At the risk of beating a dead horse – I made versions of this point in previous posts yesterday – I feel compelled to share this audio from the Mueller hearings. While the proceedings were fascinating, I walked away from watching for relatively miniature sections and clearly missed the real deal a stunning exchange of wordsWhen I first saw tweet belowI wondered if this could be a truly correct portrayal of what happened in the conversation between the former Special Counsel and the Republican congressman. Watch the video and see for yourself:
Here’s a video of Mueller confused by a basic question: Did the Trump campaign facilitate Russia hack the DNC emails? Mueller says “I don’t know” and says the question is outside the scope of his investigation, even though it’s the purpose of his investigation.https://t.co/8KqAURxwKA photo: twitter.com/Ef0H06n6k6
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 24, 2019
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Republican from Ohio, asked Mueller whether “it is accurate to say that your investigation found no evidence that members of the Trump campaign were involved in the theft or publication of Clinton campaign emails?” …Mueller paused, then asked Wenstrup to repeat the question, which the congressman did. Mueller paused again, then replied: “I don’t know. I don’t know. Uh, uh, what are they, well, uh…um, this part of this case is not within our jurisdiction“or are subject to our investigation.”
“I don’t know” followed by a comment about jurisdiction is completely misleading. After all, delving into the issue at hand was in the very heart Mueller’s mandate:
His report concludes that Russian intelligence hacked Democratic emails and passed them on to WikiLeaks for publication — and to what extent, if any, the Trump campaign was involved in those activities. When then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel on May 17, 2017, the formal order of appointment stated that the former FBI director had been selected to “ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” and that his primary task was to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” A later memo, dated August 2, 2017, makes clear once again that the question of whether the Trump campaign was involved in Russia’s attempt to hack into Democratic accounts or release their stolen emails is most certainly within the scope of Mueller’s investigation.
Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy told me yesterday that, based on Mueller’s record, he doesn’t believe the former FBI director really understood or led the investigation with which his name is so closely associated. Even if this was just one of many moments of confusion on Mueller’s part, it doesn’t inspire confidence in his detailed, hands-on leadership of the investigation. In the meantime, let me internal complaints and doubts among Democrats begin:
Let’s start https://t.co/oZMTe1CbZh photo:twitter.com/1V59NwIYs5
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) July 24, 2019
It looks like the team from Washington Post was I really, really hope so for another result:
Good morning from Earth 2, where the Mueller hearings weren’t complete garbage. photo: twitter.com/XBB3W1N33N
— Michael Shapiro (@mis2127) July 25, 2019
I’ll leave you with President Trump’s approval ratings. ticking to (+11) in the economy — up from just (+2) a few months ago in a series of Fox News polls. It’s simple to see why:
All 50 states grew in the first quarter of 2019, with only 4 states growing less than 2.0%. The U.S. economy is booming thanks to @RealDonaldTrumpRules https://t.co/lEWvZag4pc #GDP photo:twitter.com/WaP4oB6LmT
— Sec. Wilbur Ross (@SecretaryRoss) July 25, 2019
