Regaled by Russiagate

Jonathan Turley: When will the media accept that Trump is not a criminal target? The short answer is never.

That Mueller does not believe there is “substantial evidence linking [Trump] to the commission of a crime” would seem to merit some, albeit grudging, recognition. However, there has been a disturbing lack of objectivity in the coverage of this investigation from the start. Throughout it, some of us have cautioned that the criminal case against Trump was far weaker than media suggested. Fired FBI Director James Comey himself told Congress that Trump was not a target of his investigation. Indeed, Trump was reportedly upset with Comey largely because Comey would not say that publicly.

Mueller Comes Up Empty Against Trump

The special counsel’s office spent more than $3.2 million during the period from May 17, 2017 through September 30, 2017 alone according to a Statement of Expenditures it filed with the Department of Justice. It has spent more per day than the entire $20,000 fine it has garnered thus far for all its efforts. It’s been nearly 11 months since Special Counsel Mueller was appointed. In all that time, neither President Trump nor any other American has been charged with being a witting participant in colluding with the Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which was supposed to be the purpose of the special counsel investigation in the first place. It is time for Special Counsel Mueller to either immediately bring such charges with the mass of evidence he has already accumulated, or wind down the investigation and produce his final report. Enough is enough!

Allah:  Report: Mueller’s Office Hoping To Submit Report On Trump And Obstruction Of Justice In June Or July

The fact that Mueller is working on “parallel tracks,” investigating Trump for obstruction on the one hand and Russian campaign activities on the other, and that he might issue reports on his findings “in stages” was already noted in the Washington Post last night. What that story *didn’t* mention is that Mueller’s office has a specific timeframe in mind. Reporter Robert Costa, who co-wrote the WaPo story, saved that detail for MSNBC.
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It’s possible, in other words, that Bob Mueller is going to issue a report asserting that the president of the United States committed obstruction of justice around 12 weeks or so before the midterms. If that happens, all hell will break loose. Trump might try to fire Mueller immediately, arguing that because his conclusions on obstruction are dubious, his conclusions on Russia and collusion will surely be dubious too. So he’ll drop the axe, Ryan and McConnell will run for cover, and Democrats will scream that a constitutional crisis is afoot. Even if Trump doesn’t fire Mueller and takes the report in stride, a finding that obstruction occurred will create a mushroom cloud over the midterms. To the extent that November wasn’t already set to be a direct referendum on Trump’s first two years in office, an adverse determination by Mueller will make it so. The election will become a struggle over impeachment, with Democratic voters swarming the polls to install a House that’ll nuke Trump and Republicans swarming the polls to prevent that outcome. Total hysteria.

It may even generate a rebellion, as the restive "flyover states" rebel against their coastal counterparts for trying to mount a legal coupe against the leader they elected. Things are going Trump’s way. He should not agree to an interview with Mueller.

Trump’s position with Mueller is as good as it is going to get. And, by the way, while it appears Mueller’s probe is running its course, another serious investigation that could entangle Democrats is just getting started. Though it has been largely underreported, the appointment of U.S. Attorney John W. Huber to review matters related to Hillary Clinton is significant. In recent months, as the Post reported, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) “have raised numerous concerns — including the handling of the Clinton email investigation, alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation, the sale of a uranium company to Russia and what some conservatives view as inappropriate surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.” And now, according to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, those issues “fall within the scope of [Huber’s] mandate.” For President Trump, it means Huber’s investigation may supply some of the vindication, and frankly retribution, he has been looking for – all without the appointment of a special counsel.

Ace Dissects Byron York's The Mueller Investigation Undermines the Rule of Law

He bases this assessment on three points:

First, the Democrats pushed the idea that Trump and/or Flynn violated the Logan Act, a 1799 Act which has never once been used to successfully prosecute anyone, and which has not even been used to try to prosecute someone since the 1800s. This is probably because it's unconstitutional and stupid.

But the Deep State used "possible Logan Act violations" as a pretext to launch an investigation into Michael Flynn.
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Second, the Deep State used Hillary opposition research, collected from paid Russian government/KGB sources, as a pretext for a FISA warrant into Carter Page (which in turn gave the Deep State power to surveil all Trump personnel, using the the three-hop rule (three hops away from the actual named target)), and hid the provenance of this document from the FISA judge from whom it tricked the warrant.

