble maintaining. Pence is clearly morally compromised - he ran on the ticket with a known philanderer\* and sexual predator. (\*I can, and have, looked past that, but Pence should not have been able to.) So, Mannafort selected Pence as running mate specifically to blackmail him into performing dirty-tricks and/or set him up as a fall guy should the need arise, and Cohen signalled that that he will return that serve, if he is paid half a million dollars. [Imagine me wildly circling Venn diagrams at this point.] Now, if you will excuse me, I have come up with a theory to explain what is going on with Sessions. It’s almost as if _this_ tweet storm isn’t intended to distract us from something worse. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6821 "2018-08-24T20:25:36Z")
Dude, it’s Trump. Why are you wasting bandwidth in this attempt to convince yourself it’s not? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6822 "2018-08-24T20:26:14Z")
Well, don’t stop there - what’s the theory! ETA: Is that what he’s doing? It’s not working. Dude - it’s Trump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=340) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=342)