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comment by mk

I suspect it’s his gambit, and that he’ll declare a state of national emergency because it’s his only hope to avoid fallout from this:

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/08/supreme-court-declines-to-intervene-in-mysterious-mueller-subpoena-fight-1088050



cgod  ·  1906 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The fallout from what?

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mk  ·  1906 days ago  ·  link  ·  

My guess is this subpoena has to do with records that would reveal money laundering.

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cgod  ·  1906 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I hear so much speculation about everything involving the Muller probe but almost none of it pans out.

Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck of the NSL podcast, legal professors on National security issues, one of whom has three cases before the court this session, seem to think that the all the stuff under seal has way more to do with technical arguments involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, than the fact that it involves Robert Muller.

This post at Just Security https://www.justsecurity.org/62068/deciphering-mystery-subpoena-case-corporate-claims-foreign-sovereign-immunity-u-s-criminal-proceedings/ talks about it in some depth.

I like Politico but fuck Politico for any kind of legal analysis.

Muller's case doesn't hang on this subpoena. This subpoena is part of a case that is being built. It's probably not a smoking gun, just another part in a long chain if evidence. If it was a smoking gun we wouldn't hear about it for some time to come. It's would be sealed evidence in a grand jury proceeding. Muller could, if he was so inclined, reveal it in some future indictment or it would be placed in the report to the attorney general at the conclusion of the investigation, a report which the public might never see, or have to wait years to see.

This isn't an immenet threat to the Trump administration. It might be part of a serious long term threat. If you think any of this is playing out in the short term for the president than you listen to too much liberal media.

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am_Unition  ·  1906 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I get the skepticism, but I think quite a bit of the (admittedly generous) speculation surrounding Mueller will pan out.

Donald Trump himself be damned, imagine if you were going to attempt implicating this president's son in any sort of criminal charges for something like the Trump Tower meeting with Veselnitskaya. The prosecution's case would need to be built into an airtight configuration hinging on a small domino guaranteed to fell a well-built legal castle as soon as things were set in motion. That would take a looooong time. If he were to dare file charges against a Trump family member, Mueller would expect immediate termination, and should thus be expected to engineer contingency plans guaranteeing the eventual public release of his comprehensive report, additional pending and/or sealed indictments, etc., etc.

All that said, it could be that he'll uncover no definitive evidence of conspiracy/collusion with Russia on behalf of Trump Sr. himself, but I think that the obstruction of justice case is all but inevitable. And maybe I'm wrong. I mean, hell, I was just wrong a few hours ago about Trump making some official declaration of an emergency at the border.

I just want the government back open. If I were a foreign adversary, right now looks like a bitchin' time to strike.

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goobster  ·  1905 days ago  ·  link  ·  

IIRC it took two years for the Watergate investigation to levy charges. And they had physical evidence of break-ins, etc.

Muller is being very careful. I expect the ONLY charges levied against Trump and his family will be absolutely air-tight. He can't risk anything being thrown out or dismissed.

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kleinbl00  ·  1905 days ago  ·  link  ·  

When you strike at a king you must kill him.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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