{"id":273095,"date":"2018-05-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=273095"},"modified":"2018-05-07T16:31:45","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:31:45","slug":"lowry-strassel-kallstrom-mccarthy-penn-witch-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2018\/05\/04\/lowry-strassel-kallstrom-mccarthy-penn-witch-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Lowry, Strassel, Kallstrom, McCarthy and Penn on the Witch Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: I mentioned a column by Rich Lowry at National Review. Actually his column ran at Politico<\/a>, and it\u2019s very prescient. Rich posted this column before the judge in the Manafort case erupted today at Mueller prosecutors. If you\u2019ve missed that — look, there\u2019s still so much to do, I don\u2019t want to go back and redo that segment. Go to RushLimbaugh.com if you\u2019ve missed it, but the judge in the Manafort case really let the Mueller prosecutors have it today.<\/p>\n

\"\"He called \u2019em out on what they\u2019re doing and has demanded that they furnish him with the scope memo, which is the charter, if you will, that gives them guidance on what Mueller can do at special counsel. He\u2019s out there saying, “I don\u2019t believe you have unfettered power. You don\u2019t have unfettered power with me and I don\u2019t believe the American people believe anybody in this country should have unfettered power.”<\/p>\n

This is all because Rosenstein did not specify a crime. So now Mueller thinks he can go anywhere and do anything. And this judge said, “You\u2019re gonna indict a guy, you want to try a guy here that had nothing to do with your original pursuit, which is Russian collusion?” Well, Lowry has written about this, and, you know, Rich joining this, shall we say, side of things here is significant. Now, Rich is not a Never Trumper; don\u2019t misunderstand. But the whole development here, the direction this whole so-called special counsel investigation\u2019s taking is starting to offend even those who think the Justice Department is above criticism.<\/p>\n

We still have in this country a lot of people who think the DOJ is clean and pure as the wind-driven snow, and if they\u2019re out there pursuing bad guys, then it must be bad guys. And it\u2019s just unseemly, it\u2019s unseemly to accuse the DOJ of witch hunts, it\u2019s unseemly. We just don\u2019t do that in polite America. I mean, I think Bill Kristol\u2019s out there saying you don\u2019t criticize the DOJ, you don\u2019t say they\u2019re engaging in witch hunts, nobody does that, that we respect.<\/p>\n

Well, except that that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening. And I want to read you just a couple of short takes from Rich\u2019s piece. He\u2019s entitled it, “Rod Rosenstein Jumps the Shark<\/a> — We now have an extensive obstruction investigation carried out by investigators who, as a material matter, haven\u2019t been obstructed.” It\u2019s kind of like what Mark Steyn said, “Okay, we got an investigation of collusion with Russians, but who are the Russians? Where are the Russians? We don\u2019t have any Russians in this case.”<\/p>\n

Lowry\u2019s point is, who\u2019s being obstructed? Well, the answer to that from the special counsel side is Comey. And we know from Michael Caputo that Comey is Mueller\u2019s case on the obstruction side. So that would mean the case for obstruction is Trump firing Comey, which Trump can constitutionally do. So they are trying to criminalize the president carrying out his constitutional authority. But judging by the leaked questions, the questions that Mueller wants to ask Trump, we have an extensive obstruction investigation carried out by investigators who have not been obstructed.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been an intense focus on Trump\u2019s Oval Office discussion with Comey about going easy on Michael Flynn. But nobody went easy on Flynn! Flynn\u2019s gonna go to jail for crying out loud. Who went easy on him? How could Trump have obstructed that? Flynn was found guilty of lying. He\u2019s gonna go to jail if a miracle doesn\u2019t happen there. So where the hell was the obstruction of Comey or using Comey?<\/p>\n

\"\"Regardless, current Justice Department guidance, i.e., regulations, says the president cannot be indicted. It\u2019s not a law. It means in the manual of guidance, regulations by which the Department of Justice functions each and every day, they have decided as a matter of policy the president cannot be indicted.<\/p>\n

Now, if Mueller takes heed of that, he is limited to indicting underlings. And for what? For lying to the FBI! He\u2019s got no evidence anybody has done anything on the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. There\u2019s nothing! This means, folks, that Mueller — for all intents and purposes — is serving as the lead investigative counsel for a prospective House impeachment committee. It\u2019s an important position, just not one that should be housed within the executive branch.<\/p>\n

