Having watched most of Robert Muellerâs testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees last week, Iâve come to the following conclusions:
- We learned nothing new, nada, zip, zilch. That is not surprising as Mueller when he closed up the Special Counselâs office he said he would not testify about anything beyond the report.
- Questions about his mental acuity are fair. He was not sharp and in several instances was uncertain about what was in his report. I think itâs clear it was written mostly by his staff which wouldnât be unusual, but how much control over the investigation did he have? I donât know.
- Treating this testimony as some silver bullet for impeachment is just political spin because back to my first point â we learned no new information.
Muellerâs answer about whether or not the President could be prosecuted when leaving office seems to give Democrats something to latch onto.
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., asked Mueller, âCould you charge the president with a crime after he left office?â
Mueller answered, âYes.â
âYou believe you could charge the president of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?â Buck asked in a follow-up question.
âYes,â Mueller answered. âThe OLC (The DOJâs Office of Legal Counsel) opinion says that the prosecutor, while he cannot bring a charge against a sitting president, nonetheless can continue the investigation to see if there are any other persons who might be drawn into the conspiracy.â
Watch:
Yes, a prosecutor could bring charges against the President after he left office. He or she would not be bound by the DOJ policy at that point. That does not mean that enough evidence exists, you have to prove corrupt intent, to charge, or that a prosecutor should charge the president.
He was asked a technical hypothetical. His office did not draw any conclusions about the Presidentâs innocence or guilt in the report.
Later, U.S. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., walked Mueller through three of the elements to an obstruction of justice charge. At the end of that line of questioning, Mueller said, âWell, the only thing I want to add is that Iâm going through the elements with you do not mean or does not mean that I subscribe to the â what youâre trying to prove through those elements.â
He also admitted to U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Wisc., that he was allowed to continue his investigation unencumbered. That doesnât scream obstruction.
So while
Democrats latching onto Muellerâs statement that the president âcouldâ be prosecuted upon leaving office are reading into what he meant.