The judge’s unfriendly reception was a new turn of events for Mr. Mueller’s team, which has faced little or no confrontation during court hearings. Other Americans charged by the special counsel have pleaded guilty and most have agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors. But Mr. Manafort has mounted a vigorous defense against financial fraud and other charges, contending that Mr. Mueller has gone beyond his mandate.
Judge Ellis, 77, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, seemed sympathetic to that argument. He said that the criminal activity described in the indictment “manifestly has nothing to do with the campaign” or Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Some of the allegations, he noted, date to 2005 and 2007.
“I don’t see what relation this indictment has with what the special counsel is investigating,” he said during an hourlong hearing on a defense motion to dismiss the charges. “I’m sure you’re sensitive to the fact that the American people feel pretty strongly about no one having unfettered power.”
May 4, 2018
"You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud. You really care about getting information that Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever."
Said Federal District Judge T. S. Ellis III today, reported in "Judge Questions Whether Mueller Has Overstepped His Authority" (NYT).
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96 comments:
“I’m sure you’re sensitive to the fact that the American people feel pretty strongly about no one having unfettered power.”
Today's Left believes that there is something terribly wrong with the world if they do not have unfettered power. The thing that is wrong with the world is you, and they are going to fix that.
It's interesting, after so many judges used Trump's words against him in their visa ban rulings, to see a judge use Comey's interviews against Mueller (at least that's what I think happened)
Did conservatives have any concern about this when it was Jim and Susan McDougel and Jim Guy Tucker during the Clinton years?
Just like Judge Sirica broke open the watergate case, this might be a door opening to the attempted coup.
If only Nixon had taken Buchanan's advice and burned the tapes.
Yeah, be a white Kanye West and show some backbone. I hope he rules against Mueller but he'll probably cave.
Yeah, Nixon acted honorably and for that he goes down in history as a bad guy.
Wha-tevah!
Damn! This “independent judiciary” isn’t working like it’s s’posed to.
Judge Ellis better look out. Mueller will tap his phones.
And what if Mueller says, "Yeah, so what?"
"You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud. You really care about getting information that Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever."
Speaking truth to power.
Bad Lieutenant,
If Mueller says "so what" the case will be dismissed with prejudice. I am calling my shot. Mark my track record on these and other issues. I am very lucky at these things and you can chide me if I am wrong.
Mueller may make a show of national security but he KNOWS the memo will be revealed. 100%. No chance it won't.
The FBI/DOJ insurance plan is rapidly devolving into a CYA and "who can make a deal first" operation. Between the IG, the House and Senate investigations and AAG Huber I expect the full extent of the corruption to be revealed BEFORE the election.
Trump is the head of the Executive Branch. Expect executive orders declassifying documents for maximum political effect. Expect tweets to set up the releases.
1) tweet the truth,
2) press denies the truth,
3) release of official docs,
4) implications that vulnerable politicians were involved...
Trump has the whip hand.
Rod Rosenstein selected Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller to be the Special Counsel because Mueller is the one person in the entire world who is most motivated and able to whitewash the FBI.
Mueller is the very worst person in the entire world to issue a report that will be accepted by the American people as explanatory, objective and non-partisan.
However, neither Rosenstein nor Mueller give a rat's ass that the purpose of a Special Counsel is to issue a report that will be accepted by the American people as explanatory, objective and non-partisan.
Hard to find an article on this that shows a picture of the judge..unexpectedly.
Once again, I'm not a lawyer, & many of the mighty hordes that assemble here are, but.....
If, in a trial, the defense claims that the prosecution has relevant evidence that the defense thinks may be exculpatory, the prosecution must share that evidence. If the prosecution says that the evidence is classified for reasons of national security, the case will routinely be thrown out. The government cannot be allowed to prevent a defendant from mounting a vigorous defense by finding excuses to deny him access to evidence.
Similarly, in this case, it's is clear that the ambit of the prosecution is legally fuzzy. Matter of fact, the only people who claim to know the ambit of the investigation is the prosecution. Needless to say, there's not a lot of precedent for an investigation like this. By analogy with case law regarding government classified information, it would seem to me that if the defense can credibly claim that this prosecution is outside the ambit of the government, if the government cannot produce evidence in open court that it has a mandate to prosecute this case, then the case must be thrown out. To permit the case to move forward would be to deny the defendant a proper defense.
