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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWIRED: Robert Mueller Likely Knows How This All Ends
GARRETT M. GRAFF
SECURITY
05.01.1811:27 AM
ROBERT MUELLER LIKELY KNOWS HOW THIS ALL ENDS
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1. Mueller always knows more than we think. Every single indictment has been deeper, broader, and more detailed than anyone anticipated. This misunderestimating of what Mueller knows has been true of both the public and media reports, and of his witnesses and targets: Both Rick Gates and Alex van der Zwaan were caught in lies by Muellers team, who have known far more specific information than their targets first realized. Presumably, Muellers questions to Trump are informed by even more evidence that we havent seen.
2. Mueller is building a bulletproof case. Paul Manafort spent the spring trying to argue that Mueller was a loose cannon, a reckless, out-of-control prosecutor straying far beyond his assignment. His court case, though, proved just the opposite: The release this spring in court of a previously classified memo by Rod Rosenstein makes clear just how cautiously and conservatively Mueller is proceeding legally. One of the key members of Muellers team, Michael Dreeben, specializes in looking down the road at potential legal pitfalls and how cases might appear not just at initial trials but in later appellate courts. And Dreebans work has paid obvious dividends: After reviewing the evidence in Manaforts effort to dismiss the charges against him and Muellers highly detailed 282-page rebuttal, Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Manaforts lawyers, I dont really understand what is left of your case.
3. There are more loose threads than ever. Perhaps the most troubling conclusion after reading Muellers proposed questions is just how many questions exist about the behavior and motivations of the President of the United States during his first year in office. The 49 questions lay out just how much remains unanswered and unknown, publicly at least, nearly a year into Muellers special counsel work. Its hard to tell from the questions alone which ones represent the most possible jeopardy for the president, but when matched against the five core areas of Muellers investigation, its clear that Mueller wants to talk with President Trump about nearly all of them, from obstruction of justice to the Trump Organizations business deals in Russia to the 2016 Trump campaigns involvement with various Russian officials. Add in the full breadth of the investigation, from New York taxi medallions to Virginia rug stores, and the supporting playersincluding Erik Prince, Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Tony Podesta, Carter Page, Sergey Kislyak, Sergey Gorkov, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, as well as the hackers of Fancy Bear and Cozy Bearand its clear that this is no made-up witch hunt. There are likely more indictments yet to come.
4. We still dont know the biggest, most important evidence. Theres an ever-growing pile of evidence that exists that hasnt become public yet. That includes, obviously, the evidence that George Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, and Rick Gates all traded to Mueller for their plea deals over the last seven months. Presumably, Mueller considers each defendants testimony worthy of trading monthsand even yearsoff of a potential prison sentence, so it seems significant that more than seven months after Mueller flipped Papadopoulos, we still havent seen a single iota of the evidence he presumably provided to the investigation.
5. Mueller likely already knows how this story ends. Add up the four above points and it seems clear that Mueller might actually be relatively close to wrapping up the investigation. Given that the FBI raid on Michael Cohens office, stemming from an investigation by federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, was sure to provoke a reaction from President Trumpthe investigative equivalent of kicking a hornets nestit seems likely that Mueller and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who approved the raid, understood that one or both of them might be fired by the president in its wake. It seems likely that before they took such a provocative step on the case that they could see their way through to the investigation's end.
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The Rest:
https://www.wired.com/story/robert-mueller-trump-questions-investigation/
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)jumpsuit, I'm fine with it.
Demsrule86
(68,469 posts)Trump for the rest of his sorry criminal life...no pardon can stop that.
Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)more than anyone. It's the deplorable doubters who need this drilled into their empty heads.
Botany
(70,447 posts)I just read the 5 points in your post and I will have to go to the link
and read the whole article. Mueller is dotting all the i s and crossing the
t s and he is ahead of team Trump.
"One of the key members of Muellers team, Michael Dreeben, specializes in looking down the
road at potential legal pitfalls and how cases might appear not just at initial trials but in later
appellate courts."
dalton99a
(81,404 posts)Botany
(70,447 posts)... and around the internets.
For God's sake we have a Russian spy as President and a many member of
the Republican party are protecting him.
Pluvious
(4,305 posts)All we know is much info was sought out, from international banks to domestic, including the Treasury department and IRSsssss ...
And this type of dirt is least likely to get leaked.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)Mueller, Rosenstein & Teams, SDNY & right on down to the janitorial staff is too much to ask, is it?
Orsino
(37,428 posts)He probably knows the shape of the case he'll build, and that the president will lie and obfuscate to the last, but as to whether Congress will hold anyone accountable, that's a political mystery separate from legal questions.
quartz007
(1,216 posts)who has actually gone to prison so far? I am sure there are a few already in orange suits, to be followed by Drumpf.