When 72-year-old President Donald Trump fired 58-year-old former FBI Director James Comey May 9, 2017, Congress went wild screaming about obstruction of justice. At the time, the FBI was well into its counterintelligence investigation into Trump and his campaign, raising suspicions about possible collusion in the 2016 election. While Comey said himself May 10, 2017 that Trump had a right to pick his own FBI Director, he quietly fueled the rabid speculation that Trump was a Russian “assert,” or at least compromised by the Kremlin. Comey‘s best evidence against Trump was paid opposition research by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, accusing Trump of colluding with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election. WikiLeaks infamous email-dump of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Campaign Chairman John D. Podesta raised suspicions.
U.S; intel officials concluded in 2017 that Russia engaged in a major propaganda campaign to sway the 2016 election, largely to help Trump. Reasoning backwards, Comey concluded that Trump must have been involved in nefarious relations with Russia. When Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel May 17, 2009, Congress and the media hit a fever’s pitch over wild speculation largely stemming from the FBI. Few questioned Comey’s sources at the time, relying heavily on the so-called “Steele dossier,” named after former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele who insisted, without proof, that Trump was in bed with the Russians. Rosenstein appointed Mueller when he realized the Russian speculation got out-of-control linking Trump and his campaign to the Kremlin. After taking considerable heat during the two-year investigation, Rosentein spoke out.
Criticizing the Obama administration, Rosenstein said they “chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls, and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America.” Rosenstein took a lot of heat for appointing Mueller to investigate Trump’s alleged role in Russian collusion. While Rosenstein talks with certainty about Russian propaganda to influence the 2016 presidential election, he can’t say with certainty, whether or not it affected even one vote. “And that is only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” Rosenstein said. While the intel community has no doubt about Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, they still can’t say with any confidence that it changed one vote.
For the past two years, Democrats and their media friends have blamed Hillary’s 2016 loss on Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion. Yet at the end of an exhaustive nearly two-year investigation, Mueller found no coordination or conspiracy by Trump, anyone in his campaign or any other person. On the issue of obstruction of justice, Mueller said there was insufficient evidence to charge Trump with a crime. Yet since Atty. Gen. William Barr released the full, redacted report April 18, Democrats in Congress and the media have doubled down, essentially rejecting the Mueller Report’s conclusions. Congressional committees, now led by Democrats, insist investigations must go ahead even after the Special Counsel all-but cleared Trump. Rosentein, who’s been subject of considerable criticism by Trump, defended the Mueller probe to get to the bottom of Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion.
Rosenstein defended the Special Counsel’s probe as “impartial,” satisfied with results, despite not giving Democrats what they wanted. Democrats wanted the Special Counsel guilty of Russian collusion to verify the underlying crime. Without collusion, there’s no underlying crime on which to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. While it’s true Trump called the Mueller probe a “witch-hunt,” it’s also true he wanted to fire Rosenstein, Mueller and anyone attached to Muller probe. Trump stated emphatically from the get-go, the Mueller probe was a “hoax” that would turn up nothing. When Barr reported March 22 that nothing took place, Trump wasn’t surprised, only to the extent that he did not collude with Russia. Democrats and the press have complained that the Mueller Report didn’t go far enough, especially when it came to looking into alleged Trump collusion and obstruction of justice.
Rosenstein wanted to remind Congress and the press that Atty. Gen. Barr was not at liberty to violate rules related with criminal procedure, especially grand jury proceedings. House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.l) and House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), all think Special Counsel Mueller got it wrong. “Grand jury investigations are ex parte proceedings,” said Rosenstein.. It is not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.” Deciding not to charge Trump should have spoke volumes to Congressional Democrats and the press but it didn’t. Rosenstein’s decision to appoint Mueller Special Counsel actually helped Trump clear Washington’s wild speculation.