Finally: Without quite saying so, York suggests what I have long held-- the "briefing" of Trump about the dossier was itself a pretext to make the dossier, which had previously been passed on by media outlets despite the Hillary campaign's efforts to get them to report it, newsworthy.

The entire "briefing" was a sham -- it was not a briefing for Trump, but a briefing for CNN, because the briefing was only set up with the explicit intention of having its existence be leaked immediately to CNN, and get the dossier mentioned in the media.

Trump learned nothing from this "briefing" -- but the conspirators made sure their media pals learned a bunch.

William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection agrees with me that Rosenstein Memo confirming Mueller could investigate Manafort came a week after raid on Manafort’s home suggests that it might have been an illegal search:

The August 2, 2017 memo was classic boostrapping. It purported to confirm Mueller’s authority to go after Manafort’s business dealings, but Mueller already was doing that and had been doing it for weeks, culminating in the July 26 home raid.

So to the extent the Rosenstein August 2, 2017 memorandum is supposed to instill confidence that Mueller is receiving proper DOJ oversight, it does just the opposite. As least as to the portion revealed about Manafort, it shows a willingness to give post hoc justification for conduct of Mueller that does not appear authorized by the text of the original May 17 appointing Order.

Meanwhile Mueller has shifted his aim: Mueller's team questioning Russian oligarchs

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry.

A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mueller's team has also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently.

The situations have one thing in common: Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration.

You mean like the times when the Chinese donated to Bill Clinton, and the "Buddhists" donated to AlGore? Got to keep busy, and make it look bad for Trump. Speaking of using foreign money to influence elections, it OK when democrats do it. Judicial Watch: Obama Admin Spent $9 Million Colluding With Soros Groups in Albania.

Inviting the judges to run the country, David Ignatius raises the liberal hope that Trump will fire Mueller, yet again: How the courts — not Congress — could protect Mueller’s investigation Sorry behind WaPo paywall.

Deep State: Rosenstein Names Former McCain Campaign Lawyer His Right-Hand Man at DOJ. Wedged between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, Washington D.C. is really a small place, with a bad inbreeding problem. I suspect Rod's job will not last long after the end of the Mueller investigation.

Threatening legal fight, Nunes demands document that kicked off FBI Trump-Russia investigation

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding an uncensored copy of the document the bureau used to formally begin its investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.

The originating document has been the subject of much controversy. After some Republicans alleged that the FBI used never-verified parts of the Trump dossier as part of its reason to begin the investigation in July 2016, some "current and former" officials leaked to the New York Times that no, it was the case of George Papadopoulos, reported to U.S. authorities by foreign intelligence agents, that prompted the FBI investigation.

"The information that Mr. Papadopoulos gave to the Australians answers one of the lingering mysteries of the past year: What so alarmed American officials to provoke the FBI to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign months before the presidential election?" the Times reported on Dec. 30. "It was not, as Mr. Trump and other politicians have alleged, a dossier compiled by a former British spy hired by a rival campaign. Instead, it was firsthand information from one of America's closest intelligence allies."

So if the Time's get to "know" it, why doesn't the Congress? Even the Papadopoulos incident is tainted by Hillary friends, as we've seen before.

Congressional Investigators ‘Trying To Get To The Bottom’ Of Brennan’s Role In Russia Investigation. There is no bottom, it's collusion all the way down.

A book published in March offered a startling but little-noticed revelation about former CIA Director John Brennan. According to “Russian Roulette,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid believed Brennan was using him as a conduit to publicize possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government.

Brennan’s contacts with Reid — and other activities during the 2016 presidential campaign — are of “significant” interest to congressional investigators trying to figure out the ex-spy’s early role in the Russia investigation, The Daily Caller News Foundation is told.

“By his own account, Brennan played a prominent role in starting the investigation of Trump’s team,” a congressional source with direct knowledge of the House of Representatives’ Russia investigations tells TheDCNF.

“Investigators in Congress suspect there are important details about his role that he hasn’t revealed, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it.”

Why is Trump going so soft on Putin? Top Intel Official: We’re About To Go On Offense In Cyberwar With Russia