Reports and statements from White House aides seem to indicate the appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting Attorney General was designed to “rein in” the Mueller investigation.
A New York Times column describes Whitaker as an “attack dog against the special counsel” with a history of insisting there is no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
One presidential adviser described his upcoming role as one in which he is to limit the fallout from the investigation.
He has also, according to the report, been tasked with preventing any subpoena of President Trump.
Washington Post seems to agree.
Matt Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself from overseeing the Mueller probe, people close to him tell WaPo.
The sources also said they strongly believe Whitaker would not approve any request from Mueller to subpoena Trump. https://t.co/1oJC50q2oH
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 8, 2018
Whitaker’s history of questioning the Mueller probe
Democrat lawmakers have insisted that Whitaker follow in the footsteps of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recusing himself from overseeing the Mueller witch hunt.
The basis seems to surround comments he has made in the past questioning the legitimacy and scope of the Mueller probe.
Whitaker wrote an op-ed column for CNN in August of 2017 titled, “Mueller’s investigation of Trump is going too far,” a statement of fact as the special counsel had, at the time, expanded a previously defined investigation of Russian collusion, into an investigation of President Trump’s personal and family finances.
“It does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else,” Whitaker assessed. “That goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel.”
In an interview with CNN in 2017, Whitaker also defended Donald Trump Jr.’s decision to take an opposition research meeting at Trump tower that turned out to be with a Russian national.
Mueller probe won’t be completely public regardless
Democrats may be up in arms over an acting AG appointed to ‘rein in’ the Mueller probe, but the fact is it was going to be reined in regardless.
Left-leaning Politico reported that a myriad of defense lawyers working on the case and former government officials with experience handling investigations have indicated the ‘resistance’ party better prepare for disappointment.
“The public, they say, shouldn’t expect a comprehensive and presidency-wrecking account of Kremlin meddling and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump,” the report reads.
Additionally, outgoing House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy predicted that the Mueller investigation will find no evidence of ‘collusion’ with Russia. Gowdy determined the investigation would wrap up by year’s end and would conclude no evidence of wrongdoing.
How Democrats can be outraged about Whitaker stepping in to ensure something they already knew was a possibility is beyond any semblance of reason.
But then, that’s your modern day Democrat Party. They need this Russian collusion story to pan out to validate their very existence these past two years. And anybody like Whitaker who might put a squash to a ridiculous witch hunt like this has to be stopped.
