Posted on 07/30/2017 4:10:14 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
Special Counsel charter was unnecessarily broad, perhaps because Mueller so specified. Rosenstein should limit or refine it (since Russia-Russia-Russia is gone, or for other changed facts or reasons).
all true MyLife, but railroads dug up the rails and ties to avoid the crushing property taxes which would not relent or rebate even through tracks were not being used (dormant) due to switch over to truck commerce.
More gubmint
If Sessions had not recused himself, would that have prevented him or Rosenstein from appointing a special counsel after the firing of Comey and subsequent leaks to the press by Comey suggesting possible obstruction of justice?
Would Sessions have appointed a special counsel after the disclosure of the DJT Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer under the premise that she was bringing damaging information on Hillary from the Russian government to support his father's bid for the Presidency?
It is hard to blame Sessions' Original Sin of recusal for all that has gone on since then. Do we want Sessions to act more like Holder and Lynch rather than operating under the Rule of Law and adhering to DOJ policies?
The Spotlight Shifts to the DOJ Inspector General
As Daphna Renan and David Pozen note, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s memorandum to Attorney General Sessions on Comey’s action last summer, which was the ostensible basis for firing FBI Director James Comey, circumvented the ongoing investigation into Comey’s actions by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. That investigation, and Horowitz himself, are now about to assume center stage in the Comey firing drama.
Horowitz is a former prosecutor (an AUSA in SDNY from 1991 to 1999) who was nominated for the DOJ IG slot by President Obama and has served in that role for five years. He is the chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, which advises and develops standards for inspectors general across executive branch departments. He is probably best known to date for his highly critical 514-page report on the “Fast and Furious” program run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In January 2017, Horowitz announced that he was opening an investigation into Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation. According to the one-page OIG announcement, the investigation will include (among other topics) “[a]llegations that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed in connection with, or in actions leading up to or related to, the FBI Director’s public announcement July 5, 2016, and the Director’s letters to Congress on October 28 and November 6, 2016, and that certain underlying investigative decisions were based on improper considerations.”
In response to the Horowitz investigation, Comey stated: “I want that inspection because I want my story told.” Comey has also described Horowitz as “professional and independent.” And that is his general reputation.
Horowitz’s investigation into Comey’s behavior is ongoing. It is bound to uncover a lot of facts we don’t yet know about, and to reach richer and more complex conclusions than the ones in Rosenstein’s slapdash memorandum. Since the Rosenstein memorandum was the supposed basis for the President’s firing of Comey, the Horowitz investigation has the potential to undermine, or call into question, the basis for that firing. The investigation thus raises a number of intriguing questions, including:
How might Attorney General Sessions and his Deputy Rosenstein react if Horowitz discerns facts or reaches conclusions about Comey’s behavior that are contrary to or in tension with Rosenstein’s memorandum? Might they try to shut down the investigation or prevent the release of its conclusions? The IG Act provides that “[n]either the head of the establishment nor the officer next in rank below such head shall prevent or prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing an audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpoena during the course of any audit or investigation.” But 5 U.S.C. app. § 8E also says that the Attorney General can assert supervision and control over DOJ IG “audits or investigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, which require access to sensitive information concerning,” among others, “ongoing civil or criminal investigations or proceedings,” “intelligence or counterintelligence matters,” or “other matters the disclosure of which would constitute a serious threat to national security.” Will Sessions or Rosenstein invoke these provisions to shut down Horowitz?
How will President Trump react once he realizes that the reasons for his decision to fire Comey will potentially be second-guessed by an Obama appointee? Will he fire Horowitz as he did Obama appointees Sally Yates and James Comey? Three months ago Jeffrey Toobin worried that Trump might shut down the IG investigation. But now the stakes of the investigation, and the potential downsides of allowing it to reach completion, are much larger.
If Trump decides to fire Horowitz, will he abide by the IG statute’s requirement that he give Congress 30 days’ notice before doing so, during which period Horowitz could continue to gather facts on the matter? Or will he follow the 1977 OLC opinion that concluded that the restriction was unconstitutional?
Will Horowitz accept House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz’s request to investigate the firing of James Comey? If he does, will Trump and Sessions allow it to continue? The Inspector General Statute authorizes the IG to investigate at least the DOJ side of the firing, which could reveal a lot of truthful detail about the President’s decision. Sessions, Rosenstein, or Trump might not like that.
Senator Grassley counseled critics of the Comey firing to “suck it up and move on.” But Senator Grassley is also a famous supporter of inspectors general. And indeed, on November 2, he wrote a letter to Horowitz calling on him to intercede in the investigation into Hillary Clinton. Grassley wrote: “The public’s lack of confidence in the Justice Department’s ability to handle investigations related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton impartially ought to be of grave concern for its leadership. The entire matter is in desperate need of independent, objective, non-partisan oversight. As the Inspector General, that is your statutory duty.” Will Senator Grassley stand by this position, or will he now counsel Horowitz to suck it up and move on?
These and many other questions are now in play in connection with the more-important-than-ever DOJ Inspector General.
Here is the OIG January 12, 2017 announcement of the investigation of Comey.
I agree with you, but two points: (1) I blame Rosenstein for the cluster, but him having no loyalty to Trump means appointing a special counsel is the safe way out for him, but why did he choose Mueller, a guy with obvious conflicts even before Coimey clarified as the chief protagonist? He could have gone outside of the beltway, and (2) we all know how much trouble special counsels always cause for the sitting administration (Cox, Walsh, Fitzpatrick, Starr, Jaworski). Extremely disruptive. That’s why the SC law was allowed to expire. So the first thing off the bat, we have a freakin bloodhound on Trump who makes a beeline for his taxes and all business records. Geesh!
