"After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my ’collusion with the Russians,’ nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!," tweeted President Donald Trump this morning. Mr. Trump isn’t known for understatement, but in this case his argument is stronger than he suggests, because then-Director Jim Comey’s FBI began looking for evidence of collusion nearly a full year ago. It still hasn’t appeared, which means that Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting an investigation in search of a premise. But if this is starting to look like the Seinfeld of federal productions--a show about nothing--recent events suggest it could end up being about something worse.
Mr. Mueller has a sterling reputation and a long record of service to the United States, including as a decorated Marine in Vietnam and as Mr. Comey’s predecessor atop the FBI. He is known for his independence and professionalism, which makes recent media reports about his burgeoning investigation rather puzzling.
CNN reports today that Mr. Mueller has already hired 13 lawyers and plans to hire more. The network describes the investigative team:
Among them are James Quarles and Jeannie Rhee, both of whom Mueller brought over from his old firm, WilmerHale. He’s also hired Andrew Weissmann, who led the Enron investigation.
"That is a great, great team of complete professionals, so let’s let him do his job," former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, told ABC News.
While only five attorneys have been identified, concerns have come up over the political leanings of Quarles, Rhee and Weissmann. They have donated overwhelmingly to Democrats, totaling more than $53,000 since 1988, according to a CNN analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
If Mr. Mueller promptly exonerates the President, the presence of partisan Democrats on the investigative team will certainly lend credibility to Mr. Mueller’s findings. In a similar way, the presence of Trump donors on the team would bolster Mr. Mueller’s case if he ended up claiming that the President did something wrong.
Conscientious people--and even attorneys--can put their politics aside and perform honest service. But rather than deciding which political partisans to engage in this work, shouldn’t Mr. Mueller be seeking people who don’t have a particular rooting interest in the outcome? For both the appearance and the reality of a fair inquiry, an independent staff would seem to be an obvious objective when assembling the team.
Is it hard to find good lawyers who aren’t political activists? Mr. Mueller is obviously comfortable hiring former WilmerHale colleagues, and it turns out it’s not so easy finding attorneys there who aren’t partisans. The firm’s investigative and criminal litigation practice group is one obvious place to look for lawyers to join the Russia investigation. Both co-chairs of this group at WilmerHale are Democratic donors, according to OpenSecrets.org. This group is part of a larger "Litigation/Controversy Department," and its chair and all four vice chairs are also Democratic check-writers, though a couple of them have also contributed to Republicans. Many of the more junior attorneys are also active in politics, which means Mr. Mueller may need to get outside his comfort zone if he wants more independent thinkers.
Again, just because Mr. Mueller hired people who gave hefty donations to Democrats doesn’t mean these lawyers can’t do a professional job searching for the long-sought evidence of collusion. But then what are we to make of the Washington Post report this week with various anonymous sources saying Mr. Mueller’s team is investigating if the President obstructed justice--and then another Post report based on leaks saying Team Mueller is looking into presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner’s business dealings?
As for the idea that Mr. Trump might have obstructed justice, Andy McCarthy and Alan Dershowitz and Michael McConnell have separately explained why this is a big stretch, and Richard Epstein makes the case that if anyone in this drama is vulnerable to a possible obstruction charge, it’s Mr. Comey.
But whatever one believes about the President, the Post reports make Mr. Mueller’s team look like political hacks focused on providing inappropriate leaks from an investigation just barely in progress, rather than professionals who are putting aside their politics to do a public service. This is assuming the Post reports are accurate.
Yesterday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein released this statement:
Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous ’officials,’ particularly when they do not identify the country ‐ let alone the branch or agency of government ‐ with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated. Americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations. The Department of Justice has a long-established policy to neither confirm nor deny such allegations.
Is he saying this is another case of fake news? If not, it suggests that Mr. Mueller has already made significant errors in staffing his investigation.
#5
It takes honest and true men of goodwill to make such a system work.
And then came the lawyers.
And then came the gaming of the system.
