Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Robert Mueller may delay bringing obstruction charges against Trump and his associates, until he has also completed his collusion and conspiracy investigations.

Courtesy of Bloomberg:

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice is said to be close to completion, but he may set it aside while he finishes other key parts of his probe, such as possible collusion and the hacking of Democrats, according to current and former U.S. officials. 

That’s because Mueller may calculate that if he tries to bring charges in the obstruction case -- the part that may hit closest to Trump personally -- witnesses may become less cooperative in other parts of the probe, or the president may move to shut it down altogether. 

The revelation is a peek into Mueller’s calculations as he proceeds with his many-headed probe, while pressure builds from the president’s advisers and other Republicans to show progress or wrap it up. 

The obstruction portion of the probe could likely be completed after several key outstanding interviews, including with the president and his son, Donald Trump Jr. The president’s lawyers have been negotiating with Mueller’s team over such an encounter since late last year. But even if Trump testifies in the coming weeks, Mueller may make a strategic calculation to keep his findings on obstruction secret, according to the current and former U.S. officials, who discussed the strategy on condition of anonymity.

Mueller may have concerns that if he moves forward with the obstruction charges that Trump will pull out all of the stops in shutting him down.

Apparently while Trump still has some small hope of vindication, he is less likely to freak out.

However that freak out is definitely coming.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Special counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors have invoked an unusual "conspiracy to defraud the government" charge to ensnare a Russian cyber network and could use the same legal strategy to go after President Trump and his associates, even if the conspiracy is not linked to a criminal act.

Last month, Mr. Mueller, a Republican and former FBI director indicted 13 Russian nationals connected to the Internet Research Agency (IRA) Russian "troll farm," accusing the IRA of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by spreading fake news stories through U.S. social media. The same approach was employed in securing a plea deal last month with Rick Gates, the aide for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. 

What has attracted attention in legal circles is the underlying legal theory behind the indictments, accusing the Russians of essentially committing a crime by preventing agencies of the U.S. government from carrying out the duties. Mr. Mueller appears to be leveraging the theory "into a powerful instrument with respect to both foreign and domestic actors," according to a recent article on Lawfare, a national security blog by the Lawfare Institute and Brookings Institution. 

Emma Kohse, Harvard International Law Journal editor-in-chief, Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Lawfare blog's top editor, argue that, based in the language of the indictments and the legal precedents behind them, the "conspiracy to defraud the government" charge provides the Mueller team with significant flexibility in trying to build a case against Mr. Trump and members of his 2016 campaign.

Yeah, at this point the noose must be so tight that it is starting to cut off Trump's circulation. 

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:35 PM

    Both Donnie and Donnie Jr think they are smarter than Mueller and they are going to indict themselves with their testimony!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Is it true that if Rick Perry is moved to Veterans Affairs, our girl Sarah may be Trump's choice for heading the Dept of Energy? Yee haw!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:57 PM

      She's going to be at Mar a Lago this coming Friday, rubbing her nasty skank self all over the place. They'll never get the smell out.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:13 PM

      Knowing how Trump likes being surrounded by people as mean and stupid as he is, brace yourselves.
      And those of you who got the goods on her - get ready.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:19 PM

      The LAST thing she wants is to work. D-celebrity speeches so she can pretend that she's a highfalutin big shot, any time!

      Delete
    4. Wouldn't that be a step down for Perry?

      Why wouldn't Trump just stick Palin in Veteran's Affairs?

      She isn't qualified for anything so any place would have equal lack of effectiveness.

      I was thinking he'd make her the new Secretary of Education when he fires DeVos. He was very unhappy with her recent interviews. She has made him look bad ever since taking office. She's a joke and he thinks she reflects poorly on him. We all know what happens to those that open a door to humiliating Trump. After all, Tillerson called him a fucking moron. It was only a matter of time.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous2:45 PM

    I like the idea of building a wall around Donnie, or how about putting a giant “silence cone” over him.
    Read the transcript of his speech, talk about babbling idiot !!!!
    ===================================================
    Trump Continues His Decline With Rambling, Incoherent Comments About 'See-Through Walls'

    …. A mother fcking wall, as Vicente Fox would say. Can we build a wall around Donald Trump? A see through wall? A big, beautiful wall? I bet Mexico would pay for that.

    https://crooksandliars.com/2018/03/donald-trump-continues-decompensate

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:12 PM

    Dems release status report on Russia probe

    https://democrats-intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/final_-_minority_status_of_the_russia_investigation_with_appendices.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:08 PM

    Putin is killing his critics in Western countries—another one tonight, it seems—and he's doing it because he knows Trump won't lift a finger against him or issue a single complaint. Trump being in Putin's pocket comes at a cost we can't imagine and we *must* start registering it.

    https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/973709097223753730

    If you want to know why Mike Pompeo is the new Secretary of State of the United States, look no further: he's with Trump (and Putin) on the issue of Russian sanctions. And as we all know, sanctions has always been at the heart of Trump-Russia coordination.

    https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/973698893916573701

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4:09 PM

    5/ Tillerson was always going to be fired—as he was never going to let himself to be a Trump lackey (he's smarter and more confident than Trump). The "Space Force" idea is just a brain fart. Trump and Cohen ignoring Daniels' offer and what Papadopoulos said to Mueller *matters*.

    https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/973690643250925568

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous4:11 PM

    A Republican who works on the Hill just told me that Trump’s White House was involved with the ending of the House Russia probe. They also said the White House was involved with the “no collusion narrative” and the drafting of the memo. This is pure corruption. #TrumpColluded

    https://twitter.com/funder/status/973398002563010561

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:27 PM

      Obstruction of justice again

      Delete
  8. Anonymous4:16 PM

    The Trump administration is teetering

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/the-trump-administration-is-teetering-on-the-edge-of-a-political-abysss.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous4:35 PM

    NASA’s acting administrator retires without warning, no reason given, Trump and Pence on hot seat

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748675/-NASA-s-acting-administrator-retires-without-warning-no-reason-given-Trump-and-Pence-on-hot-seat

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous4:35 PM

    "ON THE OTHER HAND
    House Russia Probe Chief: Putin May Have Wanted Trump"

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/house-russia-probe-chief-putin-may-have-wanted-trump

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous4:48 PM

    Pecker________! GOwDy!
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/13/gowdy-russia-undermine-clinton-republicans-461612

    22 pages>

    https://democrats-intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/final_-_minority_status_of_the_russia_investigation_with_appendices.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous7:03 PM

    China:
    "Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Mizuho, SMBC, MUFG, Wells Fargo, Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets, Royal Bank of Canada and Morgan Stanley were lead arrangers and joint bookrunners on the syndicated loan.

    The banks were either unavailable to immediately comment, or declined to comment."

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-broadcom-fees/bank-fee-potential-slashed-as-trump-ends-broadcoms-qualcomm-takeover-idUSKCN1GP2Y0

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous8:35 PM

    OT?
    https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/tillersons-firing-worries-africa-experts/

    "Melvin P. Foote has a different view. The founding president and CEO of the Constituency for Africa, a Washington-based organization that promotes public-private partnerships with the continent, said that with Tillerson's firing, "I don't see a way forward. I don't."

    Foote, appearing on VOA's "Africa 54" TV show, said he believed the move would diminish U.S. influence – already outpaced by China and Russia – on the continent.'

    ReplyDelete

Don't feed the trolls!
It just goes directly to their thighs.