Posted on 07/23/2017 9:31:27 AM PDT by Cboldt
Rod Rosenstein violated DoJ Regulations when he appointed a Special Counsel. Then Special Counsel Mueller overstepped his jurisdiction. Let's break that down. Here is the appointment.
The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including:
(i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and
(ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and
(iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. S: 600.4(a).
DOJ Order 3215-2017: Appointment of Special Counsel Mueller
Accompanying May 17, 2017 Press Release
Here is the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017.
I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.
Comey March 20, 2017 Testimony
28 CFR 600, the DOJ regulation covering Special Counsel, requires that the DOJ transfer a criminal investigation. Special Counsel has no place in a counterintelligence mission. Here is the opening of 28 CFR 600.1.
The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and [conflict of interest plus public interest]
Substitute Comey's March 20 testimony into Order 3915-2017, and the Order opens like this:
The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the counterintelligence mission of investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election investigation ...
For talking purposes, overlook Rosenstein's improvident and unauthorized transfer of a counterintelligence investigation to a Special Counsel. Maybe that was the only way to dispose of the seditious bomb that Comey set.
Look at the scope of jurisdiction given to Mueller. There is more than one way to analyze the scope of Rosenstein's authorization to Mueller, both end up in the same place, that he is constrained to investigate CAMPAIGN-RELATED matters - and of course obstruction, perjury and so on if anybody tries to fool him on CAMPAIGN-RELATED inquiries.
Rosenstein can only act as AG for matters that AG Sessions has recused from. AG Sessions has only formally recused from matters relating to the Trump campaign.
Comey's March 20 testimony creates this investigative structure:
The "nature of any links between individuals and Russia" is subordinate or secondary to investigating Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller and his acolytes are divorcing the predicate of campaign contact. They read the grant as authorization to investigate the "nature of any links between individuals and Russia", whether that link has anything to do with the campaign or not.
DOJ Order 3915-2017 is even more direct about the authorized scope of investigation. It speaks for itself, with one detail deserving mention.
Remove a certain phrase, and the scope of investigation becomes clear.
"any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and the campaign of President Donald Trump"
When looking at corporate crime, crimes committed by employees off the job are not assigned to the corporation. The target of Mueller's investigation is supposed to be the campaign.
Yes, but with all due respect, what of those options produces a situation that terminates the effort? If whatever Trump or Sekulow or any of these guys does just rattles the Press or writes this guy a letter or any of those other things what’s to prevent this from going on for 5 years?
The concern that I have is more spiritual and tactical....at what point does Trump say “I have the right to fire the special counsel if I wish. Instead I’m going to give him an amount of time to complete this investigation to show his results. Hit it or quit it. This shows that he is in charge. If he never does something that shows that he is in charge ....he will never be in charge. That’s the simplistic tactic I’m sort of floating here. Drop the hammer.
I don’t hold out much hope for Wray helping things. He defended Mueller and sounds like another Deep State guy about the same as Comey.
Maybe Trump didn’t know how far Mueller was going to go but Wray doesn’t seem like a good choice.
Generally, the only valid federal act is that which is authorized by the Constitution. Generally, if it is not in the Constitution it is not a valid federal act. As far as impeachment, the Constitution is silent about how to arrive at impeachment proceedings but it does say the House has sole authority to impeach. "We've always done it this way", is not necessarily the standard for validity.
Although it makes sense for the DOJ to investigate federal officers in other branches because there would not be prima facia conflict of interest, the Constitution certainly doesn't say the DOJ which is in the executive branch and under the President, should investigate the President or executive branch officers.
First of all, what legitimately triggers impeachment (charges)? I surmise probable cause (PC). But by what means is PC determined? Not sure. In regular police work, usually there reasonable suspicion to launch an investigation that may lead to PC and custodial interrogation or arrest. If the suspect was a federal officer in the executive branch, the only non-self-conflicting branch to do all this stuff would seem to be the House, I suppose under the heading of their "sole power" to impeach. The Senate would be the trying court so I don't think it would be the Senate. Not the Supreme Court. They don't investigate.
I think we have an open issue of who should investigate reasonable suspicion or PC with the President and possibly other federal officers in the executive branch. I think constitutionally and logically that task would probably fall to the House. Of course potential political shenanigans abound there too, but at least there's not prima facia conflict of interest.
If there is no deadline real or imposed or within the statute ....then Trump should simply impose one. You know damn well this is going to go on till 2024....... it will never end. This investigation has in effect created a 5th branch of government..... beyond the agency level..... now we have an extra judicial level..... if this is not shown to be a stalinist types of exercise and pretty soon it will not be able to be shut off. I think that that is a real concern. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.
Fiske found no basis to act, and advocated his report be kept secret.
