Senator Says Mueller Has ‘Credible Case’ of Obstruction Right Now

Last updated on September 26th, 2018 at 05:43 am

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said on Wednesday that Robert Mueller could now bring a “credible case” against President Trump for obstruction of justice.

Blumenthal’s remarks were made after Trump tweeted that White House counsel Don McGahn would be leaving his administration sometime later fall.

“Nobody knows all of what he knows. But he’s been at the president’s right arm as the president has committed some acts that very plausibly amount to obstruction of justice,” Blumenthal said of McGahn during an interview with MSNBC.

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“McGahn has been in a sense a witness” as Trump potentially tried to thwart damaging federal investigations into administration officials by dismissing former FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, the senator added.

Then he made clear that Mueller right now has all the evidence he needs to bring a case against the president, saying:

“There’s a credible case of obstruction of justice right now against the President of the United States, and Don McGahn has been at his side, at his right arm, through all that. He knows the motive, he knows what the president said when he wanted to fire Comey initially.”

Last year White House Counsel McGahn helped the president make up a pretext for firing Comey, working in conjunction with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The fact that the reasons given for Comey’s firing were not truthful, and the real reasons had to do with obstructing Mueller’s Russia investigation, is evidence of both criminal intent and criminal action.

According to reports, Trump initially briefed McGahn on his decision to push out Comey, and then later went to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein to provide reasons for the firing.

Trump‘s Twitter announcement regarding McGahn‘s impending departure came just a few days after it was reported in the media that the White House Counsel was interviewed for 30 hours by Mueller‘s team of federal prosecutors.

One area of investigation of Mueller’s federal Russia probe is to look at possible criminal conduct by Trump in hindering the FBI‘s examination into how his 2016 campaign coordinated with and interacted with Russia.

Ever since Comey’s firing there have been charges of criminal obstruction of justice by the president. These charges have been supported by the president’s subsequent actions, including his decision to replace McGahn

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.