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HORIST: Mueller pulls a Comey

HORIST: Mueller pulls a Comey

Almost three years ago, I tuned in to then FBI Director James Comey’s press conference announcing the conclusion of the agency’s investigation of the handling of government email by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when she served as Secretary of State under President Obama.  As I heard Comey layout a litany of misdeeds by Clinton – including careless and reckless handling of government emails (some classified) and the use of an inappropriate private server – I was convinced that the former First Lady was about to get indicted.  But nooooo.  Comey not only did not call for her to be charged but he said that no prosecutor would press charges.  That alone was not his call.  It would have been up to the Attorney General.

The Clinton folks were happy that there was no indictment coming down the line, but they were rightfully furious over the harsh criticism of her actions.  Comey later re-opened the investigation and closed it down again faster than attorney Michael Avenatti could scam a client.

It was the Democrats who were clamoring for Comey’s firing at that time.  After all, he had grossly violated a number of FBI rules and policies.  It was considered improper to deal with investigations of candidates on the eve of an election.  More seriously, it was FBI policy not to lay out the sins of anyone who was not being indicted.  In short, Comey should have kept his mouth shut and simply waited until after the election to issue a statement.

The policy is based on the idea that the candidate may be found innocent of all charges but would have lost the election in the meantime.  That actually happened to former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

Comey’s actions were so serious that it led to an FBI Inspector General investigation which reprimanded the Director in the harshest terms.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not issue his report on the eve of an election – and in fact, was said to have put the investigation on pause just before the 2018 election.  BUT … the Report he recently issued has disturbing similarities to the Comey press conference.

Mueller decisively dismissed the notion of any criminal collusion between President Trump, his campaign or any other American, for that matter.  There may have been various and sundry meetings between various and sundry Trump operatives for various and sundry reasons, but none of them were illegal.  In that decision, Mueller blew up the Democrats’ and anti-Trump media’s biggest and most prolonged bogus accusation.

When it came to the question of obstruction of justice, it appears that Mueller pulled a Comey.  He outlined 10 actions by Trump that COULD POSSIBLY be seen as obstructive. He even hinted that further investigation by the FBI MIGHT reveal more conclusive evidence.  (What?  Twenty-three months and $35 million dollars was not enough?)

And like Comey, Mueller said he could not find sufficient evidence to make a prosecutorial decision.  In real terms, that means he would not and could not prosecute the President.  Rather, he used the report to compare incidents on one hand and yet leave open the legal arguments against prosecution.  As an employee of the Justice Department, he deferred the final decision to his bosses – in this case, Attorney General William Barr, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and the folks in the Office of Legal Counsel.  Contrary to the narratives of the propaganda press, Barr did not make the decision unilaterally.  In a sense, they agreed with Mueller that there was not enough to make a case against the President.

There is one matter that needs to be cleared up.  As part of their anti-Trump disinformation campaign, Democrats and you know who in the media claim that Mueller did not bring an indictment because a sitting President cannot be indicted.  Mueller and Barr have both indicated that the Department of Justice rule putting the President beyond indictment while in office was NOT – repeat, NOT – the reason Mueller did not make a prosecutorial case – which he could have without an indictment.  He could have said that Trump had broken the law but cannot be indicted at this moment.  But Mueller did not do that.

The Justice Department also has the rule that forbids defaming anyone not indicted.  That was the criticism against Comey.  It seems, however, that the rule does not apply to high-visibility political figures.  That can be argued both ways among reasonable people, but it is clear that Mueller created a lot of unnecessary chaos – and fueled the most rabid anti-Trump element on the left – with his decision to not make the prosecutorial care while offering up bullet points to one side in the highly-charged political atmosphere.

