Mueller's "circus of embarrassments"

By now, everyone has seen the headlines or watched the anchors reporting on Robert Mueller's hearing before Congress. So just in case you've been busy at work or otherwise occupied, here is the link to Vodkapundit's (Stephen Green) Drunkblogging on the main event. Click here. 

Mr. Green leads off:

If former special counsel Robert Mueller trying to avoid saying much of anything while being questioned by some of the most duplicitous people in the world is your idea of Must-See TV, then you're probably already tuned into MSNBC. And may the Lord have mercy on your brain.

On the other hand, if you'd rather just follow along online with a coffee or (better yet) a Bloody Mary, then you've come to the right place.

House antics to follow shortly. Bloody Mary recipe to follow almost immediately.

Welcome to a very special midweek early morning drunkblog.*

*Open bar, professional drinker. Try this at home.

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Mark Steyn: Mueller & the Deep State Dumpster Fire

Photo credit: sharonherald.com

We all know the bottom line: no more indictments from Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his band of witch-hunters. However, some of the unfolding developments in the investigation over the past two years have been complex and difficult to follow. The exposure of Deep State corruption in the FBI and DOJ; the cast of characters including bad cops and insubordinate staffers; the blatant abuse of the FISA court in targeting Carter Page as a means of expanding surveillance into the Trump campaign; the weaponization of the previous administration; and the collusion of most of the media – it’s a scandal of intimidating proportions, all of it intended to invalidate the results of the 2016 Presidential election.

My favorite columnist, Mark Steyn, has the best summary that I have read. And as always, it’s succinct, easy to follow, and entertaining. He begins:

For two years, the prefatory "Russia" has been intended to give the word "investigation" more heft, to make it seem as if there was something more than let's-get-Trump-on-anything. But even the unlimited resources of a wretchedly corrupt federal justice system couldn't keep that going without something more than Michael Cohen's taxi medallions (only in America) and a few Russian troll farms, one of whom has amusingly decided to push back in court against Mueller and his showboating cronies.

Mr. Steyn concludes:

Trump Tweeted his way out of the Deep State's grip. I doubt any other Republican president would have proved so wily: It's not difficult to imagine President Jeb deciding to do the right thing and resign for the good of the country - without ever being able to figure what it was he'd done wrong. We have witnessed an extraordinary sustained attempted coup in which senior officials of the "justice" department shoot the breeze about wearing a wire to get the goods on the elected chief executive. If there are no consequences to that, it will happen again.

And the entire article is here. Highly recommended.

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The Manafort indictment

art credit: thecontrarianmedia.com

What’s the deal with the Manafort and Gates indictments? Is this the beginning of the end of Trump’s Presidency? Has Mueller found all those colluding Russians, Russians, Russians?

Here’s the conclusion offered by former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy:

Even from Paul Manafort’s perspective, there may be less to this indictment than meets the eye — it’s not so much a serious allegation of “conspiracy against the United States” as a dubious case of disclosure violations and money movement that would never have been brought had he not drawn attention to himself by temporarily joining the Trump campaign.

From President Trump’s perspective, the indictment is a boon from which he can claim that the special counsel has no actionable collusion case. It appears to reaffirm former FBI director James Comey’s multiple assurances that Trump is not a suspect. And, to the extent it looks like an attempt to play prosecutorial hardball with Manafort, the president can continue to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt.

McCarthy’s article at National Review is here.

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