Mueller investigation

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Those meanies are bringing criminals like Manafort to justice! Quick someone call the rule of law totalitarian to save the swamp.

 

[Copernicus]

This is the memo outlining Mueller's authority.

The Judge expressed skepticism that Mueller could investigate matters beyond what is in the memo, e.g., in 2005 and 2006. The special prosecutor is just that, appointed for a special purpose. A special prosecutor does not have the broad discretion of a U.S. attorney.

Actually, that memo directly names Manafort's financial compensation in Ukraine concerning Yanukovych, Moscow's puppet, and activities that have to do with "any matters that arose or may arise directly from that investigation". It clearly does give Mueller leeway to pursue this. In any case, Mueller's team will supply the unredacted memo, if possible.

 

[Trausti]

Judge rejects Mueller's request for delay in Russian troll farm case

In a blunt response Saturday morning, Concord's attorneys accused Mueller's team of ignoring the court's rules and suggesting a special procedure for the Russian firm without any supporting legal authority.

"Defendant voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [federal rules], and further intends to enter a plea of not guilty. Defendant has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons. As such, the briefing sought by the Special Counsel’s motion is pettifoggery," Dubelier and Seikaly wrote.

The Concord lawyers said Mueller's attorneys were seeking "to usurp the scheduling authority of the Court" by waiting until Friday afternoon to try to delay a proceeding scheduled for next Wednesday. Dubelier and Seikaly complained that the special counsel's office has not replied at all to Concord's discovery requests. The lawyers, who work for Pittsburgh-based law firm Reed Smith, also signaled Concord intends to assert its speedy trial rights, putting more pressure on the special counsel's office to turn over records related to the case.

Friedrich, a Trump appointee based in Washington, sided with Concord and said the arraignment will proceed as scheduled Wednesday afternoon.

LOL. So the indictments against the individual Russians and the Russian firms may be a load of crap. Totally expected that these parties would ignore the case so the special prosecutor could score a PR victory. Oh, shit, one of the defendants voluntarily appeared, requests discovery, and demands a speedy trial. Delay! Delay! Delay!

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Judge rejects Mueller's request for delay in Russian troll farm case

In a blunt response Saturday morning, Concord's attorneys accused Mueller's team of ignoring the court's rules and suggesting a special procedure for the Russian firm without any supporting legal authority.

"Defendant voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [federal rules], and further intends to enter a plea of not guilty. Defendant has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons. As such, the briefing sought by the Special Counsel’s motion is pettifoggery," Dubelier and Seikaly wrote.

The Concord lawyers said Mueller's attorneys were seeking "to usurp the scheduling authority of the Court" by waiting until Friday afternoon to try to delay a proceeding scheduled for next Wednesday. Dubelier and Seikaly complained that the special counsel's office has not replied at all to Concord's discovery requests. The lawyers, who work for Pittsburgh-based law firm Reed Smith, also signaled Concord intends to assert its speedy trial rights, putting more pressure on the special counsel's office to turn over records related to the case.

Friedrich, a Trump appointee based in Washington, sided with Concord and said the arraignment will proceed as scheduled Wednesday afternoon.

LOL. So the indictments against the individual Russians and the Russian firms may be a load of crap.

You need to read your own sources:

The prosecution team sought the delay on the grounds that it’s unclear whether Concord Management formally accepted the court summons related to the case. Mueller’s prosecutors also revealed that they tried to deliver the summonses for Concord and IRA through the Russian government, without success.

“The [U.S.] government has attempted service of the summonses by delivering copies of them to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia, to be delivered to the defendants,” prosecutors wrote. “That office, however, declined to accept the summonses. The government has submitted service requests to the Russian government pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty. To the government’s knowledge, no further steps have been taken within Russia to effectuate service.”

The request is purely procedural and has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Mueller’s team is ready for trial. Indeed, the fact that they were at the stage of serving summons proves that they are ready. All this means is that the accused will evidently not appear in court, but will be tried in absentia instead, something Mueller more than likely expected all along.

 

[Trausti]

You need to read your own sources:

The prosecution team sought the delay on the grounds that it’s unclear whether Concord Management formally accepted the court summons related to the case. Mueller’s prosecutors also revealed that they tried to deliver the summonses for Concord and IRA through the Russian government, without success.

“The [U.S.] government has attempted service of the summonses by delivering copies of them to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia, to be delivered to the defendants,” prosecutors wrote. “That office, however, declined to accept the summonses. The government has submitted service requests to the Russian government pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty. To the government’s knowledge, no further steps have been taken within Russia to effectuate service.”

The request is purely procedural and has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Mueller’s team is ready for trial. Indeed, the fact that they were at the stage of serving summons proves that they are ready. All this means is that the accused will evidently not appear in court, but will be tried in absentia instead, something Mueller more than likely expected all along.

Read further. Concord appeared voluntarily, as it is permitted to do. A party can forego procedure if it submits itself to the Court's jurisdiction. That's what Concord did here. It wants to be arraigned. It wants to enter a not guilty plea. It wants the special counsel to try the case against it. The special counsel tried to delay this by requesting months of motion practice regarding the summons. As the party voluntarily appeared, the special counsel's request was pointless.

 

[Copernicus]

Trausti, I'm not interpreting that motion by attorneys for an American branch of Concord as expressing a willingness to be arraigned. There is nothing there about a not guilty plea. All it appears to be is a motion filed in opposition to a request for continuance while Mueller tries to serve Concord and its Russian codefendants. What they want is for the entire case to be dismissed quickly and to get out from under having to stand trial at all. To that end, they see a continuance by the court as helpful to the prosecution.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Trausti, I'm not interpreting that motion by attorneys for an American branch of Concord as expressing a willingness to be arraigned. There is nothing there about a not guilty plea.

