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What surprises lurked in the two thick volumes released by the Department of Justice? And, given Attorney General William Barr’s decision not to pursue any charges, which of Mueller’s findings will end up mattering the most for the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidency? POLITICO Magazine went to some of the brightest legal minds in America for the answers.
,,,
‘The report did not exonerate the president’
Marisa Maleck is a senior associate with King & Spalding, and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
I found the most surprising part of the report to be twofold: One, that special counsel Mueller went out of his way multiple times to dispel the notion that there is any concept called “collusion,” and that what he investigated was instead coordination and conspiracy; and two, that the report did not exonerate the president even with respect to conspiracy and coordination.
And with respect to redactions within the report, the ones concerning the Trump campaign’s interest in WikiLeaks’ releases of hacked material are particularly concerning.
...
The special counsel declined to make a recommendation on obstruction mostly because the Office of Legal Counsel has concluded, most recently in 2000, that a sitting president is immune from indictment. The report made clear that it is up to Congress to decide whether to use impeachment as a remedy.
...
Mueller whiffed on a crucial legal question
Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
Mueller could have avoided the entire second volume of his report—which spends 182 pages summarizing his obstruction of justice investigation—if he had simply concluded that the obstruction statute does not apply to the president. There is no reason to detail whether the president violated a federal law, if the federal law does not apply to the president.
...
‘The campaign certainly tried to collude’
Bradley P. Moss is a national security attorney in Washington
It is shocking how misleading and disingenuous the attorney general’s four-page letter, and his subsequent remarks at the press conference, turned out to be. The Mueller report identifies numerous instances of interactions with Russian nationals—by the Trump campaign or Trump associates—in an effort to gain hacked emails and to coordinate their dissemination. That may not be enough to warrant criminal conspiracy charges, but saying there was no collusion—as Barr did—is brazenly dishonest. The campaign certainly tried to collude.
Similarly, the attorney general’s description of the president’s lack of corrupt intent regarding obstruction is contradicted by the Mueller report. The president repeatedly tried to shut down or interfere with the investigation. He dangled pardons to try to get people to keep quiet. That he was saved by his aides’ willingness to ignore his rants and instructions is a weak defense. This matter will remain a stain on the Trump presidency going into 2020. Whether the public will care remains to be seen.
...
‘Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed’
Mark Zaid is executive director of the James Madison Project and a co-founder of Whistleblower Aid.
What was most intriguing from the report so far was the revelation that 14 criminal referrals had been made by the Office of Special Counsel to various U.S. Attorney's Offices and we had only publicly known of two of them. Clearly, Trump and his family are not out of potential hot water.
Additionally, looking at the investigation from the 30,000-feet view, Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed. We had the president of the United States investigated by a nonpartisan group that fairly and fully explored all the facts it believed needed to be reviewed, and the republic survived intact. The fear the president expressed when he learned of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, which deserves scrutiny as to why he felt that way, was unfounded, and that is a good thing.
...
‘The facts are muddy’
Miriam Baer is a professor at Brooklyn Law School and a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Those who slog through the special counsel’s report may find surprising the sheer amount of time that Trump spent directing his aides to say or do things on his behalf that were either untrue or aimed at undermining the Mueller investigation. Among the vignettes that stand out are the president’s failed attempt to have K.T. McFarland draft a statement, the day after he offered her the ambassadorship to Singapore, denying Trump’s involvement in Michael Flynn’s efforts to discuss American sanctions with Russian officials; the president’s unsuccessful pressure on Don McGahn to fire the special counsel; and the president’s (also unsuccessful) attempts to use Corey Lewandowski to direct Jeff Sessions to truncate the special counsel’s investigation.
...
‘If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer’
Justin Levitt is an associate dean at Loyola Law School and was a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 2015 to 2017.
The Mueller report makes unmistakably clear that Americans were attacked by foreign military units: specifically Russian “Military Units 26165 and 74455.” And it reminds us that the president and members of his campaign invited and welcomed those attacks, even if it did not arrange them, and that they were eager to profit from the proceeds of those attacks. That should be of immense concern. If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer. The hack was no less an attack than something more literally explosive.