And then the people discovered that they could vote themselves a raise.
Then the criminals and the deviants became a noisy and significant force in the destiny of the FUSA.
And it became necessary to rebalance our lives.
The reboot became very difficult, like excising a cancer.
Will the patient live?
Stay tuned.
The patient may live but will not be the same
Such is the cycle of life and death.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/17/2017 12:30 Comments ||
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#6
CNN reports today that Mr. Mueller has already hired 13 lawyers and plans to hire more.
Full employment of lawyers et al lobbyists who's original fed jobs diminished in the new administration. Back to empire building!
[Wash Times] Special counsel Robert Mueller could have a tough time making an obstruction of justice case stick against President Trump, according to legal analysts, who said he will have to overcome a number of "unique hurdles" -- not the least of which is a decades-old Justice Department ruling that a sitting president can’t be charged.
Analysts say it will be up to Mr. Mueller to decide whether to accept the long-standing opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel, which ruled in 1973 and again in 2000 that a president has immunity from criminal prosecution.
It’s also not clear that FBI investigations count as "proceedings" that could be obstructed under one of the legal statutes that might be cited in an obstruction case, according to a legal memo prepared last month by the Congressional Research Service.
"Courts have not reached consensus on whether an FBI investigation meets this standard," the report says of 18 U.S.C. 1505, which applies generally to obstruction of administrative proceedings.
Mr. Mueller’s office declined to comment Thursday on reports that the special prosecutor’s probe had expanded from Russian meddling in the November presidential election to questions of whether Mr. Trump tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.
#2
Mueller has done wrong. He is a leaker, Comey is a leaker, Lynch is still in the clear and there is no oversight on this monster.
This is an Investigation in search of a crime and it must be shut down as it had no Legal intended purpose. I will leave that at the feet of the House Republicans to get this idiot train back on track.
Primary them all I say. No change in obamacare? primary them all. Not backing President in circus
Primary them all. Not locking the border
Primary them all. Problems with your intestines?
Primary them all. Democrats owning government?
Primary them all
Off year Founders day
BTW
Both these G-men are un-professional as hell and this is how you got the Clintons. SOO Corrupt.
No MAN points at all.
Congrats on this Frankensteeeeen.
[The Hill] President Trump’s legal team and political allies have launched a preemptive strike against special counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump’s backers are furious about a story that appeared Wednesday in The Washington Post, in which five anonymous sources alleged that the president is the target of an obstruction of justice investigation for allegedly trying to bury an FBI probe into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
The timing of that story, which was published on Trump’s birthday and a week after the White House believed the president had moved beyond allegations of collusion with Russia in the presidential election, was viewed by Trump’s allies as evidence that the story was planted by law enforcement officials to ensure a shadow of suspicion would remain.
It is unclear whether the Post story was leaked by the special counsel, the FBI, former FBI Director James Comey and his allies, or witnesses that have been contacted by those law enforcement agencies as part of the investigation.
Many legal experts suspect the leaks didn’t come from the special counsel or from current or former FBI officials, but rather from those who have been reached for questioning as part of the probe -- or their staffers.
"The Special Counsel’s Office has undertaken stringent controls to prohibit unauthorized disclosures that deal severely with any member who engages in this conduct," Mueller spokesman Peter Carr told The Hill.
That hasn’t been enough to stop a barrage of attacks against the special counsel and Mueller, the lead investigator, who otherwise enjoys the confidence of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
#4
The WAPO and NYT are historical 'Deep State' platforms of disinformation and psychological warfare. In the popular vernacular it's called "Fake News." Unfortunately it's purpose is far worse than simply "Fake."
#5
Wait a minute. How long does it take to investigate Comey's claim that Trump expressed hope that the investigation of General Flynn could be wrapped up soon? What other evidence besides Comey's memo could there be? Are they looking inside closets and under beds for something more? Are they interviewing flies on the wall? What do they expect to find?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/17/2017 10:37 Comments ||
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#6
How can there possibly be "obstruction" when POTUS could have simply directed Comey to terminate the investigation ?
