Robert De Niro kicks off a new video feature former U.S. prosecutors weighing in on the Mueller report findings. (Photo: ScreenCap)
Robert De Niro takes the lead on a new video featuring former U.S. prosecutors who weigh-in on the findings of the Mueller investigation report. De Niro isn’t a former prosecutor, but he plays one (hilariously) on television.
Exclusive: Robert De Niro, 1,000+ former federal prosecutors, and 448 pages all point to the conclusion that Donald Trump committed felony obstruction of justice. pic.twitter.com/jZaRXiYWvz
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 30, 2019
De Niro, who has played Special Counsel Robert Mueller on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” gives the video enough star power to get it across to its intended audience–people who haven’t read the report and don’t know what to make of it.
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President Trump has repeatedly tried to undercut the investigation to the point he long ago crossed the line into obstruction of justice, according to the former prosecutors, who served both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In all, more than 1,000 former federal prosecutors signed a petition arguing for Trump’s indictment.
“Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice. The Mueller report describes several acts that satisfy all of the elements for an obstruction charge.”
“Their conclusion should trouble us all,” De Niro intoned in a solemn voice in the video.
One of the prosecutors who appeared, former assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rodgers, summed up the feelings of the group.
“We all strongly believe that there is more than enough evidence to indict President Trump for multiple felony counts of obstruction of justice,” she said.
Among former prosecutors who appeared in the video: Jacob Buchdahl, Jennifer Gachiri, John S. Martin, Roland Riopelle, Elie Honig, Alvin Bragg, Ilene Jaroslaw, Mimi Rocah, Harriett Galvin and Renato Mariotti.
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The upshot: No person is above the law, not even the president.
In a dramatic public statement yesterday (May 29), Mueller reiterated the 484-page report’s findings that the president was not exonerated of crimes. But he said long-standing Department of Justice (DOJ) policy prevents a sitting president from being indicted.
But Mueller set the framework for the investigation’s next steps by noting the Constitution empowers the Congress to hold the president accountable through the impeachment process.
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A number of House Democrats, including 2020 presidential candidates, have already asked for an impeachment inquiry to begin.
Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan became the first Republican to support impeachment. So far, no other Republicans have joined him.
For his part, Trump has been Tweeting furiously about the matter, including for the first time, attacking Mueller personally as a spurned job seeker with an ax to grind.
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During one of his rants, he acknowledged Russia helped get him elected, before abruptly walking back the comment.
“I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected,” Trump wrote on Twitter this morning (May 30).
Then, in an impromptu news conference he added: “No, Russia did not help me get elected,” he told reporters as he prepared to depart the White House for Colorado Springs. “I got me elected.”
Trump won by a 77,000-vote margin across three key electoral college states, even though he lost to rival Hillary Clinton by 3 million popular votes.
All 13 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump get elected, including hacking into Democratic email accounts and releasing the documents on Wikileaks.
Trump has repeatedly denied his campaign colluded with the effort. The Mueller report, however, concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to prove collusion “beyond a reasonable doubt,” but did not exonerate the president or his campaign.
De Niro and Alec Baldwin appeared on SNL two months ago as Robert S. Mueller III and Donald Trump respectively in a cold open marking the show’s return to live television. See the clip below: