TIME TO END THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION
Posted by Tim Bryce on December 4, 2018
BRYCE ON POLITICS
– But not for the reason you may think.
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It’s time to wrap-up the Mueller Investigation, not because they haven’t found anything of substance yet, but because it is simply out of control with no end in sight. Allow me to explain.
I have been a management consultant in the Information Technology field for over forty years and I have met several consultants along the way. Ethical consultants have no problem defining the deliverables for a project, produce a reliable estimate of costs, and calculate a schedule which is all reviewed and agreed upon by the customer before embarking on the project. Unethical consultants are just the antithesis of this; they define no deliverables, they are not held accountable for costs, and fail to produce a reliable timetable of events. This latter type of project, or “boondoggle” I should say, is a gravy train for the consultant. I find it rather remarkable companies still allow such shenanigans to occur.
To illustrate, years ago I had a client in the New York City area who had a bad experience with a “Big 8” consulting firm (which has since been merged down to the “Big 4”). The consultant promised delivery of a new state-of-the-art system, but hedged at giving the customer a scheduled end date. Interestingly, they had no problem producing a monthly invoice like clockwork. This went on for two years where nothing of substance was produced. After much cajoling by the client, the consultant’s project manager finally announced triumphantly to the customer, “We have just finished Phase 1… now we start Phase 2.” “Phase 2?” the customer asked, “How many phases are there?” No answer was forthcoming from the consultant.
This is the same scenario being played out by the Mueller investigation. We have no idea where this investigation is going, how much it is costing, and when it will be completed. From a business perspective, this type of donnybrook is simply unacceptable.
The investigation was initiated by Order Number 3915-2017 from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, Rod J. Rosenstein. Its prime purpose was to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump”. Robert S. Mueller III was appointed Special Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the order was signed May 17th, 2017.
One year and seven months later, the investigation shows no signs of abating and has turned into a distracting political football. As part of Mueller’s investigation, he took over several FBI investigations involving peripheral subjects. Paul Manaford, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, W. Samuel Patten, Richard Pinedo, et al faced a variety of charges in the hopes it would squeeze them to become cooperative witnesses for investigators. So far, we have learned nothing from this tactic.
Now that the midterm elections are over and a new year beckons, it is time to either reorganize this boondoggle, or put it to bed. This reminds me of another client I had in Rochester, New York who had hired another “Big 8” firm to design and develop a new manufacturing system for the company. A team of consultants were assembled and given use of a meeting room where they brainstormed for several months and tacked several poster boards around the room with various ideas drawn up on them. This went on for months with no end in sight. We were contracted to come in, examine the project and make some recommendations. After instructing their systems management how to tackle such an assignment, the systems manager re-assembled the “Big 8” team in the meeting room, he then walked slowly around the room tearing up and discarding the posters. At the end, he said, “Gentlemen, let’s get down to business.”
It’s time for the Mueller investigation to either “get down to business” or get off the pot. Unless, of course, there are parties who do not want it to end as it serves other purposes. Hmm…
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb1557@gmail.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! 
Tim Bryce said
A W.H. of Boulder, Colorado wrote…
“Let us harken back to the Clinton presidency days and the WHITEWATER investigation. I believe Ken Starr was in charge of that one (memory does fade after a couple of decades). I know he spent in excess of $300M on that activity, and it certainly took what I remember as an interminable amount of time to get to the point where … he had basically NOTHING … before the investigation was turned off.
Why do I mention this particular investigation? Oh, it’s the ~$300M spent. You see, around that same time, BIA records will show that a number of reservation schools were in dire need of repairs to make them safe for the kids (and the teachers). One in particular (don’t remember which reservation was involved after all these years) was a school where inspectors had found that it simply was not SAFE for human occupancy at all and needed something like $30M in repairs to bring it up to current codes and standards.
At that time, BIA’s budget for maintenance and repairs for ALL the schools under its responsibility was $10M/year. So, in this particular case, ONE SCHOOL would have taken all of their annual budget for three straight years to get back into proper condition … and that’s not to say there weren’t other schools in similar condition around the country. And, by the way, you and I know that when you extend repairs out over multiple years, the total cost usually exceeds the estimated costs because you have to retain a standing army to do the work longer than you expected.
So, instead of spending $300M on something that ended up nowhere, we could have taken 10% of that funding and put it against that particular school and made it a safe place for education of the kids on that reservation – all in one year! Think about what else could have been done with the remaining $270M.
Now, I’m NOT a Clinton fan at all. And, I probably would have supported an investigation if there was evidence of something amiss – but what I definitely do not like (as you mention in the article) is a “neverending and over-reaching” investigation that ends up spending huge amounts of taxpayer money and goes nowhere.
The other thing I think is wrong with these “special investigator” episodes is the unbridled ability of the SI to hire on as many staff members as s/he wants – no other agency or entity in government is allowed to do that. CONGRESS controls the pursestrings – just like they do for everything else – and they have not exercised the power of the purse (but, I suppose we could agree “what’s new Pussycat?”)”
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Tim Bryce said
An A.B. of Tarpon Springs, Florida wrote…
“I pray that it ends and soon. The DEMS are going to act like animals I fear, in Jan., especially BUGGED EYES from N.Y. I hope Whitaker shuts this down. The DEMS hate him as he is a patriot and I think will do the job.”
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