On the evening of 24th June, some of America’s best-loved and most-recognisable acts performed an epic reading of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report.
Adapted for the stage by Robert Schenkkan, who received the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Kentucky Cycle, the play - The Investigation: A Search For the Truth in Ten Acts - starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mark Hamill, John Lithgow, Alyssa Milano and many others, and was livestreamed by Law Works, an anti-Trump group “engaging bipartisan voices on the importance of the rule of law, the role of the special counsel in the justice system, and the integrity of our institutions”.
— Law Works (@LawWorksAction) June 25, 2019
After dramatising segments of the report, the actors proceeded to read excerpts from both Attorney General William Barr's and Mueller's news conferences - to conclude, they read portions of the Constitution related to impeachment, and offered a number of examples which they allege prove the President is guilty of obstruction.
Witch Hunt
Over the course of Mueller’s nearly two-and-a-half-year-long probe, the former FBI Director - who while heading the Bureau routinely violated federal law - became subject to almost religious adoration from US liberals, who were utterly indefatigable in their belief he would uncover proof of collusion between Donald Trump and the Kremlin, and bring down the elected President.
The indefatigable faith of ‘The Resistance’ also gave rise to a bizarre cottage industry, with t-shirts, baby onesies, mugs and prayer candles bearing his name and/or the slogan ‘It’s Mueller Time’ selling by the cartload. Some even banded together to record a Yuletide jingle - ‘We Wish You A Mueller Christmas’.
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) December 26, 2018
In April, Mueller’s report was finally released - much to their confusion and dismay, it failed to find any evidence whatsoever Trump or anyone connected to him had conspired with Russian individuals of any kind, in any way. However, silence or reflection on their part was evidently short-lived, as demands for Trump’s impeachment on the basis of alleged obstruction of justice erupted almost immediately.
Their calls seem to be falling on largely deaf public ears, as around 50 percent of US citizens believe Trump has been the victim of a politically motivated ‘witch hunt’ - in response, elite impeachment advocates have concocted a number of ingenious methods of educating Americans about Mueller’s findings, for they avowedly feel most of the population don’t actually know the contents of the Special Counsel report.
Culture Vultures
Law Works’ bizarre theatrical production is but one example of this phenomenon - the day before their ‘play’ aired, US publisher IDW announced plans to transform the document into an easier to digest graphic novel. The comic is scheduled for release in April 2020.
In the mean-time, Americans who can’t summon energy to read the 448-page document can ‘enjoy’ an 11-hour marathon reading of Volume 2 of the report in July this year at Washington DC’s Arena Stage theatre. Those wanting a significantly condensed version can watch a video in which Hollywood stars including Robert De Niro and Martin Sheen, horror writer Stephen King, and many other famous faces read sections of the findings related to obstruction of justice.
The video is produced by Rob Reiner, of 'This Is Spinal Tap' and Committee to Investigate Russia fame. The group was responsible for the release of a controversial video in September 2017 featuring the beloved Morgan Freeman declaring the US had "been attacked" and was "at war" with Russia.
The Committee aims to help US citizens "understand and recognize the scope and scale of Russia's continuing attacks on our democracy". Its five-strong board is led by Reiner; James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, who committed perjury in 2013 when he told a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence the NSA did not "wittingly" collect data on US citizens, and has claimed Russians are "genetically" predisposed to manipulate and infiltrate; Max Boot, a neoconservative blogger; Norman Ornstein, an obscure political scientist with no discernible history of research into Russia; Charles Sykes, a right-wing radio talk show host.
