Day 823

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

Updated 4/22/2019 1:03 PM PDT

1/ Trump and the Trump Organization sued Democratic House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings to block a subpoena seeking information about his finances. The committee subpoenaed Mazars USA, Trump's longtime accountant, for 10 years' worth of Trump's financial records after the firm requested a so-called "friendly subpoena." Trump's lawyers complained that Democrats have "declared all-out political war" against him, with subpoenas as their "weapon of choice." (CNBC / Politico / Washington Post / CNN) / Axios)

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/04/22/day-823/

[neuroascetic]

Mueller’s investigators found insufficient evidence to bring obstruction of justice charges against Trump, despite several instances where Trump tried to have the probe ended.

As I understand it, per DOJ policy, Mueller was not able to indict a sitting president. Because of that, it would be unfair to declare that Trump committed a crime, since he wouldn’t be able to defend himself in a court of law. So Mueller laid out the evidence for an obstruction case that could be used in impeachment proceedings or in a trial after he leaves office. To say that there was insufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice charge plays into the narrative that Trump’s lawyers and AG Barr are peddling.

[anon95374541]

Lawfare had a similar analysis on the obstruction of justice. They even created a “heat map” of the evidence.

Obstruction of Justice in the Mueller Report: A Heat Map

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

Yeah, I misstated this. Will update the blog shortly

[macro (M A Croft)]

@matt You do an amazing job Matt. Thanks for your wonderful contribution in speaking truth to power