This coming Wednesday, special counsel Robert Mueller will be testifying before Congress in an effort to bring some clarity to the report that was released three months ago. These hearings are essential for the public to have a complete understanding of Donald Trump’s crimes, particularly considering the flagrantly deceptive summaries and commentaries on the matter by Trump’s lapdog at the Justice Department, William Barr.

So naturally Trump and his team of dissemblers is mounting another crusade to prevent the people from learning the truth. His attorney, Rudy Giuliani made the media circuit on Sunday to argue that Mueller should not testify at all:

“‘He shouldn’t really [testify]. He already put out his report. He made his 10-minute statement and then said he wasn’t going to talk about it anymore because it’s not proper,’ Giuliani said Sunday on John Catsimatidis’s radio show, referring to a press conference Mueller gave on his report that he said would be his final word on his two-year probe.

“‘But somebody must’ve persuaded him that he should comment some more. He’s already commented more than any prosecutor has ever commented about a case he didn’t bring.'”

This is a brazenly fear-based attempt to muzzle Mueller. Which is peculiar since Trump has said repeatedly that the special counsel’s report “totally exonerated” him. You have to wonder why Trump is so scared of these hearings that, according to him, would prove his innocence. He even said that Mueller had acted honorably.

Giuliani’s remarks are also packed with lies. While Mueller was reluctant to testify, he never said that it would improper. And he was not “persuaded” to comment. He was subpoenaed. And the notion that he’s commented more than any other prosecutor is simply ludicrous. Every other special counsel has testified to Congress following their investigations.

Of course, Trump has also lashed out at Mueller as a corrupt, conflicted pawn of angry Democrats. He literally can’t keep his stories on Mueller straight. At times he is consumed by a panicky fear of Mueller that manifests itself in crazed tweetstorms wherein he has insisted that Mueller should not testify before Congress. He even went so far as to whine that Congress “has no right” to see the Mueller report at all.

Giuliani’s position is nothing new. Not only has he said this before, Republicans in Congress have actually argued against their own right to interview Mueller. And their constituents, mainly consisting of Trump Deplorables, also expressed their opposition to releasing the full Mueller report. They are, in effect, advocating to remain ignorant. And they are doing a damn good job of that.

There’s a reason that Trump, and Giuliani, and the Deplorables are so frightened. The Mueller report contains abundant evidence of Trump’s guilt. Although it found “insufficient evidence” to bring charges against Trump, that’s very different than finding no evidence. Also, Mueller explicitly declined to clear the president of any wrongdoing over allegations of obstruction of justice, for which he cited ten instances. What’s more, Mueller said in his report that he couldn’t indict Trump due to a dubious Justice Department memo advising against indicting a sitting president. That memo is not law and has never been tested in court.

Finally, Trump’s dread of Mueller, and what he might say, is surely exacerbated by the fact that even some of his confederates at Fox News see guilt in the Mueller report. Fox’s Senior Legal Analyst, Andrew Napolitano, said that “If the subject of a criminal investigation tells the people that work for him to lie to the FBI and falsify evidence … that is obstruction of justice and it is for a corrupt purpose.” On another occasion, Napolitano said that “ordering obstruction to save himself from the consequences of his own behavior is unlawful, defenseless and condemnable.” And Giuliano is utterly incapable of countering these conclusions with his weak, lame, and frantic cry that Mueller be barred from congressional testimony. It’s an a position that is both dishonest and desperate. And it’s all they’ve got.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.