When Democrats fail to prove collusion or obstruction today Republicans will be happy to let them move on so our country can move forward
By Cong. Doug Collins
WASHINGTON D.C. (Texas Insider Report) Six months after House Judiciary Democrats started investigating President Trump theyre making closing arguments in their case for impeachment. Actually theyre hoping the special counsel Robert Mueller makes the case for them.
With no foundation for impeachment Chairman Jerry Nadler (right) and his colleagues have their fingers crossed that Mr. Mueller didnt really mean it when he concluded no Americans coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities."
Judiciary Committee Democrats have built their investigative strategy around this hearing. By making Mr. Muellers testimony the cornerstone of their impeachment arguments though Democrats are tipping their hand. Their emphasis on this event reveals theyve got no other card to play than the one Attorney General William Barr handed them on April 18 the report itself which Mr. Mueller said was his testimony."
The special counsel conducted a supersize investigation that included about 2800 subpoenas nearly 500 search warrants 500 witnesses and 13 formal requests to foreign governments. It wasnt curtailed in any way. Moreover Mr. Muellers team was full of seasoned investigators with experience in finding and revealing wrongdoing.
Yet these investigators didnt conclude that the president conspired or obstructed justice.
So why are Democrats bringing in a reluctant witness to answer questions about work he prefers to let speak for itself"?
Because theyve wasted six months trying to establish a conspiracy even the special counsels team couldnt find.
Now their only hope is that Mr. Mueller will go rogue on C-Span.
Knowing Democrats wouldnt accept the reports conclusions until they heard from its author on April 8th I asked House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to bring Mr. Mueller in to testify later that month. The report has been publicly available for three months and a poll released this week shows that:
- Only 21 of Americans and
- 39 of Democrats favor impeachment hearings
Democrats claim Americans dont support impeachment because they havent read the Mueller report and only process information when its available on Netflix. People havent read the book but theyll watch the movie explained a Democratic aide. Democrats are giving Americans too little credit. Chairman Nadlers team has made its arguments theyre just not compelling.
On March 4th Chairman Nadler started a letter-writing campaign to 81 people and organizations requesting documents intended to uncover alleged obstruction of justice public corruption and other abuses of power by President Trump."
The big takeaway from the chairmans news release summarizing written testimony from Annie Donaldson who was the chief of staff to Donald F. McGahn II the former White House counsel was that her answers were consistent with the report that showed no conspiracy meaning there was no underlying crime to motivate the president to obstruct justice.
Almost five months have passed and Judiciary Democrats have apparently unearthed nothing new. To date the most novel thing Judiciary Democrats have brought out in their investigation remains a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
In the lonely absence of new evidence against President Trump Democrats will try to shift the burden of proof from prosecutors to the president. Yet Americans understand our democracy keeps government officials in check by maintaining that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. They understand its fair and right that every American including the president be allowed to carry out their lives and work without being harassed by malicious allegations.
Americans are keenly aware that House Democrats for months focused taxpayer resources on re-investigating the president even when the Russia investigation to which Democrats swore allegiance defrocked their own cover-up" conspiracy theories.
To these efforts Judiciary Democrats (at left) have added two empty-chair hearings authorized more than a dozen subpoenas sent more than 80 document requests and issued countless news releases.
House Republicans though have been busy introducing bills with bipartisan support like the Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act and the Defending Elections Against Trolls From Enemy Regimes Act specifically to heed the special counsels advice and prevent Vladimir Putin from viewing future democratic elections as his playground.
Instead of considering these safeguards against election interference Democrats have pursued empty investigations. If they want to convince America their vendetta against the White House is more noble than solving the border crisis or growing the job market todays hearing is their last chance but its a Hail Mary that doesnt have a prayer.
The Mueller report has been public since April and its time to accept it and let Americans live again with confidence that their elected officials arent playing Fortnite against one another. Russia tried to turn our democratic government into a circular firing squad and we cant let them succeed any longer.
Short of revelations that patently contradict the conclusions found in the Mueller Report the Democrats insistence on re-litigating a closed investigation (against the will of most Americans) must end. When Democrats fail to prove collusion or obstruction today they will have made their case for closure and Republicans will be happy to let them move on so our country can move forward.
Congressman Doug Collins from Georgia is a Republican who currently serves as the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.