Should they win the House in the fall, Nancy Pelosi and her fellow leaders would be fully within their rights to create an impeachment committee and hire a bevy of investigators — and right there to hire is Robert Mueller. But he comes from the executive branch, you see. But the important point here is there\u2019s an obstruction case being brought by prosecutors who are not being obstructed! Nobody\u2019s standing on their way! Nobody\u2019s stopping them! Nobody\u2019s even trying to!<\/p>\n

Trump has furnished them 1.1 million documents, folks. He announced yesterday that he has given the special counsel over a million pages of documents, and they\u2019re running around claiming obstruction. So the way to look at Mueller right now is that he is the lead investigative lawyer for a prospective House impeachment committee, and yet he\u2019s in the executive branch. This is jumping the shark. This is way, way out of proportion.<\/p>\n

Also, Kimberley Strassel is back today, and she is deeply concerned over why the House of Representatives is not working to get Rosenstein and others at the DOJ to turn over the requested materials that various House committees have requested. Here\u2019s a pull quote: “Two House sources confirmed for me…” This is Kimberley Strassel writing<\/a>. “Two House sources confirm for me that the Justice Department was recently delivered first a classified House Intelligence Committee letter and then a subpoena … demanding documents related to a new line of inquiry about the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s Trump investigation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“The deadline for complying with the subpoena was Thursday afternoon, and the Justice Department flouted it. As the White House is undoubtedly monitoring any new congressional demands for information, it is likely that President Trump\u2019s tweet Wednesday ripping the department for not turning over documents was in part a reference to this latest demand. … This week\u2019s events — including more flat-out subpoena defiance — put a luminous spotlight on Speaker Paul Ryan.<\/p>\n

“The credibility of the House\u2019s oversight authority is at stake. Mr. Ryan\u2019s committee chairmen have done remarkable work exposing FBI behavior, and they deserve backup. The quickest way to get Justice and FBI to comply with these legitimate requests is for Mr. Ryan to state strongly and publicly that he has zero qualms about proceeding down the road of contempt or impeachment if House demands are not met. This is the people\u2019s government, not the Justice Department\u2019s.”<\/p>\n

This is the people\u2019s government. It\u2019s not Rosenstein\u2019s. This is the people\u2019s government! It isn\u2019t Mueller\u2019s or anybody working for him. It isn\u2019t Nancy Pelosi\u2019s. It isn\u2019t Hillary Clinton\u2019s. It is the people\u2019s government! Her basic point is the Speaker of the House — the leader of the Republicans — is not backing up his chairmen, who are seeking legitimate information from Rosenstein and the Department of Justice that would explain just what Mueller is doing, who authorized whatever he is doing, and what is it that he was authorized to do.<\/p>\n

This judge in Virginia in the Manafort case is demanding the same information, and the Department of Justice is doing everything they can to withhold it. And Strassel\u2019s point is that if the leaders of the Republicans in the House would back his chairmen and demand this stuff, that it would carry a lot of weight. Because something has to be done to tell the Department of Justice and the intelligence community — people like John Brennan and James Clapper — “You do not run this government!<\/p>\n

“It is a government of, by, and for the American people — and nobody elected any of you! The elected representatives of the people demand to see what the hell it is you\u2019re doing here, and they are right in demanding to see it, and you are wrong in withholding it.” But if no such pressure is applied… Now, Mark Meadows — who is one of these Republicans in the House demanding the information — is talking about impeaching Rosenstein, and Rosenstein is getting all defiant. “You can\u2019t intimidate me!<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not gonna be intimidated! I am not going to sell the Justice Department down the river. I am not…” So you got a real turf war here. You got the executive branch versus the legislative branch, but Rosenstein does not run the executive branch and neither does Mueller — although I think they think they do. I think they both think they are running things to protect everything from Trump. This is what\u2019s really going on. They\u2019re doing it with the 1,000% support of the Democrat Party and the media, and we\u2019re back to the same old thing:<\/p>\n

Where are McConnell and Ryan?<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: To the audio sound bites. James Kallstrom is the former director of the New York office of the FBI. He\u2019s the current grand pooh-bah of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. He\u2019s one of the founders. Retired, decorated Marine, just a genuine all-around American hero. And he spent his working life in the FBI climbing the ladder of success there to become the director of the New York office. And he is disturbed greatly over what he has seen the FBI become under Comey. Made no bones about it. Last night he was on with Lou Dobbs on the Fox Business Network, and he had this to say about how he sees current FBI tactics.<\/p>\n