# 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:** 561
**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, 2019, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11203 "2019-05-02T09:31:37Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Let’s try again: Well I tried. Your loss. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11204 "2019-05-02T09:44:01Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Let’s try again: > > “When Barr pressed Mueller on whether he thought Barr’s memo to Congress was inaccurate, **Mueller said he did not** but felt that the media coverage of it was misinterpreting the investigation, officials said." > > At this point, there are two possibilities. First you can read the above and realize you fucked up and not respond. The other option is you really are that dumb, and you continue to trudge along with your complete stupidity. According to Barr and his people, you mean, right? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11205 "2019-05-02T10:04:31Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > "In that call, Mueller said he was concerned that media coverage of the obstruction probe was misguided and creating public misunderstandings about the office’s work, according to Justice Department officials. Barr is a big boy and can tell his own lies. He doesn’t need you to repeat them for him like Gwen DeMarco repeating the computer in _Galaxy Quest_. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11206 "2019-05-02T10:06:41Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > At this point, there are two possibilities. Indeed. You can either realize that you screwed up again, or you can keep digging yourself deeper. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11207 "2019-05-02T10:48:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > “Officials said that Mueller said that what the officials said was fine.” Meanwhile, what Mueller actually said appears to have been something entirely different. > > But please keep trudging along, Governor… Just informing you of the reporting on the issue. It is hard to get a grip when your media is being filtered thru lord knows what. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > According to Barr and his people, you mean, right? According to the Post, with officials as a source. All of a sudden the hardcore statists are skeptical of officials. I guess the rise of Trump has helped relieve them of their childish reverence of authority. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Barr is a big boy and can tell his own lies. He doesn’t need you to repeat them for him like Gwen DeMarco repeating the computer in _Galaxy Quest_. Don’t get the reference but I’m sure if I did that would be funny. ---
**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, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11208 "2019-05-02T11:13:05Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Just informing you of the reporting on the issue. It is hard to get a grip when your media is being filtered thru lord knows what. The word you’re searching for is “reality”. I’m aware you find it hard to get a grip on reality, but the rest of us manage just fine. Also - try reading the actual report. And then trying comprehending what you read. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11209 "2019-05-02T11:42:43Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > According to the Post, with officials as a source. And you are confident that this is true? Why? ---
**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, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11210 "2019-05-02T11:53:52Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Barr is a big boy and can tell his own lies. He doesn’t need you to repeat them for him like Gwen DeMarco repeating the computer in _Galaxy Quest_. look, he’s got one fucking job on this board and he’s sure as hell going to do it. ---
**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, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11211 "2019-05-02T11:55:41Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > There was scuttlebutt not long ago (unsourced so far as I know at this point) that Barr has ties to Alfa Bank. I think a lot more Republicans have ties to Russians than we’re currently aware at this point. And I believe that’s why they are so malleable. > > They are as scared as Trump, which makes them all dangerous as hell. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21101919&postcount=4499](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21101919&postcount=4499) > [@](#): > > No, I wonder what the price tag was for the Republicans who support Trump. Is there kompromat on them as well? Or do they just want to accept Russian FSB money laundered through the NRA and other conservative organizations? [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21094949&postcount=38255](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21094949&postcount=38255) > [@](#): > > Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Monday July 16 was a day like no other in American history, and it represents a turning point. > > My gut feeling is that we’re already in too deep to stop Trump and the GOP from causing significant harm to American democracy. I’m not saying it’s too late to save ourselves, but I do believe that we’re on the verge of a major national crisis of our own making. I think the Republicans are going to attempt an unprecedented power grab that will simultaneously be foreseeable yet nevertheless breathtaking and shocking when it happens. > > The question – _the_ – question is, will the Republicans be able to consolidate power among all of the branches of powers and will they be able to concentrate institutional power and control over the government BEFORE the public backlash. If not, then the people can unite against them in a show of mass (peaceful) protest. But as the example of Venezuela and Russia show, and as I think the example of Turkey will now begin to show, once you enable a government to concentrate power, then they can keep fucking up right and left, and it won’t be so easy to call them out on it. We might stop Trump yet, but it won’t be without a good constitutional crisis first. It has been clear for a while now that the Russian oligarchs (and perhaps oligarchs from around the world) have infiltrated the Republican party in a significant way. What concerns me at the moment is that while our politics are already clearly polarized, that’s not necessarily the worst of it. We’re entering a dangerous abyss in which our politics aren’t just polarized, but radicalized. The Russians already have a LOT of experience at using polarization and radicalization to sow political divisions and even violence. They’ve done this in Eastern Europe for years as a way to destabilize countries so that they don’t function well, thereby perpetually giving Russia access to its sphere. I was absolutely not joking when I said that Trump could start a race war - whether he would knowingly do so with full recognition of what he’s doing and what the consequences are doesn’t really matter. The point is that with Russian guidance, the Republicans, who already cater to white nationalists anyway, will move away from merely polarization and into the zone of radicalization along ethnic and cultural fault lines. Impeachment would actually play right into the hands of those who want to go beyond polarization and into radicalization, because what it would do is to send the message to voters in Trump Land that their country is vote is being taken away from them, that their country is being stolen from them. On some level, they already believe that their country is being stolen from them in the figurative sense, but if they see women and minorities trying to use political power to impeach and remove their leader from office, we could very well be sitting on a powder keg. And again, the Russians would absolutely be more than willing to involve themselves and offer some guidance, and they have a lot of experience playing this game. That is why impeaching the president right now, absent of any major crash in his popularity is a dangerous idea. He must be defeated at the ballot box. