Mueller Investigation Does Harm

As Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation grinds on, it’s obvious the real collusion has occurred among the Clinton campaign, the Obama Administration, the so called “Deep State“ and the media first to defeat the campaign of then candidate Donald J. Trump and now to overturn the 2016 presidential election. 
    
In recent weeks, we’ve learned of the deep partisanship, inherent conflicts of interest, and avowed “Never Trumpism“ of many of Mueller’s team. The media, however, have decided to cover a different story, one they’ve spun out of whole cloth. To distract from the real news about how Mueller has stacked the deck against Trump, the media have released a school of red herring spreading a fishy tale about how the president is on the verge of firing Mueller. The media then condemn the president for something he hasn’t done. 
  
Even though the administration for the past five months has denied the president intends to fire Mueller, members of the “Deep State“ have gratuitously written two public letters from more than 40 former U.S. Attorneys and Republicans. In one letter, the group of officious former prosecutors, after admitting the president stated he doesn’t intend to fire Mueller, admonished the president that “Seeking his [Mueller’s] removal would have severe repercussions for Americans’ sense of justice here at home and for our reputation for fairness around the world.“

Yet there’s nothing fair about a virulently partisan team of investigators and prosecutors seeking to destroy the presidency of their political opponent based upon trumped-up charges paid for by the politician they wanted to win. And, these former prosecutors are mistaken if they think Mueller is burnishing America’s reputation for justice and fairness by prosecuting individuals for dubious crimes such as making false, but immaterial statements about non-criminal conduct and for offenses that have nothing to do with alleged Trump-Russian election interference, which is the actual purpose of the investigation.
To the contrary, America’s reputation for fairness and justice is being harmed by revelations of collusion between the Clinton campaign, the Obama Administration, the Deep State and the media to take down Donald Trump.

Remember President Barack Obama stating publicly during the campaign that Donald Trump would not become president? Shortly thereafter Obama’s DOJ and FBI commenced its investigation of the Trump campaign using wiretaps it obtained from a secret court likely based upon information Obama’s own FBI director later labeled, when confronted by Congressional interrogators, as “scandalous and unverified.“

Obama’s DOJ likely not only initiated the investigation into the Trump campaign in response to the “Dodgy Dossier,“ it may have helped write and publish it. Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm hired by the Clinton campaign, admitted it hired Nellie Ohr, a Russian expert and wife of Bruce Ohr, Obama’s associate deputy attorney general, to work on its Trump-Russia project. Bruce Ohr secretly met with Christopher Steele, the foreign ex-spy Fusion hired to spearhead the project. Steele, with the likely assistance of Nellie Ohr, and possibly the assistance of Bruce Ohr, who has since been demoted for concealing his involvement, wrote the Dodgy Dossier.

Just before the election, the FBI’s general counsel, James Baker, had an “unauthorized“ meeting with David Corn, a reporter with Mother Jones, the left-wing media company. Shortly thereafter, and just in time for the election, Mother Jones ran Corn’s story about the Dodgy Dossier and his report that Steele had provided it to the FBI, that a senior Obama official had confirmed Steele was a proven, credible source and that Obama’s FBI was conducting a “substantial inquiry“ into alleged Trump-Russian cooperation. 

Getting the scandalous and unverified Dodgy Dossier into the news on the eve of the general election is likely what is referenced in the text messages among three ardent “Never-Trump“ officials in the Obama FBI. FBI agent Peter Strzok is the man who had edited the memo exculpating Hillary Clinton from the obvious crimes involving her e-mails and had written, “[Hillary] just has to win now.“ Lisa Page is Strzok’s illicit lover and an FBI lawyer. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is the man who led the investigation and exoneration of Clinton after his wife received a campaign contribution of nearly $500,000 from Clinton’s close friend, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and another $200,000 from the state party he controlled.

Text messages between Strzok and Page, both of whom later ended up on Mueller’s team, written during the election reveal a discussion they had with McCabe, who is now being investigated for pro-Clinton bias. According to the texts, this tainted triumvirate discussed the need to take out an “insurance policy“ to ensure Donald Trump does not win the election. What was the insurance policy? The Dodgy Dossier. Trump recently characterized the dossier as a “pile of garbage.“ Trump’s right. This whole thing stinks. Yet, Trump will not order the firing of Mueller because Congressional Democrats will respond with Articles of Impeachment. So, the Special Counsel’s investigation will grind on despite the harm it’s doing to America’s reputation for fairness and justice. 
 
Marc. A. Scaringi, an attorney, is a PennLive Opinion contributor whose work appears biweekly. He is the host of the weekly “Marc Scaringi Show“ which airs on WHP 580 AM. He writes from Camp Hill.