We will stipulate at the outset of this analysis that if Putin and Trump colluded, then Trump would be guilty of obstructing justice in addition to whatever crime “collusion” entails. However, the serious Democrats and even CNN know collusion is a fantasy so they are now betting on a Nixon-like obstruction charge sticking where collusion failed. One must note a crucial difference between Watergate and Russiagate. Nixon had an underlying crime to conceal, the break-in, whereas the Russia investigation of Trump will yield no such crime.
We are basing the analysis herein on our assumption that Vladimir Putin does not actually have the power to pick who becomes the President of the United States. We are also assuming that Putin would not take the risk of getting caught by CIA, NSA, and FBI having open discussions where he offered to publicly leverage this imaginary power to bet on a heavy underdog in a presidential race, in exchange for… something. We will even assume that neither sitting US Senator Jeff Sessions, nor *Carter Page , nor **George Papadopoulos, engineered this fantastical plot. Furthermore, we assume the story that Donald Trump Jr took a failed meeting with a Russian claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton, was in fact a failed meeting with a Russian, claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton, and that’s all folks!
Onward; person obstructs justice when they have a specific intent to obstruct or interfere with a judicial proceeding. However, a President makes decisions about what to investigate all the time. A POTUS can tell the DOJ “don’t waste staff on marijuana cases instead go after hard-core drugs,” or “round-up some white-collar crimes” or give whatever instructions he thinks are important. This is not obstruction, it’s his job. So if Trump believes there was no collusion then how can he intend to obstruct justice? This is the crucial point, believing no crime occurred precludes the element of intent. Trump clearly thinks the investigation is a hoax and a witch hunt so when he tries to hurry the investigation along, is he obstructing justice or just attempting to end the hoax? Remember, his intentions matter.
When it comes to pass that Mueller declares that there was no collusion and the investigation was a wild goose chase, will we really prosecute the lone member of our government trying to stop the monumental fraud? Will we really follow one circus with another? Was P.T. Barnum the greatest showman or was it Adam Schiff and cast of CNN?
(*) who did not feel the need to bring a lawyer to his FBI hearing
(**) a man whose girlfriend was more upset people called him “coffee boy” than worried about him being hung for treason