By Dayo Benson, New York
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, yesterday restated that his report does not exonerate President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice despite claims by the President’s to the contrary. Trump himself has described the allegation as a hoax and a political witch-hunt.
Mueller affirmed this in his testimony before House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary over the 2016 Russia interference in the US Presidential election and obstruction of justice.
In his response to a question, Mueller said “the report does not exonerate the President.”
He reaffirmed the President attempted to “influence the report.”
Mueller told the Committee that Trump refused to be interviewed and declined to provide answers to written questions.
Mueller in his opening remarks informed the Committee that his testimony would be limited to the content of his report.
He however contradicted the report when asked if collusion and obstruction conveyed same meaning.
He confirmed Russia’s interference in the US 2016 presidential election which he said was to “benefit candidate Trump.”
The ex-marine and former Director of FBI confirmed that President Trump put pressure on former Attorney General Jeff Session to unrecuse himself from the Mueller probe in order to protect the President .
Mueller who hesitated and sometimes appeared uncertain in his responses confirmed President Trump attempted to fire him in the course of his investigation.
He affirmed Trump was advised against such an action as it would lend credence to the allegation of obstruction of justice.
The former special counsel stood by the content of his report that Trump wanted him fired because the President knew he was being investigated for obstruction of justice.
Mueller whose responses were affirmation or denial of excerpts from the volume one of his 448-page report, said the President instructed former White House Counsel Don Mcgahn to deny he (Trump) ordered Mcgahn to fire the Special Counsel after the New York Times broke the story.
A Republican congressman confronted Mueller with the fact that he went outside his brief on the issue of obstruction of justice.
The former FBI boss was told he violated the Department of Justice (DOJ guideline) by reaching a conclusion on the President‘s culpability or not.
The former special counsel was told that he failed to write a confidential letter to the AG on his findings as required by DOJ regulation.
Mueller admitted a sitting President cannot be indicted according to DOJ guideline , hence the report neither indict nor exonerate the President.
Republicans made repeated attempt to damage Mueller’s credibility during the testimony.
Democrats were however consistent in their efforts to establish a crime of obstruction of justice against Trump. Mueller reiterated that the President’s act of asking the former White House Counsel to lie that he ordered him to fire the special counsel had the three elements of justice obstruction.
Mueller was accused of selective prosecution which he denied.
He resisted several attempts to be drawn into the facts, issues and conclusions outside his report
Despite repeated attempts by the Republicans to absolve the President of obstruction of justice by not firing Mueller, the Democrats somewhat succeeded in establishing that attempts to interfere with the investigations amounted to a crime of obstruction of justice.
While responding to the republicans allegation that his investigation and report were politically biased in terms of membership composition, Mueller emphasized that he hired people based on their capability rather than political affiliations.
In his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee which lasted about two hours, Mueller reemphasized Russia’s interference in 2016 and future elections, saying “They are doing it as we sit here and they are expected to do it at the next campaign.”
Tag: trump
-
Report doesn’t exonerate Trump of justice obstruction – Mueller
-
Mass deportation scare keeps immigrants on edge
By Dayo Benson, New York
Today (Wednesday), Americans are regaled with the testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller before the Congress Judiciary and Intelligence Committees over Russia interference in 2016 election. Many, especially immigrants communities, are however not oblivious of mass deportation threats hanging in the air. Most of them have remained indoors in the last couple of days. Those who dare to go out do so with trepidations. They look behind their shoulders. Their fears are not unfounded.
President Donald Trump on Friday July 12, in a tweet threatened that Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE), would begin removal of illegal immigrants from the US effective Sunday July 14. New arrivals in southern borders and those ordered to be removed by the courts are the main targets. ICE however hinted of collateral removal during raids on residences and workplaces. This implies that other illegal immigrants found during the raid would be picked up.
Earlier, Trump had in his usual tweet June 16, stated that the US Immigration officials would begin the process of removal of illegal aliens. The tweet came a day before Trump officially flagged off his 2020 re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida.
In the tweet was the central issue at the campaign rally.
“ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in”, Trump stated.
The President however gave a two -week reprieve June 22, for the Congress to find a bi-partisan solution to the loopholes at the US southern borders.
Democrats favour open border security which Trump described as “morally reprehensible.” Republicans are for tight borders. This ideological difference made bi-partisan deal unworkable.
Penultimate Friday, Trump tweeted that the deportations would start July 14. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Miami, New Orleans, Baltimore, Atlanta are the target Sanctuary Cities.
