Robert Mueller Gave Trump Go-Ahead To Take Foreign Election Help By Failing To Indict Trump Jr., Experts Say
When Donald Trump shockingly declared in an ABC News interview on Wednesday that he would accept “dirt” on a political opponent from a foreign government — apparently admitting that “collusion” would be part of his political strategy — he was simply taking his cue from the man who may seem least likely to encourage Trump’s explosive comments. That man is former special counsel Robert Mueller.
In his report of the 22-month investigation into Russian election interference, Mueller attempted to explain why he chose not to issue indictments to any Trump campaign members despite what he described as their numerous contacts with Russian representatives during the campaign, many of whom made “offers of assistance to the Campaign,” according to the report, which is posted online by The New York Times.
In particular, Mueller failed to indict Donald Trump Jr. despite the younger Trump’s open acceptance of what was promised to be damaging information on Democrat Hillary Clinton. As The Inquisitr has reported, acceptance or solicitation of foreign help is a violation of federal law — but only if the value of such help exceeds $2,000 for a misdemeanor crime or $25,000 for a felony.
In his report, in Volume 1, Page 186, Mueller said that he could not determine the value of negative information on Clinton and therefore did not indict Trump Jr., reasoning that one expert, University of California–Irvine Law Professor Richard Hasen, termed “ridiculous.”
But according to a new report published on Friday by Politico, legal experts now say that in addition to letting Trump Jr. off the hook, Mueller effectively opened the door for Trump to accept further “dirt” on his political opponents from foreign governments, who may have acquired that information by spying on Americans or other illegal operations.
In the report, in Volume 1, Page 187, Mueller also said that First Amendment free speech guarantees may also protect campaigns that accept foreign intelligence information on political enemies.
But according to Hasen, who spoke to Politico, Mueller’s reasoning is “turning the First Amendment into a suicide pact that allows our own government to be undermined.” The law professor called Mueller’s arguments in the report “a green light for foreign intervention in the 2020 election.”
In May, Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, publicly announced that he would seek damaging information on Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden from the government of Ukraine, as The Inquisitr reported. Legal experts also connected Giuliani’s open effort to solicit foreign aid for the Trump campaign to Mueller’s failure to indict Trump Jr., or any 2016 Trump campaign officials, over their willingness to accept foreign help in that campaign.