Okay, you shysters, tell me where I'm wrong.
Coup coup g'joob.
Pat Buchanan's current advice to Trump is to defy Mueller in order to put Mueller on "trial".
Prosecutors have vast latitude and powers to squeeze people when building a case. Threatening to lock up potential witnesses is White-Collar Prosecution 101. It's unlikely one courageous judge will have the slightest effect on that system, but we shall see.
Is this the beginning of the end, or simply the end of the beginning?
I understand that the Mueller team also informed the judge that they had been granted very extensive but secret powers that they could not show him for security reasons, or something, and the judge pretty much said: "Oh yeah? I will be the judge of that! Show them or get out of here!"
Notice how the article mentioned Judge Ellis's age (77). When's the last time the media mentioned RBG's age in the context of reporting on one of her Supreme Court opinions? Bueller? Bueller?
Did not the Manafort thing start with Mueller going after Manafort for supposedly doing shady deals between the Russians and the Ukrainians? What the hell business is that of Mueller's?
Then later Manafort committed bank fraud or something by bringing expensive suits and whatnot with him when he returned to the US?
So-called judge is a Columbian...
YH,
You have the gist in a normal case.
Here, however, the stakes are higher. The stakes are so high because the information the prosecution hopes to hide is that the FBI-DOJ participated in a conspiracy to violate the 4th Amendment.
That is what the Steele Document became. And the millions of dollars and the careers staked on this conspiracy are, in so many words, underwater.
The judge also noted that the SDNY investigated Manafort 12 years ago for these financial transactions, and found nothing to prosecute, they just put the investigation on the shelf. Mueller did not find this crime in his investigation of the Russian thing. Mueller just dusted this off. Plainly this is malicious prosecution.
Incidents from 2005 and 2007 would be outside the statute of limitations, wouldn't they?
Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire,
You are free to mention those things. Nobody cares. We did not care when Trump used those words.
Further, there is no relationship between this judge's heritage and the subject matter of the suit. You are incredibly petty.
Sorry your Deep State plans appear to be busted.
Freeman Hunt:
Did you see the agitation to remove a statue of George Washington?
Reports of this judge are heartening. There are, in fact, pockets of sense in The Great Bureaucracy.
Dont forget that the "scope document" never identifies a crime to investigate. There is no, nor has there ever been any plan to bring criminal charges against President Trump or his administration. Mueller has always been compiling enough trumped up evidence to write a report that the Dems will use to impeach the President. All the nonstop media coverage of criminal charges is just coordinated diversion, to hide the real goal of Mueller writing a report the Dems can use.
Birkel said...
Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire,
You are free to mention those things. Nobody cares. We did not care when Trump used those words.
Further, there is no relationship between this judge's heritage and the subject matter of the suit. You are incredibly petty.
Sorry your Deep State plans appear to be busted.
Hey, fuckhead;
At least when I jokingly said that Judge Ellis was a "Columbian," I was right. Ellis was born in Bogota, Columbia.
Assclown Trump called a judge who was born in East Chicago, Indiana a "Mexican judge."
If the charges against Manafort are dismissed with prejudice, Manafort will go on the offense. Scorched earth lawfare.
Mueller and Rosenstein are continuing their roles in the Deep State charade. Facts are intervening too quickly for their slow motion coup attempt.
The truth that the FBI-DOJ insurance plan is busted will cause many Leftist Collectivists and associates to devolve to blind rage and name calling.
Chuck: it's Colombia, not Columbia.
This Judge just exposed the Feds for the Secret Police they have long become .He flatly demanded they produce a motive for their prosecution of Manafort on this old closed case. Otherwise he will presume they are Suborning Perjury against Trump. And then this Judge can order them all arrested at home at 3:00AM and cause them to run up a million dollars apiece in legal fees.
So-called judge is a Columbian...
yeh, I heard Mathews smear the 77 year old judge tonite on his show, just like this.
When President Trump questions any kind of govt institution, it signifies a substantial threat the the continued existance of our Republic.
Double standard? Can I borrow someones shocked face?
YoungHegelian
You went wrong in using ambit, a word Althouse hasn’t used in a post.