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11212 "2019-05-02T12:04:11Z")
The voice of cowardice. Seriously. “Welllllll, we don’t wannna UPSET anyobdy!” ☹ Here is what will happen if we follow the Asahi plan: 1. Russia, China, and more are free to swing the election towards the corrupt plutocrat 2. AG Barr and FBI Director Wray will launch an investigation into the Dem nominees, regardless of who they are. 3. GOP suppression efforts go unabated 4. Trump is the first President elected twice even though he took a drubbing in the popular vote both times. But, yeah… let this guy and his henchmen do their thing for two years and then the miracle of American Democracy will save us, just as it did in 2016. Because, God Forbid we don’t do anything to piss off Farmer Ted and Trailer Park Annie. ---
**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, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11213 "2019-05-02T12:14:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The voice of cowardice. > > Seriously. > > “Welllllll, we don’t wannna UPSET anyobdy!” ☹ > > Here is what will happen if we follow the Asahi plan: > > 1. Russia, China, and more are free to swing the election towards the corrupt plutocrat > 2. AG Barr and FBI Director Wray will launch an investigation into the Dem nominees, regardless of who they are. > 3. GOP suppression efforts go unabated > 4. Trump is the first President elected twice even though he took a drubbing in the popular vote both times. > > But, yeah… let this guy and his henchmen do their thing for two years and then the miracle of American Democracy will save us, just as it did in 2016. Because, God Forbid we don’t do anything to piss off Farmer Ted and Trailer Park Annie. I said don’t impeach until there is a major crash in his popularity. Tell me, brave John, what will impeachment achieve now? Will there be a conviction? Will there even be a trial? Do you think you’re going to persuade anyone who hasn’t already made up their minds that Trump is criminal as hell, or that he’s a martyr, or that all of American politics is just a shit show and it’s best not to care too much about one side or the other? Get real. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11214 "2019-05-02T12:20:03Z")
July 3rd, 1776: “Golly gee, guy, if I sign that, the King is going to get all pissed off. You sure we want to press this? I know! Let’s petition him! He’s a good guy!” John H: “Fuck that. Where is that quill?.. Now _that’s_ a signature! I bet old George can see that all the way from London!” "Tell me, brave John, what will your signature achieve now? " ---
**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:** [May 2, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11215 "2019-05-02T12:29:56Z")
“I think my argument is legally, morally, and scripturally sound.” “Yeah, but geez, Marty! You’re gonna piss off the Pope!” “Well, he and his Curia deserve to be pissed off! Hold this nail - I’m going to post my Theses to the church door” … “Tell me, brave Luther, what will your argument achieve now?” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11216 "2019-05-02T12:57:20Z")
“Maybe we should take a firm line in defense of the Sudentenland.” “Yeah, but crikey, Neville, the little chap with the little mustache will be terribly put out!” “I suppose you’re right. Better let it slide.” “You can tell everyone that you have achieved Peace In Our Time!” ---
**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, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11217 "2019-05-02T13:09:39Z")
I caught this during the portion of the hearing I watched yesterday. I’m going to speculate that Barr is lying. Because I’ve read the freaking report and this is NOT how I parsed it. [https://www.dailywire.com/news/46641/barr-bombshell-mueller-told-us-he-was-not-saying-ryan-saavedra](https://www.dailywire.com/news/46641/barr-bombshell-mueller-told-us-he-was-not-saying-ryan-saavedra) So Mueller told Barr THREE TIMES that he wouldn’t have charged Trump if he wasn’t President? Three times? Now, whose playbook did that come from? I can just hear that late night phone call. What is this administration’s obsession with making people say stuff three times? Repeat a lie three times and it magically becomes true? I hope Mueller gets his chance to speak out soon. ---
**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, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11218 "2019-05-02T13:10:34Z")
Here’s the thing: I predicted we would be at this point quite some time ago, and you all thought I was nuts. You all said awful scared for people who have believed that the institutions and the constitution would save us. And you really believe that a failed impeachment is gonna achieve somethin? I’m afraid you all are just revealing how much you don’t understand about how this works. I’ve tried to teach you people. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11219 "2019-05-02T13:14:26Z")
“Man, these Romans suck. And our people are losing our soul. I should speak out or something.” “Yeah, I guess. But the Romans have the army And our leadership is doing all they can to accommodate. I don’t know what you can do.” :turns to crowd, tells simple story then explains the allusions and allegories: (Laughing) “Tell me, brave Jesus, what will your little parable achieve now? I tried to tell you!” ---
**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, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11220 "2019-05-02T13:25:13Z")
Cute, funny. But again, back on topic, what do you think impeachment will realistically achieve? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11221 "2019-05-02T13:29:41Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Cute, funny. > > But again, back on topic, what do you think impeachment will realistically achieve? As someone who watched the Watergate hearings, I think that they could help to move public opinion in the direction it would need to go to force the House to impeach and the Senate to convict. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/11222 "2019-05-02T13:34:52Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Almost all the media, both Fox and the mainstream media, were going with the Trump has been exonerated narrative at this time. It took some days following the Barr summary for the idea that this was a whitewash to percolate through to the main news media. I’m trying to guess what Barr & Trump’s goal was – they had to know that Barr’s summary wouldn’t hold up once the full report (and especially, Mueller’s summary) came out. I can only think that it was like the quote (maybe Mark Twain, maybe not) that a lie can go around the world while the truth is putting on its boots. They just wanted to get a “Trump exonerated!” headline out, on heavy rotation on Fox, allowing Trump to take a victory lap. Later, we’ll have “competing narratives” (ie, the truth vs a lie) but that’s better than just the truth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=560) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=562)