...
‘Mueller flinched’
Paul Rosenzweig is a former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009; he also served on the staff of the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton.
The obstruction of justice portion of the report reads like a prosecution memorandum that is leading up to a conclusion to recommend an indictment. It lays out the facts in painstaking detail, some of which (like the discussions of a Manafort pardon) are classic efforts to influence witness testimony. It then contains a lengthy legal analysis of why these acts are criminal and why the legal counterarguments are mere hand-waving. And then, at the denouement, when the conclusion should have read “for these reasons we recommend an indictment,” the report radically changes tack. Any other American in the same circumstances would likely be facing criminal charges. Mueller flinched—and that’s a shame.
...
Mueller documented a ‘pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call’
Laurie L. Levenson is professor of law and David W. Burcham chair of ethical advocacy at Loyola Law School. She was formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
It is actually surprising how much Barr tried to spin this report in favor of the president. Given his prior public service, I had hoped Barr to rise to the occasion and be more forthright with the American public. But, he wasn’t. At minimum, the report details how the Trump campaign took advantage of Russian election interference, and the president himself made many efforts to stymie the investigation into what exactly happened. The report may not make a finding of criminal wrongdoing, but it certainly presents troubling behavior by a person who should be trying to protect our democracy.
After this report, I think that the Trump presidency will be forever under a cloud.
...
‘Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side’
Alan Dershowitz is a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.
Most surprising is the failure of the report to come to a definitive conclusion as to whether the president obstructed justice. Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side.
...
‘The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion’
Jennifer Taub is a professor of law at Vermont Law School.
I was surprised by something that was missing from the Mueller report. Nowhere does Mueller invite Barr to shut down the obstruction investigation into Trump. Yet that is exactly what Barr did in the four-page letter he sent to congressional leaders nearly one month ago, in which Barr made it seem like Mueller kind of gave up at the end and deferred on whether to press charges.
...
This report does not exonerate the president. Far from it. This apparently criminal conduct will not suddenly disappear if Trump is not reelected and the statutes of limitation have not yet run out.
...
From the instant Robert Mueller’s report landed Thursday, a nation of legal experts and analysts began tearing into its 448 pages, skipping past the heavy black ink of redactions, and weighing the special counsel’s findings and conclusions against the president’s claims about his campaign’s behavior with the Russians.
What surprises lurked in the two thick volumes released by the Department of Justice? And, given Attorney General William Barr’s decision not to pursue any charges, which of Mueller’s findings will end up mattering the most for the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidency? POLITICO Magazine went to some of the brightest legal minds in America for the answers.
We’d already seen plenty of detail through the 199 criminal charges and 37 criminal indictments and plea deals that emerged from Mueller’s investigations, and in the countless news stories issued in the 100 weeks since Mueller was appointed special counsel. But there were still surprises, depending on what you were looking for—from Mueller’s underargued case for publishing an obstruction report at all to the sharp contradiction—noted by many of our experts—between Barr’s public statements and what Mueller’s team actually found. Here are their responses:
***
‘The report did not exonerate the president’
Marisa Maleck is a senior associate with King & Spalding, and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
I found the most surprising part of the report to be twofold: One, that special counsel Mueller went out of his way multiple times to dispel the notion that there is any concept called “collusion,” and that what he investigated was instead coordination and conspiracy; and two, that the report did not exonerate the president even with respect to conspiracy and coordination.
Although the report stated that there was “no evidence” of conspiracy or coordination, it left open the possibility that there may be evidence out there that the president’s associates suppressed. Some individuals invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
...And with respect to redactions within the report, the ones concerning the Trump campaign’s interest in WikiLeaks’ releases of hacked material are particularly concerning.
The special counsel declined to make a recommendation on obstruction mostly because the Office of Legal Counsel has concluded, most recently in 2000, that a sitting president is immune from indictment.
