"...the decision to testify before Congress is yours to make in this case, but the Department agrees with your stated position that your testimony should be unnecessary under the circumstances. ...
"Please note that there should be no testimony concerning the redacted portions of the public version of your report ... any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report
...
"Finally, any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege ..."
Mueller-Letter by Zerohedge on Scribd
I expect the Mueller hearing to be a big fat nothingburger for all involved.
ReplyDelete(1) I don't think Mueller ever had any intention of veering off the highway of his report, and I think this letter he wrote asking what the parameters are was Mueller's way of passing the buck back to Barr since he knew exactly what the DoJ's advice was going to be- even I could have written that DoJ letter and I am not even a lawyer or a government employee. So, after the hearing, the Democrats plan is to blame Barr for Mueller's lack of new detail, and for Mueller's lack of advice to impeach Trump.
(2) Though I do think the Republicans on the two committees plan to grill Mueller with really difficult questions, I expect Mueller to refuse to answer most of them, refer to the report, claim he doesn't recall, or, in the most dire circumstances, fake a stroke.
I agree with all your shrewd observations. In fact, yesterday the "Blame Barr" part of it was already being deployed. Which is OK--I'm sure he can deal with that. Nadler himself expressed the hope that the testimony "wouldn't be a dud." Like you, I expect that it will be. Meanwhile, the real news that's coming out keeps getting worse for the coupsters.
DeleteIt would be sweet if the GOP inquisitors could extract an invocation of the 5th from the Honourable Paragon of Virtue Mueller. That would be, I think, an attention getter.
DeleteRight! It would guarantee that Nadler's show would not be "a dud", as he put it.
DeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong but the DoJ letters sends a warning, and a veiled threat, to Bobby Boy to stay within certain parameters. The Dems won't respect those parameters. I think Bobby Boy will be even more doddering than he was in his May press conference.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that it's a warning, but he knew that anyway. He didn't need it in writing. He knew what the rules were.
DeleteI'd love it if Weissmann would appear next to Bobby Boy. Maybe Weissmann could even take a drink of water while Bobby Boy speaks to demonstrate what a good ventriloquist he really is.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, all the flawed theories are his. All Bobby Boy apparently did, is sign the report.