Buoyed by condemnations from Congress members and the media, Immigration Rights activists embarked on sensitization and enlightenment campaigns at immigrants communities. Mobile emergency volunteers made up of lawyers and activists were put on standby across the cities. Immigrants were instructed not to open their doors to ICE agents who are without court order duly signed by a judge. Surveillance cameras were installed outside some houses to monitor movements. Others sought shelters inside churches.
Major streets and public places like shopping malls, stores, bus / train stations including subways were devoid of their bustling last week.
Ten days down the line, the number of removal made was a distance from the 2000 targeted. At a press briefing yesterday, ICE Acting Director Matthew Albence said “the number of individuals arrested pursuant to that operation was 35 individuals.” The agency blamed Congress members, Immigration rights activists and the press for overdramatizing the operation. Many fingers are however pointed at President Trump who gave an advance notice of the planned raid apparently to score political points. -
Trump escapes impeachment [See how US reps voted]
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 332-95 to kill the first articles of impeachment brought forward against President Donald Trump under the new Democratic majority.
The defeat of the move signalling a deep divide among Democrats on whether to go forward with an effort to unseat President Trump.
A majority of Democrats along with the chamber’s Republicans voted to table the measure sponsored by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), but 95 Democrats voted to send it to the Judiciary Committee in order to keep it alive.
It’s the first time the Democratic House has been confronted with a vote on impeachment, and comes a week before special counsel Robert Mueller is set to testify before two committees on Capitol Hill.
Green, whose previous impeachment votes have accused Trump of inflaming racial tensions, offered the measure immediately after the House on Tuesday voted to condemn Trump over tweets targeting four minority Democratic congresswomen.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has sought to quash talk of impeachment, and her side won the vote on Wednesday. But it also made clear a large number of Democrats want to take action against Trump even before hearing from Mueller.
Green argued that the House should go farther and move to impeach Trump for a pattern of inflaming racial tensions in America.
He forced a vote on his articles of impeachment by filing them as a “privileged” resolution, triggering a process that requires House floor action within two legislative days.
“Today’s vote is to determine whether or not we will punish the president. The effort yesterday was wonderful. I supported it. But it does not punish the president,” Green said in a House floor speech.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) moved to table Green’s resolution, rather than Democratic leaders formally offering the motion themselves to cast the effort aside. -
Trump confirms mass deportation of illegal immigrants commences Sunday
US President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will launch raids across the country this weekend to round up thousands of undocumented migrants for deportation.
“They came in illegally,” he told reporters at the White House. “They are going to take people out and they are going to send them back to their country.”
Trump said ICE would focus mainly on people with convictions, including gang members, but also others.
“It starts on Sunday and they’re going to take people out and they’re going to bring them back to their countries,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Or they’re going to take criminals out, put them in prison, or put them in prison in the countries they came from.”
While the focus will be on removing criminals, Trump said the raids would also target “people that came into our country, not through a process, that just walked over a line. They have to leave.
The ICE raids are expected to take place in 10 major cities, pursuing people for whom courts have already issued removal orders, according to media reports.
They could potentially target families who have been inside the United States for many years, with homes, businesses and US-born children, the reports said.
Migrant communities and immigration and rights activists around the country were girding for the raids.
Migrants were being told to not open their doors to ICE agents if they do not have search or arrest warrants, to record their encounters with agents, and to call immigration attorneys for help.
Democrats warned the Trump administration Thursday about breaking up long-resident families with members who are inside the country legally.
House leader Nancy Pelosi called the ICE plan “heartless” and said Sundays are when many Hispanic immigrant families are in church.
“These families are hardworking members of our communities and our country. This brutal action will terrorise children and tear families apart,” she told reporters.
“Many of these families are mixed-status families,” she added, referring to families who include members in the United States legally and illegally, such as migrants with children born inside the country.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are about 10.5 million undocumented migrants in the United States, and two-thirds have been in the country more than 10 years.
Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Wednesday that ICE has removal orders for some one million migrants, but added that it has nowhere near the manpower or facilities to arrest and deport that many. -
Trump orders mass deportation of illegal immigrants Sunday
Nationwide raids to arrest immigrants who are in the United States illegally have been scheduled to begin Sunday, the Boston Globe has reported.
The newspaper attributed its report to one former and two current homeland security officials and said the operation, backed by President Donald Trump, was postponed initially, partly because of resistance among officials at the immigration agency.
Trump targets deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the policy as ‘heartless’.
The raids, which will be conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) over multiple days, will include “collateral” deportations, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the preliminary stage of the operation. In those deportations, the authorities might detain immigrants who happened to be on the scene, even though they were not targets of the raids.
