Packed with signs denouncing the Trump administration, hundreds of people gathered in downtown San Luis Obispo Thursday to voice opposition to any potential dismissal of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller.
Following the forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, civil activist group MoveOn.org put forth the “Nobody is Above The Law – Mueller Protection Rapid Response” event.
Residents in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and Cambria held rallies, chanting “No one is above the law – no one is above the law.”
Hundreds participated in the “No One Is Above The Law” rally and march in downtown SLO, calling on lawmakers to protect special counsel Robert Mueller and the investigation. @KSBY pic.twitter.com/M4WppthX8b
— Dustin Klemann (@Djklemann) November 9, 2018
There is a new man overseeing the Justice Department – and the Russia probe – which has brought renewed worry.
Matthew Whitaker, the new Acting Attorney General, has promised to lead a fair department, despite being a vocal critic of the investigation.
“That attorney general doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt,” Whitaker said on CNN in 2017.
Whitaker argued in an August 2017 op-ed for CNN that Mueller’s investigation is “dangerously close to crossing” the so-called red line not to look into the Trump family’s finances.
“It does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else,” Whitaker wrote in the piece.
“That goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel.”
On Thursday, those who believe Mueller and the investigation should be preserved met at the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse steps and were joined by speakers including U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal and Mayor Heidi Harmon.
“The independent investigation of this administration by the independent special counsel Mueller must continue,” Carbajal said to cheers.
Many in the crowd held critical signs of President Trump himself, some calling for him a traitor, to be locked up — a phrase used often toward Hillary Clinton at Trump’s rallies — and “innocent people don’t obstruct justice.”
“[Mueller] needs to be protected, everything he’s done so far needs to be preserved,” said Gail Bunting, Together We Will organizer. “It just needs to be followed through.”
Even if the investigation finds Trump himself is clear of any wrongdoing.
“Everything that may have been done or crime that may have been committed, I’m hoping that it will be revealed. And if nothing has happened, so be it. Wonderful,” said John Lamb.
The Mueller investigation has so far produced 32 criminal charges and four guilty pleas from Trump associates.
Republican Senator Jeff Flake says he and Democratic Senator Chris Coons will push for a floor vote next week on a bipartisan bill that would protect Mueller.
Hundreds have gathered in downtown San Luis Obispo to rally to protect Robert Mueller.
Posted by KSBY on Thursday, November 8, 2018
