When House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) tweeted out the summary of the Mueller Report he received from Attorney General Barr Sunday, he followed that with a tweet thread in which the Dems’ official messaging strategy (decided upon during Saturday’s reported all-hands-on-deck conference call) becomes clear.
Barr says that the President may have acted to obstruct justice, but that for an obstruction conviction, “the government would need to proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct”.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
Barr did not say that Trump “may have acted to obstruct justice.” He said quite the opposite:
“In cataloguing the President’s actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct.”
Barr did, though, outline what elements the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain and sustain (a key “and“) an obstruction conviction.
On to the next talking point – that Mueller is not exonerating the President and that Barr is the one letting Trump off the hook.
But Special Counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the President, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
Mueller did exonerate Trump and everyone associated with his campaign regarding collusion, and Nadler’s purposeful lack of specificity here is sad and harmful to the country. Regarding possible obstruction, Mueller did say the report doesn’t exonerate POTUS – and that it doesn’t conclude that he committed a crime.
As anyone involved in the criminal justice system understands, it’s not a prosecutor’s job to exonerate someone they’re investigating. It’s not even a jury’s job to exonerate someone in a criminal trial. A prosecutor decides if they believe they can prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. A jury decides if a criminal defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime charged – a “not guilty” verdict meaning they don’t believe the defendant’s conduct fulfilled each of the elements of the crime charged, beyond a reasonable doubt. They do not ever reach an “innocent” verdict.
Understanding the above, what *is* remarkable is that Mueller’s report exonerated Trump, et al., of collusion. (h/t Kurt Schlichter.)
And, why is Nadler already pushing to hear from Barr about his decision-making? Barr said in the letter that he is working on making as much of the entire report available to the public as possible.
There must be full transparency in what Special Counsel Mueller uncovered to not exonerate the President from wrongdoing. DOJ owes the public more than just a brief synopsis and decision not to go any further in their work.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
The next talking point is one the Dems have been using for weeks, saying that “there must be full transparency.” Barr said in his letter that the vast majority of Trump’s alleged obstructive conduct was already known publicly. That’s the only allegation on which Mueller’s report didn’t fully exonerate Trump. So, it must be safe to assume that Nadler just wants to know what other potentially obstructive conduct Barr (and Rosenstein) didn’t feel rose to criminal level – even though there is no underlying crime? Yeah, right.
Special Counsel Mueller worked for 22 months to determine the extent to which President Trump obstructed justice. Attorney General Barr took 2 days to tell the American people that while the President is not exonerated, there will be no action by DOJ.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
The next argument is that AG Barr took just two days to digest Mueller’s report covering a 22-month investigation and, as such, he was far too hasty to say there would be no action by DOJ.
It’s as if Nadler didn’t see that Mueller fully exonerated Trump and all of his associates of collusion. Mueller listed out the conduct that purportedly showed obstruction, and Barr and Rosenstein spent two days determining if that conduct was obstruction. This is not difficult.
In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
The last talking point is the most vague – and, for these people, the vaguer, the better. Nadler asserts that there are “very concerning discrepancies,” repeats the false talking point that Mueller did not exonerate the President, and promises to call AG Barr before the House Judiciary Committee, where he will surely undergo intense questioning by the fabulous freshmen.
You know, on second thought, go for it, Rep. Nadler. The American people deserve to see how completely insane the Dem narrative is and the vile lies the left will spread in effort to destroy the President after their attempted coup failed.
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