Question about Mueller probe. Legal Eagles needed.

10/29/17 | sff

[SoFloFreeper]

Okay, the fake news is all abuzz about Mueller and indictment and grand jury and arrests on Monday (maybe)...and it all seems to stem from (again) unnamed sources.

Well, correct me if I am WRONG, but I could have sworn that when this whole stupid "TrumpRussia" crap started, it was made clear that MUELLER was appointed as Special Counsel, NOT a special prosecutor. ANYTHING he discovered would be brought to DOJ and the DOJ would decide whether to pursue indictment. Am I wrong?

Additionally, why would there be an ARREST? Here I really don't get it. If someone is the target of a grand jury, they PROBABLY know and have lawyered up, right?

One more question: are we CERTAIN a grand jury has been empaneled? I guess I recall hearing for one about General Flynn...but I thought that was separate from Mueller.

Thanks to all of you who are smarter than me. Which is likely all of you.

[SoFloFreeper]

Thanks.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

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[Mariner]

Whether he’s called a “Special Counsel” or “Special Prosecutor”, he can’t indict without approval of DOJ.

He can’t even form a Grand Jury without DOJ.

Historically, DOJ gives them what they ask for.

[CincyRichieRich]

Good questions...see if u can pull LS into this thread. He’s informed and sharp.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I would just say there are too many moving parts to worry or speculate about what might or might not happen.

As to whom may be arrested Monday, the obvious answers are Flynn or Manafort. Nobody is opining that DJT Jr. might be the one. That would certainly be a shock. I think that Mueller is under pressure to produce....something. The something he might believe to be his best shot is IMO something that would drag this thing out til election 2018. Nobody really cares much about the fate of Manafort or Flynn. They were in arguably quite careless about failing to disclose prior relationships with the Russians. They’d be low hanging fruit that could be harassed and bankrupted for another year or so.

I’m beginning to think that Trump’s best move might be to have military police arrest Mueller for his concealment of the U-1 deal.

But it’s all hot air at this point.

[JohnnyP]

Can he order a ham and cheese on rye?

[DJ Taylor]

IMHO, this “Indictment” announcement was put out just to knock “Uranium One” off the headlines for the weekend, and it worked.

[Cementjungle]

Yes, we know the grand jury was empaneled back in August. That's public record.

As far as the arrest rumors, those seem to be based on there having been "a flurry of activity" in the grand jury room Friday.

Beyond that, we don't know anything, except that there's a ton of pressure on crooked Mueller to do "something" to help the swamp keep running from the mounting evidence against them on a number of fronts.

I suspect that about 95% of Congress, the DOJ, the FBI and other career "public servants" are sweating bullets about dozens of crooked activities on their resumes. If Trump stays in office much longer, they are all at risk of serious repercussions for any number of things.

Desperation is taking over in D.C. Its going to be a wild ride for a while as stuff starts to shake loose.

[1FreeAmerican]

Which means POTUS knows the details. And based on his latest tweet storm the DNC and cankles are in some seriously hot water?

[JonPreston]

He can’t even form a Grand Jury without DOJ.

I understand Mueller is using a DC grand jury and they are always empaneled, so it wasn't necessary for him to request one.

[TexasCruzin]

What headline? There haven’t been any U1 headlines.

[Alberta's Child]

Something to keep in mind here is that this news of a pending indictment doesn't seem to have been reported the way you would expect to see something like this reported. In fact, CNN was the only one reporting it for a while, and even when other media outlets began reporting it they mostly just reported it with narratives like: "CNN is reporting that indictments are pending."

This leads me to believe that nobody leaked anything to CNN (mainly because that would be a crime). Instead, CNN learned about this through some innocuous source like overhearing a conversation in the courthouse where the indictments were handed up.

It's also worth noting that CNN's report indicated that the indictments came from a grand jury in the D.C. district of the Federal courts. Mueller's team actually has two grand juries empaneled -- one in D.C. and the other in Virginia. The Virginia grand jury is important for a couple of reasons:

1. I believe the U.S. attorney for the Virginia district is charged with overseeing cases involving the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

2. Just hours before the indictments were reported by CNN, it was reported that Dana Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Virginia district, had announced his resignation. It's unlikely that the timing of these reports was a coincidence, so it could mean that either Boente has some relationship to the D.C. indictments (as a witness or other party, not as a target) or the work of the Virginia grand jury is coming to an end.

[OrioleFan]

Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. How about going through the process of elimination - eliminating the people Mueller won’t indict. Start with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, James Comey, Loretta Lynch, himself, Susan Rice, Samantha Powers, James Clapper, John Brennan, Rod Rosenstein, and George Soros.

[Nifster]

He convened a Grand Jury

[Parley Baer]

“Which means POTUS knows the details. And based on his latest tweet storm the DNC and cankles are in some seriously hot water?”

Funny, as that is how I read his latest tweet. “Do something”. I think he knows.

[Nifster]

Trump would not know the details. In fact if the Grand Jury handed down indictments no one should know outside of the GJ room. Leaks,which are against the law, have been made. That needs to be treated harshly

Frankly Mueller and crew should be defunded, disbanded, disbarred, and then prosecuted

[bigbob]

I’m not a lawyer so I just cut and paste from legal information sites, but clearly the Dept. of Justice, under the leadership of AG Sessions and Deputy AG Rosenstein, have been involved in setting up the Grand Jury that “Mueller created”...

“The federal prosecutor, or Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”), is the primary government official interacting with the federal grand jury. The federal prosecutor leads all grand jury sessions, although he cannot testify or be present during grand jury deliberations.”

So you see, all this nonsensical ranting about “Where is Jess Sessions” is going to make people feel really dumb when they finally realize how involved he has been all along.

[stylin19a]

Rosenstein's authorization appoints Mueller as special counsel but allows both.

"If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters."
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/967231/download

I have submitted an FOIA request, (that DOJ has now deferred), where I am asking for as such.:

Under 28 CFR 600.3 (b) - Special Counsel "(b) The Attorney General shall consult with the Assistant Attorney General for Administration to ensure an appropriate method of appointment, and to ensure that a Special Counsel undergoes an appropriate background investigation and a detailed review of ethics and conflicts of interest issues. A Special Counsel shall be appointed as a “confidential employee” as defined in 5 U.S.C. 7511(b)(2)(C)."

Please provide documentation of the background investigation and the detailed review of ethics and conflicts of interest made on behalf of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

[Meet the New Boss]

A special counsel IS a prosecutor. He has the same power as a US Attorney to prosecute crimes in the federal courts. He can bring indictments without first obtaining permission of DOJ as to the matters that he was given jurisdiction over in his appointment letter.

Now, if he wants to investigate and prosecute matters outside the matters he was given jurisdiction over, then he has to consult with the AG who can decide not to allow the special counsel to investigate and prosecute those matters. But the jurisdiction given Mueller was so broadly written this is not going to be a problem for him as a practical matter.

[richardtavor]

Great analysis. Why leak it when it would be announced on Monday anyway.