[WashingtonTimes] So much for defanging the poisonous debate in Washington.
Dozens of congressional staffers erupted into boos, jeers and even vulgar gesticulations Thursday when President Trump appeared in a video at the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park.
Mr. Trump delivered a message of unity, but some fans in the stands weren’t having any of it.
One man shouted an expletive at the video screen as Mr. Trump was telling the fans: "We are showing the world we will not be intimidated by threats."
The episode marred what had been a night celebrating those wounded in Wednesday’s murderous attack on GOP players practicing for the game.
When both teams went to second base -- the symbolic spot where Rep. Steve Scalise was wounded in the attack at the Alexandria practice field -- to kneel and pray, some mocked the prayer, too. The fans appeared to be Democratic staffers, having booed the announcement of several members of the GOP lineup.
Most fans were in the correct mood, however, chanting U-S-A and giving a loud standing ovation to Capitol Police Special Agent David Bailey, who along with two other special agents at the field Wednesday were credited with saving the lives of dozens of lawmakers and staffers.
Agent Bailey threw out the first pitch.
In the wake of the attack Wednesday, leaders in both parties have pleaded for civility in the political conversation.
In this modern age, somebody must have got those jeering and cat-calling on video. It's time to name and shame, Alinsky style. Make them live up to their claimed ideals.
#1
I really, really hope that someone has a video of this. It is one of those "too good to check" stories and some hard proof and the public shaming of offenders would be most welcome.
#3
I have extended considerable effort over the past few hours attempting to confirm [find one or more corroborating sources] this 'booing' event. I've found nothing so far. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it simply means I've been unable to find anything.
#5
No armistice or hudna. There is no unity. The violence will continue because the Left has yet to suffer any consequences for their actions. Meanwhile, the Right has now adopted the tactics of the Left and are proving quite successful at it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/17/2017 9:34 Comments ||
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A local Democratic Party official was caught on videotape verbally accosting signature gatherers in California during Pride weekend with a torrent of curse words and demanding to know, "Which one of you --holes is the gay?"The official, Jeff LeTourneau, followed up by saying, "You are a f--ing disgrace to any gay person I know, you piece of s--."The exchange occurred in the parking lot of a Fullerton, Calif., Walmart where LeTourneau, a Vice-Chair with the Democratic Party of Orange County who is gay, discovered that gay volunteers were helping a grassroots group collect signatures to unseat Democratic state Sen. Josh Newman. The effort is in response to a gas tax hike that recently passed the Legislature along party lines....Throughout the exchange, DeMaio and the publisher of a gay news site could be heard trying to placate LeTourneau with phrases like "Don’t be hateful" and "Don’t be so angry."At one point, LeTourneau got into an exchange with a shopper who approached the petition table and criticized the Vice-Chair for blocking access. She asked him to move."I don’t need to step away, are you kidding me?" he said. "I’m not stepping away."
[The Hill] Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said it’s premature to discuss "retaliatory actions" on new U.S. sanctions toward Moscow.
"We need to see how it is all going to be. That is why it is premature to speak publicly about our retaliatory actions," Putin said, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration has sought to avoid new sanctions in order to avoid souring the U.S.-Russia relationship that has shown signs of improvement under President Trump.
However Congress is moving on its own toward increased censure for Moscow. The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia and giving Congress the ability to block Trump from lifting current sanctions.
The sanctions include censure for any individuals tied to "malicious cyber activity" or to Russia's intelligence and defense sectors and entities supplying weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
Putin warned new sanctions "will of course complicate the Russian-American relationship," according to ABC News.
The legislation next has to clear a House vote. Yet another attempt to stir shi* up and derail the efforts of POTUS and Secretary of State Tillerson.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Wash Times] Special counsel Robert Mueller could have a tough time making an obstruction of justice case stick against President Trump, according to legal analysts, who said he will have to overcome a number of "unique hurdles" -- not the least of which is a decades-old Justice Department ruling that a sitting president can’t be charged.
