Former Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller penned an op-ed in the Washington Post about his opposition to Trump commuting the sentence of his buddy Roger Stone. Here’s part of what he said:
… I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office. The Russia investigation was of paramount importance. Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.
Here he gives a history of how the Russian investigation came to be, then continued:
We now have a detailed picture of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The special counsel’s office identified two principal operations directed at our election: hacking and dumping Clinton campaign emails, and an online social media campaign to disparage the Democratic candidate. We also identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel — Stone among them. We did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government in its activities. The investigation did, however, establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome. It also established that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.
Uncovering and tracing Russian outreach and interference activities was a complex task. The investigation to understand these activities took two years and substantial effort. Based on our work, eight individuals pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial, and more than two dozen Russian individuals and entities, including senior Russian intelligence officers, were charged with federal crimes.
Congress also investigated and sought information from Stone. A jury later determined he lied repeatedly to members of Congress. He lied about the identity of his intermediary to WikiLeaks. He lied about the existence of written communications with his intermediary. He lied by denying he had communicated with the Trump campaign about the timing of WikiLeaks’ releases. He in fact updated senior campaign officials repeatedly about WikiLeaks. And he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stonewall Congress.
Here’s how he concluded:
When a subject lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government’s efforts to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable. It may ultimately impede those efforts.
We made every decision in Stone’s case, as in all our cases, based solely on the facts and the law and in accordance with the rule of law. The women and men who conducted these investigations and prosecutions acted with the highest integrity. Claims to the contrary are false.
There you go.
Very likely in agreement with Mueller is Mitt Romney, who sent out this unhappy tweet:
Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 11, 2020
I’m seeing a ton of Democrats freak out about it too, but there’s so much going on right now that I doubt the public cares much either way. This will get buried under a mountain of more terrible news from now until Monday….
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Well that’s it for Saturday. We hope you’re having a great weekend and we appreciate every tweet, share and comment you generously give us in order to keep this site going.
So have an open thread. Here’s some comment fodder:
A look at the story behind the Hagia Sophia as Erdogan declares the sixth-century building a mosque pic.twitter.com/D609AYr6j2
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 11, 2020
Don’t be so quick to judge. pic.twitter.com/g0OswWEIaA
— Courtney (@AlaskanCourtney) July 11, 2020
LOL! Genius.
#BREAKING: President Trump visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He is wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/uZOzM4Lpvs
— The Hill (@thehill) July 11, 2020
Louisiana. Wear your masks.
Here’s a map of the parishes (red) that will be required to mandate masks. The three rural parishes in grey can opt out if they don’t want to mandate masks. #lalege #lagov pic.twitter.com/0rb2EJ2B1R
— Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) July 11, 2020
Do you think we should tell @DonaldJTrumpJr that there’s a typo on his book cover? He means “the Democrats’ defense of the indefensible.” pic.twitter.com/SVSEiThDjn
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) July 11, 2020
The son of the Donald doesn’t care for your snowflake Antifa grammatical rules, dammit.
This is what happens when you mess with old guys and their golf game. Believe me I know! You’re already pissed before this happening. 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😁😎🏌️♀️ pic.twitter.com/K1JNsBSu3d
— ❤️🇺🇸❤️Tracey❤️🇺🇸❤️ (@TraceyFLGirl) July 11, 2020
That is probably staged, but still very funny…
This is how I feel every time you share our articles:
not all heroes wear capes. pic.twitter.com/KEG2P2Qbz2
— Love Yo Self ✨ (@MichellCClark) July 11, 2020
Have a good Saturday, see you tomorrow!!