Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Is Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation

This is a good measure of how alternate the conservative alternate reality is. In The Conservative Zone, this guy was just doing what everybody knows the mean ol' Dems did to St. Kavanaugh. He was giving the Dems some of their own dirty medicine.

Then he woke up and found himself in the real world, where events aren't fungible. "To Serve Man", he discovers, is actually a cookbook. Pan to Rod Serling, cue the theme music.

 

Can't wait for the subpoena to drop...

 

Mueller may have already subpoena Donald Trump​

Politico had reported that Mueller may have filed legal proceedings to subpoena the president to testify in front of Mueller’s grand jury as far back as mid-August.

• On August 16, a sealed grand jury case was triggered in the Washington D.C. federal district court. Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell presided over the case and, according to Politico, issued a ruling on September 19.

A conversation overheard by Politico’s Nelson W. Cunningham in the D.C. clerk’s office revealed that the special counsel was involved in the sealed grand jury case and prevailed. However, five days after Chief Judge Howell’s ruling, one of the parties appealed the decision, referring the case to the D.C. Circuit.

Although the identity of the witness on the docket remains undisclosed, the docket entry reveals prominent information about the case. Firstly, the anonymous witness appealed to the D.C. Circuit exceptionally fast, just five days after losing in the district court.

The appeals court was also swift in its response. The appeals court responded the day after receiving the motion.​

Politico reported that on October 3, the appeals court dismissed the appeal due to a procedural flaw.​

• By October 5, the lower court judge had fixed the flaw and the witness was able to re-appeal.

Once again, when the case was re-appealed, the appellate court acted with surprising speed. In normal cases, a procedural mistake in the lower court could take weeks or months to correct. In this case, it caused a delay to the proceeding of less than a week.​

Once the case was back on the D.C. Circuit, the case continued to proceed at breakneck speed. The witness had only 11 days to file briefs and the special counsel had two weeks to respond. Oral arguments are set for after the midterms, on December 14.

It isn’t just the speed at which the case proceeded that suggested the President himself could be the witness. Following the anonymous witness’ loss in the district court, he petitioned for a hearing en banc. This means that the case is deemed so important that all 10 D.C. Circuit judges would convene immediately and review the order.

It is telling that when this petition arose, Judge Gregory Katsas, President Trump’s only appointee to the D.C. Circuit recused himself. Katsas previously served in the Trump administration as a deputy to the White House counsel. In his role in the White House, he would have handled legal issues for the executive branch.

If the witness on the case was President Trump, Katsas would feel pressure to recuse himself. He owes his appointment to the President and the President was his former client, indicating a clear conflict of interest in the case.

There is no definitive proof pointing to Trump as the witness. However, we know that special counsel Robert Mueller was involved in the case and that Judge Howell ruled in the special counsel’s favor.

It is also clear that the case has been given extreme priority in the D.C. Circuit and that Judge Katsas recused himself from the en banc petition.

These legal rumblings could represent storm clouds gathering in the distance. There will be no rain before the midterms. But once they are out of the way, if the witness on the docket is the President, there might just be a December storm heading for Washington D.C.




​

https://hillreporter.com/robert-mueller-may-have-subpoenaed-donald-trump-12349

 

Mmmhmmm...scheduled to avoid the midterms...

 

Pretty fascinating story and even if it’s not Donald, it’s obviously someone up there that’s a key witness and I feel like we still know small portions of this case.

Also brings us back full circle to the Kavanaugh dilemma. Pretty sure Kavanaugh was on the DC circuit back in August and this presents a massive red flag. The president potentially was able to hand pick a justice who already weighed in on his criminal case.

 

Great read and fascinating stuff.

 

Me neither. But it does once again spot a light on the concept of always believing the victim. There can be lots of motivations for a person to participate in false accusations. I get that me too appears to be evolving (perhaps) but the original version was severely flawed.

 

Meanwhile, trump maneuvers to replace Rosenstein...

 

Wow.

...well...

...I hear they never bothered sharpening the guillotines before all those hundreds of executions during the French Revolution, so I guess this is progress...

 

Emoluments. Money laundering. Obstruction. Criminal conspiracy.

 

it's more than a drip

 

Mueller - Batter up !

DD

 

I almost want to start a new thread on this:

Should Mueller wait until the new dem House is in power before reporting any findings? Will the House have the power, the options to protect the investigation?

I've read a lot of reports that Trump was waiting until after the election to clean house, fire Rosenstein and others, maybe Mueller should just get in gear and reveal some findings before Trump can completely gum up the works.

 

Mueller should report to Congress when he is done, whenever that is. I think it is more likely than not that Mueller still has months to go.

The House will not have the power to protect he investigation. The House and Senate working together might be able to pass legislation to protect Mueller, which Trump will certainly veto. With a veto proof majority the vote would be token.

 

At this point the senate would never vote to protect mueller. Trump owns the senate. I expect him to fire sessions and move to end or obstruct mueller without repercussion

 

Why couldn't the House simply re-hire him to continue the investigation if he is fired?

 

Only two years until the next election.