When possible, family members who are arrested together will be held in family detention centres in Texas and Pennsylvania. But because of space limitations, some might end up staying in hotel rooms until their travel documents can be prepared. ICE’s goal is to deport the families as quickly as possible.
The officials said ICE agents were targeting at least 2,000 immigrants who have been ordered deported — some as a result of their failure to appear in court — but who remain in the country illegally. The operation is expected to take place in at least 10 major cities.
The families being targeted crossed the border recently: The Trump administration expedited their immigration proceedings last fall. In February, many of those immigrants were given notice to report to an ICE office and leave the United States, the homeland security officials said.
Matthew Bourke, an ICE spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the agency would not comment on specific details related to enforcement operations, to ensure the safety and security of agency personnel.
The threat of deportation has rattled immigrant communities across the country, prompted backlash from local politicians and police officials and stoked division inside the Department of Homeland Security — the agency that is charged with carrying out the deportations. The Trump administration’s goal is to use the operation as a show of force to deter families from approaching the southwestern border, the officials said. -
British ambassador to USA, Kim Darroch resigns after Trump cables leak
Sir Kim Darroch, Britain’s ambassador to the United States has resigned amid a dispute over the diplomat’s leaked emails that were critical of President Donald Trump.
Darroch, 65, said he was resigning to put an end to speculation surrounding how long he would stay on as Britain’s envoy in Washington after diplomatic cables he sent back to London described the Trump administration as “inept” and ‘dysfunctional’.
“The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like,” Darroch wrote in his resignation letter to the head of Britain’s foreign civil service.
Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May had offered her full support to Kim Darroch after he was revealed to have described the Trump administration as “inept”.
But the man tipped to replace her in Downing Street in the coming weeks, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, declined to explicitly back the diplomat, emphasising instead the need to maintain strong ties with the US.
In a series of confidential cables revealed by a British newspaper at the weekend, Darroch described the Trump administration as “uniquely dysfunctional”.
Trump hit back with a torrent of angry tweets, saying he would not deal with Darroch again, and describing him as a “very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool”.
He also criticised May’s “foolish” policies and said it was a good thing she would soon be replaced.
Darroch has been in Washington since January 2016 and was due to stay on until the end of the year.
Darroch has received support from across the political spectrum in Britain and after he resigned, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “It should never have come to this.”
Hunt, who is vying with Johnson to replace May as leader of the ruling Conservative party and thus prime minister, on Tuesday condemned Trump’s outbursts as “disrespectful and wrong”.
But Johnson declined several opportunities in a TV debate on Tuesday night to back Britain’s ambassador.
Of Trump’s tweets, he said: “I don’t think it was necessarily the right thing for him to do… but our relationship with the US is of fantastic importance.”
Reports suggest that it was at that point that Darroch decided that he must resign.
May expressed “great regret” that Darroch was leaving, saying: “Good government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank advice.”
She emphasised “the importance of defending our values and principles particularly when they are under pressure”.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the separatist Scottish National Party, said Darroch had been “forced out” for doing his job.
“Boris Johnson’s failure last night to stand up for him — and stand up to the behaviour of Donald Trump — spoke volumes,” she said.
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, warned the incident could have far-reaching implications.
“If the UK can’t protect diplomatic communications and that costs people their careers, when all they’ve done is to execute the wishes of the government, we will degrade the quality of our envoys, diminish our influence and weaken our country,” he said. -
Trump calls Jimmy Carter ‘forgotten president’
U.S. President Donald Trump railed back Saturday against former President Jimmy Carter’s comments questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election, saying: “He’s like the forgotten president.”
Trump said this of Carter, 94, who a day earlier suggested that Trump only got the White House with help from Russia.
“Russia. Russia. Russia. Isn’t it crazy?” Trump said, speaking at a news conference at the close of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. “I was surprised that he would make a statement.”
Trump called it a “typical talking point” among Democrats and said he won the election because he worked harder than his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in key battleground states that typically vote for Democrats.
Trump called Carter a “nice man” but said he was a terrible president who has been “trashed within his own party.”
Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981, said Friday that a full investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Election would show that Trump didn’t win the presidency.
“He lost the election and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf,” Carter said, speaking in Leesburg, Virginia.
Asked if he believes Trump is an illegitimate president, Carter paused and said, “Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract.”
In Trump’s response to Carter’s statement, he referred to the Iranian seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and ensuing hostage crisis that lasted until the end of Carter’s term in office.
“That was a disaster. What Iran did to him – they tied him up in knots,” Trump said.
