Don’t forget that in addition to the Mueller Report, the Senate issued its own report on the 2016 Russian election interference and the connection with the Trump campaign, and their report was twice as long as twice and damning as the Mueller Report.
There is also no indication that anyone at the DOJ even read it. (Sometimes I think I’m the only person that did.) I wouldn’t have expected Barr’s DOJ to act on it and the statutes of limitation were fast approaching when Biden took office - but the Garland DOJ was all too willing to let the clock run out
To have the Capitol Police say that they reviewed everything extensively and the visit was completely benign and then the Committee say no that they think it was sinister undermines their attempt to portray themselves as an impartial group who is genuinely concerned about legitimate issues.
If they really have the goods, then they should be as restrained as possible, and make whatever points are conclusive. Contradicting an impartial police investigation seems to be exactly the opposite of that approach.
I agree with this assessment. Trump’s unfettered narcissism has made him delusional about a lot of things, most regarding his intelligence, looks, athletic ability, etc.
Most of the time we’re able to laugh it off and shake our heads, but now the stakes are considerably higher.
When it comes to the things you list, it’s all about narcissism. But when it comes to politics and policy and the like - including but by no means limited to election fraud allegations - it’s beyond narcissism, it’s also about the fact that Trump is a resolutely uninformed idiot.
To an idiot, the range of reasonable possibilities is far greater than that range is to a normal person. Virtually anything seems possible, if you’re stupid and uninformed enough. So there are a lot of self-serving things that an idiot narcissist will buy into which a more intelligent narcissist would never believe, despite the same level of narcissism.
I do not see why DOJ cannot conduct investigations contemporaneously w/ Congress. I am not sure why that is not possible or desirable. To the extent DOJ is ostensibly apolitical, why would it not help to have them investigate independently?
Man - I’d like to hear the outcome of any prosecution of the guy who took the video above and the tour on the previous day. “Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler, AOC - we’re coming for you.” And the other guy showing off his entirely innocent flagpole?
I haven’t read it, but Trump has issued a response to the hearings. I keep seeing it mentioned that it’s 12 pages, but it sort of seems to be in the context of how he’s going on and on like a crazy person.
Correct on Alexander Butterfield testifying that The Oval Office was bugged and everything said there was recorded. However, it did not just slip out when he testified. Butterfield was a White Aid of Nixon’s who was instructed by Nixon to set up the taping system along with the Secret Service some years back. He was called in by Committee staff to answer some questions about some other person that had testified said something that that had sounded…verbatim. He was asked about that and then admitted that the Oval Office was bugged. Butterfield had said to himself that he wasn’t going to reveal that there was a recording system but also would not lie about it if asked. I believe the interview took place on a weekend and Butterfield was brought to testify in the morning session the following Monday. There was a huge pregame buzz by the media folks. No one knew who Butterfield was or what he was going to testify to but they were told it was something big.
He testified for about 30 minutes. We now knew we were likely to find out who was the liar, John Dean or Richard Nixon.
Looking back that was, the end of the affair. Yes, the play, sir was over.
Yes. There has been a lot of talk about House Committee subpoenas being ignored, and the proper response being a criminal referral to DOJ–for the act of refusing to respond to the subpoena.
Nothing about that implies that the proper ending to a House Committee’s work is a criminal referral. Generally the proper ending to a House Committee’s work is a report, with hearings happening somewhere along the way. The ultimate goal is to recommend legislation—not action by the DOJ.
A lot of people wonder this same thing.
And yes, investigations take time. (I admit to a bit of irritation every time I see a defender of the position ‘it’s incorrect to criticize Garland/the DOJ for the fact that we see no evidence they’re interviewing relevant witnesses’ use as their primary argument 'you people don’t understand that investigations take time.’ Actually, quite a few of us do understand that.)
I should have specified in my “indictments of Republican office-holders” post that I was thinking of past office-holders as much as, or perhaps more than, current members of Congress. As you said, we haven’t yet seen damning evidence against Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and the like (well, not evidence about the 1/6 plot, anyway!)
But when it comes to those you mention in the post excerpted above: there does seem to be a great deal of documentation of their participation in the plot to keep Trump in the White House despite the results of the November 2020 election. That evidence might not yet have been developed to the point of indictment, but it seems likely to me that at least some of them should currently be the focus of DOJ grand jury proceedings.
We shall see. Perhaps Garland will surprise us all by eventually revealing that he is at this very moment pursuing accountability under the law for these individuals.