You guys are hilarious.
It is true that you cannot unring a bell. Problem is, Mueller didn't ring any bells, he didn't blow any whistles or toot any horns, he just fumbled and stumbled and tripped and flipped over questions he didn't understand. He didn't know what was in the report he didn't write and had to be told what was written in it. When asked a specific question about something in the report, he had to be told what page that was on. His testimony was pathetic to say the least.
Robert Mueller’s Disastrous Testimony And Its Significance, Part One
July 25, 2019 / Jack Marshall
A transcript of the testimony is here.
The amazing thing is that the Democrats held the hearings at all. Mueller, as a matter of legal ethics and client confidentiality, was severely limited regarding what he could say beyond what was already in his investigation’s report. Desperate to gain some public relations traction in their endless, nation-rending determination to end a legal and duly elected Presidency without the inconvenience of an e******n, one can only surmise that Mueller’s ethically problematical press conference led them astray, and not only astray, but into a disaster of their own making.
The first hint that something was amiss was Mueller’s request that an aide sit by him and assist in his testimony. That was not only unusual but ominous, and the Republicans on the committee quickly rejected it. Once Mueller started answering questions, it was painfully clear why this request had been made. He looked disoriented and confused. The 75-year-old Justice Department veteran had to ask committee members to repeat their questions repeatedly, as if he was having difficulty focusing. He often did not know whether the representatives were asking him questions or if they were reading from his own report. In the first 90 minutes of the hearing, Mueller asked for clarification of questions more than 10 times. Under questioning from Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), Mueller asked: “And where are you reading from on that?” “I’m reading from my own question” was the answer. “Then can you repeat it?” Mueller asked. The audience laughed. By the end, the audience had stopped laughing. As Obama strategist David Axelrod tweeted, the performance was “painful” to watch. Mueller asked Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to restate her question three times. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) asked the 14 word question, “Attorney #2 in the Inspector General’s report and Strzok both worked on your team, didn’t they?” and Mueller appeared to be confused by it.“Pardon me?” Mueller replied. After Gaetz restated his question, Mueller replied: “And the question was?” Asked by Head Trump-h****r Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to explain what his investigation found “in plain terms,” Mueller answered: “Well, the finding indicates that the president, uh, was not, uh, the president was not exculping, uh, exculpated, uh, for the acts that he allegedly committed.”
Ah! Well thank you, sir, that explains everything! Nadler looked as if he wanted to start banging his head on the table.
This was the same alleged super-lawyer, remember, that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called “exactly the right kind of individual for this job,” when he was appointed special counsel in 2017. For more than two years, the news media repeated the mantra that Mueller was an icon within the law enforcement establishment, master prosecutor, a trustworthy, dogged pursuer of the t***h wherever it might lead, the ultimate professional, and best of all, a Republican, so there would be no partisan bias.
So how was it that this ultimate professional came into a Congressional hearing completely unprepared to answer questions about the report that bore his name? For example, when he was asked if any senior White House official refused to be interviewed by himself or special counsel attorneys, Mueller first said, “I don’t believe so,” then reversed himself, saying, “Let me take that back. I would have to look at it, but I’m not certain that that is the case.” This was a basic question he had to know or should have known would be asked, and it isn’t a difficult one.
Not only did Mueller make it clear that he hadn’t written the report (and despite the howling of right-wing pundits, there’s nothing wrong with that), he raised doubts as to whether he had even read it. House Judiciary ranking Republican Doug Collins of Georgia questioned Mueller regarding the non-legal term “collusion,” which the report stated was synonymous with “conspiracy.” Mueller said that the terms were not synonymous, and then was forced to contradict himself when Collins read the words of his own report back to him. Being so unfamiliar with basic assertions in the report is a serious problem; indeed, if he did not read it thoroughly and still presented the report as his work, Mueller breached his duties of competence, diligence and honesty.
Many observers, not just on the Right, watching the fiasco unfold yesterday questioned the Special Prosecutor’s health and mental competence. I’ll say this: some of the moments I witnessed caused flashbacks of a horrible afternoon I spent working with an older friend and colleague who was beginning to exhibit signs of dementia.
When he wasn’t fumbling, missing questions or uttering confusing gibberish, Mueller was giving short, perfunctory “yes” or “no” answers, if he chose to answer questions at all. Mueller repeatedly replied that various questions were outside his purview, touched on ongoing investigations, or had already been answered in his report.
You guys are hilarious. br br It is true that yo... (
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