Senator Collins sounds OLD, VERY OLD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2S_3TMt49I
Gov. Kasich launches into endless praise of himself, does not discount presidential run in 2020.
----------------------------
MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Corey Lewandowski, former manager of President Trump's presidential campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kaWvN6H3DU
Susan Collins goes on with silly reasons she pretends to be Republican, Corey Lewandowski defends The Donald
------------------------------
FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36qbJtsk9Xs
Diane Feinstein discusses judiciary
-------------------------
THIS WEEK (ABC): Price; John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign; Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcQKOfIb4-4
the brillian John Podesta makes recommendations for head of DHS and what Donald Trump needs to do. Heh
--------------------------
STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Mick Mulvaney, director of White House budget office; Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVflgZ3fp4o
Susan Collins sings praises to John McCain
This is how it is....
Maine First Congressional District.....covers 20% of the state. Has the bulk of Maine’s population. Contains Portland, Maine’s moonbat central. Liberal district. Carried by Hillary for one electoral vote.
Second Congressional District....covers 80% of the state of Maine. More conservative than the First district. 27,000 square miles. Largest congressional district in area east of the Mississippi. Trump beat Hillary by ten points in November here. Trump received one electoral vote.
Hillary Rotten Criminal won the state by 2.7% because of the population disparity between the liberal first district and the more conservative second district. Hillary received two more electoral votes for carrying the state.
Donald Trump and his family made many trips to the second district during the campaign. The reason: Trump’s people had him at 269 electoral votes, and they thought they needed that one electoral vote to reach 270. With the victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Florida and North Carolina, they didn’t need that one electoral vote, but they got it anyway.
Collins keeps getting re-elected (I did a write in for someone else) because the dems always run an obscure state state senator who is a far-left moonbat that no one ever heard of, therefore making Collins look good in comparison, even though she sucks.
Meanwhile, we have Paul LePage as our GOP governor. He is VERY conservative. Signed the Constitutional carry bill a few years ago. Upon taking office in January 2011, he ended Maine’s status as a sanctuary state within days of being sworn in.
LePage was expected to challenge Angus King for the U.S. Senate next year (because of term limits, LePage can’t run again for governor until 2022 at the earliest). LePage announced a month or two again that he will NOT run for the U.S. Senate, that he wants to push his agenda through during his last term as governor.
However, people keep asking LePage to run for the Senate next year, and after hearing him on local talk radio recently, he seems to be reconsidering his decision NOT to run.
Sessions picked him as his #2, and I'm sure he put some thought into the pick. Sessions isn't infallible, but he would value honesty and fealty to the law. Sessions also picked Miller (for his own staff, as senator), so we get an idea about the sort of governing principles he looks for. I can't picture Sessions knowingly picking a "living constitution" type person for that role.
Other than that, Rosenstein has his own history. Nothing jumps out as "oh crap" to me, but he's also not a firebrand Federalist Society type.
-- I mean Sessions' recusal did not trigger a Special Counsel. --
That correct, and SC is more or less an "institutional" bail out, meaning no matter who is in the institution, the institution looks biased for this case.
-- Look at how many scandals Obama had where NO SC was appointed by Holder and then Lynch --
That pattern can be continued, just switch parties. My take is that FR prefers a partisan AG over one who follows the rule of law. That is not to say that Hillary ought to get off or Trump campaign ought to be investigated. I'm referring only to the appearance of bias.
-- Rosenstein might be a real dud --
His "fire Comey" memo is historical. It is awesome. He might be a dud, but he's done at least one thing really really good.
No, it's not. Mueller has misread it. The charter should be read as Trump campaign ONLY.
-- Rosenstein should limit or refine it ... --
The pushback in that direction is coming. Trump has a good team working on that, including playing the press. That is necessary, because this entire with hunt is a political exercise, not a legal one, and it has to be unwound as a political exercise.
I think Sessions recusals are all well taken, and work not only to his benefit, but also to Trump's benefit.
I dismiss the uniformed and emotional chatter otherwise as just that, and generally make no effort to persuade otherwise. What's the point of that? Minds are made.
Well, yes, it DOES.
Kindly take you self off of this thread and you HuffPo articles with them. Might as well post from DU.
You have a well-known anti-Trump agenda we do not need here.
I'll be sure to stay off your threads, deal?
Makes sense, Thanks.
That could happen. It’s gonna backfire on the dems one day depending on the mad muzzies. They hate all infidels not just us.
I stopped dependig on Rosenstein some time ago what about you?
I live in a low union area. We are thriving. Y-Town still clings to the past and it will be very hard to break that mentality. For some the trinity is The Father, The Son and John L. Lewis.
No. You posted to me on this thread. Stop it. The Huffpo article is important as it relates to what happened this morning from scaramucci attack dog.
The VERACITY isn’t important...although clearly there is quite bit of truth to that article.
I dont have a well known anti trump agenda..but I do have a bright red line..when that happens....I will have to stay off this site until Muellers investigation concludes
I think now we see why obama was always surronded by lawyers.If you are a criminal the only way to stay out of trouble is lawyer up which apparently ozero did for eight years.
For Trump he needs to be wary of legal tricksters, those who promise one thing and deliver another.
thanks.
Yeah that would be great.Don’t know what her plans are.
This is the last post to you I’ll make. Please stay off this thread.
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