Trier Of Facts

I am so damn sick of media pundits demanding drama and babbling about the political eye wash they euphemistically call optics. The reaction to Mueller's testimony during the hearing conducted by the Judiciary Committee is a perfect example of what I am complaining about. Long before Mueller agreed to testify he gave a press conference in which he indicated that his report was his testimony, and virtually everyone who has worked with Mueller said we should take him at his word – that he will not answer questions outside of the report and that it is highly unlikely that he will expand upon or explain the statements in his report. No matter, the pundits said. They said his testimony will be the movie everyone watches rather than reading the book. Yet when Mueller did precisely what he said he would do all the pundits went into panic mode. No drama, they wailed; his testimony lacks the optics needed to persuade the people! Silly me, I should have expected the pants wetting and hand wringing. I should have expected the pundits to quote Democrats as saying the hearing was a disaster. I should have but I did not. So I found myself actually saying: “wring out your undies, look at the facts presented, watch the next hearing, and wait to see how the public reacts.

I will grant you that I did not get out of bed at five in the morning* to see the beginning of that hearing, but what I did see set forth the evidence of Trump's obstruction of justice rather well. This did not even come close to being a disaster. Bear in mind that courtroom testimony rarely produces the drama or “optics” the pundits seemed to demanding, and yet jurors still weigh the evidence and they still render verdicts based upon the facts. While there were no surprises in the testimony for anyone familiar with the report, that does not mean the testimony did not have an impact on people learning about Trump's obstruction for the first time.

The next hearing, conducted by the Intelligence Committee, was masterful. Adam Schiff knocked it out of the park. Rather than trying to get Mueller to state legal conclusions about conspiracy or collusion Schiff concentrated on questions of ethics, patriotism, and national security.  Mueller relaxed a bit and became more responsive.  He expressed his concern over Russia's interference in our elections and expressed his fear that it could become our new normal.  Perhaps the most dramatic and unexpected response from Mueller came when chairman Schiff asked if knowingly accepting help from a foreign power to win an election was unethical? To which Mueller relied, “Yes. And a crime.”

I think the Rolling Stone really shows the full impact of the hearings in an article that presents a list of statements Mueller affirmed as accurate. Those statements are absolutely damning to Trump. These hearings are a beginning rather than an end, but time is of the essence. The impeachment process must begin soon!  The sooner the better.

*Who cares if people on the west coast have to get up in middle of the fricking night to watch the hearings. The west coast is already blue!