Otherwise that sounds convincing to me with a caveat. The caveat is the appellate courts. This could be tied up for a long time before the USSC rules your way. It’s moot under President Biden.
Ken B,
If this is dismissed with prejudice, do not expect an appeal. The circuit court would not be amused even if a bad panel is drawn.
@Ken B,
This could be tied up for a long time before the USSC rules your way.
I disagree. If this judge tosses the case, it's over for the prosecution. Double jeopardy & all that, ole pip.
Maybe, just maybe, Mueller's team will have the balls to gin up some other charges against Manafort, but they'd have to do some careful judge-shopping before they'd show up in court again. I mean. there wouldn't just be egg on their faces. They'd be covered in it from head to toe.
@Birkel,
Deranged minds think alike.
Confused said...
Chuck: it's Colombia, not Columbia.
That's what you think! On advice of my council, Mister Scott Adams, I am spelling it the way that I think the people want it to be spelled. What r u going to do about it? Tapp my wires? My advice to you is to enjoy some delicious covfefe while you watch this bit of master persuasion on how spelling a word can create attention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6NB2aOtd8g
#COLUMBIA
>> I heard Mathews smear the 77 year old judge tonite on his show, just like this.
They both get their talking points from the same source.
I believe the Judge was engaged in a judicial version of the old sport of kicking butt and taking names. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch of prosecutors.
Blind rage. Check.
Name calling. Check.
Ken B,
What's wrong with ambit? The precise issue is how you can say someone has gone too far if no one has marked the bounds of where he may go.
Judge nails it.
The corrupt leftwing machine has made Mueller king and el presidente.
Threatening criminal prosecutions lasting years against you and all your family is the same thing as pointing a gun at a man and ordering him to Perjure himself the way we told you to or we will shoot.
That actually is a High Crime.
No one is enjoying the recent news cycles more than Chuck. No one. Trump is bringing joy to every corner of this great nation.
Love this Judge! He dropped the hammer on Mueller and crew.
The ONLY reason to have a Special Counsel is to investigate members of the executive branch accused of crimes. Manafort is not an Executice Officer and hasn't been charged with a crime of "colluding" with the Russians to rig the 2016 election.
At least one Federal Judge gets it. All charges against Manafort & Gates should be divested from Mueller, transferred to the US attorneys in DC and Virginia (there's 2 cases) - under the supervision of AG Sessions.
This is a big, big deal. Although the dressing down of Mueller’s office is significant, the real importance of the Judge’s comments is that he is going right to the core of the appointment of the Special Counsel. The first issue in any case is jurisdiction. If Mueller has no jurisdiction beyond the Russia issue, he’s finished.
Iowan2: "...I heard Mathews smear the 77 year old judge tonite on his show, just like this."
"My Little Pony republican" Chuck maintains his perfect, 100%, talking point/narrative alignment with his lefty/dem operational allies.
Unexpectedly.
I guarantee even as we speak Vichy Chucks leftist allies will commence the smearing of this judge who will not deserve what LLR Chucks beloved and racist La Raza Judge and ally did deserve.
ARM made a joke? On purpose?
If you think #StrongDemDefender Chuck is going to allow this judge to proceed in a constitutional way and hinder the electoral schemes of LLR Chucks leftist allies, well, then you dont know our "Tru Con" Chuck very well at all.
the real importance of the Judge’s comments is that he is going right to the core of the appointment of the Special Counsel.
Yup. This is John Sirica all over again.
He can break this wide open. He is 77 and maybe figures it's time for him.
I am still waiting for an explanation from LLR Chuck, ARM or any other lefty as to why Valerie Jarrett is attempting to credit LLR Chuck's "magnificent" obama for this economy which lefties claim Trump has destroyed.
Lisa Page out at DOJ?
Damn, Gina!
I'll bet LLR Chuck is researching the backgrounds of this Judge's grandchildren for a little of Chucks patented Child rumor-mongering.
Cuz that'll teach that Judge to get in the way of Chucks pals schemes...
As someone else pointed out, the judge's ethnicity has nothing to do with the case, unlike Judge Curiel overseeing a case involving Mexicans.
Second, is Ellis a Colombian citizen?
Or just of Colombian ancestry?
Curiel is a Mexican citizen. (US citizen too, of course)
John Henry
John,
Stop complicating Chuck's enjoyment(per ARM) of the new cycle with facts and context.
