During Robert Mueller’s testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) asked Mueller if he could indict the president on obstruction charges.
Mueller said Trump could be indicted once he leaves office
One of the biggest moments from the Mueller hearing — and a Republican own goal.
Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. His book on democracy, The Reactionary Spirit, was published 0n July 16. You can puchase it here.
The former special counsel’s answer was simple: “Yes.”
It was a rare striking moment in a hearing that has, so far, been largely unenlightening. Mueller’s position is that he didn’t consider indicting Trump solely because of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) ruling saying sitting presidents can’t be indicted. But Trump won’t be president forever, and Mueller’s view is that once Trump is out of office, prosecutors could charge him with obstruction if they believe the facts laid out in the report warrant it.
This probably is not the answer the GOP members of the committee wanted. Republicans had spent most of the hearing arguing that Mueller’s report exonerated him (Mueller said at the outset that it did not) or that there was some kind of anti-Trump conspiracy involved in its production. Buck’s question, as you see in the below video and transcript, undermined this strategy — a massive own goal:
One of the key GOP arguments was that because Mueller didn’t indict Trump, he should be considered exonerated due to “the presumption of innocence” in the criminal justice system. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) was the most forceful advocate of this view.
But if Mueller still thinks Trump could be tried after he leaves office, this analysis no longer makes sense. Mueller didn’t conclude that there was insufficient evidence to try Trump, but rather that Trump could not legally be prosecuted. It’s also really bad for Trump personally: It’s now firmly established that if he loses the 2020 election, he could be charged if the next president’s Justice Department opts to pursue it.
Not great for Trump, Bob. Not great.
By Zack Beauchamp
