Breaking down massive Mueller Report with George Conway

All the charges stemming from the Mueller Report ... and counting.

Have you read the Mueller Report yet? All 448 pages. 2,375 footnotes. About 16,500 lines of text, and roughly 200,000 words?

That's lot of heavy reading to wade through, even for those of us who like to stay on top of the news and keep track of the many, many, many shortcomings of the Trump administration. (Actually, I've lost count.)

Its not exactly the Readers' Digest version, but Just Security unveiled Tuesday (Aug. 20) a compilation of the best summations of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's massive report that he released  earlier this year, most of it in easy to read lay language that the ordinary non-lawyer can understand. Just Security is an online nonpartisan forum for the rigorous analysis of U.S. national security law and policy. Emphasis on "rigorous." "We aim to promote principled and pragmatic solutions to national security problems that decision-makers face," it's website states.

George Conway, the Filipino American attorney who is married to Kelly Anne Conway, Senior White House Advisor  and chief Donald Trump apologist, wrote a summation of the summations and has added some insights of his own.

Conway is an old-school Republican and hates what Trump has done to the Grand Old Party. He and I would probably disagree on most things but on the subject of Trump, we see eye to eye. What's that phrase? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" probably applies to Conway and his like-minded allies among Trump's critics.

His blistering, daily attacks on Trump and his administration have become legendary and must reading for those who would like to restore some semblance of sanity and intelligence to the White House; and uphold and protect the US Constitution.

As  one of Just Security's Board of Editors, Conway sums up the essence of the summaries in his Epilogue: 

"In 2016, the United States was attacked. Not its ships or its soldiers, and not with missiles or bombs. Our democracy was attacked, by a hostile foreign government, through the use of technology, lies, and deception. In “sweeping and systematic fashion,” the report tells us, the Russian government interfered in an American presidential election, seeking to affect its result, and to undermine public confidence in our politics. Whether the attack did the former will be debated for a long time, but it certainly did the latter, and all patriotic Americans ought to agree: We must do everything we can to see that it never happens again."

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Filipino American attorney George Conway has become one of Donald Trump's most outspoken critics.

Since he began tweeting about Trump and his administration almost from the time Trump took office, Conway has gone way past  being diplomatic and tip-toeing around the subject of the possibility of wrongdoing by Trump. The son of an immigrant father from the Philippines is blunt about his assessment of this administration. In his Epilogue, Conway writes:

"In the case of a president, the trust is the nation’s federal government, and the beneficiaries are its people. The President is called upon to 'pursue the public interest in a good faith republican fashion rather than pursuing his self-interest.' In particular, given his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws, the President 'must diligently and steadily execute Congress’s commands' as embodied in federal law. The special counsel’s report shows Trump disregarded that duty — indeed, that he showed contempt for it almost whenever he could. Called upon to protect the nation against an attack from a foreign power, he acted principally to protect himself. ... 

"The Framers laid out the standard by which the President’s compliance with his fiduciary obligations must be judged—as well as who must do the judging. The standard is “high crimes and misdemeanors.” That term was not meant merely to incorporate the criminal statute books. It is a legal term of art, packing in centuries of Anglo-American parliamentary history. At its core, as another scholar has explained, “the phrase denotes breaches of fiduciary duties” by public officials. And the Framers charged the Congress of the United States with enforcing that standard.

"If the Mueller report demonstrates one thing, it is that President Trump utterly failed to carry out his duties under the Constitution—that indeed, he shamelessly abjured them. It is time for members of Congress to do their duties and to hold the President to account."

Amen to that! 

The best thing about the summaries is that taken individually, the 30 articles are manageable. You can read them one at a time. or as much as you can digest. After reading a few, you can stop, run your errands, watch some TV, listen to music and when you feel like it, return to the site  to learn exactly why this White House occupant should be kicked out.

CLICK HERE To link to "Expert Summaries of Mueller Report: A Collection,"  

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Kamala Harris, Mazie Hirono: Barr should resign

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Sen. Kamala Harris questions Attorney General William Barr's bias for Donald Trump

Attorney General William Barr floundered under tough questioning from the two Asian American senators during the Senate Judiciary  Committee hearing Wednesday.

After grilling Barr, Senators Mazie Hirono, D-HI, and Kamala Harris, D-CA, concluded that Barr should resign after the Attorney General allegedly lied to Congress in his attempts to protect Donald Trump.

