By Florida Bill While it should not come as any surprise, it has been reported that the special counsel retained to investigate alleged "colluding" by members of the Trump team with Russians has empaneled a grand jury, maybe even two, and is fast at work.
Some newspapers and pundits on the air waves exclaimed, "Wow, he means business. Subpoenas are going out. There will be indictments. It's 'Trumpgate,' so get ready for the fireworks."
The 23-member juries have been set up in Virginia and in Washington D.C. With the D.C. forum it looks like Mueller has given himself a leg up to find misbehavior by Trump, in that the District of Columbia voted 96 per cent in favor of Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. Republicans just cannot be found in that environment.
It is notable that Alan Dershowitz, a widely-known and respected Harvard University professor and author, and a long-standing Democrat, believes that Mueller seems to be stacking the deck against the President with the D.C jury. And together with his assistants whose past endorsement of Clinton is a matter of record, it appears that the supposed straight-shooting Mueller is not quite the fair minded investigator he was held out to be.
Aside from the frenzy and elation exhibited by CNN, NBC, CBS and an assortment of dopey talking heads, the assembling of a grand jury is in itself essential, to a complicated investigation, particularly in this one in which tentacles of accusation of wrongdoing reach far and wide. President Trump and his associates are definitely under the microscope, but so also must be the former FBI director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and an assortment of officials from both the new Trump administration and the Obama White House.
There are reports also that former President Obama was advised that the Russians were interfering in USA election matters long before Trump was nominated. Did Obama do anything about it, and if so, what? Mueller should want to know about that. There is no restriction on subpoenaing a former President for testimony under oath.
A Grand Jury has two functions. It is an investigating tool, and it can return indictments. It can issue subpoenas for documents and for witnesses who will be compelled to testify under oath. An investigation without a grand jury is like a woodman without a saw. Remember the "investigation" of Clinton and her emails--there was never a grand jury. Witnesses were never compelled to testify under oath and relevant items like DNC computers and records were never turned over to the FBI. Plain and simple, that investigation was a complete sham.
For sure, the 72-year-old Mueller will be busy. According to his May 17 appointment, his mission will be to investigate "any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Trump....and any other matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." The "any other matter" in that contract opens the door and almost commands Mueller to investigate Clinton and Comey and Loretta Lynch, the former Attorney General, if he is to do his job.
Did Trump and his aides "collude" with Russian statesmen on orders from President Putin? The FBI investigated this for months and found nothing. Virtually every intelligence chief, including James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence during the Obama presidency, has said that he has seen no evidence of any collusion. Former CIA director John Brennan has said about the same. The FBI investigation supposedly determined that Russia had hacked and poked its nose into election activity here, but found nothing to demonstrate Trump's knowledge of it or his encouragement and cooperation. President Trump says its a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" pushed by Democrats bitter over Hillary Clinton's loss.
But it is not just President Trump who allegedly held hands with Russia. Mrs. Clinton had her own flirtatious deals with President Putin's Russia, and apparently with the Ukrainians, which must also be investigated by the Mueller men.
Concerning Russia, Secretary of State Clinton approved the sale of 20 per cent of America's uranium reserves to Russians, and presto, the "Clinton Foundation" received more than $100 million dollars in donations from the Russian uranium buyers. And husband Bill, the ex president, got an honorarium of $500,000 for a dinner speech sponsored and arranged by a Russian connected to the acquisition. Another interesting twist is that top Ukrainians visited the DNC during the heat of the campaign and promised to do whatever they could to help Mrs. Clinton. Even Clinton's campaign chief's brother had connections with Russians. Any "colluding" there for the Mueller team to look at?
For Mueller and the attorneys, it is a great spot to make money as the cash faucet will flow without interruption. It will cost the taxpayers many million, but then who is counting. It will go on for--who knows how long. For each attorney, a sweet pay day. Mueller has engaged 16 other lawyers, maybe even more, to assist him in making the investigation, including a number who are Clinton supporters who contributed to her campaign. Some of the lawyers resigned or took a leave from another position to answer the call from Mueller, a former FBI director. Trump and his attorneys have raised the question of a "conflict of interest" on the part of Mueller, and theoretically "conflict of interest" is grounds for replacing a special counsel.
Some legal observers say that Mueller is looking into the possibility that the President obstructed justice by firing Comey on May 8. That's a pipe dream since the President can fire anyone working for him for any reason or for no reason. Comey, himself, has said the same thing. More pertinent perhaps is the question of Comey's leaking to the press the contents of privileged communications with the president and that is a crime.
Comey's investigation of Hillary Clinton concluded in July of 2016 with his announcement that Mrs. Clinton would not be prosecuted. Comey has revealed that he had been told by his superior, Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, to characterize the Clinton email criminal investigation as a ho-hum "matter." That testimony by Comey under oath accused Lynch of endeavoring to protect Mrs. Clinton, and he acknowledged that he went along with the cover.
Lynch, Clinton and even former President Obama should be subpoenaed for their sworn testimony. Mrs. Lynch will also be asked to explain her clandestine meeting with Clinton's husband prior to the announcement that Mrs. Clinton had committed no criminal wrongdoing. It's all on the table as part of the "Russian investigation," and I believe Mueller will have some explaining to do if he dodges these Clinton matters.
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