Department of Justice, Federal Government, Justice, Politics

Witch-Hunt Warning Signs From Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Look at Bob Mueller's team; are there no Republicans in the legal profession?

By  
on

Robert S. Mueller (via YouTube)

The appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel was met with adulation from both sides of the aisle. Mueller was a man of unimpeachable character and unvarnished integrity, and we were sure to have an unbiased investigation of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election.

As a Republican and supporter of the President, I – along with others, like Newt Gingrich – initially saw this as an opportunity to silence the left’s bogus accusations of Trump campaign collusion with the Russians.

For months, Democrats have engaged in sinister, evidence-free accusations. When pressed for evidence of collusion, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein replied, “There are all kinds of rumors around, there are newspaper stories, but that’s not necessarily evidence.”

Then came the special counsel – an opportunity to end partisan finger-pointing and produce an evidence-based outcome that Democrats would be forced to accept. Mueller was known, not only as an attorney and former FBI Director with sterling credentials, but as someone who worked swiftly and produce answers rapidly. As a veteran with a long and successful career, we were told he would be uninterested in launching a witch-hunt probe to produce something, anything to help him make a name.

Then came the warning signs of a witch hunt.

Mueller hired a parade of partisans. Three of Mueller’s first hired attorneys gave $53,000 to Democrats since 1988. Meet a few of the dozen Mueller-recruited attorneys:

Sponsored

  • James Quarles – Quarles was assistant prosecutor in the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. Al Gore, John Kerry, President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Michael Dukakis are among the many Democrats to whom Quarles has donated.
  • Jeannie Rhee – Rhee represented both the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton herself. She donated $5,400 to Clinton’s presidential campaign and $7,300 to Obama’s campaign.
  • Andrew Weissmann – Weissmann donated to President Obama’s PAC on six separate occasions, amounting to $4,700 in donations.
  • Elizabeth Prelogar – Prelogar clerked for liberal Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. She donated to both Obama and Clinton’s presidential campaigns.
  • Michael Dreeben – Dreeben argued for an expansive and unfounded interpretation of obstruction of justice, an interpretation that the Supreme Court rejected unanimously 9-0. The left is of course accusing the president of obstruction of justice, and there is little doubt they would applaud Dreeben’s views on obstruction.

The recruitment of so many Democratic attorneys led Gingrich to ask a fair question: are there no Republicans in the profession?

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley found the appointments curious as well: “It’s surprising that Robert Mueller went to these attorneys. Most special prosecutors involved in this type of litigation would have avoided as much as possible people with political ties or contributions. When you’re investigating the president of the United States, you should be trying to avoid any questions of political bias or influence.”

While lawyers are of course required to shroud their decision-making from their political predilections, Mueller should have aimed to appoint an evenly divided staff if for no other reason than optics. In a highly charged partisan environment – perhaps the most divided we have seen – and with a society that is deeply distrustful of institutions, a special counsel staff without a history of partisan donations or with a fair mix of both Republicans and Democrats would lend much-needed credibility to an institution many view with skepticism.

Beyond Mueller’s hirings, the leaks we have already seen are troubling. “Officials” told the Washington Post that President Trump is now under investigation for obstruction of justice. The Post then reported that Mueller was investigating the financial dealings of some in the Trump administration, once again citing “officials.”

Sponsored

We were told that Mueller runs a tight ship and would not tolerate leaking, and yet the leaks are numerous. Unless of course the reporting is false, which could certainly be the case. Recall that Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that much of the reporting regarding Russia was incorrect.

In any event, a special investigation that many hoped would be one of the few trustworthy institutions in Washington is instead shaping up to be a witch hunt — one that the American people will recognize and reject.

Earlier:

kayleigh-mcenany-2017Kayleigh McEnany is a CNN political commentator. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and she also studied politics at Oxford University. In addition to writing a column for Above the Law, she is a contributor for The Hill. She can be found on Twitter at @KayleighMcEnany.

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,