Democrats, increasingly worried that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Donald Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election will reveal nothing, have started doing something they’ve long criticized President Trump for: lashing out at Mueller over his “limited” probe.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) kicked off a torrent of criticism on Sunday, according to the Washington Examiner, questioning whether “Mueller has adequately investigated President Trump’s financial dealings with a German bank,” and suggesting that Mueller’s investigation could be so woefully incomplete that the House has no choice but to resume investigating the president themselves.
“If the special counsel hasn’t subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, he can’t be doing much of a money laundering investigation,” Schiff said. “So that’s what concerns me, that that red line has been enforced, whether by the deputy attorney general or by some other party at the Justice Department. But that leaves the country exposed.”
Schiff is referring to an alleged incident that occured late last year, reported in The New York Times. The Times reported that President Trump was ready to fire Mueller, until he was reassured that the Special Counsel had not, in fact, subpoenaed the Trump Corporation’s financial records from Deutch Bank.
The report was never substantiated and relied on anonymous sources within the Justice Department, but Schiff seems to believe the report is proof that Mueller caved to the president’s demands, rendering his entire investigation incomplete.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is already doing the work Schiff feels Mueller failed to do, and has sent an inquiry about Trump’s finances to Deutch Bank.
It’s clear Democrats, who were counting on Robert Mueller to provide the ammunition they’d need to impeach the President for “colluding” with the Russian government, are concerned the Mueller probe may not be as conclusive as once believed.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker told Congress two weeks ago that Mueller was close to wrapping up his probe, and the Senate Intelligence Committee told reporters including NBC News on Tuesday that after “two years and 200 interviews” they’re close to wrapping up their own investigation, having found no concrete evidence that the Trump campaign knowingly colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 presidential election.
The revelations have clearly caused the Democrats to dramatically shift position on Mueller. Just six months ago, the Democrats were spearheading efforts to shield Mueller from the president’s criticisms and protect Mueller if the president decided to fire the Special Counsel, even going so far as to promise Mueller would find a job with the Democratic House Intelligence committee if he were summarily booted from the Justice Department.
Now, unusure that Mueller will provide the outcome they’re looking for, Democrats are more than willing to pre-emptively discount the Special Counsel’s report.