The Media Spotlight on Trump and Mueller

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/opinion/trump-mueller.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Re “Mueller Is Starting to Scare Me” (column, May 23):

Is Frank Bruni’s problem really with Robert Mueller’s investigation per se, or with The Times’s and other media companies’ breathless coverage of it?

To Mr. Mueller’s credit, he seems to have little or no interest in feeding the media circus around his work and is focused on the job of doing a serious investigation. Whether the media focus on this investigation distracts the public from other political harm being done by Mr. Trump, as Mr. Bruni frets, is not a reason for Mr. Mueller to wrap up the investigation.

After all, the investigation is a law enforcement operation, not a political one. Mr. Trump doesn’t understand that, but it is true nonetheless.

PETER ASEN, CRANSTON, R.I.

To the Editor:

I believe that, in the end, Robert Mueller will turn over a report to Congress that will prove both collusion and obstruction of justice on the part of the president and his campaign. But like Frank Bruni, I, too, am frightened that the special counsel’s report may come too late, and be buried under a ton of propaganda spewed from the mouths of Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity and Devin Nunes.

While the investigation inches closer and closer to the Oval Office, the timing of Mr. Mueller’s report will be critical to its impact. If he releases the report before dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s, he will be blasted for rushing to judgment. And if he waits until the fall, he will be accused of trying to influence the midterm elections.

There is little doubt in my mind that President Trump, his family and many of his closest advisers are guilty of obstructing justice and colluding with the Russians, and that Mr. Mueller will prove it. The question is, will it matter?

HENRY A. LOWENSTEIN, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

Frank Bruni is right to be scared of Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 election. Mr. Mueller changed the thrust of the investigation to potential collusion of Donald Trump with the Russians apparently without having authority to do so. A federal judge in March said the special counsel should not have “unfettered power” in probing ties between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, and accused Mr. Mueller of using criminal cases to pressure Mr. Trump’s allies to turn against him.

In short, Mr. Mueller lost the veneer of “independent” special counsel and exposed himself as an ordinary sleuth in a politically motivated witch hunt to get Mr. Trump impeached. Fat chance of that!

TULVIO DURAND, ANZA, CALIF.

To the Editor:

Thank you, Frank Bruni, for voicing a deep concern I have had for some time — that we are losing sight of the real danger in the fog of the special counsel investigation.

President Trump has positioned himself as above the law, and anyone who thinks that he will abide by a subpoena, an impeachment conviction in the Senate or any other lawful attempts to remove him from office is living in a fairy tale.

He will defy any court order or Senate impeachment ruling. He will not step down. He will shout “rigged system!” or “deep state!” He has nothing to lose.

I didn’t realize how thin the Constitution was until Donald Trump raised his right hand and swore an oath to protect it. It has become painfully obvious that the nation has no substantive means to keep him in check. I fear for my country’s future.

LEN DISESA, DOYLESTOWN, PA.