Robert Mueller and Attorney General William Barr both addressed the nation this week regarding the Special Counsel’s investigation into whether Donald Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia. Mueller gave a press conference to defend his 438-page report and tell Congress he has said all he is going to say–even though House Democrats want him to testify.
His investigation went on for 675 days, cost taxpayers $40 million, employed a team of 40 FBI agents and 18 investigators, many of whom donated to the Clinton campaign. Peter Strzok, the agent FBI Director James Comey chose as the lead investigator, sent text messages to his lover at the Department of Justice describing his pure hatred for Donald Trump. If there was any proof of collusion, it would have been found.
Mueller did not put an end to the speculation about wrongdoing by the President. Instead, he said he was “forbidden” by the Constitution to chargeTrump with obstruction, and he didn’t think it was his place to reach a conclusion on whether the President had committed a crime. The result was a firestorm in the media suggesting there was “insufficient” evidence of a collusion conspiracy, and Congress will need to look harder.
AttorneyWilliam Barr, who is ultimately in charge at the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel, set the record straight in an interview with CBS’ Jan Crawford later in the week.
Barr’s Top Seven Statements:
1. Barr said he felt Mueller could have reached a decision on obstruction, and because Mueller didn’t, he and Deputy AG Rosenstein determined President Trump did not obstruct justice.
- “That is what the Department of Justice does, that is why we have the compulsory powers like a grand jury to force people to give us evidence so that we can determine whether a crime has committed and in order to legitimate the process we felt we had to reach a decision.”
- “We have to determine whether there is clear violation of the law and so we applied the standards we would normally apply.We analyzed the law and the facts and a group of us spent a lot of time d oing that and determined that both as a matter of law, many of the instances would not amount to obstruction.”
2. Trump’s firing of FBI Director Comey wasn’t obstruction, nor was there a corrupt intent.
- “The report itself points out that one of the likely motivations here was the president’s frustration with Comey saying something publicly and saying a different thing privately and refusing to correct the record. So that would not have been a corrupt intent.”
3. The FBI response to Russian interference in the election didn’t meet the threat. “It’s just hard to understand why it wasn’t taken more seriously.”
4. The spying done on the Trump campaign was not normal. “These counter-intelligence activities directed at the Trump Campaign were not done in the normal course and not through the normal procedures as a far as I can tell.”
5. There was an arrogance at the FBI that overthrew the will of the people who elected Donald Trump.
- “Republics have fallen because of Praetorian Guard mentality where government officials get very arrogant, they identify the national interest with their own political preferences and they feel that anyone who has a different opinion, you know, is somehow an enemy of the state… That can easily translate into essentially supervening the will of the majority and getting your own way as a government official.”
6. What the FBI did was stunning, and the media didn’t want to report it.
- “The fact that today people just seem to brush aside the idea that it is okay to you know, to engage in these activities against a political campaign is stunning to me especially when the media doesn’t seem to think that it’s worth looking into…”
7. Things I am now finding out don’t match the official explanations.
- “I had a lot of questions about what was going on. I assumed I’d get answers when I went in and I have not gotten answers that are well satisfactory, and in fact, probably have more questions… some of the facts that I’ve learned don’t hang together with the official explanations of what happened.”
Other Investigations Nearing Completion
The other investigations Barr is overseeing include the misuse of FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign, a review of irregularities in the FBI’s behavior, and issues related to Hillary Clinton. Barr said, “Those are winding down and hopefully we’ll be in a position to bring those to fruition.”
Why this Matters: Although the Democrats are threatening impeachment, the President’s approval rating has hit its highest point in two years. It takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate to approve impeachment, which is difficult to do with a popular president. In a recent poll, seventy-one percent of voters said the economy is very strong or somewhat strong.
Trump Takes a Swing at Mexico to Stop Border Influx
The President announced on Thursday that he would start penalizing Mexico through tariffs if that country failed to stem the flow of migrants into the US which is exceeding 100,000 a month. The first installment of a 5 percent tax on all goods coming in from Mexico is scheduled to begin June 10, with rates jumping to 10 percent July 1 and climbing every month (capping at 25 percent in October) until Mexico takes action to drastically reduce or eliminate the flow of illegals coming into the US.
- 115 illegals have died crossing the border into the US or shortly after making the incredibly dangerous journey.
- 4,000 adults have come across the border fraudulently, using children who aren’t theirs to obtain entry.
- 80,000 people died in the US last year from illegal drugs, 90 percent of which come into the US through the southern border, according to the President.
Many GOP lawmakers were concerned with the threat, including Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
On Friday, the President defended his decision, tweeting,
“In order not to pay Tariffs, if they start rising, companies will leave Mexico, which has taken 30% of our Auto Industry, and come back home to the USA. Mexico must take back their country from the drug lords and cartels. The Tariff is about stopping drugs as well as illegals!”
Now Mexico wants to Talk
Just hours after this announcement was made, Mexico’s President Obrador sent a letter to President Trump, asking for a meeting to figure out a solution.
How to Pray: Rev. Franklin Graham has asked that Sunday be a day of prayer for the President and his family. He tweeted:
“No president in the history of this nation has been attacked more than Donald Trump…He’s our president and if he succeeds we all benefit, but if his enemies are allowed to destroy him and pull down the presidency it will hurt our entire nation.”
Continue to pray for secure borders, the resolution of all investigations into wrongdoing, and that the criminals will be punished.
1 Tim. 2:1 – I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Jer. 29:7 – And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Praying Citizen 
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