Recoiling from Russiagate

According to "anonymous sources" to the Washington Post, Mueller told Trump’s attorneys the president remains under investigation but is not currently a criminal target

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III informed President Trump’s attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges.

The special counsel also told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.

Mueller reiterated the need to interview Trump — both to understand whether he had any corrupt intent to thwart the Russia investigation and to complete this portion of his probe, the people said.
. . .
“If I were the president, I would be very reluctant to think I’m off the hook,” said Keith Whittington, a professor of politics at Princeton University and impeachment expert.

“My sense of it is the president — given that information — ought to have pretty fair warning anything he’s saying in the deposition would be legally consequential. Depending on what he says, it could wind up changing how the special counsel is thinking about him.”

Still, several legal scholars and impeachment experts believe Mueller may conclude he does not have the authority to charge a sitting president with a crime under an opinion written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 1973 and reaffirmed in 2000.

Sounds about right, but then, you can find an anonymous source to say anything you want to print. President Trump need to put Mueller under oath, and depose him regarding this participation in a plot to overthrow the government on behalf of the "Deep State."

CNN: Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told special counsel Robert Mueller in a classified August 2, 2017, memo that he should investigate allegations that President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was "colluding with Russian government officials" to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, prosecutors in the Russia probe revealed late Monday night.

Mueller was also empowered by Rosenstein to investigate Manafort's payments from Ukrainian politicians, a cornerstone of the Trump adviser's decades-long lobbying career that has resulted in several financial criminal charges so far.

But from the Dept. of "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission" Rosenstein’s Secret Special Counsel Memo Was Written After the Feds Already Raided Manafort’s House. Illegal search? That's what Manafort's team is alleging.

The memo gives Mueller a more specific description of his authority and states that he can investigate Paul Manafort for any “crimes arising out of payments he received from the Ukrainian government before and during the tenure of President Viktor Yanukovych.” And that’s pretty much what Manafort was indicted for.

Here’s the weird part about this: The Rosenstein “secret” memo revealed in this week’s court filing is dated August 2, 2017. According to media reports, Paul Manfort’s home was raided July 26, 2017. So that means Rosenstein’s laid out the more specified scope and definition of authority for the special counsel investigation six days after Manafort’s home had already been raided.

What does this mean legally? Well, as always, the the legal experts are divided. . . 

If you needed the memo to make it legal, and the memo came after the search, well, sounds illegal to me. Supreme Court Reporter Calls Manafort Case “Stasi-esque”

This #Mueller definition of what crimes arise "directly" from the investigation is the Stalin-style, Stasi-esque, Gestapo-born notion of Beria's "show me the man, and I will find you the crime." pic.twitter.com/KgFfJLpeyN

— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) April 3, 2018

Is Mueller chasing ghosts? Roger Stone's claim he 'dined with' WikiLeaks founder draws Special Counsel Mueller's scrutiny: report

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating an Aug. 2016 email by former Trump adviser and political consultant Roger Stone in which he purportedly claimed to have "dined with" the founder of WikiLeaks, according to a report.

The secretive organization released a trove of hacked communications prior to the 2016 presidential election, including Democratic National Committee emails that damaged then-candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Stone emailed fellow Trump aide Sam Nunberg on Aug. 4 that he “dined with Julian Assange last night,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

The next day, Stone tweeted: “Hillary lies about Russian Involvement in DNC hack -Julian Assange is a hero.”

But: Roger Stone Releases Credit Card, Flight And Hotel Records – Nowhere Near London

Boarding passes and credit card records of longtime presidential adviser Roger Stone show him arriving in Miami, Florida after a two day trip to California on August 4, 2016, documents reviewed by The Daily Caller reveal.

Stone released the records to TheDC after a report from The Wall Street Journal claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller is examining an email he sent to former Trump campaign official Sam Nunberg claiming he met with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on August 4, 2016. ***

Byron York: On the Trump-Russia investigation and the rule of law

This week I took part in a debate on the question "Does the Russia investigation endanger the rule of law?" I said yes, and here is why:

First, a caveat: If "endanger the rule of law" means "destroys our legal order and threatens our democracy," then no, I don't think the Trump-Russia investigation does that. But if it means "involves our nation's most powerful law enforcement and intelligence agencies in reckless political conduct that undermines our system of elections and the orderly transfer of power," then yes, the Trump-Russia investigation does, in fact, endanger the rule of law. . . .

Andy McCabe's long suffering wife, Lisa enters the fray:  Jill McCabe: The president attacked my reputation. It’s time to set the record straight. Doing her best Sergeant Schultz, I know nussing, nussing. And my husband wouldn't do anything wrong! Personally, I think she was used as a vehicle for the Clinton machine to get their hooks into Andy, and as usual, they left a wake of ruined careers. Sorry,  Ms. McCabe, Andrew Did Not Separate Himself From Your VA Senate Run, He Used His FBI Email To Campaign For You. Famous sock-puppet agrees: The $500,000 GoFundMe Charity Campaign for Wealthy Ex-FBI Official Andrew McCabe Is Obscene

After the FBI’s Pulse nightclub failure, why should we trust James Comey anymore? We shouldn’t. "There's something terribly wrong at the FBI."

There’s ‘Smoke’ and ‘Fire’ in Probing Clinton for Collusion, Rep. Duffy Says The Clinton's use the smoke to hide the fire.

But “the only evidence that we have had come out publicly in regard to collusion is the fact that Hillary Clinton and the [Democratic National Committee] colluded through Fusion GPS and [dossier author] Christopher Steele with Russia,” Duffy told Jason Chaffetz, the former Utah congressman who is subbing as host this week for Laura Ingraham during her vacation.

“They paid Russian informants with double-triple-quadruple hearsay to craft a dossier that then the FBI used to go after Donald Trump,” Duffy continued, referring to the FBI’s surveillance warrant applications for Trump associates.

“So, if you want to look at Russian collusion and Russian influence, you’ve got to look at Hillary Clinton and what they did in crafting the dirty dossier. And for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t appear that Mueller is actually looking at the Hillary Clinton campaign.”

True dat.