Free Republic

The Daily Beast reports that Judge Beryl Howell is the jurist who signed off on Robert Mueller’s request to convene a Washington, D.C. grand jury for the Russia investigation. It also says that, going forward, Howell “will be the umpire-in-chief: deciding whether or not Trump allies’ lawyers can quash subpoenas, and whether or not people like Jared Kushner can invoke what’s known as executive privilege to get out of testifying under oath before Mueller’s grand jury.” Howell won’t have the final say. Her rulings will be subject to appeal and, to the extent they deal with matters like executive privilege,...

Republican Congress members who questioned Bruce Ohr behind closed doors Tuesday learned the former top Justice Department official had regular contact in 2016 with Andrew Weissmann – who is now Robert Mueller’s top deputy – regarding the dubious, anti-Trump dossier of unverified claims that became a major premise for launching the special counsel investigation.

Embattled Justice Department official Bruce Ohr had contact in 2016 with then-colleague Andrew Weissmann, who is now a top Robert Mueller deputy, as well as other senior FBI officials about the controversial anti-Trump dossier and the individuals behind it, two sources close to the matter told Fox News. The sources said Ohr's outreach about the dossier – as well as its author, ex-British spy Christopher Steele; the opposition research firm behind it, Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS; and his wife Nellie Ohr's work for Fusion – occurred before and after the FBI fired Steele as a source over his media contacts....

Justice Department documents released on Friday confirm that the DOJ attorney known as Robert Mueller’s “pit bull” arranged a meeting with journalists in April 2017 to discuss an investigation into Paul Manafort.The documents show that Andrew Weissmann arranged a meeting with DOJ and FBI officials and four Associated Press reporters on April 11, 2017, just over a month before Mueller was appointed special counsel.Manafort’s lawyers obtained the documents on June 29 and revealed them in a briefing filed in federal court in Virginia. The attorneys are pushing for a hearing into what they say are possible leaks of secret grand...

McCain’s Subcommittee Staff Director Urged IRS to Target Conservative Groups JW Sues for Mueller Deputy Andrew Weissmann’s Text Messages Judicial Watch Seeks Obama-Era Records on Refugee Resettlement Sites The Strange Case of McAuliffe & McCabe — Another Clinton/FBI Scandal McCain’s Subcommittee Staff Director Urged IRS to Target Conservative Groups Little is as unnerving as trouble with the IRS, especially if you haven’t done anything wrong. That happened repeatedly during the Obama administration, as his IRS enthusiastically targeted conservative groups. We’re now understanding why the Congress didn’t do much of anything about it. We just released internal IRS documents revealing...

Mueller's involvement in one of the FBI's most embarrassing cases resident Donald Trump directed angry tweets at Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the weekend. The tweets were prompted by the Department of Justice’s decision to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday as recommended by the bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility took action on McCabe after the DOJ’s Inspector General handed over evidence that the former FBI agent lied under oath and leaked information to the media. Trump’s Tweets on Mueller appeared to some Republicans and Democrats to be a veiled threat to fire Mueller. Those lawmakers warned the president that...

One of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's lead attorneys has an ethics problem. According to investigative journalist Sara Carter, Weissmann has been busted for withholding evidence in a previous court case involving prosecution of organized crime, to put an extra thumb on the scale of justice in his own favor. Carter writes : In 1997 Andrew Weissmann was officially reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence. Weissmann was reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee for alleged “corrupt legal practices.” A formal letter from U.S. Attorney Eastern District of...

In 1997 Andrew Weissmann was officially reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence. Weissmann was reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee for alleged “corrupt legal practices.” A formal letter from U.S. Attorney Eastern District of New York Zachary Carter requested the judge to remove Weissman’s name, according to documents. Civil rights and Criminal Defense Attorney David Schoen said Weissmann needs to be investigated for alleged past misconduct in court cases. UPDATED The top attorney in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s office was reported to the Department of Justice’s...

A lawyer for the Trump presidential transition team is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office of inappropriately obtaining transition documents as part of its Russia probe, including confidential attorney-client communications and privileged communications. In a letter obtained by Fox News and sent to House and Senate committees on Saturday, the transition team’s attorney alleges “unlawful conduct” by the career staff at the General Services Administration in handing over transition documents to the special counsel’s office. Kory Langhofer, the counsel to Trump for America, wrote in the letter that the special counsel’s office is aware that the GSA “did not own...

There is something rotten at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I mean all of this is just absurd. We have two FBI agents texting one another, one of which is having an extramarital affair with the other, cryptically talking about “insurance” against a Trump presidency. That text between these two agents was delivered on August 15, 2016. You also have Andrew Weissmann, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s top lieutenant, voicing praise for then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to enact President Trump’s executive order on immigration, which got her fired. Then, there’s another DOJ official, Bruce Ohr, who was demoted...