***
Mueller whiffed on a crucial legal question
Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
Mueller could have avoided the entire second volume of his report—which spends 182 pages summarizing his obstruction of justice investigation—if he had simply concluded that the obstruction statute does not apply to the president. There is no reason to detail whether the president violated a federal law, if the federal law does not apply to the president.
***
‘The campaign certainly tried to collude’
Bradley P. Moss is a national security attorney in Washington
It is shocking how misleading and disingenuous the attorney general’s four-page letter, and his subsequent remarks at the press conference, turned out to be. ...That may not be enough to warrant criminal conspiracy charges, but saying there was no collusion—as Barr did—is brazenly dishonest. The campaign certainly tried to collude.
Similarly, the attorney general’s description of the president’s lack of corrupt intent regarding obstruction is contradicted by the Mueller report. The president repeatedly tried to shut down or interfere with the investigation. He dangled pardons to try to get people to keep quiet. That he was saved by his aides’ willingness to ignore his rants and instructions is a weak defense. This matter will remain a stain on the Trump presidency going into 2020. Whether the public will care remains to be seen.
***
‘Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed’
Mark Zaid is executive director of the James Madison Project and a co-founder of Whistleblower Aid.
...14 criminal referrals had been made by the Office of Special Counsel to various U.S. Attorney's Offices and we had only publicly known of two of them. Clearly, Trump and his family are not out of potential hot water.
Additionally, looking at the investigation from the 30,000-feet view, Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed. ...The fear the president expressed when he learned of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, which deserves scrutiny as to why he felt that way, was unfounded, and that is a good thing.
***
‘The facts are muddy’
Miriam Baer is a professor at Brooklyn Law School and a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Those who slog through the special counsel’s report may find surprising the sheer amount of time that Trump spent directing his aides to say or do things on his behalf that were either untrue or aimed at undermining the Mueller investigation. ...
All of these efforts are damning, particularly in the aggregate—but they also demonstrate the challenges inherent in an obstruction case. ... The portrait they paint nevertheless falls far short of an exoneration.
***
‘If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer’
Justin Levitt is an associate dean at Loyola Law School and was a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 2015 to 2017.
The Mueller report makes unmistakably clear that Americans were attacked by foreign military units: specifically Russian “Military Units 26165 and 74455.” And it reminds us that the president and members of his campaign invited and welcomed those attacks, even if it did not arrange them, and that they were eager to profit from the proceeds of those attacks.
***
‘Mueller flinched’
Paul Rosenzweig is a former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009; he also served on the staff of the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton.
The obstruction of justice portion of the report reads like a prosecution memorandum that is leading up to a conclusion to recommend an indictment. ... Any other American in the same circumstances would likely be facing criminal charges. Mueller flinched—and that’s a shame.
***
Mueller documented a ‘pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call’
Laurie L. Levenson is professor of law and David W. Burcham chair of ethical advocacy at Loyola Law School. She was formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
It is actually surprising how much Barr tried to spin this report in favor of the president. Given his prior public service, I had hoped Barr to rise to the occasion and be more forthright with the American public. But, he wasn’t. At minimum, the report details how the Trump campaign took advantage of Russian election interference, and the president himself made many efforts to stymie the investigation into what exactly happened.
...
What is troubling here is that these were not simply individual acts by the president; it is a pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call in not authorizing the obstruction charges.
***
‘Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side’
Alan Dershowitz is a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.
Most surprising is the failure of the report to come to a definitive conclusion as to whether the president obstructed justice. Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side.
What’s here that will matter the most for the remainder of the Trump presidency? The dissenting arguments that Trump did obstruct justice. The Democrats will use that in much the same way the Republicans used Comey’s statement that Hillary Clinton had been extremely careless in her handling of the email server.
***
‘The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion’
Jennifer Taub is a professor of law at Vermont Law School.
Mueller gathered substantial evidence that while in office, Trump obstructed justice. The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion. And while Mueller revealed that he felt bound by the Office of Legal Counsel guidelines that consider indicting or prosecuting a sitting president to be impermissible, he asserts that obstruction statutes apply to presidential conduct, and appears to contemplate future legal action.
