#5: Obstructing the Mueller investigation
The Mueller investigation dominated the first three years of Trump’s presidency. Angry over an investigation that he felt was illegitimate, Trump repeatedly lashed out at Mueller and took steps to undermine and obstruct the sprawling criminal probe. Mueller investigated 10 episodes and found persuasive evidence that Trump’s actions fit the legal criteria to warrant criminal charges.
But Mueller decided not to make an up-or-down decision on whether to charge Trump, citing Justice Department rules against indicting a sitting president and the difficult constitutional questions that would make for a challenging prosecution. Instead, Mueller famously said, “If we had had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
Mueller’s cryptic refusal to clear Trump’s name was quickly washed away by Trump’s often-repeated lie that Mueller gave him “total and complete exoneration,” a false claim he and his allies parroted dozens of times.
OBSTRUCTING THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION
Trump says he considered ‘this Russia thing’ before firing FBI Director Comey
Trump and aides have discussed firing Mueller for months, source says
Mueller had everything he needed to charge Trump with obstruction, but didn’t
Fact-checking Trump’s claim ‘I never told Don McGahn to fire Mueller’
“The offenses in the Mueller report make a powerful and overwhelming case for obstruction of justice and political corruption,” said Paulsen, the conservative legal scholar. “To some extent, it was criminal. To some extent, it was non-criminal corruption. Mueller couldn’t get to the full scope because of the obstruction.”
The experts had mixed views on Trump’s possible criminal exposure. Some said there was strong proof that Trump broke the law, while others said some of the alleged episodes of obstruction would be difficult to prosecute.
Michael Zeldin, a former CNN legal analyst who previously worked for Mueller at the Justice Department, said there were one or two incidents that were strong and prosecutable obstruction crimes, including when Trump ordered his White House counsel to write a memo falsely stating that Trump never ordered him to fire Mueller.
“In my view, that is a clear act of obstruction,” Zeldin said. “The sole intention was to interfere with the investigation. There is no other explanation for it.”
The Mueller investigation dominated the first three years of Trump’s presidency. Angry over an investigation that he felt was illegitimate, Trump repeatedly lashed out at Mueller and took steps to undermine and obstruct the sprawling criminal probe. Mueller investigated 10 episodes and found persuasive evidence that Trump’s actions fit the legal criteria to warrant criminal charges.
But Mueller decided not to make an up-or-down decision on whether to charge Trump, citing Justice Department rules against indicting a sitting president and the difficult constitutional questions that would make for a challenging prosecution. Instead, Mueller famously said, “If we had had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
Mueller’s cryptic refusal to clear Trump’s name was quickly washed away by Trump’s often-repeated lie that Mueller gave him “total and complete exoneration,” a false claim he and his allies parroted dozens of times.
OBSTRUCTING THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION
Trump says he considered ‘this Russia thing’ before firing FBI Director Comey
Trump and aides have discussed firing Mueller for months, source says
Mueller had everything he needed to charge Trump with obstruction, but didn’t
Fact-checking Trump’s claim ‘I never told Don McGahn to fire Mueller’
“The offenses in the Mueller report make a powerful and overwhelming case for obstruction of justice and political corruption,” said Paulsen, the conservative legal scholar. “To some extent, it was criminal. To some extent, it was non-criminal corruption. Mueller couldn’t get to the full scope because of the obstruction.”
The experts had mixed views on Trump’s possible criminal exposure. Some said there was strong proof that Trump broke the law, while others said some of the alleged episodes of obstruction would be difficult to prosecute.
Michael Zeldin, a former CNN legal analyst who previously worked for Mueller at the Justice Department, said there were one or two incidents that were strong and prosecutable obstruction crimes, including when Trump ordered his White House counsel to write a memo falsely stating that Trump never ordered him to fire Mueller.
“In my view, that is a clear act of obstruction,” Zeldin said. “The sole intention was to interfere with the investigation. There is no other explanation for it.”
