Tornado Alley (PROG)

[Susie924]

Dan Rather
45 mins ·
The morning session is over, and here are my thoughts:

The Mueller Report is one of the most damning investigations of a sitting administration in recent American history. It was always about the report. Everything was already in the report. And everyone in Congress already knew that. The real action should be by the House of Representatives taking up the baton of accountability, investigation, and justice not asking Robert Mueller to hand them the baton yet again.

It is clear that the President of the United States obstructed justice, but the Special Council felt he could not indict a sitting president under existing legal principle. It is also clear that there were many concerning and meaningful associations between the Trump campaign and the Russians, who were conducting a high-level and sophisticated campaign to undermine American democracy. We heard that today. We knew that before today.
The report does not exonerate the president. Of course it doesn’t. And Robert Mueller made that clear in a headline answer early in his testimony today. Could the president be charged with a crime after he left office? Once again, the answer from Mueller was yes. Did lies from the Trump administration officials impede the investigation? Another yes from Mueller.

But for all who hoped for a grand theatrical moment that crystallized and unified a nation against the outrages of this president, I don’t think any such moment occurred. And probably none should have been expected. We are a deeply divided nation where millions support and normalize the actions of a reckless president.

Mueller was obviously a reluctant witness who refused to paint a colorful sound bite narrative for the Democrats. Time and again he said “I would refer you to the report.” But any careful parsing of his answers would find many.

Mueller was also mostly muted and restrained in defending his team and his own actions against the Republican members who waded into the numerous conspiracy theories and distractions that the president’s defenders have long peddled to muddy the investigation. Once again, Mueller understood it was all in the report.

I don’t know what the long-term effect will be of Mueller’s day on Capitol Hill. This moment of history is still being written. To think that Robert Mueller should be the main actor in the drama was always misplaced casting. This was not and should not have been about him. This is about the rule of law. This is about the separation of powers. This is about a reckless president and the confederates who enable him.

Was this an opening act for a rigorous launch of oversight by Congress, which is clearly what Mueller and his team felt was their constitutional duty? Or will it be the capstone on a political calculation by Democratic leadership that impeachment proceedings are unwise for their future electoral prospects?

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