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[webfact]

U.S. Democrats face hurdles in bid to get full Mueller report

By Jan Wolfe

 

FILE PHOTO: William Barr testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be attorney general of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. lawmakers have vowed a court fight if necessary to secure the public release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full report on his investigation into possible coordination between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.

 

But such a court challenge could face numerous hurdles, legal experts said on Monday, adding that the Justice Department might have reasons far beyond protecting President Donald Trump from legal and political fallout in withholding at least parts of the Mueller report.

 

"Congress can subpoena the information Mueller has collected, but faces huge hurdles in getting it," said Ross Garber, a lawyer in Washington who focuses on political investigations. "It would have to file a civil lawsuit, which would take a long time to get through the court system, likely many years."

 

Mueller is preparing the eagerly anticipated report on the investigation he took over in May 2017 examining potential Trump campaign conspiracy with Moscow to help tip the election his way and whether he has sought unlawfully to obstruct the probe.

 

A report finding either collusion or obstruction could lead the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to consider launching the impeachment process set out under the U.S. Constitution to remove a president from office.

 

The Justice Department regulations governing Mueller's appointment as special counsel called for him to write a "confidential report" explaining any criminal charges he brought, as well as any decisions not to prosecute. Mueller will submit his report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee who is required to provide a summary of Mueller's findings to Congress.

 

Under the regulations, it is up to Barr to decide whether to release Mueller's report to the public. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said on Sunday his fellow Democrats would be prepared to subpoena the report to win its release, call Mueller to testify and take the fight to court if necessary.

 

If Barr defied a congressional subpoena and refused to disclose the full report, the House could vote to hold him in contempt of Congress and seek to enforce their subpoena through a civil lawsuit in federal court.

 

"The congressional subpoena power is an important fail-safe in case the Mueller report is suppressed or heavily redacted," former federal prosecutor Elie Honig said.

 

"But it's not as simple as, 'Here's a subpoena, hand over the entire report,' or 'Here's a subpoena, now Mueller has to tell us everything he knows.' There are various limitations on what a subpoena recipient can and would have to turn over, and some of those limitations could end up being litigated in court," Honig added.

 

Such disputes between the Justice Department and Congress have happened before, typically being resolved through closed-door negotiations before a court has a chance to rule, University of Michigan-Dearborn political science professor Mitchel Sollenberger said.

 

In 2012, the House, then controlled by Republicans, voted to hold Democratic President Barack Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, in contempt for refusing to turn over documents related to a failed federal law enforcement operation dubbed "Fast and Furious" targeting gun traffickers.

 

A House committee sued Holder to obtain the documents. The litigation dragged on until a 2018 settlement was reached calling for the production of documents after Obama and Holder already had left office.

 

GRAND JURY DETAILS

One issue that could complicate Democratic efforts to win release of the report is that it might include information about closed-door grand jury proceedings that authorized Mueller's indictments, Honig said. Barr has limits to his ability to make information about grand jury proceedings public, Honig added.

 

Another obstacle for securing release of the report is the possibility that Trump's administration would invoke a doctrine called executive privilege that lets a president withhold certain information from Congress or the courts.

 

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed use of executive privilege to ensure that a president can get candid advice from his advisers without worrying about the private conversations later being made public.

 

But the high court ruled in a 1974 case involving President Richard Nixon that executive privilege cannot be used to cover up White House wrongdoing. For that reason, Trump likely would not be able to invoke executive privilege to withhold the Mueller report, Sollenberger said. Nixon resigned later in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal.

 

In addition, the Justice Department has policies against it revealing information about ongoing criminal investigations and against releasing information about conduct it decides not to charge as criminal. While Mueller's report would signal the end of his investigation, other federal prosecutors are pursuing related matters including the New York charges already brought against Trump's former longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

 

Barr himself criticized former FBI Director James Comey for revealing information publicly in 2016 about an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state.

 

"If you're not going to indict someone, you don't stand up there and unload negative information about the person," Barr told his Senate confirmation hearing last month. "That's not the way the department does business."

 

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe,; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Ross Colvin and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-26

[Samui Bodoh]

There are many erudite and/or proper legal arguments in the article above, but I am a believer in human nature.

 

For two years, Trump and his cronies have heaped insult and abuse on the US Justice department and much of it for cheap, partisan political gain. I would remind all that Justice department employees are human beings.

 

Should the Mueller Report be held back, does anyone believe that it won't leak?

 

Personally, I'd leak it in a heartbeat...

 

[keemapoot]

7 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

There are many erudite and/or proper legal arguments in the article above, but I am a believer in human nature.

 

For two years, Trump and his cronies have heaped insult and abuse on the US Justice department and much of it for cheap, partisan political gain. I would remind all that Justice department employees are human beings.

 

Should the Mueller Report be held back, does anyone believe that it won't leak?

