Since the release of A.G. Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report, there’s been a concerted effort to run the Democrat in charge of the House Intel committee, Adam Schiff (D-CA), out of town:
The House Intelligence Committee was a center of partisan fighting over Trump’s alleged Russia ties even before Mueller began his investigation, developing a reputation for discord and sniping during the GOP-led Russia probe that determined there was no evidence Trump colluded with Russia.
Republicans see Schiff’s recalibration as proof he was wrong to challenge Trump.
“He essentially spent 22 months lying to the country,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Congress.
Gaetz said that in seeking Schiff’s ouster as committee chair, Republicans were following the example set by Democrats, who in 2017 sought to remove Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) when he chaired the committee. [WaPo]
The idea is that Barr’s Summary has been mistakenly interpreted to “exonerate” President Trump of obstruction of justice charges, when it explicitly does not do so, and not finding enough evidence of collusion to prosecute, especially since the DoJ frowns on prosecuting sitting Presidents. The misrepresentations of the content of the Barr Summary have been discouraging to see in my fellow Americans.
But what’s caught my eye, the dishonest error being committed by Republicans who are frantic to be seen as being on the same moral plane as the Democrats[1], is this: the House investigation and the Mueller investigation are independent of each other. As we all know, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Let’s suppose Mueller found not a spec of evidence of collusion by then-candidate Trump. Does this prove that Trump is innocent of the charge? Does it prove Schiff’s investigators will find nothing because there’s nothing to find?
Of course not.
Mueller’s investigators may have been incompetent, hamstrung by regulations, unable to access proper sources of information, or even just unlucky. After all, there is much circumstantial evidence of said collusion, including Trump begging the Russians, live on TV, to help him, if they could, with stolen Clinton email. Quite properly, that’s collusion right there, the kind of evidence that no one in their right mind can ever deny.
My point is that the Republican assault on Rep Schiff is unreasonable, dishonest, and a betrayal of their oaths to the Constitution. If Schiff says he’s seen evidence, uncovered by House investigators, of collusion, then that should be treated with sober concern by all members of Congress, because that’s an attack on our core institutions.
Yeah, those institutions that got all these Trump-defenders their jobs.
They should think about that, if they can’t raise themselves to the moral level of worrying about their country.
1 And with a dead immoral weight like Trump swinging from their necks, they aren’t likely to achieve that height of rectitude any time soon.