Mueller Deputy Showed Strong Support for Anti-Trump Action on Travel Ban We Release Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Meeting Documents Withheld by DOJ Court Rejects Attempt to Throw Out Our Sanctuary Lawsuit Mueller Deputy Showed Strong Support for Anti-Trump Action on Travel Ban This week began with Judicial Watch obtaining even more irrefutable evidence that Robert MuellerÂ’s out-of-control investigation is little more than a politically motivated witch hunt. The evidence was in two productions ( 335 pages and 44 pages ) of Justice Department (DOJ) documents showing unbridled support by top DOJ officials for former Acting Attorney General Sally YatesÂ’ refusal to...

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has sabotaged his own investigation of Russian meddling into the 2016 election. He has only himself to blame for ruining what could have been a credible probe. As I will document below, Mueller deliberately assembled a team of partisans with a history of political bias who appear determined to undo the results of the 2016 presidential election and drive President Trump from office. Because Mueller improperly stacked the deck of his special counsel staff with biased crusaders, he transformed what was supposed to be an impartial investigation into an illegitimate and seemingly corrupt one. To restore...

Fox News’ Sean Hannity called special counsel Robert Mueller “a disgrace to the American justice system” as conservatives escalate efforts to discredit the former FBI director and his probe into the 2016 U.S. presidential race. The “Hannity” host questioned Mr. Mueller’s ability to lead an unbiased investigation into President Trump’s election near the start of his program Tuesday evening following reports that the special counsel’s office removed an FBI agent, Peter Strzok, for sending messages mocking Mr. Trump. “We are going to actually show you with charts just how corrupt, abusively biased and political special counsel Robert Mueller and his...

The prosecutor now serving as FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s top deputy sent an email in January gushing over then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates’s refusal to enforce President Trump’s travel ban — the latest in a series of revelations likely to fuel concerns of anti-Trump bias on Mueller’s team. “I am so proud. And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects,” gushed Andrew Weissman in an email obtained by Judicial Watch in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Yates became a darling of the anti-Trump left when she refused to implement Trump’s original executive order which limited...

Full title: Gregg Jarrett: How an FBI official with a political agenda corrupted both Mueller, Comey investigationsHow is it possible that Hillary Clinton escaped criminal indictment for mishandling classified documents despite incriminating evidence that she violated the Espionage Act? Why did Donald Trump become the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly conspiring with Russia to influence the presidential election despite no evidence that he ever did so? The answer, it seems, comes down to one person who played a vital role in both cases: Peter Strzok, deputy director of counterintelligence at the FBI. Strzok was exchanging politically charged texts...

full title: Email from special counsel’s No. 2 shows more anti-Trump bias on Russia probe team A top prosecutor who is now a deputy for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe praised then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she was fired in January by President Trump for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban. The email, obtained by Judicial Watch through a federal lawsuit, shows that on the night of Jan. 30, Andrew Weissmann wrote to Yates under the subject line, “I am so proud.” He continued, “And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects.”

A top prosecutor who is now a deputy for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe praised then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she was fired in January by President Trump for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban. The email, obtained by Judicial Watch through a federal lawsuit, shows that on the night of Jan. 30, Andrew Weissmann wrote to Yates under the subject line, “I am so proud.” He continued, “And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects.” The disclosure follows confirmation that another Mueller investigator, FBI official Peter Strzok, was fired over the summer after...

Just how rough special counsel Robert Mueller is playing with Paul Manafort goes back before this week’s indictment — to the FBI’s no-knock raid in July. It has been reported that the agents checked Mr. Manafort and wife Kathleen for guns as they broke into the Alexandria condo pre-dawn by picking the lock. A source familiar with the case told The Washington Times the search was even more intrusive: An agent patted down Mrs. Manafort before she was allowed to get out of bed. “Agents felt up Mrs. Manafort lying in bed to see if she had guns,” the source...

Fox News host Sean Hannity isn’t letting Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort distract from the real scandal– The Clinton-Uranium One deal. Hannity teased he would expose Mueller in tonight’s monologue. “I have a powerful monologue that you don’t want to miss… We will expose Robert Mueller’s corrupt special counsel next.” According to Hannity, Fox News Legal Contributor Gregg Jarrett discovered both Deputy Attorney General Ron Rosenstein and Mueller’s right hand man, Andrew Weissmann, former head of the fraud unit at Obama/Holder’s Justice Department, signed the plea agreement of the Russian businessman embroiled in...

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray was an assistant attorney general in 2004 when he heaped praise on an ambitious Mafia-tested prosecutor... to the top...Justice Department’s high-profile Enron... How Mr. Weissmann operated over a decade ago offers possible glimpses at how he carries out orders today from his longtime mentor, Mr. Mueller. He rode into Texas from New York City in 2002 fresh from putting a number of Mafiosos in prison. ... If I’m Donald Trump and I know the backstory of Andrew Weissmann, it’s going to concern me. There is no question about it.” The backstory: Defense attorneys say Mr....