-
Trump is an illegitimate president – Jimmy Carter
Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday morning that Donald Trump is an illegitimate president due to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Carter, 94, was speaking at a Carter Center event on human rights in Leesburg, Va., when he was asked how he would deal with Russian meddling in the last presidential election.
“The president himself should condemn it, admit that it happened, which I think 16 intelligence agencies have already agreed to say,” said Carter. “And there’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
Moderator Jon Meacham then asked if Carter thought Trump was an illegitimate president. Carter paused before replying as the audience laughed.
“Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract,” said Carter smiling, “I would say yes.”
At the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Friday, Trump joked with Russian President Vladimir Putin, wagging his finger and saying, “Don’t meddle in the election, please,” to which Putin smirked. Although a number of U.S. intelligence agencies and special counsel Robert Mueller found that Russia had systemically interfered in the 2016 election, Putin called it “mythical interference” earlier this week.
Though there has been no evidence that Russia interfered with vote tallies, it did reach out to the Trump campaign, hack Democratic email accounts and flood social media.
The number of U.S. intelligence organizations that stated Russia interfered with the 2016 election include the CIA, FBI, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
Trump himself nevertheless repeatedly cast doubt on that conclusion.
“They said they think it’s Russia,” Trump said in July 2018. “I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
When pressed the following day, Trump attempted to clarify, saying, “I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. It could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.”
-
Trump delays mass deportation of ‘illegal immigrants’
President Donald Trump said he will delay mass deportation raids scheduled for Sunday as he seeks compromise with Democratic leaders on immigration issues.
In a Twitter message Saturday afternoon, Trump said at “the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems.”
Trump warned that if no compromise is reached, “Deportations start!”
Trump was under pressure from Democrats to call off the roundup, which was expected to target families in up to 10 U.S. cities on Sunday.
U.S. House of Representatives’ Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, asked Trump by phone on Friday night to call off the raids, according to a person familiar with the matter. Pelosi also urged religious leaders on Saturday to put pressure on Trump.
The president, a Republican, has made illegal immigration a centrepiece of his administration and is highlighting the issue in his campaign for the 2020 election.
He has railed against an increase in people crossing the U.S. southern border, many from Central America who are seeking refuge in America under U.S. asylum laws. On Saturday he said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was focused on getting the transnational street gang MS-13 out of the United States.
Neither Pelosi nor Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, had immediate comment on the delay. Pelosi said earlier in the day the expected raids would “inject terror into our communities” and tear families apart.
“The President’s action makes no distinction between a status violation and committing a serious crime,” Pelosi said.
Mark Morgan, acting director of ICE, said this week his agency would target for deportation families that have received a removal order from a U.S. immigration court.
An operation was slated to launch on Sunday and expected to target up to 2,000 families facing deportation orders in as many as 10 U.S. cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Trump wrote on Twitter earlier on Saturday that ICE will apprehend people who have run from the law. “These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country,” Trump wrote.
-
Why I called off retaliatory military strike against Iran – Trump
In an extraordinary series of tweets, President Donald Trump on Friday explained his rationale for calling off a retaliatory military strike against Iran over the downing of a U.S. drone.
He said the military was “ cocked and loaded to retaliate last night (Thursday) on three different sites” in Iran but he had to pull the brake 10 minutes from time when he was told that as many as 150 lives might be lost in the process.
He tweeted: “10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone”.
The late reversal was first reported by the New York Times on Thursday night. The newspaper said the operation was under way “in its early stages” when Trump stood the US military down.
“I am in no hurry,” Mr Trump said yesterday. “Our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world.
“….On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not….
“….proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!
He claimed that the sanctions he imposed on Tehran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement have “weakened” Iran.
In follow up tweets he said:“President Obama made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran – Gave them 150 Billion Dollars plus I.8 Billion Dollars in CASH! Iran was in big trouble and he bailed them out. Gave them a free path to Nuclear Weapons, and SOON. Instead of saying thank you, Iran yelled…..”
….Death to America. I terminated deal, which was not even ratified by Congress, and imposed strong sanctions. They are a much-weakened nation today than at the beginning of my Presidency, when they were causing major problems throughout the Middle East. Now they are Bust!….
Iran downed a U.S. military drone by fire early Thursday, an attack Trump erroneously said happened “Monday.” Iran claimed the drone was over its territory; the Pentagon says it was flying over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false,” Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said at a press briefing. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.”
Last week two oil tankers — the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous and the Norwegian-owned Front Altair — were damaged in attacks off the Iranian coast, attacks that the U.S. has also blamed on Iran.
The downing of the drone sparked fears of a possible new military conflict in the Middle East, despite Trump’s stated aversion to dragging the United States into another war.