After months of searching for evidence of crimes and collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, it is now being reported that special counsel Robert Mueller has approached a federal grand jury and filed the first set of charges. Information about who the charges are against and what those charges might be are unknown.
Reports of the charges come from witnesses who saw prosecutor Andrew Weissmann and other lawyers involved in the investigation enter the D.C. Federal Court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony on Russian collusion.
Is It All A Sham?
The fact that no information has been released so far has set tongues wagging about a possible cover-up. With no real movement or progress in the investigation, this week’s breaking stories about Hillary Clinton’s involvement with the Trump Dossier and the DNC funding of the Dossier, not to mention Mueller’s own non-disclosure of interests in Russian hedge funds (thought to be in the tens of millions of dollars) could well bring the whole thing to an end…at least for President Trump and his team.
So, is it possible that as a Hail Mary, Mueller’s investigation will try and shift the focus away from Democrat misdeeds and back onto the Trump administration? News sources in the leftist media are quick to point out that Mueller’s scope was “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” thus hedging their coverage.
The Next Step
The Trump team has been quick to ensure the media stay “balanced” by sending out signals and “pointed questions” implying that the charges filed could be against those who sought to deny him the presidency. Soon after the filing of charges was reported, Trump released a video on Twitter referencing a New York Times piece which stated that Hillary had colluded with Russia to frame “Trump as a traitor.”
And early on Friday, the president Tweeted:
“It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump. Was collusion with HC!”
It is possible that with the secrecy around the charges being filed, that the whole thing is designed to deflect attention from the special prosecutor himself. After news emerged that he had a likely conflict of interest which he had failed to disclose, much of the media coverage has been about Mueller and his suitability. News of charges (whether real or not), will give him some breathing space and time to formulate plans.
Charges being filed in an investigation is not the same as evidence. It is perhaps suspicious that as very real evidence of DNC collusion and Hillary involvement come to light, the power structures actively working against the president come up with something to refocus the nation’s anger. Don’t be surprised if the charges turn out to be a “nothing burger.”
