WASHINGTON – During the much anticipated Robert Mueller testimony, Vermont Congressman Peter Welch used his five minutes to focus on a tangentially related line of questioning focused partially on Vermont’s opioid crisis. His question were a segue from previous questions confirming that President Trump could be charged with serious crimes once he leaves office. The full transcript is below:
Peter Welch: “Can a member of Congress be charged with a crime after leaving office? For instance, let’s suppose a congressman, or woman, were to dilute Obamacare by supporting amendments to limit the Drug Enforcement Agency’s ability to stop suspicious shipments of opiates, and then invested money in companies that made Vicodin, maybe somewhere between $215,000 to $550,000 in Rite Aid and bought holdings in Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, and AstraZeneca and even more stock in the major shipping companies that were lobbying for the amendment? Say a local paper had written about it, it was on 60 Minutes, Washington Post, but people mostly forgot, but that congress person wonders if they can be charged for anything after they leave office? Even though it’s not insider trading because they disclosed it? Asking for a friend.”
Robert Mueller: “Could you repeat the question?”
Congressman Welch ran out of time at that point, and his question remained unanswered. Speaking to press later, Welch said only that he was unsatisfied with Mueller’s answer, and would continue to stay in office indefinitely, “just to be safe.”
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