OPINION:
I commend the federal judge in the Manafort case for two reasons (“Judge accuses Mueller’s prosecutors of trumping up charges against Manafort to get to president,” Web, May 4). The first is challenging the assumption special counsel Robert Mueller apparently has that he is operating with “unfettered power.” The mandate of the special counsel very likely limits Mr. Mueller to fishing for Russian collusion in a relatively small pond. Finding none, Mr. Mueller is now trolling the ocean depths hoping to drudge up whatever he can to bring down the president and everyone around him. Why else resurrect charges from over a decade ago, charges the DOJ chose to ignore during the last administration?
And if Mr. Mueller can’t slap a crime on those around the president he certainly can destroy them through “unfettered” legal costs. The corrosive and corrupting potential of having too much power is on full display with this special counsel.
Secondly, justice in America is maintained and achieved when a crime is followed by prosecution. Not the other way around, with prosecutors looking to turn citizens into criminals. What we now have is a team of prosecutors — with an unlimited budget — looking for crimes to affix to people around the president. This travesty of justice is foreign to our history and to our ideals. It’s a tyranny that refugees, having braved stormy waters and barbed wire, have come to America to avoid.
If Mr. Mueller can find criminal activity within the narrow scope of his original mandate, fine. Otherwise, shut it down, Mr. Mueller, before you do any more damage to the country.
THOMAS M. BEATTIE
Mt. Vernon, Va.
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