Cliff Notes on the Mueller Report

Couple things, Congress, while you’re here, and while some of you are preparing to meet with Robert Mueller this week.

First, as a school teacher and a public citizen, I have read and studied the Mueller Report, cover to cover, underlining enough passages to need a third pen. I even wrote several notes and questions in the margins, though I did so with absolutely no belief that my consumption of the report could or would ever move the needle one way or the other toward truth or justice. I did, however, believe it incumbent upon you, as elected officials, to not only read it, but to become even more well versed in its content than myself, seeing as the issues within it stretch beyond the president, beyond party, and ultimately highlight the depth of our democratic vulnerabilities as a nation.

But as of this moment, I understand that only 35% of you have actually read the report (see the image above). Which begs a more disconcerting question. By what gargantuan nerve do you believe yourself worthy to sit in a room with the author of a two year investigation, a life long public servant, and question him on matters you have not bothered to read? I would never stand in a room with my students and try to teach them something I had not taken the time to study and understand beforehand. That wouldn’t make me a very good teacher. Nor are you showing yourself competent to do your job.

Second, since it is clear that most of you will be asking questions about a report you have not read, let me give you a school teacher’s cliff notes. After all, I teach young kids and you’re kind of out of time, so maybe I can help explain.

Here goes.

*Since 9/11, the FBI has conducted all of its investigations through protocols that are systematically non-partisan, involving many levels of supervision, with every credible assessment requiring oversight, meaning that there is no room for petty or prolonged individual partisanship in a legal system that weeds partiality.

*That said, this particular investigation began as a result of claims that turned out to be accurate, namely, that a prominent member of the Trump campaign was engaging in politically operative conversations with a foreign government in July 2016, which risked a legal violation of 52 USC 30121, a ban against foreign contributions during federal elections.

*Surprisingly, the Mueller Report gives Trump campaign members a frustrating pass for their apparent ignorance of 52 USC 30121, which is to say the investigation determined that ignorance was, and perhaps is, an excuse for brazenly open criminality (what you don’t know or what you say you don’t know can’t hurt you). Frankly, I feel like he deserves a few questions about this conclusion, but I won’t be in the room. That’s why we elect representatives. That’s why we elect people like you.

*After following every lead of this investigation, the FBI soon determined that said foreign government had also made a successful breach of American databases and social media during the 2016 Election Cycle, intending to disrupt our democratic norms, which they did to a greater extent than any prior election on record, having done so quietly and digitally.

*More than 30 people were either indicted for criminal actions or plead guilty to lying during this investigation, which brings an even greater weight and legitimacy to the investigation as a whole, but there was not enough evidence to accuse or prove malicious intent, in this regard, on the part of Mr. Trump. Most of us can and have accepted this, whether we like the man or not.

*Nevertheless, Mr. Trump did not let the investigation run its course without constant interference, choosing, instead, to offer a running PR commentary, aimed at disrupting/denigrating the process and the integrity of an otherwise necessary, legitimate investigation, with actions and words and threats against witnesses that actually drew out the length and the parameters of this investigation, thus warranting every claim of obstruction levied against the president, almost all of which are deemed illegal and contrary to the integrity of our legal system.

*Since the FBI is an arm of the executive branch, the report was careful not to make accusations against the president that might disrupt any constitutional tasks for which he might be responsible, thus leaving in the hands of Congress the right to uphold its own legislative expectations of law and order, thereby holding the president accountable as a constitutional matter, rather than an FBI matter.

In other words, if you’ve read this far, this is not a partisan choice you have before you. The president is on record, having influenced or denigrated witnesses, advising people on what to say or what not to say, and threatening to or actually firing those involved with the investigation or those who failed, in his eyes, to uphold his expectations of loyalty with regard to the investigation. In every way visible and imaginable, the president took it upon himself to obstruct the process of justice, thinking himself to be the law, rather than thinking of himself as subject to the law. The question of whether this president has done things that merit impeachment, that are beneath the integrity of the office he holds, is not a question. It is now a documented fact.

Again, I’m just a school teacher. But I sure hope this helps. Seeing as I had some time on my hands that I guess you didn’t have. I go back to work next week.