It could..garner..another expletive outburst by him.
Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
Judge nails it.
Ya know, I’m likin’ the sound of “Atturney General Ellis.” Or “Chief Justuce Ellis.” Or “Secretary of Veterans Affares Ellis.”
He seems like a very talented guy; a top talent who would be a really great member of what is for sure the greatest cabinet in the history of the nation. Judge Ellis is a highly respected guy. Everybody says so. There was no collusion. None; no collusion. It’s just a witch hunt.
“I’m sure you’re sensitive to the fact that the American people feel pretty strongly about no one having unfettered power.”
Certainly anyone who has read or is reading (raises hand here) Three Felonies a Day.
Gbarto
What's wrong with pertains? Yet Althouse got so annoyed when I used it that she announced her annoyance, did a search of the full history of the blog for the word, and followed up with another acidulous comment. I don’t recall her using ambit. Or acidulous ;)
Blind rage.
Name calling.
It's funny reading the whiny and sniveling postings of LLR Chuck just because his leftist allies are being exposed and being called out.
It's actually quite amusing.
The question nobody is YET asking about Rosenstein authorizing Mueller to investigate far outside the 2016 election and Russia accusations:
Where does Rosenstein get the power to give this power? How broadly does Rosenstein conceive the Sessions recusal? In what set of situations does Rosenstein get to increase a SC's power without the AG's approval?
Rosenatein, to my mind has far overstepped his agency by assuming Sessions' inherent power to himself.
Unfettered indeed. We’re Napoleonic at the federal level. How is it a prosecutor can point their fickle finger of fate and bankrupt who it touches? Any one of a dozen opening moves can require you to have at least one lawyer. The Feds can harm you without consequence. Why? Because we cap all government salaries, including theirs at 100K. They look across the street at their classmates sitting behind teak desks with fine help making much more. To catch up they must move up the ladder and build reputation to be able to make the jump to political office or the establishment where the big bucks are. The ladder has rings of arrests and convictions, and fame, gained for punishing those not PC and or of the opposition, where a plea counts as a conviction, even though there was no trial, no judge, no jury. Napoleonic. There is tremendous motivation to force a plea bargain. “so, I think I can get us a good deal with the prosecutor whose yet to meet goals. Then you can pay your rent and continue treating your son’s suicidal depression. Or you can twist your words the way the are subtly hinting, out of context, to a form they need to keep the screws on those they are truly targeting. To entrap them into a lie or worse. Note that if we don’t plea and we’re able to prove your innocence, it’ll cost you the same in my fees, and time away from work. Rember to vote this year.
Oh my.
And now, that "slam dunk" Flynn sentencing hearing has now been delayed for 2 MORE months.
Well, well well.
If you think LLR Chuck is crying like a little girl now, just wait until Judge Sullivan gets hold of that Rosenstein BS additional memo which gave Mueller his supposed authority that Judge Ellis has ordered presented unredacted.
Antifa and LLR Chuck hardest hit.
How issues that were being investigated by the FBI out of the Virginia office in 2005 could "Arise" from the election/Russia probe is a very good question.
Also: Using title 1 evidence that bypasses the 4th amendment to prosecute regular crimes seems... problematic.
Matt: "How issues that were being investigated by the FBI out of the Virginia office in 2005 could "Arise" from the election/Russia probe is a very good question.
Also: Using title 1 evidence that bypasses the 4th amendment to prosecute regular crimes seems... problematic."
Not to LLR Chuck.
The jig is pretty much up on the entire "LLR" aspect of our Chuckie....
> Mueller Seeks 70 Blank Subpoenas in Manafort Case
Why does Mueller need 70 secret subpoenas for a simple bank fraud case. IANAL, but that seems excessive. How common is that sort of thing? I don't know how that looks to others, but it gives me the impression is that Mueller is a nut ball who should never have held power.
Because 100 would have looked excessive
The bringing of charges dating back to allegations from a decade ago, especially given these were already investigated and shelved nearly a decade ago should trouble anyone who claims to believe in basic civil rights. The judge is zeroing in on this basic problem with the Manafort case- nothing in it appears to be related to the investigation Mueller was assigned in the first place and, worse, it appears that Mueller and his team picked up this old Manafort case and filed charges based on it. The judge is rightfully questioning why this was done, and the only rational answer is this- they really don't care about the Manafort case for any other reason than they had hoped to get Manafort to spill the beans on Trump.
