A half-witted, know-nothing playwright by the name of William Shakespeare once wrote that “these violent delights have violent ends.” The line, taken from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, also featured in Westworld, depicts a scene in which Friar Laurence cautions Romeo into falling for Juliet because his love may catalyze his own violent end. I attribute the words of Shakespeare to the current predicament facing President Donald Trump and his administration. In the two or so years since Trump took office, special counsel Robert Mueller has worked without end to investigate whether the Trump administration colluded in any way, shape, or form, with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
After countless subpoenas and inducements of former Trump associates and administration members, sources indicate that Mueller’s long nights away from the family could soon be over. Towards that end of January, Roger Stone, a former associate of Donald Trump before he became president, was indicted on charges of seeking stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could damage Trump’s opponents during the 2016 presidential election season.
Per the official language of the indictment:
“…After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened or announced their respective investigations into Russian interference in the 20126 U.S. presidential election…Stone took steps to obstruct these investigations….He made false statements to the HPSCI about his interactions regarding WikiLeaks, and falsely denied possessing records that contained evidence…”
-Robert Stone indictment
The indictment went on to explain that Stone attempted to persuade a witness to provide false testimony and withheld pertinent information from federal investigators. According to several sources, Stone was arrested by the FBI Friday morning while drinking his morning coffee at his home in Florida. Stone’s attorney immediately attempted to defuse any public sentiment stirring up connecting Stone to special counsel Mueller’s investigation, suggesting that Stone’s indictment “focuses on allegedly false statements…made to Congress,” and has nothing to do with Russian collusion.
According to CNN, Attorney General Bill Barr is limbering up in preparation to announce as early as next week the completion of Robert Mueller’s investigation, “with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary” of the confidential report is prepared. Interestingly enough, though the details of the report concern both the American people and its presiding government, under special counsel regulations, Mueller must submit his “report” to the attorney general and the law doesn’t require this document to be shared with anyone.
Barr is under no formal obligation to publicly share the report, but I can already assume that members of the Democratic leadership will be banging on his office door until he throws them a bone.
The question on everyone’s mind is, what Mueller discovered in his lengthy investigation. Mueller was appointed to the case on May 17, 2017, and in years following this date, Mueller has had his hands full. Early last week, Mueller’s office filed its sentencing memorandum against Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, who will be sentenced next month in federal district court in the District of Columbia.
“For a decade, Manafort repeatedly violated the law. Considering only the crimes charged in this district, they make plain that Manafort chose to engage in a sophisticated scheme to hide millions of dollars from United States authorities. The sentence in this case must take into account the gravity of this conduct, and serve to both specifically deter Manafort and those who would commit a similar series of crimes.”
–sentencing memo from Robert Mueller
As for the findings of Mueller’s investigation, we will have to wait and see how Attorney General Barr chooses to go about sharing the report, if he ends up sharing the information at all. The information could disturb the Trump presidency and possibly give Democrats grounds for introducing articles of impeachment.