The Surprises in the Mueller Report
,,,
‘The report did not exonerate the president’
Marisa Maleck is a senior associate with King & Spalding, and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
I found the most surprising part of the report to be twofold: One, that special counsel Mueller went out of his way multiple times to dispel the notion that there is any concept called “collusion,” and that what he investigated was instead coordination and conspiracy; and two, that the report did not exonerate the president even with respect to conspiracy and coordination.
And with respect to redactions within the report, the ones concerning the Trump campaign’s interest in WikiLeaks’ releases of hacked material are particularly concerning.
...
The special counsel declined to make a recommendation on obstruction mostly because the Office of Legal Counsel has concluded, most recently in 2000, that a sitting president is immune from indictment. The report made clear that it is up to Congress to decide whether to use impeachment as a remedy.
...
Mueller whiffed on a crucial legal question
Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
Mueller could have avoided the entire second volume of his report—which spends 182 pages summarizing his obstruction of justice investigation—if he had simply concluded that the obstruction statute does not apply to the president. There is no reason to detail whether the president violated a federal law, if the federal law does not apply to the president.
...
‘The campaign certainly tried to collude’
Bradley P. Moss is a national security attorney in Washington
It is shocking how misleading and disingenuous the attorney general’s four-page letter, and his subsequent remarks at the press conference, turned out to be. The Mueller report identifies numerous instances of interactions with Russian nationals—by the Trump campaign or Trump associates—in an effort to gain hacked emails and to coordinate their dissemination. That may not be enough to warrant criminal conspiracy charges, but saying there was no collusion—as Barr did—is brazenly dishonest. The campaign certainly tried to collude.
Similarly, the attorney general’s description of the president’s lack of corrupt intent regarding obstruction is contradicted by the Mueller report. The president repeatedly tried to shut down or interfere with the investigation. He dangled pardons to try to get people to keep quiet. That he was saved by his aides’ willingness to ignore his rants and instructions is a weak defense. This matter will remain a stain on the Trump presidency going into 2020. Whether the public will care remains to be seen.
...
‘Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed’
Mark Zaid is executive director of the James Madison Project and a co-founder of Whistleblower Aid.
What was most intriguing from the report so far was the revelation that 14 criminal referrals had been made by the Office of Special Counsel to various U.S. Attorney's Offices and we had only publicly known of two of them. Clearly, Trump and his family are not out of potential hot water.
Additionally, looking at the investigation from the 30,000-feet view, Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed. We had the president of the United States investigated by a nonpartisan group that fairly and fully explored all the facts it believed needed to be reviewed, and the republic survived intact. The fear the president expressed when he learned of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, which deserves scrutiny as to why he felt that way, was unfounded, and that is a good thing.
...
‘The facts are muddy’
Miriam Baer is a professor at Brooklyn Law School and a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Those who slog through the special counsel’s report may find surprising the sheer amount of time that Trump spent directing his aides to say or do things on his behalf that were either untrue or aimed at undermining the Mueller investigation. Among the vignettes that stand out are the president’s failed attempt to have K.T. McFarland draft a statement, the day after he offered her the ambassadorship to Singapore, denying Trump’s involvement in Michael Flynn’s efforts to discuss American sanctions with Russian officials; the president’s unsuccessful pressure on Don McGahn to fire the special counsel; and the president’s (also unsuccessful) attempts to use Corey Lewandowski to direct Jeff Sessions to truncate the special counsel’s investigation.
...
‘If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer’
Justin Levitt is an associate dean at Loyola Law School and was a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 2015 to 2017.
The Mueller report makes unmistakably clear that Americans were attacked by foreign military units: specifically Russian “Military Units 26165 and 74455.” And it reminds us that the president and members of his campaign invited and welcomed those attacks, even if it did not arrange them, and that they were eager to profit from the proceeds of those attacks. That should be of immense concern. If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer. The hack was no less an attack than something more literally explosive.
...
‘Mueller flinched’
Paul Rosenzweig is a former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009; he also served on the staff of the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton.