This isn't the way it is supposed to work in the US- we don't assign personal prosecutors to find crimes with which to charge those people.
The judge, if he is honest and upright, will dismiss with prejudice all of the charges from activities that had been previously investigated and shelved. The newer charges will have to pass a hurdle that Manafort and his associates have their Bill of Rights rights respected fully. I think the judge is going to find that much of the new evidence against Manafort was obtained via the Carter Page FISA warrants, and will tainted when it is shown that warrant violated both Manafort's rights and the DoJ's own regulations for obtaining and using such a warrant.
The best part of this thread is LLR Chuck, self described True Conservative, is now attacking Reagan judicial appointees.
Because that's what all "True Conservatives" do, they attack Reagan appointees.
LOL
Sometimes it just gets too fatiguing to maintain the charade, doesn't it LLR Chuck?
"Lisa Page out at DOJ?"
Also, apparently Former FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker, the top lawyer at the FBI, resigned today. Both had been rumored to have been flipped by the IG (along with UT USA Huber). CTH thinks that this means that neither was given a deal. My theory is that the OIG has completed their next investigation, and are getting ready to drop indictments, so keeping them around was no longer necessary. I wouldn't be surprised if Peter Strzok were next. Except that he (along with his former boss, Bill Priestrap) had his fingers in all of the scandals, having interviewed both Crooked Hillary and Gen Flynn, so may continue to be useful to the investigators. We shall see.
Who has unfettered access to classified material? Ask and you must receive the material or answer. Or contempt. Title III judges. All those confirmed by the Senate. Any elected representative all have the highest clearance, without background checks. Best those asked the question can do is ask permission for someone to join them. They will attempt to get the question withdrawn because of the risks involved they explain, or consider framing your question this way, but the questioned has no choice but to answer as they have no appeal. Pleading the fifth means contempt and prison without due process. If this were not so our system of governance falls apart at the seams. The president has the ultimate classification authority, He sees everything, he can classify and declassify at will and force anyone to sign an NDA to limit access to those cleared for access who have accidently acquired knowledge of same. Else contempt. He can delegate these authorities. Federal Marshals show up at your door. read you a secrecy order (an NDA), say, “sign here, we’re waiting”. No uncleared lawyer allowed. Police van behind them. A Judge waiting in court, cell being cleaned. If any of these materials are required to mount a defense or be disclosed to the defense the trial is over if it gets that far and seldom does, because the mere discussion below the Title 3 level if discovered may do great harm and likely more. Here we clearly see the oil of representative governance, and why we require checks and balances.
"but they'd have to do some careful judge-shopping before they'd show up in court again."
There's always the approach taken by Andrew Hanen. It would restore a lot of faith in the Federal court system if judge-shopping U.S. Attorneys were similarly treated by all Federal judges. Such behavior would cease rapidly, and ending such practices would serve both sides of the political spectrum equally well.
How are things on the Russian Front, you ask?
The 13 Russians that Mueller indicted for show, knowing they would never show up in a U.S. courtroom? Think again.
Politico dropped this story last night:
Mueller seeks delay in case alleging Russians interfered in U.S. presidential election
"On Friday, Mueller’s prosecutors disclosed that Concord’s attorneys, Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly, had made a slew of discovery requests demanding nonpublic details about the case and the investigation. Prosecutors also asked a judge to postpone the formal arraignment of Concord Management set for next week."
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/04/mueller-russia-interference-election-case-delay-570627
(sorry, no hyperlink)
If it is a real crime which can be proven, Manafort needs to be held accountable for them.
BUT...not at the hands of Mueller.
So a 'non-dismissal' option of this case should be to bump this case to a DIFFERENT prosecutor, give a judicial order FORBIDDING any communication between that prosecutor and Mueller with an automatic 'contempt' charge against both attorneys and see if that new prosecutor wants to run with a nothing/non-political case.
But if this was a charge put on a shelf, it's not likely.
The important thing is Mueller is now being held to account from someone besides the SNL NY crowd to how well he cleaves to his mandate and the law.
