Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, recently impaneled a grand jury as part of the probe, several news outlets reported on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that the Washington, D.C. grand jury “began its work in recent weeks” and is separate from the one assisting with the probe into President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The impanelment of that jury predated Mueller’s appointment as special counsel.
Reuters confirmed, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that Mueller convened a grand jury.
The empanelment of a new, separate grand jury reflects the scope of Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the election and whether any members of Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia.
Reuters also reported that grand jury subpoenas were issued in connection with a meeting between Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eldest son, and a Russian lawyer.
Trump Jr. attended the meeting after he was promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign. It was not clear whether those subpoenas were issued by the grand jury Mueller impaneled.
From what I'm gathering on the Intertubes, going to a Grand Jury means Mueller found something that requires direct testimony, hence the subpoenas.
The trump supporters and the Far Right conspiracy nuts can scream "Hillary's Emails" and "Seth Rich" all they want, but this is an actual legitimate investigation into trump's misdeeds with more and more evidence of this all going on for years.
This is no longer a hypothetical. Mueller is calling in the major players in trump's Inner Circle. Anything and everything - the decades-long bad business deals with Russian mobsters, questionable finances, the still-hidden tax returns, direct collusion with Russian agents to disrupt the 2016 elections - is going public.
It's now a question of how desperate trump will get to save his own ass. he's already publicly complaining about getting rid of Mueller's investigation despite the Congressional Republicans' admonishments that he has to leave it alone. Any attempt to pull a Saturday Night Massacre-type purge could well devastate the Justice Department (with trump firing EVERYBODY from Sessions on down until he gets someone willing to end Mueller's authority as Special Counsel).
trump is already looking at serious Obstruction of Justice charges over his firing of Comey. Shutting down Mueller will not only confirm that Obstruction, but make it clear to everyone but the hardest of supporters that trump's entire administration is a lawless sham.
1 comment:
He was already using a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for investigatory tools on Flynn and Manafort (grand juries can subpoena documents and compel testimony under oath), and since grand juries try to investigate alleged crimes in their own districts, empaneling one in DC would be useful in investigating alleged crimes which took place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in DC...
-Doug in Oakland
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