 

Personally, I'd leak it in a heartbeat...

 

I fully expect it to leak by Justice, with careful redaction of any true national security concerns. To not leak it would be almost treasonous. I think everyone in the US has a vested interest in knowing the truth that was discovered.

[quandow]

I was listening to a legal scholar about this. IF there is any evidence of illegal activity and Barr withholds it, then he is directly in legal jeopardy of obstructing justice, and would then be complicit after the fact of committing a crime. Besides, if Trump is squeaky clean, then why NOT release the report? If he works to suppress the report then what is he hiding?

[Boon Mee]

Whether the 'full' report is released or not, the entire enterprise is a giant nothing-burger ????. 

[Puchaiyank]

If there is any "smoking gun" information contained in the report...the Dems have enough loyalists and moles embedded in government to leak the information to the press...as they have been doing the entire Trump presidency.

[quandow]

7 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Whether the 'full' report is released or not, the entire enterprise is a giant nothing-burger ????. 

Not to the many men who are currently doing jail time or waiting for prosecution/sentencing. Or did you conveniently forget about them?

Swear to gawd, truth is Trump supporter Kryptonite.

[keemapoot]

19 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Whether the 'full' report is released or not, the entire enterprise is a giant nothing-burger ????. 

That would be great then, and I'm sure you would love that to exonerate his great one. So, let's do that, and then all the critics will shut up about this...unless there is something less than desirable about your dear leader in that report.

[DoctorG]

It would be in everyone's best interest for as much of the report as possible to be released. 

[TopDeadSenter]

Let's face it, with all the leaks that came out from this shambles of an investigation, if there was anything of significance - anything at all - we would have long been hearing about it. The only thing that raised my eyebrows was that Mueller stacked his team with anti-Trump extremists like Page and Strzok and from that moment on it was pure Benny Hill.

 I would advise the anti-Trumpers just to forget about this Mueller thing, it will be embarrassing and hugely disappointing. And when the repercussions begin for this flake having wasted 2 years of the best Presidents term there will be big trouble. Mueller is more likely to find himself in Guantanamo with Christopher Steele, than Trump is to be impeached.

Edited February 26, 2019 by TopDeadSenter

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

There are many erudite and/or proper legal arguments in the article above, but I am a believer in human nature.

 

For two years, Trump and his cronies have heaped insult and abuse on the US Justice department and much of it for cheap, partisan political gain. I would remind all that Justice department employees are human beings.

 

Should the Mueller Report be held back, does anyone believe that it won't leak?

 

Personally, I'd leak it in a heartbeat...

 

IMO if there were any actual charges against Trump, it would have been leaked long ago.

The report isn't even out yet and the Dems are already preparing the story that there must be something that wasn't made public so they can continue to harass Trump. Poor Dems, they have been putting so much attention on the Mueller investigation, hoping that it would provide a "smoking gun" to bring down Trump, and it's unlikely to do so. They don't have much else to use, so just going to have to go home and "kick the dog":-)

[thaibeachlovers]

9 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

That would be great then, and I'm sure you would love that to exonerate his great one. So, let's do that, and then all the critics will shut up about this...unless there is something less than desirable about your dear leader in that report.

IMO the critics will never shut up, regardless of whether the report exonerates him. One only has to read what the anti Trumpers on TVF say to know that. To them, Trump has to be guilty of something, regardless.

[thaibeachlovers]

25 minutes ago, quandow said:

Not to the many men who are currently doing jail time or waiting for prosecution/sentencing. Or did you conveniently forget about them?

Swear to gawd, truth is Trump supporter Kryptonite.

Haven't forgotten about them, nor forgotten that none of the charges are likely to affect Trump. Seems that few or none actually have anything to do with Russian collusion either.

[keemapoot]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO the critics will never shut up, regardless of whether the report exonerates him. One only has to read what the anti Trumpers on TVF say to know that. To them, Trump has to be guilty of something, regardless.

Well, I for one, will shut up about alleged ILLEGAL activity if the report says that. However, I and everyone else, will not and should not shut up about improper nasty activity bordering on illegality and not befitting a President should that be disclosed.

[keemapoot]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Haven't forgotten about them, nor forgotten that none of the charges are likely to affect Trump. Seems that few or none actually have anything to do with Russian collusion either.

Ok, if none of all this nefarious and illegal activity by all those close to Trump does not affect Trump, then let's see him exonerated in the report. I'm sure that will make all Trump supporters ecstatic. Release the report! Exonerate Trump!

[Cryingdick]

6 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

Well, I for one, will shut up about alleged ILLEGAL activity if the report says that. However, I and everyone else, will not and should not shut up about improper nasty activity bordering on illegality and not befitting a President should that be disclosed.

 

Sounds like you are preparing for the outcome you know is coming. If there is anything substantial every liberal journalist on the planet would be drooling over their Pulitzer Prize should they break the story. 