It must be very disconcerting to him to face people with actual power who can make him pay for his enormities. I'm sure having the press have his back has made him feel untouchable.
That illusion has been most satisfactorily been popped.
The Cohen raid was just hubris.
I mean, probably true. But, Manafort probably should have also not broken the law. So, you see, there's some guilt to pass around.
Matthew Sablan: "I mean, probably true. But, Manafort probably should have also not broken the law."
Did he "break the law"?
This is a re-opening of a 13 year old case where Manafort had previously been investigated and the DOJ had decided not to prosecute.
In this case, Mueller's henchmen have leveraged a super-duper secret FISA Title-1 counterintelligence "invesigation" supposedly focused on 2016/2017 Russian collusion/interference and magically used that to reopen a 13 year old Title 3 criminal case where no probable cause had been identified and no authorization actually existss for the investigation.. The Judge easily sees this for just what it is: an attempt to squeeze manafort to manufacture dirt on Trump (which is why the judge used the term "compose" to explicitly accuse Mueller's henchmen of attempting to create a crime).
When Muellers hacks then fell back on the old "we have national security reasons why we can't show you the super duper secret authorization to investigate already closed 13 year old cases because "shut up already"", the judge then said, well, that is a novel and unique approach.
However, I'll still need to see the actual authorization where probable cause existed and proper authorization actually existed for a Title 3 criminal investigation and indictment.
This is what Mueller and Rosenstein absolutely do not want under any circumstances....but it looks like this judge is going to hold their feet to the fire.
This is very very very similar to the Flynn bogus/manufactured charges where the DOJ threatened to go after Flynn's son if Flynn didn't plead guilty to a made up charge about a non-crime.
The FBI agents who interviewed Flynn said he was not deceptive. What we are hearing now is that later, in the Mueller democrat hack prosecutor shop, 7 months later decided to "alter the interpretation" of the FBI interviewers notes and McCabe reportedly pressured the FBI interviewers to change their interview notes. Horowitz team will confirm that.
In any event, Muellers hacks said "no biggee, he's still guilty, so lets charge him and bankrupt him and his family and threaten his son so he will plead guilty and thus we will have a post-facto justification for all the many many months of illegal domestic spying on political opponents the democrats and deep state have pulled."
Also, we can use all these clouds and secret authorizations and BS prosecutions to distract while we bury the corruption by Comey, Mueller, Rosenstein and their gang for the last 30 years in service to the Clintons.
Sessions has to be the dumbest, most naive Attorney General in the history of the position.
"What we are hearing now is that later, in the Mueller democrat hack prosecutor shop, 7 months later decided to "alter the interpretation" of the FBI interviewers notes and McCabe reportedly pressured the FBI interviewers to change their interview notes."
-- I, personally, want to know when Stzork changed his mind on whether Flynn was trustworthy. Was it before or after the "insurance plan" discussion, for example.
“-- I, personally, want to know when Stzork changed his mind on whether Flynn was trustworthy. Was it before or after the "insurance plan" discussion, for example.”
After. If I remember the timing correctly, they discussed (and presumably put in place) their “insurance policy” in Summer of 2016, just in case, by some blind luck, Crooked Hillary lost the election. I think that his interview of Flynn was right after the inauguration, around, maybe, the start of Feb, 2017.
Birkel said...
Bad Lieutenant,
If Mueller says "so what" the case will be dismissed with prejudice. I am calling my shot. Mark my track record on these and other issues. I am very lucky at these things and you can chide me if I am wrong.
Don't get me wrong, from your lips to God's ears, but seriously, isn't so much of our judicial system dependent upon just this sort of "legal, because it's us" extortion? What else does the FBI do, has it ever done, but *garner* informants? Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, to name just one who kicked up out of the hopper of memory. John Gotti would have died a free and well-barbered man without the testimony of this serial killer.
The entire reputation of the FBI as non-worthless is based upon the actions of Melvin Purvis, who apparently ate his gun in 1960. Even that depended upon torture and murder, as with the cowardly assassination of John Dillinger from ambush.
But to my point. I would expect Mueller to say, but your honor, that's what we do. That's what we always do. That's all we have ever done. If you want police work, go to a police department. If you don't like our practice of legal extortion, you should probably throw out every case we've ever closed. We're accountants and lawyers. There's not a real man in the building. What do you want from us?
