Top Mueller deputy reveals why he chickened out of forcing Donald Trump Jr. to testify

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/top-mueller-deputy-reveals-why-he-chickened-out-of-forcing-donald-trump-jr-to-testify/


One of the mysteries left in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was why Donald Trump Jr., who infamously met with Russian agents to discuss the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails, was never forced to testify.

Andrew Weissmann, who served as one of Mueller’s top deputies during the probe, has now given an answer.

In an excerpt of Weismann’s upcoming book on the investigation obtained by The Atlantic, Weissmann claims that Mueller was too worried about the president shutting down the entire probe if they subpoenaed his family members to testify.

“The specter of our being shut down exerted a kind of destabilizing pull on our decision-making process,” Weissmann writes.

*snip*

[GeorgeGist]

1. So Mueller is a coward.

So much legacy to sacrifice for less than nothing.

[malaise]

3. First and foremost he is a

ReTHUG

[jrthin]

5. Bingo. Keep an "empty" investigation going

for fear of shutting down pursuing a real investigation.

[BSdetect]

2. The whole matter is a farce if you lack guts.

[donkeypoofed]

4. He shouldn't have done that.

[dalton99a]

6. Mueller wanted history to remember him as a loyal Republican.

[ScratchCat]

7. For the Love of God

Trump did not have the legal authority to "Shut down" the Mueller Probe. That was discussed, discussed and discussed. It was automatic impeachment if he tried. Do people not remember what the issue with trying to get Don McGhan to testify was? Yeh, that Trump told him to shut it down.

So ultimately, they let them all get away with a criminal conspiracy, but were afraid that Trump would "shut it down" if they issued subpoenas for Junior?

Just face it: Republicans let Republicans get away with it all because of tribalism. Nothing more, nothing less.

[triron]

8. Not surprising, but disappointing.

[rgbecker]

9. Mueller and Colin Powell: Two American heros who threw it all away.

Both with stunning reputations but in the end, could not summon truth to power and will end their lives with an asterisk.

What a waste.

[Eyeball_Kid]

10. Mueller ran away from his investigation as quickly as possible.

He never gave interviews or publicly discussed the process. When testifying in Congress, he even tried to distance himself from his own investigation by deferring to his assistants for answers to questions. He then hustled his ass out of town and refused any further discussion. That's quite a "statement" from a once-heroic FBI leader. Mueller buckled under the threat of getting fired by the entirely corrupt President Pennywise. He chose to hold back on the truth. And then he ran away from the cameras. The great hope for election integrity and the Rule of Law collapsed under pressure from the Bully. Mueller was bullied into fudging the investigation. Mueller, with that peerless law enforcement reputation, fell flat on his face. He disappointed his admirers. Permanently.

[ScratchCat]

11. I think they ultimately found out

That if they kept following every tangent and clue, they would eventually be looking at too many career Republicans with dirty Russian money in their accounts. The thought up front was that it would point back to only Trump and his ilk. But then they saw all the connections with other Senators and Representatives and had to shot down those avenues of investigation. That is the only logical reason Barr got "called in".