# 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:** 473
**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:** [February 8, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9443 "2019-02-08T21:25:07Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Anyone check with Delores and Mulva? Bonus points for the \*Seinfeld \*reference. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9444 "2019-02-08T21:48:17Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I really want to know who else Pecker and Dildo have been reaching out to with blackmail attempts. I really do wonder what happens if they scratch the surface. Obviously AMI already confessed to burying stories harmful to Trump, but has he ever paid them to attack opponents? Have they planted fake stories at his request? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9445 "2019-02-08T22:24:37Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Who is dumb enough to buy that piece of shit in the first place? Oh yeah, morons wearing red hats (I’m not talking about the old lady club even though they might also be buying the rag). Bill Maher has said many times that he buys it and enjoys reading it. And he’s as far from a MAGA hat wearer as you’ll find (he actually got sued by Trump over an orangutan joke). But I take your point that he’s surely very atypical. I suspect though that a lot of the people who read it are pretty apolitical, which (at least if they occasionally vote in presidential elections) is actually even more concerning. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9446 "2019-02-08T23:04:15Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Makes you wonder what they’ve done that hasn’t gone public. Lindsey Graham’s 180 on Trump, for example, and a whole lot of Republicans along with him who are not the true believer types. We can only assume from all this that Senator Graham is _not_ hung, which cannot be said about the Clydesdale he was rogered by. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9447 "2019-02-08T23:39:54Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > I really do wonder what happens if they scratch the surface. Obviously AMI already confessed to burying stories harmful to Trump, but has he ever paid them to attack opponents? Have they planted fake stories at his request? Recently? Not sure. There’s the tale from Salma Hayek. She turned him down for a date, so he had the National Enquirer run a story about how he wouldn’t date _her_ because she was too short. Then he comes back to her saying they need to prove it wrong by dating. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9448 "2019-02-09T00:12:26Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Bill Maher has said many times that he buys it and enjoys reading it. He’s kind of an asshat for other reasons so color me surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9449 "2019-02-09T00:57:49Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Instead of spending his fortune to got to Mars, he could buy a major newspaper in every region of the country and fund them to investigate state and local issues, like papers sort-of used to do in the good old days. > … Seriously, Bezos has the ability—by doing anything _close_ to what you describe—to better the life of Americans in a massive and lasting fashion. That doesn’t seem to have occurred to him, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9450 "2019-02-09T00:59:28Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > He’s kind of an asshat for other reasons so color me surprised. Kind of? :dubious: I’d say “full fledged, working on getting better at it.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9451 "2019-02-09T02:42:10Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Seriously, Bezos has the ability—by doing anything _close_ to what you describe—to better the life of Americans in a massive and lasting fashion. > > That doesn’t seem to have occurred to him, though. If he takes AMI down, that’d be a marked plus on its own. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9452 "2019-02-09T19:05:37Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > I really do wonder what happens if they scratch the surface. Obviously AMI already confessed to burying stories harmful to Trump, but has he ever paid them to attack opponents? Have they planted fake stories at his request? I posted about one incident upthread, I think ( unless it was one of the other threads on the topic. ) The story involves MSNBC’s morning show hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. They have been hosting their show for a long time. They were both married to other people for most of that time. Joe divorced in 2013, Mika in 2016. They are now a couple and it’s sort of obvious that their relationship began while they were both married. Up until the election, they were usually on friendly terms with Trump. Their show was always somewhat conservative, especially for MSNBC -Scarborough is a former Republican congressman. But after the election that changed and their coverage of Trump became harsh as they called him out for lying. Trump began to insult them via twitter and he threatened to expose their relationship ( it was sort of an open secret at that time, anyway). And at around that time the National Enquirer began to investigate them for a story and sent reporters to follow and harass their families. Then Scarborough got a call from someone that worked in the Trump Administration . Scarborough has never said exactly who the call was from. The caller told Joe that the Enquirer was working on a story but they could arrange to have it killed. And if Joe would call Trump and apologize for the tone of their coverage they would kill the story. Scarborough refused. He and Mika went public with their relationship, which they were preparing to do anyway. The story ran, it was a small and relatively boring piece near the back of the issue - (2 relatively unknown single TV hosts are having a relationship, I’m surprised they ran it at all -they probably only did so at Trump’s behest) On Twitter, Trump lied and claimed that Joe and called him and begged him to have the story killed and that he refused. While J and M talked about this on their show when it happened, they stopped talking about it shortly after. I always hoped that they were working with prosecutors or taking other legal action. So that’s one clear-cut case. And it directly involves the Trump Administration. And I had always wondered about the “Ted Cruz has 5 mistresses” expose that ran late in the primary season. I have always wondered if that was the consequence of a refused blackmail attempt, (drop out of the race or we run this story). God, I really suspect he’s done this to a fair number of Republicans. I hope that they come clean. It could rival #MeToo. I’m probably dreaming, but I hate those sleazeball techniques and I want them to be exposed. Let’s see what crawls out from under that rock, ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9453 "2019-02-10T00:33:44Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > If he takes AMI down, that’d be a marked plus on its own. True enough. