MUELLER CONVENES GRAND JURY FOR TRUMP TEAM-RUSSIA PROBE

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Congress also takes action to prevent firing of Mueller before recessing for summer

By Miriam Raftery

August 4, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has convened a federal grand jury  several weeks ago to determine whether criminal indictments should be filed in relation to the Trump team-Russia probe.   The report was swiftly confirmed by the Washington Post and other media.

 Reuters reports that the grand jury actions include approval of issuing subpoenas related to a meeting between Trump’s son, son-in-law, a Russian lawyer, then-campaign manager Paul Manafort, a cyberhacking expert and  other key figures to discuss negative information the attorney claimed to have on Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

This is a separate grand jury from the one already examining evidence regarding ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, indicating that the investigation has widened and could potential engulf members of Donald Trump’s  campaign, his family, or potentially even the President himself could be asked to testify. The Washington Post has reported that the President personally dictated a false statement for his son, Donald Trump Jr., to mislead media by claiming the Russian lawyer meeting was primarily about adoptions.

The Post reports that a White House advisor said that so far, neither President Trump nor his son-in-law, Jared Kushner had received subpoenas as of yesterday. If true, that leaves open the possibility that Donald Trump Jr., Trump's campaign manager or others may have been subpoenaed; it is also possible that others could receive subpoenas in the future as the work of the grand jury continues for potentially months or more. Grand juries commonly save the highest profile targest of their investigation to be summoned last to testify, after they have collected other evidence.

The grand jury  then votes on whether or not to recommend indictments of one or more individuals.

Lying to a grand jury is perjury, a federal crime, so individuals who may be less than forthcoming with the press or even Congressional inquiries have a greater incentive to be truthful.

The order establishing the special prosecutor allows Mueller broad latitude to investigate anything uncovered during his investigation of the Russia-Trump campaign and any possible collusion with Russia to influence the election.

For example, if the investigation found tapes or documents proving money laundering or racketeering, a possibility since some of Trump team’s Russian ties were reportedly already under federal surveillance for suspicion of espionage and/or financial crimes tied to Russian organized crime who purportedly used Trump Tower condominium purchases to launder money.

CNN recently reported that Mueller’s investigation has widened to include possible financial crimes and that the FBI is reviewing financial records related to Trump and his family business ventures.  Mueller is also looking at potential obstruction of justice by Trump in his firing of FBI director James Comey and more. 

 Trump has recently been publicly bashing his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation due to his own meetings with Russian officials.  Many have voiced concerns that Trump could fire Sessions and appoint a new Attorney General who would fire Mueller to block the investigation.

In a sign that the Republican-controlled Congress is willing to stand up and work to prevent firing of Mueller,  the Senate agreed by unanimous consent yesterday to block any recess appointments, such as a new Attorney General, while they’re out of town on summer recess.  Republican leadership scheduled “pro forma” sessions during recess to gavel in sessions for at least a minute every three days, preventing a formal recess.  This is the same tactic previously used to block President Barack Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice during recess after the Senate had refused to hold confirmation hearings.

In addition, two separate bipartisan bills have been introduced to make it hard for Trump to fire Mueller. Both bills would require that any such firing go before a three-panel judge.  The Washington Post reports that the authors have indicated they believe they have enough support not only for passage, but to override a potential presidential veto. 

These actions come just days after the Senate and House approved tough sanctions against Russia in a bill that also prevented the president from weakening Russian sanctions without Congressional approval .  That bill passed almost unanimously,  a clear sign that  members of both political parties are deeply concerned about the seriousness of the Mueller probe and the prospect of a president or his key supporters colluding with a hostile foreign government.

At a political rally last night in West Virginia, President Trump dismissed allegations of collusion between Russia and his campaign as a "total fabrication."

Time will tell whether the grand jury investigation may exonerate the President and his close allies, or find the President's denials false and issue indictments for collusion with Russia to influence the U.S. Presidential race or for financial gain.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/mueller-grand-jury/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1AJ1SW

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/31/trump-statement-donald-t...

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/345271-muellers-grand-jury-wh...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/08/0...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/345261-senate-blocks-trump-from-makin...

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/04/541523326/senators-int...


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Comments

So Sad

There is a large group in the USA that is not going to give our President a chance to bring this country out of the liberal, left wing, Socialist, agenda of the past 8 years. They are still in such shock that "crooked" Hillary did not make the grade, again.
Lucky for us there are sane people who vote.
1000 lost political elections by the Democrats in 8 years.
There are 34 Republican, 15 Democrats, and 1 independent Governors in the USA.
The National Debit is at 19.9 Trillion Dollars. Watch the clock http://www.usdebtclock.org/
For decades this Country has been living in la la land. Now it's time to pay the piper.

Enjoy MY President for the next 7 years and 5 moths.

Truth? On Fox News? They are the most biased of networks.

The unbiased fact checking sites regularly confirm that much (though not all) of what Fox airs is false, misleading, one-sided or deceptive.

Their reporting on the Russian scandals around Trump have been sorry excuses for journalism,  ignoring well documented facts.

Grand juries don't get convened for "fake news" -- they get convened only when prosecutors have a mountain of solid evidence and believe they have enough for a conviction, or need access to critical records and even then, they have to show a lot of evidence to persuade juries to issue subpoenas, particularly to high profile folks like those involved here.

If Fox has a truthful story we' can and have linked to them. The problem is it's often hard to tell, and when I've checked political stories on their site, I've usually found them to be wrong or at best, one-sided.   I wouldn't link to RT (Russian Times) for the same reason -- it's mainly a propaganda network not interestsed in truth.