President Trump Hits Robert Mueller Where It Hurts, Could End Investigation
Source: https://goo.gl/CdQFqY
This is not the news that special counsel Robert Mueller wanted as he prepares to demand an interview with President Donald Trump in relation to the seemingly never-ending probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump is now preparing for war, and he is taking no prisoners.
The president came out firing on Twitter on Wednesday as he issued thinly veiled threats against his Department of Justice, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. He followed that with, what many believed was, a threat to end the Mueller investigation.
“There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap). What there is is Negotiations going on with North Korea over Nuclear War, Negotiations going on with China over Trade Deficits, Negotiations on NAFTA, and much more. Witch Hunt!” he said in his first tweet.
“’The questions are an intrusion into the President’s Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee…what the President was thinking is an outrageous…..as to the President’s unfettered power to fire anyone…’ Joe Digenova, former US Attorney,” the frustrated president wrote.
“NEW BOOK – A MUST READ! ‘The Russia Hoax – The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump’ by the brilliant Fox News Legal Analyst Gregg Jarrett. A sad chapter for law enforcement. A rigged system!” he said before he sent a tweet that should frighten Mueller and Rosenstein.
“A Rigged System – They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal ‘justice?’ At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!” he threatened.
The tweets came on the heels of news that Republican Congressional lawmakers are preparing articles of impeachment for Rosenstein. Due to Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the investigation, Rosenstein is the man in charge at the DOJ, and his removal could set the stage for firing Mueller.
The articles of impeachment were drafted by President Trump ally Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and other conservatives, and they accuse Rosenstein of violating several laws. They include Rosenstein not complying with a subpoena to provide Congress with documents that pertain to the FBI’s surveillance during the election and stalling giving documents to Congress about possible government misconduct, The Hill reported.
“[Rosenstein] failed to act on the behalf of the Attorney General by properly supervising the administration of [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] by failing to demonstrate probable cause to believe that targets of surveillance were a foreign power or agents of a foreign power, that a significant purpose of the surveillance was to obtain foreign intelligence information, and that appropriate minimization procedures were in place,” one of the charges read.
The fifth count claims that Rosenstein “knowingly provided misleading statements related to his supervision of the initial Department of Justice investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia when he testified under oath before Congress on December 13, 2017, that any involvement FBI attorney Bruce Ohr had in the Russian investigation was without his knowledge.”
Rep. Meadows told The Washington Post that the articles of impeachment are “a last resort option, if the Department of Justice fails to respond” to requests to provide more information to Congress. “My frustrations about their inability to respond to simple requests could warrant further action,” he said.
Democrats are crying that firing Rosenstein or Mueller would create a Constitutional crisis. But the fact is that the investigation is impeding the president’s agenda and must end. Democrats want it to go on as long as possible in order to affect the midterm elections in 2018 and, possibly, the presidential election in 2020. It is a game they are playing, and the president is now saying thst the game is over.