By: Lisa M. Hayes – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
In a rare statement that came with little to no warning, Robert Mueller took the microphone today and announced he is closing the Special Council’s office. He also made it very clear he does not want to be called to testify before Congress. Initially, there were a lot of sentiments that Mueller said nothing new, so his statement was useless and pointless – and part of that might be true. Mueller stayed to the script which was his report. He didn’t take the mic to drop any earth-shattering bombshells. However, his words were far from pointless.
Let’s face it. No one has felt fully satiated by the product of Mueller’s work. The left wouldn’t have been satisfied with anything less than seeing Trump walked out of the White House in handcuffs. The Right wanted Mueller to find a way to continue to investigate Hillary. So, in the end, both sides are left wondering if the two-year wait was worth it. There is a lingering sense that Mueller’s work was vague or somehow inconclusive because Trump was not charged with a crime.
However, the work of the special council’s office was neither vague or inconclusive. 34 people were indicted as a direct result of the Mueller probe. Countless other matters were referred out to other courts.
What Mueller made clear in his report and his statement today are three points:
1. The 2016 election was highly influenced by a large scale effort from the GRU. Russia had more than a slight hand in the outcome of that election. The influence was significant. Additionally, Trump’s campaign willingly and knowingly benefited from that effort.
2. Trump obstructed justice and there are ten very clearly outlined ten points of said obstruction in the report.
3. Mueller could not make the decision to indict Trump because of standing DOJ policy. So, his report was intended to be a road map for other avenues of investigation and action – reading between the lines in bold print, Congress needs to do its job.
Mueller made clear that contrary to what the President and his various mouthpieces want you to believe, the Mueller Report did not exonerate the President. In fact, he states clearly, they could not clear him – obviously because they laid out 10 counts of Obstruction in the report.
Yes, we knew all this, but hearing it out of the mouth of the man himself was impactful and important. There can be no confusion now that the statements from the Attorney General of the United States, that characterized Mueller’s work as an exoneration of the President that had no findings of criminal wrongdoing were blatantly false and intentionally misleading.
Mueller laid a foundation for the work of impeachment and it’s past time for Congress to do its job. They can’t keep waiting for Mueller to do it for them because as of today, he’s done.
Moreover, to anyone who took the time to read the report, it’s clear the Special Council’s office did an exceptionally thorough job of making the case for impeachment. Mueller did his part. The fact that Democratic leadership likes to say impeachment is a non-starter because of Republican control in the Senate is lazy and frankly immoral.
It’s the job of Congress to hold the President accountable even when it’s not convenient or popular. Make no mistake, it’s never going to be a convenient time to impeach a sitting President. That is not a good enough reason not to do it. History won’t tell the story of a Congress without the moral courage and fortitude to do the hard thing in a bright light.
Nancy Pelosi might say we need to wait for the various Congressional investigations to complete. However, it doesn’t take a decoder ring to know she’s saying, impeachment proceedings would be a distraction and doing it might harm the re-electability of many of our members. No one wants to get that messy right now.
That said, the investigation that counts regarding the most likely subject of an impeachment proceeding is finished. The charge of the day is obstruction of justice. Mueller finished that investigation and Congress need not continue to investigate what Mueller already proved.
While most Democrats have been publicly lukewarm regarding impeachment, Republican Justin Amash stated clearly on Twitter last week, for all the world to read, he believes we’re past the point of no return.
“Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.”
He doubled down on that sentiment yesterday at a town hall-style meeting with a crowd of Republican supporters. Amash got a standing ovation when he talked about holding the President accountable.
While a few Dems like Elizabeth Warren and AOC have stated proceedings should start, up until today many have stood down, quietly in line behind Pelosi with the wait and see approach. However, today, new, loud voices are starting to emerge.
Within minutes of Mueller’s statement Booker posted to Twitter, “Robert Mueller’s statement makes it clear: Congress has a legal and moral obligation to begin impeachment proceedings immediately.”
He’s not alone. Maybe we turned a corner in Congress. We will see.
Frankly, though, I don’t care. I am uninterested in what the overly compromising, politically strategic, lukewarm, mostly impotent members of Congress have to say today. When it’s this clear that our election was compromised and our President committed an impeachable crime, it is now up to us to let our elected leaders know that doing their job is not optional.
I am not delusional. I know the Republicans control the Senate. It’s highly unlikely Trump will be removed from office. I also know that starting impeachment proceedings will disrupt the legislative process. However, there is nothing more important on our agenda than holding our elected officials, especially if that official is the President, accountable, making it clear that there are lines you cannot cross and continue to serve unchecked.
History must reflect that we did something in the face of the most corrupt, disruptive, and criminal administration in the history of our nation. It’s up to Congress to put that in the record books. Trying to impeach might have to be enough, and even if it fails, we cannot look ourselves in the mirror and not try.
I pledge today I will not vote for or support any member of Congress that does not immediately call for and support impeachment of the President United States. Inconvenient is not a good enough excuse. The Special Council findings were more than conclusive enough. We must hold the left accountable for doing their jobs.
The fact that I have to write that is disheartening. However, it’s where we are. We are at a place where we have to do our job. Our job is to make it clear that we will settle for nothing less than immediate Congressional action on impeachment. They work for us.
You can find the info you need to contact your representatives HERE.
Today is the day.
More by Lisa:
White women are the fuel for the Patriarchy and they are burning themselves alive
Lisa M. Hayes, Senior Editor of Confluence Daily.
Confluence Daily is the one place where everything comes together. The one-stop for daily news for women.
