# 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:** 432
**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:** [December 28, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8623 "2018-12-28T23:13:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So…you don’t think the judge will start dropping the word \*squinch \*in his rulings, opinions, and general conversation? 😃 Ssshhhhhyyyyyeeeeaaahhhhhh… no. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8624 "2018-12-29T02:01:45Z")
I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone make this connection yet. With the government shutdown, one of the affected departments is Justice. Is Trump throwing this fit over the wall thinking that the Mueller probe will die in the crossfire? ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8625 "2018-12-29T02:04:44Z")
Mueller is funded through the current FY. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8626 "2018-12-29T02:09:06Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > We agree that the judge will not be happy with the tenor or language in the pleading. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So…you don’t think the judge will start dropping the word \*squinch \*in his rulings, opinions, and general conversation? 😃 _The Court finds that Defendant’s responsive filing is totes on fleek – NOT!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8627 "2018-12-29T02:17:00Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Mueller is funded through the current FY. Yes, his investigation is part of law enforcement and law enforcement is pretty much never unfunded as far as I know. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8628 "2018-12-29T02:22:06Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > So far the Cohen is unsubstantiated rumors in the press. If he did go to the Czech Republic, I’m sure it won’t be that hard to find supporting evidence such as flights, entering the US, customs and immigration, etc. Much as I would love this to be true, methnks it’s easy enough to collaborate and make a real case > [@garygnu](#): > > Cohen went to Italy once and London twice in 2016. Going to Italy would put him in the Schengen Zone where he wouldn’t need a passport to travel to the Czech Republic. He could go all the way to Prague and back without an official trace. The simple concept of an alibi should mean that the production, on Cohen’s part, of a credit card statement for the period in question should be able to serve as corroborative evidence that he was elsewhere, carrying out quotidian transactions like buying his double half-caff soy mocha latte with room for cream at the Starbucks in midtown Manhattan (or something), quite effectively. Is it a bizarre assumption to make, that he uses his credit cards on a daily basis? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8629 "2018-12-29T02:32:38Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is it a bizarre assumption to make, that he uses his credit cards on a daily basis? An old school wannabee gangster type like Cohen… it wouldn’t surprise me if carried around a roll of cash. I don’t know that he does, but he seems like the type who really likes peeling a hundo off the roll to pay at Starbucks. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8630 "2018-12-29T03:05:03Z")
How else do you make an impression at the strip joint? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8631 "2018-12-29T03:11:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Mueller is funded through the current FY. Does Trumpy understand that, though? ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8632 "2018-12-29T03:48:31Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > An old school wannabee gangster type like Cohen… it wouldn’t surprise me if carried around a roll of cash. I don’t know that he does, but he seems like the type who really likes peeling a hundo off the roll to pay at Starbucks. I agree with this (along with the caveat that I have nothing concrete to base it on). My image of Cohen is that he’s in the habit of trying to avoid leaving a paper trail, so he deals in cash as much as possible. It might be partly an image thing, but my guess would be that he just as a matter of course tries to hide his transactions and movements since he is, yaknow, a criminal. A while back, I read a book about an FBI agent who was trying to infiltrate a criminal group. The agent was paired with another, less experienced agent for an undercover meeting with several criminals. The crooks immediately pegged the second guy as a cop because he paid for his lunch with a credit card and kept the receipt. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8633 "2018-12-29T03:49:52Z")
Probably didn’t help that the card was branded “FBI”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8634 "2018-12-29T04:13:14Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Cohen went to Italy once and London twice in 2016. Going to Italy would put him in the Schengen Zone where he wouldn’t need a passport to travel to the Czech Republic. He could go all the way to Prague and back without an official trace. Two things. One, he can provide verifiable alibi that he was elsewhere. Two, I’m unfamiliar with Europe, is it convenient enough that Cohen could have travelled from Italy to the Czech Republic without leaving a paper trail? I’m sure he didn’t hitchhike but maybe bus or trains don’t require ID? Although, I struggle with picturing Cohen doing a 1800 mile round trip by the equivalent of Greyhound, staying in a youth hostel that doesn’t require ID, etc. Three, if his cell phone was pinging in the Czech Republic, presumeably it (or another burner phone) was pinging elsewhere in Europe. I am of the belief, that with big data and all the camera’s in Europe, Cohen could be traced to Czech. I guess a foreign agent could pick him up, drive him to Czech, arrange some kind of place to sleep, and drive back to Rome without a trace. I just don’t see Cohen being the kinda guy that would take the time to do it such a way. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8635 "2018-12-29T04:25:05Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Does Trumpy understand that, though? No. Trumpy understands nothing. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8636 "2018-12-29T04:52:02Z")
