Would Trump Have Been Indicted If He Were Not a Sitting President?

Robert Mueller is preparing to testify before U.S. House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. This is easily the most anticipated hearing the American people have had in some time. President Trump seems to be ramping up about it, claiming witch hunt and no collusion and talking about Mueller’s conflicts of interest.

In addition, Attorney General Barr has already gone on the record, as has the Justice Department, trying desperately to box Mueller into talking about nothing but his more than 400 page report. They want nothing outside of the report including process, evidence, his thoughts and feelings. Specifically, what the President and DOJ are clearly most concerned about is Mueller’s thoughts on Obstruction of Justice and whether Trump would have been charged if he were not a sitting President. They are equally concerned about whether it was the AttorneyGeneral’s or Congress’s call as to whether Obstruction should be charged.

House Democrats, on the other hand, have much different mission. They are looking at the issue of Obstruction but essentially arguing that there is plenty of evidence that Trump obstructed justice and therefore could face Impeachment. What they are hoping for is a John Dean ala Richard Nixon moment when the American people get to hear about a laundry list of things that Trump did and why he did them.

Robert Mueller himself is now a private citizen and can do just about anything he wants. Of course, this seems to go against everything that he has stood for for decades. Many Trump loyalists have continued to attack Mueller but this former Marine, war hero, patriot who has worked for both Republicans and Democrats has always stayed above political infighting so we will see.

I appear on Voice of America International Edition to discuss. I have been covering this issue with Voice of America for more than a year and in many ways this is the culmination of this story.