'Why don't you like the FBI?' Arkady asked.
The manic power that was Kirwill made a slight revolution. The grin twisted. 'Well, for a lot of reasons. Professionally, because the FBI doesn't conduct investigations, they pay informers. Doesn't matter what kind of case - spies, civil rights, Mafia - all they know is informers. Most Americans are touchy about informing, so the bureau specializes. Their informers are mental cases and hit men. Where the bureau touches the real world, suddenly you get all these freaks who know how to kill people with piano wire. Say a freak got caught, and now he's willing to fry his friends. He tells the bureau what it wants to hear and makes up what he doesn't know. See, that's the basic difference. A cop goes out on the street and digs up information for himself. He's willing to get dirty because his ambition in life is to be a detective. But a bureau agent is really a lawyer or an accountant; he wants to work in an office and dress nice, maybe go into politics. That son of a bitch will buy a freak a day.'
'Not everyone who informs is a freak,' Arkady muttered. He saw Misha standing in the church, took another drink and pushed the image aside.
'When their freaks are finished testifying, they move them and give them new names. If the freak kills someone else, the bureau moves him again. There are psychopaths who've been moved four, five times - totally immune. I can't arrest them; they've got better pardons than Nixon. That's what happens when you don't do the job yourself, when you use freaks.'
...
'Osborne says he is an informer for the FBI,' Arkady said.
'Yeah, I know.' Kirwill looked up as if his eyes were on the moon. 'You can just imagine the day when John Osborne walked into the bureau. They probably stepped on their cocks they stood so fast. Someone like him - been to the Kremlin, been to the White House, high society - won't take a penny, could buy and sell any man in the bureau. Hobnobs with all sorts of pinkos here and Reds there. He's your dream freak come true.'
'Why didn't he go to the CIA?'
'Because he's smart. The CIA has thousands of sources of Russian information, a hundred men going in and out of Russia. The FBI was forced to shut its Moscow office. All it had was Osborne.'
'All he could give them was gossip.'
'That's all they wanted. They just wanted to get on some congressman's lap and put their hot lips to his ear and whisper that they'd heard from their own special source that Brezhnev had syph. Same as they whispered about the Kennedy boys and King. That's what congressmen are willing to pay for, that's what federal budgets are all about. Only, now the bureau has to pay; Osborne is calling in his notes. He wants the bureau to protect him, and he's not going to change his name and hide. He's got the bureau by its delicate pearl-sized balls and he's just started to squeeze.'
--Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
@ Birkel Page and Baker both resigned yesterday. Here's one take on Baker link. I wouldn't be surprised to see more resignations as the DOJIG report gets closer. Page is going to be seeking asylum in Venezuela, I think!
I much prefer fettered power.
@Bad LT - you are forgetting about the FBI searching databases, and maybe tapping a phone or two, but mostly just searching databases. Can sit back in their air conditioned offices, wearing nice suits, and never have to exert themselves. Sounds benign, doesn't it? Just use Google, put in your query, and bingo. And yes, the FBI does that. But they have something else that almost no one else in the world does - FISA Title VII databases, that are supposed to be limited to counter terrorism, but, we are finding, aren’t. These FISA databases are massive, and contain huge amounts of private information about Americans and non-Americans alike. There was talk a couple days ago about the Mueller team wiretapping Michael Cohen. When it was pointed out that that would have required probable cause and a Wiretap Act warrant (they weren’t going to get a FISA Title I warrant for that, because they require the signatures of the #1s or #2s of both the DoJ and FBI), the narrative switched to that it was a pen register. Highly unlikely for a number of reasons, the least of which probably is that they don’t work with cell phones. The FBI has something a lot better, and a lot easier - the call records for all the cell phone companies, and most of the land lines in the country, conveniently at their fingertips, with those FISA 702 databases. Along with a lot of the email, and most of the text messages in the country (remember who provides most of the text messaging in the country - the same cell phone companies that are patriotically providing cell phone call records to the NSA for these FISA databases).