[Judge] Sentelle's panel said it was removing Fiske, already nine months and $2.5 million into the investigation, because of an appearance of conflict because he originally was appointed by a member of Clinton's Cabinet, Attorney General Reno.Judge Meets Sen. Faircloth Before Fisk was Ousted - August 12, 1994
That judicial removal procedure would not work today, to get rid of Mueller. Fiske's appointment was under a different law, one that empowered Congress to instigate criminal investigations. That procedure is constitutionally weak at best. At any rate, Republicans wanted Fiske out, because he was whitewashing crimes, just like Comey.
The parallel today would be removing Mueller because he was appointed by a member of Trump's cabinet, Sessions. The thought being that Sessions would only pick a person who would whitewash the investigation.
Mueller, Congres and the press have an interest in making the assignment last the duration of Trump's presidency, and causing as much damage as they can, to Trump's administration, friends and family as they can, in the meantime.
Trump and the public have an interest in having an impartial investigation into the bogus allegation completed and reported quickly.
Firing Mueller creates a situation more like keeping the secret investigation alive, with the added bonus that "Trump would not fire Mueller if Trump was innocent."
So the way to keep the investigation short is to limit its scope. Smaller scope, less evidence, easier to report, and so on. We are more than two months into this, and just now finding out that Mueller is going on fishing expeditions. That is the fault of Rosenstein and Mueller, to hide that ball. Call them on it, and let's negotiate the scope of the assignment, IN PUBLIC.
-- Anyone know what the JULY 27 incident is all about? --
From what I gather, the rumor, which consists only of the date and "something big," is unreliable.
“Does Wray get sworn in Monday or Tuesday ?”
Only mention I’ve seen is that McConnell has indicated confirmation before the August recess. It’s just out of committee.
“Anyone know what the JULY 27 incident is all about”
Just chatter at this point.
“Mueller is going on fishing expeditions. That is the fault of Rosenstein and Mueller, “
No, that was the plan of Rosenstein and Mueller.
fyi ping
Excellent.
fyi
It goes without saying...Clapper’s veracity is and has always been in question....his innuendo is libelous. Brennan is in that some boat if possible, worse, he is an enemy to the USA, and not proven, but widely circulated, a Muslim. The CIA under him became very dark.
The idea is simply to avoid conflict of interest, and as you know and described, that is inherent when the executive investigates himself through one of his people. We do the best we can.
My view of the impeach vs. criminal charge issue is that the question is academic. If there was evidence that the president murdered a judge, the crisis gets managed somehow and the details aren't all that important. I think the correct approach is impeach and remove him first, then indict him. But I don't think it matters if the order was reversed. The difference amounts to a certain amount of shuckin' and jivin' in motions before the judge.
Impeachment itself is a political question. It does not follow the usual spectrum from articulable suspicion to probable cause to (whatever the standard is for indictment) to beyond a reasonable doubt.
But your reference to the standards of evidence is interesting, because from what I can tell, there is ZERO articulable suspicion (the lowest level) that the Trump campaign was involved in campaign coordination with anybody in Russia. The suspicion is "from the imagination," taking disjointed facts, and coupling them on the basis that Trump won the election. If he had lost, the investigation would not exist. OTOH, if there was a crime, and he lost, the investigation would persist.
Thanx for during this off for us..
Iirc, fiske was another “high character/high credibility” fixer. Straight out of the comey/mueller mold.
Fiske did a good job of whitewashing bubba’s whitewater crimes & “buried” the suicide of vince foster
Totally forgot the name of judge david sentelle.
Today’s appointment of mueller is more twisted than fiske’s, but imo, the parallel is that they’re both on missions with pre determined outcomes??
On the July 24 calendar, Wray's name appears on page 10, p12 of the pdf. I have looked at these Executive calendars regularly over the years, and I never seen so many pages of pending nominations.
I am not surprised however. The Senate is comically dysfunctional, full of self-important blowhards, many of them ignorant and inarticulate, and nearly all of them completely dishonest.
Nice work.
To get Mueller back in the box Sessions will have to reassert that he has recused only from matters relating to the Trump campaign and nothing else, and that Mueller must confine himself to campaign related matters only. Looking into associates’ business dealings from a decade ago is not campaign related.
Unfortunately Sessions seems to be running away from a number of issues. Public pressure might change that.
Your post needs to be given greater exposure and driven into discussion by the pundit class. This public exposure might force Sessions to act.
Assuming the reports of mission creep are correct, absolutely. "Outcome" here not being a finding of a croime necessarily, but expanding the scope of investigation to friends, relatives, and associates of Trump for maximum discomfort and inconvenience, and dragging the process out for years so the press and Congress can contiue to do the dirty work for Russia, insinuating guilt while claiming our system is based on a presumption of innocence.
These oh-so-clean social leaders are the most dishonorable scum the earth can produce.
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