 

 

 

[keemapoot]

Just now, Cryingdick said:

 

Sounds like you are preparing for the outcome you know is coming. If there is anything substantial every liberal journalist on the planet would be drooling over their Pulitzer Prize should they break the story. 

 

 

 

I, for one, will take whatever comes. With a guy like Mueller, who plays his cards close to the vest, and has managed zero leaks among his team, I think anything is possible. But, I think it unlikely there is not some really nasty stuff about Trump in the report. Whether it is actionable illegal stuff remains to be seen.

[Cryingdick]

1 minute ago, keemapoot said:

I, for one, will take whatever comes. With a guy like Mueller, who plays his cards close to the vest, and has managed zero leaks among his team, I think anything is possible. But, I think it unlikely there is not some really nasty stuff about Trump in the report. Whether it is actionable illegal stuff remains to be seen.

 

I can respect where you are coming from. It is too bad there are a lot of people that don't share this stance.

[quandow]

47 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

Ok, if none of all this nefarious and illegal activity by all those close to Trump does not affect Trump, then let's see him exonerated in the report. I'm sure that will make all Trump supporters ecstatic. Release the report! Exonerate Trump!

Reverse psychology - I LOVE IT! You think Trumpsters will be able to figure that one out?

[Tug]

Let’s see what the report says regardless Donald has not earned my respect or vote on the contrary I cannot vote republican untle his influence is gone

[IAMHERE]

Pretty sure it will be found out that someone on Trumps election team used Russian Salad Dressing, at least occasionally. Pelosi will try to impeach him for that.

[Cryingdick]

21 minutes ago, Tug said:

Let’s see what the report says regardless Donald has not earned my respect or vote on the contrary I cannot vote republican untle his influence is gone

Okay. Who are you leaning towards?

[spidermike007]

Trump has been engaging in misdemeanors and felonies since he was 20. It is just the way he rolls. Anything for an advantage, no matter the cost. He was involved in 3,600 lawsuits at the time he was elected. Why does anyone, even his supporters, think that he would behave any differently during the campaign, and as president? He does not know how to play by the rules. He feels the rules do not apply to him, and so far in his life and career, they have not. However, since entering politics, which was the biggest mistake of his life, he is under far more scrutiny. There is no way on earth, that there is not very damaging stuff in that report, and the American people have the right to see it. If Trump wants to continue to play dirty, and suppress it, it will be leaked. No doubt about that.

 

His days are numbered. There is a greater chance of me finding gold in my garden today, than Trump running for re-election in 2020. 

[quandow]

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

His (Trump) days are numbered. There is a greater chance of me finding gold in my garden today, than Trump running for re-election in 2020. 

I wish I shared your confidence! He has some frightening voodoo mojo and seems to stay two steps ahead of those who would have his head on a platter if they could only get their hands solidly on his neck. I watched Bernie's first town hall a little over an hour ago. He openly, clearly called Trump a fraud, a liar, and when asked how he would handle a possible debate with Trump, said the first thing he'd do is bring a lie detector. I hope and pray you are right!!!

[ballpoint]

Whatever the Mueller report does or doesn't reveal, it's all rather like putting Gary Glitter on trial for plagiarism.  Sure, Trump may be found guilty or not guilty of colluding with the Russians, but it will do nothing to change the fact that he is a racist, sexist, lying, cheating, crooked bigot.

[quandow]

19 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

. . . he [Trump] is a racist, sexist, lying, cheating, crooked bigot.

And THOSE are his GOOD points!

[ballpoint]

If it does prove worthy of an impeachment hearing, then it could take some time.

[Chomper Higgot]

Roger Stone has only recently been arrested and charged, his (current) indictmentss have multiple references (in the unredacted parts) to collusion between Stone, Wikileaks, Russian Intelligence and the Trump Campaign.

 

Stone is not known to have started cooperating yet, but he will.

 

 Cambridge Analytica has only just been subpoenaed, they will turnover everything they have.

 

Mueller has only recently gotten hold of official transcripts of 50+ testimonies sworn before the House (many with Perjury in plain sight).

 

Mueller’s report is not coming any time soon.

 

And when it does, what he has to say will already be revealed in indictments and sentencing notes held as public record by the courts.

 

 

Illiberals, get your denial glasses on, the truth will (despite Individual-1’s best efforts) out!

Edited February 26, 2019 by Chomper Higgot

[Chomper Higgot]

As I’ve said elsewhere.

 

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

 

 

An innocent Trump would be demanding the report be made public.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Chomper Higgot

[quandow]

4 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Cambridge Analytica has only just been subpoenaed, they will turnover everything they have.

I heard some of the details in this deal. It basically said if the FBI even catches a HINT of deception, they will hound Cambridge for the next three lifetimes of everyone involved in a cover up and make their lives a living hell.