Was it chickenshit?

Special Counsel Robert Mueller sent out clear - though silent - signals before the release of the report that he had joined the chickensh** club. He didn't indict Donald Trump, Jr and Jared Kushner for possible offences they may have committed, like lying to Congress and failing to disclose foreign contacts, and then interview them, if they were to be charged. That would have set up an interview with the president himself.

[...]

It is absolutely and irrefutably clear that the media and the Democrats wagered far too much on the Mueller report.

The big, and well-known facts, remain. The Russians worked very hard to get Trump elected. Trump publicly called on them for help and instantly received it. He has not only praised Russian President Vladimir Putin - he told us all, on television, that he trusted him more than US intelligence services - but has also taken political positions that strengthen Russia and weaken America in international affairs.

[...]

This will, without doubt, empower the president and his supporters. He is the Teflon Don made huge. Untouchable. Invulnerable. A winner.

It will arouse - even outrage - many of his opponents, including the heads of key House of Representatives committees, like Jerry Nadler (judiciary committee), Adam Schiff (intelligence committee), and Elijah J Cummings (oversight committee). It will entice district attorneys, state attorney generals, and even other federal prosecutors to go for the glory of getting Trump when the great Mueller failed.

[...]

Trump will be more adamant, more intransigent, more arrogant, and even more blatantly untruthful.

Democrats will push harder and harder. At the same time, they will likely focus their presidential primaries on finding who can beat Trump.

Trump and his allies will ignore subpoenas and other norms and treat Congress with contempt.

  alJazeera

Maybe it was chickenshit. Maybe Mueller didn't think he had the proof beyond a reasonable doubt to take Junior to court. Maybe he deferred to what he knew would be the direction of the Barr DOJ. We need to see the report, and Mueller needs to testify before the House. We're in perhaps more danger than had Mueller pronounced crimes by the Trump family. Either way, Trump was going to break out into his worst self. (No, I don't think we've seen that bottom yet.)  But the GOP Congress is now going to be 100% behind him again. The only remedy now truly is at the ballot box, and the GOP has that route gerry rigged and blocked.

I was wondering recently how - if - a President Buttigieg would handle the likes of Mitch McConnell. We've got a lot of cleaning up to do, and it's becoming harder to do it with every passing day.

The monster has been freed.