Mueller: Anything he has "banked" before Whittaker came on board is covered by his original mandate.

[kpete]

Last edited Mon Nov 19, 2018, 08:13 PM - Edit history (1)

The brief is filed! Any subpoenas already issued & indictments already charged under seal or not can’t be blocked by Whitaker. Further, Mueller states he has the full authority of a US Attorney- which would allow him to unseal any indictments without Whitaker’s permission. BOOM

MUELLER SAYS HE STILL EXERCISES THE FULL AUTHORITY OF A US ATTORNEY
November 19, 2018/6 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
Mueller’s team has submitted the supplemental brief Judge Henderson ordered the day after Matt Whitaker was appointed, explaining whether his appointment affects Andrew Miller’s challenge to a subpoena he got back in June.

As to the issue at hand (whether his subpoena of Miller is legal), Mueller says Whitaker’s appointment changes nothing, because everything being challenged pertains to his May 17, 2017 appointment, not anything that happened since.

The President’s designation of Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker on November 7, 2108, has no effect on this case.

............


All of those arguments turn on the May 17, 2017 appointment of the Special Counsel and the legal and regulatory frameworks that existed at the time of appointment. None of those arguments is affected by the change in the identity of the Acting Attorney General while this case is on appeal.

But the brief is interesting because it is the first opportunity Mueller has had to lay out how he understands what happened and how Whitaker’s appointment affects his authority.


..................


............... Mueller argues that Whitaker’s appointment cannot change the validity of the subpoena (and, one would assume by extension, anything else) that occurred before Whitaker’s appointment.

Because the subpoenas here issued under the signature of the Special Counsel’s Office long before the change in the identity of the Acting Attorney General, that change cannot affect the validity of the subpoenas. And the designation of a different Acting Attorney General while the case is on appeal cannot vitiate the district court’s order holding Miller in contempt.

This would seem to suggest that if Mueller has anything banked — sealed indictments or complaints — then he holds that nothing changes their validity or the DC District’s authority to preside over them.

He also maintains that he retains the authority to appear before the Court.

Second, the change in identity of the Acting Attorney General has no effect on the Special Counsel’s authority to appear in this case. The Special Counsel continues to hold his office despite the change in the identity of the Acting Attorney General.

This would be what he would need to unseal any existing indictments.



more:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/11/19/mueller-says-he-still-exercises-the-full-authority-of-a-us-attorney/

Link to tweet

[California_Republic]

1. If I had gone to law school...... But it sounds good!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. K&R "BOOM" Indeed w/ music, because "This story is just beginning"

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. Actually, writers like kpete, Nancy etc don't have to worry about these people...

but struggling, new True Blue DU writers, plagued by freepers or good, established writers/ reporters, might want to view and bookmark this Opening Post for numerous reasons.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211453263

[Qutzupalotl]

2. Great news!

Whitaker and Trump are so outclassed.

[demsocialist]

4. Let the unsealing begin.........

I have been waiting

[Mr. Ected]

5. Mind you, this isn't the Court's determination; it's Mueller's argument before the Court

The judge will still need to rule on this, right?

Frankly, the legitimacy of the judiciary rather sways in the balance here.

[ismnotwasm]

6. K&R

[triron]

7. knr