The obstruction of justice portion of the report reads like a prosecution memorandum that is leading up to a conclusion to recommend an indictment. It lays out the facts in painstaking detail, some of which (like the discussions of a Manafort pardon) are classic efforts to influence witness testimony. It then contains a lengthy legal analysis of why these acts are criminal and why the legal counterarguments are mere hand-waving. And then, at the denouement, when the conclusion should have read “for these reasons we recommend an indictment,” the report radically changes tack. Any other American in the same circumstances would likely be facing criminal charges. Mueller flinched—and that’s a shame.
...
Mueller documented a ‘pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call’
Laurie L. Levenson is professor of law and David W. Burcham chair of ethical advocacy at Loyola Law School. She was formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
It is actually surprising how much Barr tried to spin this report in favor of the president. Given his prior public service, I had hoped Barr to rise to the occasion and be more forthright with the American public. But, he wasn’t. At minimum, the report details how the Trump campaign took advantage of Russian election interference, and the president himself made many efforts to stymie the investigation into what exactly happened. The report may not make a finding of criminal wrongdoing, but it certainly presents troubling behavior by a person who should be trying to protect our democracy.
After this report, I think that the Trump presidency will be forever under a cloud.
...
‘Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side’
Alan Dershowitz is a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.
Most surprising is the failure of the report to come to a definitive conclusion as to whether the president obstructed justice. Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side.
...
‘The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion’
Jennifer Taub is a professor of law at Vermont Law School.
I was surprised by something that was missing from the Mueller report. Nowhere does Mueller invite Barr to shut down the obstruction investigation into Trump. Yet that is exactly what Barr did in the four-page letter he sent to congressional leaders nearly one month ago, in which Barr made it seem like Mueller kind of gave up at the end and deferred on whether to press charges.
...
This report does not exonerate the president. Far from it. This apparently criminal conduct will not suddenly disappear if Trump is not reelected and the statutes of limitation have not yet run out.
...
From the instant Robert Mueller’s report landed Thursday, a nation of legal experts and analysts began tearing into its 448 pages, skipping past the heavy black ink of redactions, and weighing the special counsel’s findings and conclusions against the president’s claims about his campaign’s behavior with the Russians.
What surprises lurked in the two thick volumes released by the Department of Justice? And, given Attorney General William Barr’s decision not to pursue any charges, which of Mueller’s findings will end up mattering the most for the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidency? POLITICO Magazine went to some of the brightest legal minds in America for the answers.
We’d already seen plenty of detail through the 199 criminal charges and 37 criminal indictments and plea deals that emerged from Mueller’s investigations, and in the countless news stories issued in the 100 weeks since Mueller was appointed special counsel. But there were still surprises, depending on what you were looking for—from Mueller’s underargued case for publishing an obstruction report at all to the sharp contradiction—noted by many of our experts—between Barr’s public statements and what Mueller’s team actually found. Here are their responses:
***
‘The report did not exonerate the president’
Marisa Maleck is a senior associate with King & Spalding, and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
I found the most surprising part of the report to be twofold: One, that special counsel Mueller went out of his way multiple times to dispel the notion that there is any concept called “collusion,” and that what he investigated was instead coordination and conspiracy; and two, that the report did not exonerate the president even with respect to conspiracy and coordination.
Although the report stated that there was “no evidence” of conspiracy or coordination, it left open the possibility that there may be evidence out there that the president’s associates suppressed. Some individuals invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
...And with respect to redactions within the report, the ones concerning the Trump campaign’s interest in WikiLeaks’ releases of hacked material are particularly concerning.
The special counsel declined to make a recommendation on obstruction mostly because the Office of Legal Counsel has concluded, most recently in 2000, that a sitting president is immune from indictment.
***
Mueller whiffed on a crucial legal question
Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
Mueller could have avoided the entire second volume of his report—which spends 182 pages summarizing his obstruction of justice investigation—if he had simply concluded that the obstruction statute does not apply to the president. There is no reason to detail whether the president violated a federal law, if the federal law does not apply to the president.
