Trump Obstruction: Still Alive With More Digging into Lewandowski and McGahn

Lewandowski, Sessions, McGahn: Involved in Trump 

Plot to Get Rid of Mueller

Writing for the New York Times, under the headline, “4 Disturbing Details You May Have Missed in the Mueller Report,” Lawfare.blog managing editor Quinta Jurecic notes an interaction that Trump had with his former campaign employee Corey Lewandowski; she writes:

“A month after Mr. Mueller’s appointment, President Trump’s ordered his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski — who was not a government employee — to convey a message to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, telling him to constrain the scope of the Mueller investigation. Simply firing Mr. Mueller would have been within the president’s power. Asking a private citizen to deliver that message, however, moves this outside the realm of the president’s management of the executive branch and toward clearer-cut obstruction of justice.”

Further Note: Lewandowski never delivered the message, but Trump still quite possibly committed a crime of a different order than had previously been discussed. 

Here’s why: “AG Bill Barr’s view of view is that the president did not obstruct justice is informed by his argument that presidential conduct authorized by the Constitution cannot constitute obstruction, but this does not address conduct, like the order to Lewandowski, that took place outside the scope of the Constitution” (e.g., Lewandowski is not under the purview of nor employee of or far Trump and thus he is not even close to being covered by any presidential executive privilege excuse between Trump and an official employee or staff official for that legal benefit loophole).

Specifically from Mueller (from the New Yorker): In assessing Trump’s behavior, the report uses some satisfyingly plain English, such as this paragraph on page 156 of the second volume, which relates to obstruction:

“Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations. The incidents were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels. These actions ranged from efforts to remove the Special Counsel and to reverse the effect of the Attorney General’s recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony. Viewing the acts collectively can help to illuminate their significance. For example, the President’s direction to McGahn to have the Special Counsel removed was followed almost immediately by his direction to Lewandowski to tell the Attorney General to limit the scope of the Russia investigation to prospective election-interference only — a temporal connection that suggests that both acts were taken with a related purpose with respect to the investigation.”

My 2 cents: This needs close scrutiny as Trump continues to hide his crimes. This may be the proverbial icing on his impeachment cake. At the time cited above, Cory Lewandowski had no official status; and, now Trump has no right to claim executive conversation protection with his “executive privilege” authority.

Related story from here about a lousy love triangle between: Rob Porter, fired for abusing two wives; Hope Hicks in the middle, also dismissed; and Corey Lewandowski (his story is above).

Trump Wants Hope Hicks Mum

(She overhead Trump’s plot to end Mueller)

So, stay tuned.

We shall see. Thanks for stopping by.