Vice President Mike Pence had a message for Special Counsel Robert Mueller: It’s time to wrap it up.
While Mueller brought forth several indictments, none of the charges concerned the actions of the Trump campaign.
First, on Oct. 3, Mueller indicted George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser. Papadopoulos was approached, in March 2016, by Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor and member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Mifsud promised a foreign policy meeting with Russian officials, who had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos consulted the campaign and was told to go to the meeting himself. The meeting, however, never took place. When the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos on Jan. 27, 2017, he tried to downplay his communications with Mifsud, lying to the agents in the process. On Oct. 5, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI.
On Oct. 30, Mueller filed charges against political consultants and lobbyists Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, saying they hid from authorities millions paid for their work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, dodging taxes in the process. They also allegedly lied to banks about their income to get better loans. Manafort worked for the Trump campaign for several months, starting in March 2016 and becoming the campaign manager from June to August 2016. Gates was his deputy.
Gates pleaded guilty to greatly reduced charges, agreeing to work with Mueller.
Paraphrasing the logic of the Mueller team, Ellis simplified its intention as he saw it: “We said this is what our investigation is about, but we’re not bound by it, and we were lying,” Ellis said of the probe. “C’mon man!”
The indictment stated that the operation opposed Hillary Clinton and other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and supported Bernie Sanders and Trump. But there was no allegation that any American knowingly participated in the effort.
On Feb. 20, Mueller charged Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan with lying to investigators about his contacts with Gates and Manafort.
Mueller also reportedly referred to the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan a case against Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen.
Now, Pence thinks it’s time Mueller calls it quits.
“I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion.”