***
‘The campaign certainly tried to collude’
Bradley P. Moss is a national security attorney in Washington
It is shocking how misleading and disingenuous the attorney general’s four-page letter, and his subsequent remarks at the press conference, turned out to be. ...That may not be enough to warrant criminal conspiracy charges, but saying there was no collusion—as Barr did—is brazenly dishonest. The campaign certainly tried to collude.
Similarly, the attorney general’s description of the president’s lack of corrupt intent regarding obstruction is contradicted by the Mueller report. The president repeatedly tried to shut down or interfere with the investigation. He dangled pardons to try to get people to keep quiet. That he was saved by his aides’ willingness to ignore his rants and instructions is a weak defense. This matter will remain a stain on the Trump presidency going into 2020. Whether the public will care remains to be seen.
***
‘Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed’
Mark Zaid is executive director of the James Madison Project and a co-founder of Whistleblower Aid.
...14 criminal referrals had been made by the Office of Special Counsel to various U.S. Attorney's Offices and we had only publicly known of two of them. Clearly, Trump and his family are not out of potential hot water.
Additionally, looking at the investigation from the 30,000-feet view, Americans should be proud of what we just witnessed. ...The fear the president expressed when he learned of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, which deserves scrutiny as to why he felt that way, was unfounded, and that is a good thing.
***
‘The facts are muddy’
Miriam Baer is a professor at Brooklyn Law School and a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Those who slog through the special counsel’s report may find surprising the sheer amount of time that Trump spent directing his aides to say or do things on his behalf that were either untrue or aimed at undermining the Mueller investigation. ...
All of these efforts are damning, particularly in the aggregate—but they also demonstrate the challenges inherent in an obstruction case. ... The portrait they paint nevertheless falls far short of an exoneration.
***
‘If the attack were a bombing rather than a hacking, perhaps the magnitude of the problem would be clearer’
Justin Levitt is an associate dean at Loyola Law School and was a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 2015 to 2017.
The Mueller report makes unmistakably clear that Americans were attacked by foreign military units: specifically Russian “Military Units 26165 and 74455.” And it reminds us that the president and members of his campaign invited and welcomed those attacks, even if it did not arrange them, and that they were eager to profit from the proceeds of those attacks.
***
‘Mueller flinched’
Paul Rosenzweig is a former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009; he also served on the staff of the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton.
The obstruction of justice portion of the report reads like a prosecution memorandum that is leading up to a conclusion to recommend an indictment. ... Any other American in the same circumstances would likely be facing criminal charges. Mueller flinched—and that’s a shame.
***
Mueller documented a ‘pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call’
Laurie L. Levenson is professor of law and David W. Burcham chair of ethical advocacy at Loyola Law School. She was formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
It is actually surprising how much Barr tried to spin this report in favor of the president. Given his prior public service, I had hoped Barr to rise to the occasion and be more forthright with the American public. But, he wasn’t. At minimum, the report details how the Trump campaign took advantage of Russian election interference, and the president himself made many efforts to stymie the investigation into what exactly happened.
...
What is troubling here is that these were not simply individual acts by the president; it is a pattern of conduct that leaves us wondering whether Barr made the right call in not authorizing the obstruction charges.
***
‘Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side’
Alan Dershowitz is a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.
Most surprising is the failure of the report to come to a definitive conclusion as to whether the president obstructed justice. Special counsels are supposed to decide, not make debating points for each side.
What’s here that will matter the most for the remainder of the Trump presidency? The dissenting arguments that Trump did obstruct justice. The Democrats will use that in much the same way the Republicans used Comey’s statement that Hillary Clinton had been extremely careless in her handling of the email server.
***
‘The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion’
Jennifer Taub is a professor of law at Vermont Law School.
Mueller gathered substantial evidence that while in office, Trump obstructed justice. The report treats the obstruction fact-finding as a first step, not a conclusion. And while Mueller revealed that he felt bound by the Office of Legal Counsel guidelines that consider indicting or prosecuting a sitting president to be impermissible, he asserts that obstruction statutes apply to presidential conduct, and appears to contemplate future legal action.
The Surprises in the Mueller Report
