MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough warned viewers on Monday that the much-anticipated Mueller Report would probably end up being underwhelming. He admitted that those hoping for impeachment or people going to jail would be disappointed, but for those who wanted to see Russia-gate bring down President Trump and his administration, there was still hope.
Talking to New York Times political correspondent Nick Confessore, Scarborough remarked, "Churchill is quoted all the time and one particular quote that gets a lot of use, but seems to apply here as well any political situation I've ever seen, that 'this is not the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning."
The context for the Churchill's "End of the Beginning" speech was in announcing the defeat of Erwin Rommel at the Second Battle of El Alamein that sent Rommel's forces retreating across North Africa where they would eventually be defeated at Tunisia-- marking an end to the Axis campaign in North Africa and paving the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily and then of Italy itself. In his memoirs, Churchill would write, "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."
Comparing preventing Hitler from conquering the Suez Canal and the oil fields that lay beyond was certainly a strange comparison to a special counsel that has thus far only resulted in charges unrelated to activities during Trump Campaign. Scarborough explained in his bizarre comparison that, "Robert Mueller has done a lot of leg work for a lot of prosecutors, especially the Southern District of New York... He's just giving the facts, he's going to drop the report and then it will be up to other prosecutors like the Southern District of New York to finish his job and decide who gets prosecuted."
For his part, Confessore agreed and added that the political fight was only just beginning. He said that despite the Mueller Investigation coming to an end, "Now the House is controlled by Democrats, they have their own investigation and if they believe the Mueller Probe has wrapped up, it's go time in every way for House Democrats."
It appears likely that the Mueller Report will not be the presidency-ending report that some were hoping it would be and so Morning Joe is trying to tamper expectations, but still keep hope alive that Trump and his confidants might still be pulled down by U.S. Attorneys using information Mueller has uncovered. Confessore talked about how people can expect an "absolutely insane" political climate in the lead up to 2020, one explanation for that insanity could be people like Scarborough comparing Trump to Hitler and, wittingly or unwittingly, anyone who investigates him to Churchill.
Here is a transcript for the February 25 show:
MSNBC
Morning Joe
7:05 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know Nick Confessore, Churchill is quoted all the time and one particular quote that gets a lot of use, but seems to apply here as well as any political situation I’ve ever seen, that is “this is not the beginning of the end but it may be the end of the beginning’ Which is to say Robert Mueller has done a lot of leg work for a lot of prosecutors, especially the Southern District of New York and for those who believed the Mueller Report would be dropped, there would be a big explosion and then impeachment or everyone would go to jail, actually you’re going to see something that plays out far differently. He's just giving the facts, he's going to drop the report and then it will be up to other prosecutors like the Southern District of New York to finish his job and decide who gets prosecuted.
NICK CONFESSORE: Well, Joe, it's natural but also a mistake to view the Mueller Report as the exclamation point on this whole probe I think. We have already learned a lot from the indictments and subpoenas and action by other prosecutors in connection with this probe, but he is not a reporter, Bob Mueller. He's not running a book report. He's not obligated and in some cases he's probably prohibited from revealing or divulging all of the things that his investigation has turned up and he may construe his task here pretty narrowly to simply report back to the Attorney General on some narrow questions about the President and Russia involvement, and obstruction down the line. So I think you're right that this is the beginning of a long, long skirmish becoming a battle in American politics. If up think the last two years has been crazy, I think the next year and a half is going to be absolutely insane because the President is going to be at stake, and the presidency is, and I think the difference is when Mueller started, Washington was firmly in control of the President's party and he was the only essentially the only potential pull of accountability for this President, but now the House is controlled by Democrats, they have their own investigation and if they believe the Mueller probe has wrapped up, it's go time in every way for House Democrats.