There is a stated intent to plead not guilty in section 6, but also a load of bullshit in section 4.

All it appears to be is a motion filed in opposition to a request for continuance while Mueller tries to serve Concord and its Russian codefendants. What they want is for the entire case to be dismissed quickly and to get out from under having to stand trial at all. To that end, they see a continuance by the court as helpful to the prosecution.

That and/or they’re trying to use the case as a means to reveal sensitive material.

What none of this evidences, however, is Trausti’s declaration that the indictments are in any way a “load of crap.”

 

[ElectEngr]

Oh goodie...

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/07/politics/donald-trump-russia-investigation-obstruction/index.html

Of course, Il Douchebag's threats of legal action are almost always empty promises. Still, I'm thinking Cheetoliini may shop this around until he finds a judge it appointed.

Later,
ElectEngr

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Unrevealed conflicts of interest?

I absolutely hate Trump's reality television approach to everything. He puts something out there, no backing, lets it stew with his followers until it becomes gospel... move on.

What do they have? Mueller received a Birthday card from the Clintons?

 

[Elixir]

I absolutely hate Trump's reality television approach to everything.

Take heart - this will probably follow the predictable plot wheel formula for daytime TV. Any day now, someone previously afflicted with amnesia will surface with an undeniable, damning story now that their memory has been miraculously restored. Try not to focus on the possibility that this witness might be contradicted by someone else just now emerging from the coma they've been in for the last 20 months... Just know in your heart that at the end of the series, the villain will be stewing in his jail cell while plotting his vengeance against the whole world that conspired against him.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I absolutely hate Trump's reality television approach to everything.

Take heart - this will probably follow the predictable plot wheel formula for daytime TV. Any day now, someone previously afflicted with amnesia will surface with an undeniable, damning story now that their memory has been miraculously restored. Try not to focus on the possibility that this witness might be contradicted by someone else just now emerging from the coma they've been in for the last 20 months... Just know in your heart that at the end of the series, the villain will be stewing in his jail cell while plotting his vengeance against the whole world that conspired against him.

I can't wait for sweeps week when we find out that it was actually Jared's evil twin who was colluding all along.

 

[ElectEngr]

I absolutely hate Trump's reality television approach to everything.

Take heart - this will probably follow the predictable plot wheel formula for daytime TV. Any day now, someone previously afflicted with amnesia will surface with an undeniable, damning story now that their memory has been miraculously restored. Try not to focus on the possibility that this witness might be contradicted by someone else just now emerging from the coma they've been in for the last 20 months... Just know in your heart that at the end of the series, the villain will be stewing in his jail cell while plotting his vengeance against the whole world that conspired against him.

I can't wait for sweeps week when we find out that it was actually Jared's evil twin who was colluding all along.

About two weeks ago, thee was talk about Gropenführer's love child.

Later,
ElectEngr

 

[Elixir]

I can't wait for sweeps week when we find out that it was actually Jared's evil twin who was colluding all along.

About two weeks ago, thee was talk about Gropenführer's love child.

Later,
ElectEngr

They sure are bending over backwards to hide the obvious. It's like they think nobody knows that Don Jr and Jared are both trannies.

 

[ElectEngr]

They sure are bending over backwards

hehehe...he said bend over....hehehe...

Later,
ElectEngr

 

[braces_for_impact]

I'm sure there's a perfectly legitimate reason for this:

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.

 

[ZiprHead]

This is going to get brutal AF.

wow. In an informal, 4-hour practice session to prep Trump for a possible interview with Mueller, Trump’s lawyers were only able to walk him through 2 questions, due to frequent interruptions, "along with Trump’s loquaciousness."

 

[Horatio Parker]

This is going to get brutal AF.

wow. In an informal, 4-hour practice session to prep Trump for a possible interview with Mueller, Trump’s lawyers were only able to walk him through 2 questions, due to frequent interruptions, "along with Trump’s loquaciousness."

Look at the bright side - only 46 questions left!

I wonder, have they decided they're not going to contest a subpoena?

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

This is going to get brutal AF.

wow. In an informal, 4-hour practice session to prep Trump for a possible interview with Mueller, Trump’s lawyers were only able to walk him through 2 questions, due to frequent interruptions, "along with Trump’s loquaciousness."

And those were the questions they made up—poorly, evidently—from notes taken, not Mueller’s actual questions. And I love the way they’re trying to spin it. He’s just so busy with important things! Like, golf and “executive time” and four hours of Fox & Friends every goddamned morning.

 

[Underseer]

I'm sure there's a perfectly legitimate reason for this:

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.

See? This is why Clinton was evil. He didn't have oligarchs with links to a hostile foreign government pay off a lawyer who paid off Monica Lewinski. That's why what Trump did was good, but Clinton needed to be impeached!

- - - Updated - - -

This is going to get brutal AF.

wow. In an informal, 4-hour practice session to prep Trump for a possible interview with Mueller, Trump’s lawyers were only able to walk him through 2 questions, due to frequent interruptions, "along with Trump’s loquaciousness."

He's going to get taken down by his own stupidity.

 

[Underseer]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/tw...s-trumps-scattershot-preps-mueller-interview/

CNN wasted no time mocking Trump for the whole "two questions in four hours" thing.