Let's say you are driving along above the speed limit. A cop pulls you over for speeding. He walks up to your window to ask for your license and registration but notices you are not wearing your seatbelt. As he explains to you about the seatbelt, he notices a strange scent emanating from your car.
He asks you to exit your vehicle and, using his suspicion of drug use, searches your car. He finds drug paraphernalia on the passenger seat under a blanket. Now he asks you to take a drug test and it comes back positive. This prompts him to call in backup and continue the search in earnest.
Under the driver's seat, duct-taped to the chair, he finds the brick of cocaine you are trafficking. He then pops the trunk and finds the dead body of the informant you've killed.
He arrests you for:But all the cop did was pull you over for speeding. How did it go so wrong? Well, because he followed the law and that initial crime allowed him to find many other crimes for which you could be prosecuted.
- Speeding
- Not wearing a seat belt
- DUI
- Carrying drug paraphernalia
- Drug possession (possibly with the intent to distribute)
- Murder
The Mueller investigation is the same thing. As a duly appointed officer of the law, Mueller was tasked with determining if there was collusion between Trump and the Russians (speeding). As he started searching, he found anomalies that lead him to find other possible crimes (seatbelt, drugs, murder), which he has passed off to the appropriate other agencies to investigate, charge, and detain those involved.
I'm not sure why this is so hard for some to understand. All these complaints by Trump, his cronies, and those who are still, for some reason, in his camp concerning the Mueller investigation and how wide-ranging the probe seems to be getting are stupid. He is doing what any investigator is supposed to do: follow the trail wherever it leads. And, so far, like the example above, the one crime he was tasked to investigate has quickly led to further crimes. This is both understandable and common when the FBI is tasked with investigating someone.
Trump claims there is no collusion, that the investigation is overreaching, and that he has done nothing wrong. Yet, Mueller has gotten guilty pleas and indictments against 33 people so far. He has sent a number of people to jail. And, what we're learning now, is that Trump is so fearful of the investigation that he is trying to get those who have been indicted to be "double-agents" for him by bringing back intel on what Mueller is investigating so that Trump can prepare his counterattacks. Trump is promising pardons to those who will help him. These are not the actions of someone with nothing to hide; quite the opposite, it is what we would expect from someone who is guilty and knows he's guilty.
I look forward to the Mueller investigation finishing and seeing just how many people go to jail, how many are indicted, and how many crimes are laid at Trump's feet. I don't think it will kick him out of office, which is a pity. And I don't think his crimes will even sway a majority of his ardent believers, which is worse. They are the ones who are most hurt by this man being the President, yet they are so scared and angry that they will follow him to Hell.
