Old Lardass liked what Ratcliffe did

Ratcliffe gets a reward.

Ratcliffe smirked and tried to land a blow against Mueller during the Judiciary Committee hearing.  Who else pleased Himself ?

President Donald Trump’s just-announced nominee to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence had already drawn national attention earlier this week, when he delivered an aggressive diatribe against former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, had zeroed in on one of the key lines from Mueller’s report on Russian election interference, possible coordination between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself.

[...]

During Mueller’s first hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Ratcliffe said he agreed with Mueller’s conclusions that Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election were “sweeping and systematic.”

But he tore into Mueller for including the asterisk in his report that explicitly said Trump was not exonerated.

“Can you give me an example other than Donald Trump where the Justice Department determined that an investigated person was not exonerated because their innocence was not conclusively determined?” Ratcliffe asked Mueller.

The former special counsel responded, “I cannot, but this is a unique situation.”

Ratcliffe shot back: “You can’t find it, because – I’ll tell you why – it doesn’t exist.”

[...]

“You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis.”

Trump shouldn’t be above the law, Ratcliffe added, “but he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him.”

  CNBC

Just listen to his audition for the job:

 

Mueller didn’t get a chance to reply to Ratcliffe — instead the tightly controlled hearing shifted to another Democratic member’s line of questioning.

[...]

The director of national intelligence oversees the government’s intelligence agencies, coordinates the country’s global information-gathering operation and frequently briefs the president on threats each morning.

Coats stepped into the role in March 2017, but how long he would remain was a constant source of speculation because of his many differences with Trump over foreign policy. Coats has publicly broken with the president on several critical fronts, including during public testimony before the Senate on North Korea, Iran and Syria.

Earlier this year, Coats told a Senate panel that North Korea was not likely to give up its nuclear weapons, Iran was not yet seeking a nuclear weapon and the Islamic State terrorist group remained a forceful presence in Iraq and Syria.

  Politico

I'm sure Ratcliffe will assure us otherwise.

Ratcliffe met privately with Trump at the White House on July 19 to discuss his interest in the job, The New York Times reported, citing unidentified administration officials.

Five days before Mueller's testimony. He knew what he had to do.

In fact, Judiciary Committee Republicans gave Ratcliffe an early chance to question the former special counsel next after the panel’s ranking member by skipping over several more senior members.

Because they knew Trump wouldn't be able to sit through more than fifteen minutes?  The party of obvious whores.

UPDATE:



I didn't know the admin gave a shit about legally.  His Lardship, in particular, thinks Article II of the Constitution says he can do anything he wants.