Some say that Mueller was secretly making a case for impeachment by creating the appearance of obstruction.  If that is true, Mueller is corrupted by political partisanship as much as Comey, Peter Strzok, Bruce Ohr, James Clapper, John Brennan and Andrew McCabe.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

12 Comments

  1. Jannine hansen

    Very good article, will share with friends. They all need to be brought to their knees for this, this started at the top. If Biden runs for President he is a bigger fool than I thought he was, he has to have had knowledge of what was going on. This all came from Obama. He will go down as the worse president in US history.

    • Mel

      I agree 100%

  2. Donl Longo

    Investigate Mueller.

  3. rufusvondufus

    Mueller should be indicted for stupidity and an attempt to further muddy the waters of an already effed up “matter” on his part!

  4. ssilv48

    When are all these as hole’s going to be held accountable???? All this brought upon the American people because someone did not vett a little boy named barry soetoro, because he was half black I would guess or she is part of the obstruction going on since 2008. The reason America has this 2 tear system is because we do not follow the law’s on the books now as we see.

  5. Bob

    Mueller investigation, which was based on an illegal dossier supplied clandestinely by Hillary Clinton, was illegitimate to begin with, therefore any indictments or charges brought ought to be moot. It was started on a false premise and therefore should in itself be illegal. The total cost, in millions should be paid for by the people who supplied the fake dossier.

    • Knobby

      R: Bob: Fine the Clintons/DNC the $35MM and their Foundation could pay the fine, and have enough money to influence the 2020 election anyway. The Russians will do it again in 2020, no matter who is running.

      Putin has a virulent hatred for HRC – watch PBS Frontline: “Putin’s Revenge”, parts 1 and 2. They want the US population all divided and hating each other.

      News Flash: The US CIA is likely the most effective and longest-lived outside election influencing entity in the history of the world. Some of your editors can refute or agree with this assertion with greater authority than this writer.

  6. Lowell

    An indictment is a criminal accusation that a person has committed a crime.(Wikipedia)
    So what are articles of impeachment if not an indictment?
    This is just an excuse to say that they will not hold a trial in the senate, but they will wait until he is out of office and then try him in a court of law.This is just another attempt to throw a shadow over the last six years of the Trump Administration..

  7. marlene

    The Mueller witchhunt against President Trump was a diversion from hunting the witch, hillary clinton: “DEEP STATE COVER-UP: FBI AGENT PETER STRZOK KNEW ABOUT CLINTON’S EMAIL BREACH. [VIDEO]
    7/7/18 – independentminute dot com 2018/07/01

    • Victor

      Comey acted as Judge, Juror and Prosecutor on Hillary’s illicit email scandal. Hillary’s destruction of her iphone and bleachbit to erase her email is evidence of obstruction of Justice.

  8. lana lorena

    From Obama, Clinton paying for fake international dossier et all down the line
    to collude obstruct President Trumps administration by creating false narratives of propaganda by paying perhaps others also for accusing, abusing power to impeach
    President Trump before his administration could get on their subpeonas and indictments for criminal coup conspiracy & abusing President Trumps civil rights by spying & pay offs. The tarmac schemes of Bill & lynch for her to say because of him getting on the plane ( with feet off US soil) that she would have Comey take over in her position therefore Hillarys public statement that lynch earned a spot in her admin when she wins election. By the way it was illegal for her to be a candidate up until that moment they thought.It was still illegal for Hillary to be a candidate because Comey had no jurisdiction to exonerate Clinton, but being investigated she was not qualified to run for presidency. Secondly, Hillary sent Mueller to Moscow with a uranium sample for Putin. They said it was stole but maybe stole from uranium one .
    So Mueller delivers it to a tarmac. More coup d’etat by Hillary for power & greed though she spend money to get what she wanted, if she won, no one would know the depth of her deception and criminality.

  9. Dan Danser

    There are more bodies associated with then Clinton Cartel than any American Mob. So far the body count is :Clintons 37. Trump 0. Maybe that is why no one wants to go after the Clintons! Their lives are safer going after Trump! last Clinton casualty was the pilot of the jet Clinton and Lynch had their ” family talk” meeting on.