Really, the fact this was dumped on a late Friday during a just-closed Congress is all you need to know about the “findings”, but here it is: [House Republicans wrap their investigation into FBI’s handling of Clinton and Russia probes.](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/12/28/politics/oversight-judiciary-investigation/index.html) > [@](#): > > House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy sent a **six-page letter** Friday summarizing the findings of their joint probe into the FBI and Justice Department, writing that further investigation was needed – including appointing a second special counsel – to examine the “disparate way these two investigations were seemingly conducted.” Both of these buffoons have retired, so good riddance to bad rubbish. Six whole pages! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8637 "2018-12-29T06:04:11Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [https://twitter.com/swear\_trek/status/1062012262976774145?s=19](https://twitter.com/swear_trek/status/1062012262976774145?s=19) I think Spock might’ve been misquoted. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8638 "2018-12-29T07:25:12Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Two things. One, he can provide verifiable alibi that he was elsewhere. > > Two, I’m unfamiliar with Europe, is it convenient enough that Cohen could have travelled from Italy to the Czech Republic without leaving a paper trail? I’m sure he didn’t hitchhike but maybe bus or trains don’t require ID? Although, I struggle with picturing Cohen doing a 1800 mile round trip by the equivalent of Greyhound, staying in a youth hostel that doesn’t require ID, etc. > > Three, if his cell phone was pinging in the Czech Republic, presumably it (or another burner phone) was pinging elsewhere in Europe. > > I am of the belief, that with big data and all the camera’s in Europe, Cohen could be traced to Czech. I guess a foreign agent could pick him up, drive him to Czech, arrange some kind of place to sleep, and drive back to Rome without a trace. I just don’t see Cohen being the kinda guy that would take the time to do it such a way. Taking a train from point A to B in Europe may not require an ID. In my experience, booking the ticket online in advance will create a paper trail what with credit cards, etc. Showing up at the station and buying the ticket with Euros, not so much. In 2014 I spent 5 days in Budapest but there is nothing in my passport to indicate it. I flew in and out of Vienna and took the train to Hungary. I bought my VIE-BUD train ticket online and had to give my name and an email address but not a passport number. My return ticket was purchased at the train station in Budapest and paid for in Hungarian Forints. I don’t recall having to show an ID. Similar situation this year in Portugal - had to give a good deal of info when I bought my Lisbon to Porto train ticket online, including my passport number. But I was able to buy train tickets from city to city using Euros at the train station once I was in the country and was never asked for ID. I’ve also traveled Brussels - Paris - Amsterdam - Brussels on Thalys and didn’t have to show ID but that was way back in 2012 so things could have changed. My point is - if Cohen had wanted to travel from one country in the Schengen area to another in 2016 it may have been easily done using cash and not needing to show ID. Getting a place to stay OTOH would require having someone else pay for it most likely. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8639 "2018-12-29T13:21:12Z")
We Interrail for a few weeks each summer. In theory you might have to show id on the train to prove that the interrail tickets are yours (they are named tickets, unlike most) but we’ve never had to. Also, the ticket inspector don’t record them, just look at them. Its not going to be any kind of problem just buying a cash ticket and going anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8640 "2018-12-29T15:54:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Really, the fact this was dumped on a late Friday during a just-closed Congress is all you need to know about the “findings”, but here it is: > > [House Republicans wrap their investigation into FBI’s handling of Clinton and Russia probes.](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/12/28/politics/oversight-judiciary-investigation/index.html) > > Both of these buffoons have retired, so good riddance to bad rubbish. Six whole pages! > [@](#): > > House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy sent a six-page letter Friday summarizing the findings of their joint probe into the FBI and Justice Department, writing that further investigation was needed – including appointing a second special counsel – to examine the “disparate way these two investigations were seemingly conducted.” Ah, yes. Investigate the investigations. More good use of the taxpayer’s money. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8641 "2018-12-29T16:45:24Z")
> [@](#): > > House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy sent a six-page letter Friday summarizing the findings of their joint probe into the FBI and Justice Department, writing that further investigation was needed – including appointing a second special counsel – to examine the “disparate way these two investigations were seemingly conducted.” > [@Railer13](#): > > Ah, yes. Investigate the investigations. More good use of the taxpayer’s money. Wait, a special counsel to examine the “disparate way these two investigations were seemingly conducted.” If you’re going to investigate why they were different, you need to look at both investigations. I could get behind Trey Gowdy being hauled in front of a committee and grilled about why he was so determined to cook a nothingburger regardless of what ingredients were found. Where did he get his menu? Was it written in Russian and then translated by the NRA? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/8642 "2018-12-29T18:43:26Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > I could get behind Trey Gowdy being hauled in front of a committee and grilled about why he was so determined to cook a nothingburger regardless of what ingredients were found… I agree, we need to investigate the investigator of the investigation of the investigations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=431) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=433)