First, the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the Independent Special Counsel investigating Russian collusion between the Russian Government and the Trump Campaign is unprecedented. And his acceptance of the appointment to that position by Justice Department Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is unimaginable. AND his conduct since — what little bit we know about what he has done — is mind boggling! Why? Let’s look:
- It begins with the fact that the day before he accepted the appointment to be the Independent Special Counsel, Mueller sat with President Trump in the Oval Office. That’s not really unusual or unbelievable. But he was there SEEKING THE APPOINTMENT TO BE THE FBI DIRECTOR. Doesn’t that seem a bit strange to you?
- As Independent Special Counsel, he has hired numerous attorneys to work with him on this investigation, but every one has undeniable and unbelievable ties to the former Obama Administration, the Clintons and/or the Clinton Foundation, and most have contributed to the
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. One even represented the Clinton Foundation. Do you think there might be an axe to grind by any of these lawyers pertaining to making life a living hell for members of the Trump Administration as payback for “all things Trump” as it pertains to both previous Presidents and Bill Clinton’s wife?
- The two chief witnesses regarding Trump Administration collusion are former FBI Director James Comey and current Justice Department Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein. Comey and Mueller have long been fast friends, worked together in both the Justice Department and in the FBI, and Mueller is who recommended to President Obama to replace him when he left the FBI as Director with James Comey.
- Rod Rosenstein also has close personal relationships with Comey and Mueller. He certainly will be called to testify regarding his knowledge of any collusion and certainly to explain his role in the letter to President Trump when he recommended the firing of Comey as FBI Director.
At this point you are probably like me thinking “How could all this happen?” There are so many people and circumstances intertwined in this soap opera, with all the personal relationships that surely must cloud the objectivity of any and all testimony, research, and findings from each, how could any information brought forth in this be trusted as being factual? And how can Mueller be considered as an “Independent” Special Counsel?
Well, it gets worse that that. There’s a law passed by Congress that establishes the process of appointing a Independent Special Counsel. And that law also sets all the rules, regulations, and procedures for any appointed Independent Special Counsel. You can see it next, (or at least one really important part of it) and you will NOT believe it:
28 CFR 45.2 – Disqualification arising from personal or political relationship.
(a) Unless authorized under paragraph (b) of this section, no employee shall participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with:
(1) Any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution; or
(2) Any person or organization which he knows has a specific and substantial interest that would be directly affected by the outcome of the investigation or prosecution.
(b) An employee assigned to or otherwise participating in a criminal investigation or prosecution who believes that his participation may be prohibited by paragraph (a) of this section shall report the matter and all attendant facts and circumstances to his supervisor at the level of section chief or the equivalent or higher. If the supervisor determines that a personal or political relationship exists between the employee and a person or organization described in paragraph (a) of this section, he shall relieve the employee from participation unless he determines further, in writing, after full consideration of all the facts and circumstances, that:
(1) The relationship will not have the effect of rendering the employee’s service less than fully impartial and professional; and
(2) The employee’s participation would not create an appearance of a conflict of interest likely to affect the public perception of the integrity of the investigation or prosecution.
(c) For the purposes of this section:
(1)Political relationship means a close identification with an elected official, a candidate (whether or not successful) for elective, public office, a political party, or a campaign organization, arising from service as a principal adviser thereto or a principal official thereof; and
(2)Personal relationship means a close and substantial connection of the type normally viewed as likely to induce partiality. An employee is presumed to have a personal relationship with his father, mother, brother, sister, child and spouse. Whether relationships (including friendships) of an employee to other persons or organizations are “personal” must be judged on an individual basis with due regard given to the subjective opinion of the employee.
Based on just the little bit we know about the relationships, what this appointment was supposed to be for, AND this section of the 28 CFR Law, this Special Counsel arrangement is really a 3-Ring Circus — and Mueller, Comey, and Rosenstein each control one of the circus rings.
Let’s list the problems with this:
- Both Rosentstein AND Mueller are legally employees of the Justice Department in this matter. Even though Mueller is under a contract and not really a Justice employee, by law his position still defines him as an employee. Knowing that, under the law that governs this entire thing, sections a1, a2, all of section b, and because of the definition of “Political relationship” in the law, Both Rosenstein and Mueller are virtually prohibited in having ANY part of an investigation in this matter. Their doing so violates this law, and both have numerous and serious conflicts of interest and are supposed to recuse themselves.
- The longtime personal relationships between Mueller, Rosenstein, and Comey definitely violate 28 CFR 45.2 and all should personally recuse.
- Very obviously even the title Mueller bears in this — “Independent Special Counsel” — is a sham in that he has loaded his offices with attorneys he’s hired to assist in the investigation that all have very dramatic and financial ties to the Clintons and to Obama. That alone should should cause section a2 to terminate Rosenstein and Mueller.
- Did you see how the story about the Mueller impaneling of a Grand Jury in this investigation was uncovered? The Wall Street Journal today broke the Grand Jury story: “Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, “according to people familiar with the matter.” There are a couple of problems here. Grand Jury matters regarding such an investigation are to be held very quietly. But the more obvious problem is that — once again — negative and often “fake” news about the Trump folks was given to the Media by “people familiar with the matter” — LEAKED FAKE NEWS!
Summary
I’ll be short here. And I’ll be blunt: Now more than ever I feel that there was NO Trump collusion or cooperation with the Russians in any way. And remember even if there was, doing so is NOT ILLEGAL. This “Independent” Special Counsel is spending millions of taxpayer dollars trying to do a better job than the FBI and other Intelligence agencies have been doing for a YEAR now when during that year, NO collusion has been found. And should there be any such evidence at some point, there is NO legal action to be taken against anyone investigated. So why investigate? Payback. Rosenstein got a chance to help his friends get even with Trump with this appointment. Mueller didn’t get the Comey job; Comey got his feelings hurt and got fired; and Rosenstein (who is a Justice Department lifer) got his 15 minutes of fame early into this with apparently a lot more of that to come.
And then there’s the MSM. Do you think they are dancing tonight to have another week, another month, another year possibly, of fodder they can spread to their watching and listening minions who the MSM have conditioned to believe all the Fake News they have spoon fed to them? Ratings, ratings, ratings. Go after the ratings and do and say ANYTHING to get them.
Even with all this unbelievable unethical and illegal action by Rosenstein, Comey, and Mueller, President Trump addressed it immediately through his counsel saying simply that he hopes this investigation by the Grand Jury will quickly prove what really has or has not happened so that Americans can get back to pushing to get all the things for which they voted for Trump in place.
I guarantee you: there’s no there there. This is all about public perception and PR and being simply “anti Trump.”
