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Robert Mueller Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 04, 2018 84 Comments
Almost since the day Robert Mueller was appointed, I have been pointing out that Mueller has gone rogue and is employing a scorched earth strategy to get Trump, on anything. The Paul Manafort prosecution on things having nothing to do with the reason Mueller was appointed, alleged Russia collusion, is a good example, as was the prosecution of Michael Flynn. There will be bodies left on Mueller's battlefield from those unfortunate enough to have associated with Trump or the campaign.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 03, 2018 39 Comments
There was an interesting filing recently by Paul Manafort in the prosecution by Robert Mueller's team against him in the Eastern District of Virginia. The filing concerned leaks reported in the media that were attributed by the media to government sources. Some of those media reports alleged Manafort contact with Russians. Manafort file a Motion (pdf.)(full embed at bottom) seeking a court hearing to get to the bottom of the leaks.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 27, 2018 44 Comments
Judge Kimba Wood has resolved the issue of how files seized from Michael Cohen, which included at least some files related to his (limited) law practice, would be handled. Those records were seized by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York as part of a criminal investigation of Cohen resulting from a referral from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The background on the seizure and legal wrangling are set forth in these prior posts:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 22, 2018 61 Comments
What is known about the Fusion GPS role in stoking and implementing an attempted takedown of candidate and ultimately president Trump is one of the greatest political scandals in memory. But it's a story that only partially has been told. We now know that Russian-Collusion-mania had as its source-fuel Fusion GPS opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. The culmination of that effort was the so-called Steele dossier, which was used to obtain FISA court warrants to surveil Carter Page, and by extension, likely other members of the Trump campaign and transition team both in real time and historically.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 22, 2018 18 Comments
A familiar pattern plays out when anyone comes to President Trump's defense. They get targeted for destruction. Now that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has joined Trump's legal team to reportedly negotiate an end to the Mueller investigation, he will have a target on his back.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 18, 2018 63 Comments
The court proceedings regarding the seizure of materials from the law office of Michael Cohen ended yesterday without a formal ruling on the substance of how the case will proceed as to review of seized materials. The issue is whether a so-called "taint team" from DOJ/FBI will review the records first, or whether there will be a Special Master. Contrary to many reports, the request for a Temporary Restraining Order was not denied on the merits, but because it was moot. The TRO request was moot because pending a court ruling on procedures for review of materials, the feds are not reviewing what they seized. That was my understanding from live tweeting of the proceedings, and it's confirmed by a letter the prosecutors filed in court today (pdf.)(emphasis added):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 16, 2018 88 Comments
The federal court in the Southern District of New York is continuing today the hearing on the objections of Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen regarding records seized from his law office and home. For the background and court pleadings, please see the prior post, Trump attorney Michael Cohen goes to Court to get back seized records. Last night we reported that Trump's attorney's had filed a Letter Motion objecting to the feds doing a privilege review of the seized materials, Trump court filing in Michael Cohen case: Objects to DOJ/FBI “taint team” deciding what is attorney-client privileged.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 15, 2018 30 Comments
On Monday, April 16, 2018, the court in the Southern District of New York will continue its hearing on the motion by Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen for return of records seized from his law office and home. In the alternative, Cohen seeks severe restrictions on the government's ability to review the records, even if the government follows its procedures to have a so-called "taint team" do so. For the background and court pleadings, please see the prior post, Trump attorney Michael Cohen goes to Court to get back seized records.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2018 44 Comments
Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen has filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York for a Temporary Restraining Order regarding the records and evidence seized by the government when it executed a search warrant on Cohen's offices and homes on April 9, 2018. According to news reports, a hearing started this morning and is ongoing this afternoon before Judge Kimba Wood.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 11, 2018 98 Comments
There isn't much of a pretense anymore that the Mueller investigation is about alleged Russian campaign collusion. Maybe it started out about collusion, but it veered off course within a couple of months, when Mueller decided that Paul Manafort needed to be investigated for conduct many years ago having nothing to do with the campaign, or even Russia. Rod Rosenstein created the paperwork in early August 2017 to retroactively expand Mueller's investigation and justify Mueller conduct that already had taken place.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 10, 2018 64 Comments
Monday, the FBI raided Michael Cohen's office. Cohen is Trump's personal attorney. Now, Geoffrey Berman, the Trump-appointed Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is recused from the Cohen investigation. Berman's status as a Trump temporary appointee was used to claim that the warrant was not politically motivated. But now it turns out that Berman had recused himself and had nothing to do with the warrant against Cohen.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 09, 2018 108 Comments
The FBI raid on the home and office of Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen reportedly took place after a referral from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The search warrant apparently was obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 09, 2018 94 Comments
The New York Times has reported that the FBI raided the office of President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen. They seized documents related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump, along with other material after they received a referral from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2018 43 Comments
I was a guest on the Mark Levin Show on Wednesday evening, April 4, 2018. The topic was my post, Rosenstein Memo confirming Mueller could investigate Manafort came a week after raid on Manafort’s home. We also covered related topics such as Manafort's attempt to get the case against him thrown out, and whether Donald Trump should agree to an in-person interview with Mueller.
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