"Bill Barr is acting more like the President’s personal attorney than the Attorney General of the United States," said Harris after the hearing. "His job is to defend the rule of law and serve the American people, not shield the President from justice. He made something very clear today: he must resign."

"Now we know more about your deep involvement and trying to cover up for Donald Trump," Hirono said during her time for questioning. "Being attorney general of the United States is a sacred trust. You have betrayed that trust. America deserves better. You should resign."

Hirono wasted no time in slamming the Attorney General in her opening statement, "Mr. Barr, now the American people know that you are no different from Rudy Giuliani or Kellyanne Conway or any of the other people who sacrificed their once decent reputation for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office," referencing two of Donald Trump's top media surrogates.

During her no-holds-barred questioning of the Attorney General, Hirono pointed to exchanges Barr had with members of Congress where Barr said he did not know what objections Mueller's team had with his March 24 letter on the investigation's findings and if Mueller supported his conclusions.

She continued to slam Barr: "But when we read the report, we knew Robert Mueller’s concerns were valid and that your version of events was false. You used every advantage of your office to create the impression that the president was cleared of misconduct. You selectively quoted fragments from the special counsel report, taking some of the most important statements out of context and ignoring the rest. You put the power and authority of the office of the attorney general and the Department of Justice behind a public relations effort to help Donald Trump protect himself."

"You lied to Congress," Hirono said to his face.

YOUTUBE

Sen. Mazie Hirono: 'America deserves better. You should resign.'

If Hirono was the sledgehammer, Harris, a former prosecuting attorney, sliced and diced Barr.

Harris said, "I’ll be frank: Attorney General Barr refused to answer most of my questions -- and when he did, his answers were alarming. He admitted he had never even reviewed the underlying evidence of the Mueller report, and he refused to say whether the President has ever ordered him to investigate anyone. This is unacceptable."

When Harris asked Barr if anybody in the White House asked him to open an investigation on anybody, Barr hemmed and hawed and asked her to repeat the question.

“It seems you would remember something like that,” Harris said.

“I’m trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest’. They have not asked me to open an investigation,” he finally said.

“Perhaps they’ve suggested?” she persisted.

“I wouldn’t say suggested,” Barr responded

“Hinted?” pressed Harris.

Finally, he managed to say, “I don’t know.”

Barr's summary concluded that there was "no collusion," between Russia and the Trump campaign and that Trump did not obstruct the Mueller investigation.

A detailed reading of the report that Russia was aggressively trying to influence the election in favor of Trump. The question remains open whether or not members of the Trump campaign may have given Russia information about Trump's election strategy and whether Trump staffers were duped by individuals acting as agents for Russia.

Mueller's report said that while there was not enough evidence to "prove" there was obstruction, the report "did not exonerate" him either.

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AAPI politicians want to see full Mueller Report, disagree with Atty General's interpretation: of its findings

UPDATED, APRIL 19, 1:30 a.m.

First take from your armchair lawyer: There may not be a smoking gun in the Mueller Report, but there is a hell of a lot of circumstantial evidence to show that Russia was interfering with the U.S. 2016 elections and the Trump campaign did nothing to curtail the kneecapping of our democracy.

Second take from your armchair lawyer: Mueller punted on the question of Trump's possible obstruction of justice  Mueller leaves it  to Congress on what to do with the findings of the report. 

The country is abuzz about the release of the redacted Mueller Report. 

This morning, Attorney General William Barr held a press conference prior to the report's release to soften the impact of the Mueller Report's contents. 

In his prepared statement, Barr pointed out that there is much in the report that will be used in ongoing and future court proceedings and therefore, he chose to redact essential parts of the report. Already, several House committees say they will ask Robert Mueller to testify.

At the press conference, Barr said:

"First, the report details efforts by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with close ties to the Russian government, to sow social discord among American voters through disinformation and social media operations. Following a thorough investigation of this disinformation campaign, the Special Counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian nationals and entities for their respective roles in this scheme. Those charges remain pending, and the individual defendants remain at large. 

"But the Special Counsel found no evidence that any Americans – including anyone associated with the Trump campaign – conspired or coordinated with the Russian government or the IRA in carrying out this illegal scheme. Indeed, as the report states, “[t]he investigation did not identify evidence that any U.S. persons knowingly or intentionally coordinated with the IRA’s interference operation.” Put another way, the Special Counsel found no “collusion” by any Americans in the IRA’s illegal activity. 

