I was reading the Mueller report, and was struck by this. Rachel said some of it too.
OK lets get after it, as Chris Cuomo likes to say.
Mueller starts his summary of section 2 (obstruction of justice) with this:
First, a traditional prosecution or declination decision entails a binary determination to initiate or decline a prosecution, but we determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued an opinion finding that "the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions" in violation of "the constitutional separation of powers."
Ok got that everyone? The Mueller report will not contain a traditional judgment, due to the OLC guidance about not indicting a sitting President. Well you may agree or disagree but thats the way Mueller is going to play it. He is not going to make that binary decision here. The reader might want it, but the reader will not get it. No way, no how. Sorry!
Keep reading…
Fourth, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice , we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards , however , we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President 's actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.
OK so let me summarize:
- Mueller isn’t going to make a traditional binary prosecutorial decision.
- Mueller decided that the OLC guidance prevents him from declaring the President guilty
- But Mueller will tell us that he cannot declare the President not guilty
HMM… WHAT IS MUELLER TRYING TO SAY HERE???
ANY GUESSES?