Speculation has been running rampant that Robert Mueller is investigating Donald Trump for obstruction of justice.
Will he bring down the President?
Trump shut down this line of inquiry with one move.
Trump’s legal team presented arguments to Mueller that Trump did not obstruct justice when he fired James Comey.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Lawyers for Donald Trump have met several times with special counsel Robert Mueller in recent months and submitted memos arguing that the president didn’t obstruct justice by firing former FBI chief James Comey and calling into question Mr. Comey’s reliability as a potential witness, people familiar with the matter said.
One memo submitted to Mr. Mueller by the president’s legal team in June laid out the case that Mr. Trump has the inherent authority under the constitution to hire and fire as he sees fit and therefore didn’t obstruct justice when he fired Mr. Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in May, these people said.
Another memo submitted the same month outlined why Mr. Comey would make an unsuitable witness, calling him prone to exaggeration, unreliable in congressional testimony and the source of leaks to the news media, these people said.
The case is airtight.
As President, Trump has the Constitutional power to fire any official at any time.
And the FBI is not an independent agency.
The Director still reports to the Executive Branch.
It is within Trump’s power as head of the Executive Branch to order any investigation shut down or opened.
There have been norms developed since Watergate to prevent this, but Trump crossed no legal line when he wondered out loud if Comey could find a way to let former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn go.
The Journal reported that Mueller heard the arguments:
“In giving the memos to Mr. Mueller, the president’s lawyers hoped to get a swift conclusion to the obstruction of justice piece of the investigation and, potentially, an exoneration of the president, the people said.
The obstruction-related memo advanced other arguments beyond the matter of the president’s executive powers, citing case law that the lawyers believed buttressed the contention that Mr. Trump had not obstructed justice.
Mr. Mueller didn’t offer a response to that memo or to the arguments pertaining to Mr. Comey’s reliability as a witness, people familiar with the matter said. There is no indication he accepted the lawyers’ reasoning or has dropped the part of his inquiry that is looking at any obstruction of justice by the president. All Mr. Mueller communicated was a willingness to receive legal submissions from the lawyers, the people said.”
Mueller has zero case on obstruction of justice.
The law and Constitution are on Trump’s side.
His lawyers proved that in their arguments to Mueller.