"Second, the report details efforts by Russian military officials associated with the GRU to hack into computers and steal documents and emails from individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party and the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton for the purpose of eventually publicizing those emails. Obtaining such unauthorized access into computers is a federal crime. Following a thorough investigation of these hacking operations, the Special Counsel brought charges in federal court against several Russian military officers for their respective roles in these illegal hacking activities. Those charges are still pending and the defendants remain at large. 

"But again, the Special Counsel’s report did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign or anyone associated with the campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its hacking operations. In other words, there was no evidence of Trump campaign “collusion” with the Russian government’s hacking.

Barr's choice to hold a press conference to set the stage for the report's initial impact was highly criticized. Members of Congress tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel the presser.

Here is Barr's complete statement.

Reaction from some Asian American leaders, all of them Democrats were universally dissatisfied with Barr's conclusions and shock at the report's contents:

Sen. Kamala Harris

"Attorney General Bill Barr only released this redacted report after providing a copy to the president’s personal lawyers, and after he gave a press conference on national television filled with political spin and propaganda. Let’s be clear: Barr is acting more like Trump’s defense attorney than the nation’s Attorney General," Harris said. 

Harris added that Congress "has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the executive branch" and called for the "full, unredacted" report to be shared with lawmakers.

"The American people deserve the unvarnished truth -- without spin from the president’s hand-picked Attorney General. This redacted report is not enough," Harris wrote in the email. "Congress needs to see the full, unredacted Mueller report and all of the investigation’s underlying evidence -- and Special Counsel Robert Mueller must testify publicly before Congress."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth

“Attorney General Barr’s biased press conference this morning was a low point for our nation and the rule of law. It’s sad to see the Attorney General of the United States acting as if he were the President’s personal lawyer. The American people deserve the opportunity to read the complete findings of Robert Mueller and to hear from the Special Counsel, who must testify before Congress in a public hearing as soon as possible so he can fully explain the report and the context behind its findings.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono

“Despite the Attorney General’s attempt to spin the Mueller Report in Donald Trump’s favor, it’s clear the Special Counsel’s investigation found serious wrongdoing by the President and many of his associates.

“The Special Counsel’s report lays out, in meticulous detail, evidence that Donald Trump obstructed justice. Among the many rich details in the report, Robert Mueller shows how Donald Trump fired James Comey to end the investigation into his campaign; how the President instructed Don McGahn to order Rod Rosenstein to fire the Special Counsel; and how Donald Trump sent messengers to Jeff Sessions to ‘unrecuse’ himself in order to limit the scope of the investigation.

“If not for existing Department of Justice policy, the Special Counsel had ample evidence to indict Donald Trump for obstruction.

“The Special Counsel also confirmed what our intelligence community had already unanimously concluded: that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election to elect Donald Trump.

“Although the Special Counsel felt he couldn’t meet the high bar necessary to prove criminal conspiracy with the Russians, he demonstrated that Donald Trump and his campaign were willing to engage with our foremost adversary to gain an advantage in the 2016 election. This is just wrong, plain and simple.

“The Special Counsel’s report in no way exonerates the President. In fact, it implicates the President in criminal activity. Congress has an obligation to act like the separate branch of government it is and conduct serious oversight of this administration. Everything should be on the table.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal

“From day one, Congress and the American public have demanded release of the full Mueller report and all underlying documents; anything less is unacceptable,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “Congress has a right and responsibility to review the Special Counsel’s full investigation without omissions to determine what steps must be taken – and whether further action is necessary. 

“I am troubled by Donald Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General’s apparent protection of a President who could not be exonerated by the Special Counsel on at least ten counts of obstruction of justice, and the numerous willing contacts documented between the Trump Campaign and a foreign power that was explicitly out to influence our last elections and likely our upcoming elections. 

“Congress has a duty – rooted firmly in the Constitution – to safeguard the justice system and prevent obstruction of justice. To do this, we must have the full report. Attorney General Barr’s refusal to release the full report and underlying materials prevents Congress from doing our constitutional duty. Barr should be acting as the nation’s Attorney General not Trump’s personal attorney. Anything less is unacceptable.”

Rep. Mark Takano

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