Of course, when FISA was amended with the PATRIOT Act, legalizing these Title VII databases, there were supposed to be safeguards put into the law to prevent law enforcement from using these tools that are supposed to be used only for counterterrorism. Originally, there was somewhat of a wall between law enforcement and FISA, but that was opened up a bit, so that crimes inadvertently discovered during counterintelligence investigations could be prosecuted. That is all it took. These databases are so convenient for law enforcement, that ways were gotten around the safeguards. And then the Obama Administration discovered that the information in them was politically useful, and, in several supposedly unrelated actions, essentially institutionalized bypassing the safeguards.
I should add that the hero, if there is one, of this saga, is Adm Rogers, who just retired from running the NSA. Roughly two years ago, six months or so before the election, he discovered widespread abuse of the Title VII FISA databases by the FBI, in particular, that were under his agency’s jurisdiction. He ordered an audit, and turned the results over to the FISC. Their opinion showed widespread abuse, esp by the FBI, which was allowing contractors (Fusion GPS? Cloudstrike?) to do database searches, and widespread use of “about” (as contrasted to “to” and “from”) database searches. And, yes, a lot of non-counter terrorism searching. He shut down contractor and “about” searching. Notably, there is good reason to believe that 702 searches were being utilized against the Trump campaign team, and that the primary purpose of the Steele Dossier was to launder information illegally obtained from such searches (e.g. Cohen alleged trip overseas).
""You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud. You really care about getting information that Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever.""
I think that the judge here hits the problem on the head. The problem, from Day 1 with the Mueller investigation, is that it's purpose has been to generate enough dirt on Trump that the Dems can use it to impeach him if they take the House Next year. That essentially requires that higher and higher level Trump people be flipped, through threat of criminal prosecution, to testify against ever higher ups until they can get to Trump. This is essentially the "insurance policy" concocted by Strzok, Page, and McCabe starting in Summer of 2016. The Mueller investigation was ostensibly supposed to be a counterintelligence investigation looking for Russian interference in the 2016 election. This was, of course, total BS from the start, and one of the reasons that we know that is that they had proof of Russian collusion and interference with/by the Clinton campaign handed to them on a silver platter, and never even considered following up on it. The FBI used the Steele Dossier, filled with scurrilous details supposedly supplied by Russian govt employees and spies, knowing that it was paid for by her campaign and the DNC, to acquire the Carter Page FISA warrants. Which means that they all knew, early on that the Clinton campaign hired people working for the Russian govt to generate opposition information to be used against Trump The FBI knew all this in October, 2016, six months or so before Mueller was appointed. Pretty close to prima facie Russian interference and colluding with the Russian govt. and, yet, crickets. His original mandate was not limited to Trump collusion, but would have covered Crooked Hillary collusion with the Russians just as well.
The Mueller investigation started as a counterintelligence investigation, because nothing criminal, on the part of Trump and his people, was immediately obvious. And, mostly still isn't. At some point, they had to transition to criminal investigations, because they needed the threat of prison time to leverage lower level Trump team members into flipping against him (because the goal of the whole scheme has always been impeachment). But that has always been one of their biggest vulnerabilities. If they had been doing a criminal investigation from the first, they couldn't legally or Constitutionally use any of the counterintelligence FISA information that they were using so heavily. So it had to remain a counterintelligence investigation until they had built up enough evidence to have strong criminal cases against the Trump team members. And depend on having complacent Clinton or Obama judges rubber stamp what the Mueller was doing whenever it transitioned from a counterintelligence to a criminal investigation. It started to fall apart when Judge Contreras, a personal friend of Peter Strzok's, was caught trying the case against Flynn, and was forced to recuse himself. His replacement, with long experience with prosecutorial malfeasance, called out the prosecution for failing to provide the defense with all exonerating evidence. Indeed, he has forced them to personally certify on all their pleadings that they are doing such, which is a big part of why Flynn, despite a guilty plea, hasn't been sentenced almost a half year now. And now, this judge asks the obvious question - why reopen that old case against Manafort, that the DoJ had chosen not to to prosecute, to the Russian interference probe, except to flip him into getting Trump (so that he could be impeached)? And, esp devastating is that, at the time that the Mueller team filed the case, they were only authorized by the DoJ for a counterintelligence investigation, not a criminal one. According to DoJ regulations, they probably shouldn't have been, yet, doing any criminal investigations, and never had the authorization to reopen the old case against him.
The only question is whether they would prefer to be hanged with good old fashioned hempen rope, or piano wire.
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