SOURCE:
HOTAIRURL:
https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2019/07/24/ratcliffe-mueller-said-job-declare-non-exonerations/by Ed Morrissey
Frankly, I’m surprised it took as long as it did for a Republican on the House Judiciary to get to this obvious point. Rep. John Ratcliffe went to the heart of an assumption made by Robert Mueller, his report, and House Democrats on the approach taken in regard to Donald Trump, especially on obstruction. The report addresses Trump’s culpability from the perspective of requiring positive exoneration from charges of committing crimes. Ratcliffe wonders where Mueller found that in the job description of any prosecutor:
CBS News
✔
@CBSNews
Rep. John Ratcliffe asks if Mueller can cite an example besides Trump where the DOJ "determined that an investigated person was not exonerated because their innocence was not conclusively determined"
Mueller: I cannot, but this is a unique situation https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/robert-mueller-testimony-live-stream-today-watch-special-counsel-hearing-congress-2019-07-24/ …
ABC News Politics
✔
@ABCPolitics
Rep. John Ratcliffe slams Robert Mueller for writing "about decisions that weren't reached" on obstruction of justice: "I agree with the Chairman ... when he said Donald Trump is not above the law, he's not. But he damn sure shouldn't be below the law" https://abcn.ws/2XWIELc
Prosecutors are not there to prove innocence. Unless they find probable cause that a crime has been committed, they are supposed to close the file and not comment on the degree of exoneration they have determined. In fact, it might be accurate to say that prosecutors aren’t in the exoneration business at all, unless it’s to eliminate a suspect in a case in order to prosecute another suspect.
This has been a constant criticism of the Mueller report since its publication, especially Volume II. In that sense, Mueller committed the same sin that James Comey did with Hillary Clinton in July 2016. His report, and Democratic interpretations of it, start with Trump being considered guilty and then step backward away from presenting a prosecutable case. Hence, Mueller ended up making his report a “non-exoneration,†which as Ratcliffe points out strenuously, that’s a wide departure from the prosecutorial role not just within the DoJ but within the long tradition of American jurisprudence.
(EXCERPT) CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST....