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > … God, I really suspect he’s done this to a fair number of Republicans. I hope that they come clean. It could rival #MeToo. I’m probably dreaming, but I hate those sleazeball techniques and I want them to be exposed. Let’s see what crawls out from under that rock, Anyone whose first thought was _not_ “Lindsey Graham,” raise your hand. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9454 "2019-02-10T02:38:44Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Anyone whose first thought was _not_ “Lindsey Graham,” raise your hand. As someone else- I don’t remember who- said on these boards once “That would be the least surprising kompromat in the history of kompromat”. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9455 "2019-02-10T04:51:37Z")
If _anyone_ would be clutching his pearls, it’d be Lindsey Graham. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9456 "2019-02-10T23:02:11Z")
So Mick Mulvaney is holding the line on “the President is above the law” and “the President should not be investigated.” Interestingly, he tried an ‘excluded middle’ argument on Chris Wallace, who was having none of it: > [@](#): > > Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday suggested that Donald Trump could not work with Democrats on legislation if they “punch him in the face” with investigations. > > During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace [asked about the oversight role of Congress]. > > …“What he’s saying is, ‘Look, you have a choice, we can either work together on legislation or we can spend all our time doing these investigations but you can’t do both,’” the acting Chief of Staff said. > > “Wait,” Wallace interrupted. “You can do both. And presidents have done both plenty of times.” > > “Right, but it’s not reasonable to expect the president to work with you on Monday on a big infrastructure bill and then on Tuesday have you punch him in the face over 15 different investigations,” Mulvaney replied. > **[Mick Mulvaney: Trump Will Refuse To Pass Laws If Dems 'Punch Him In The Face'...](https://crooksandliars.com/2019/02/mick-mulvaney-trump-will-refuse-pass-laws)** > > Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday suggested that Donald Trump could not work with Democrats on legislation if they "punch him in the face" with investigations. As was pointed out in the comments, Democrats have been expected to do their jobs while being investigated. If Trump isn’t up to it, maybe he should resign, eh? ---
**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:** [February 11, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9457 "2019-02-11T02:54:42Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > …As was pointed out in the comments, Democrats have been expected to do their jobs while being investigated. If Trump isn’t up to it, maybe he should resign, eh? I like the cut of your jib, young man! ---
**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:** [February 11, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9458 "2019-02-11T03:49:29Z")
Ted Lieu literally entered the text of the Constitution into the record after he asked Matthew Whitaker where in the Constitution it says that the President can’t be indicted while in office, and Whitaker refused to say it was Constitutional. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9459 "2019-02-11T03:54:53Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Ted Lieu literally entered the text of the Constitution into the record after he asked Matthew Whitaker where in the Constitution it says that the President can’t be indicted while in office, and Whitaker refused to say it was Constitutional. Good for Lieu. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9460 "2019-02-11T12:31:32Z")
I like Ted Lieu and despise Hot Tub Whitaker, but that line of questioning was much more boring, droning and pointless than suggested here. Whitaker did say it wasn’t in the Constitution, if you watch the video. He was just getting irritated; Lieu was going through a list of people saying “and does the Constitution say this (type of person) can’t be indicted?” and Whitaker was trying to move on. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9461 "2019-02-11T14:28:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I like Ted Lieu and despise Hot Tub Whitaker, but that line of questioning was much more boring, droning and pointless than suggested here. Whitaker did say it wasn’t in the Constitution, if you watch the video. He was just getting irritated; Lieu was going through a list of people saying “and does the Constitution say this (type of person) can’t be indicted?” and Whitaker was trying to move on. i kind of agree…but Whitaker even tried to blow the whistle when a congressman’s 5 minutes expired, and the chairman wasn’t having it. The witness doesn’t get to decide when it’s “time to move on”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/9462 "2019-02-11T15:40:12Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > As was pointed out in the comments, Democrats have been expected to do their jobs while being investigated. If Trump isn’t up to it, maybe he should resign, eh? Gee. Who knew being President was so hard? > [@RickJay](#): > > He was just getting irritated; Lieu was going through a list of people saying “and does the Constitution say this (type of person) can’t be indicted?” and Whitaker was trying to move on. Too bad; maybe he should work for a different boss. It is true, an unindictable President is not in the Constitution, just a tradition, but then so were approving or disapproving his appointments in a timely manner rather than letting them sit until his successor could make them instead. Funny how the desire to keep traditions is resurgent among the Republicans now, isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=472) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=474)