Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Report: Mueller's Team Told Trump's Lawyers They Can't Indict A President



CNN: Giuliani: Mueller's team told Trump's lawyers they can't indict a president

(CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has informed President Donald Trump's attorneys that they have concluded that they cannot indict a sitting president, according to the President's lawyer.

"All they get to do is write a report," Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN. "They can't indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us."

That conclusion is likely based on longstanding Justice Department guidelines. It is not about any assessment of the evidence Mueller's team has compiled.

A lack of an indictment would not necessarily mean the President is in the clear. Mueller could issue a report making referrals or recommendations to the House of Representatives.

The inability to indict a sitting president has been the position of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department since the Nixon administration and reaffirmed in the Clinton administration, but it has never been tested in court.

Read more ....

Update: Mueller told Trump's legal team he will not indict the president, Giuliani tells Fox News (FOX News)

WNU Editor: If what Rudy Giuliani is saying is true .... it means that the investigation of President Trump is over. And while the Mueller Commission will probably continue to investigate those who worked on President Trump's campaign and/or have done business dealings with him in the past .... the prime target is no longer the President. So what is next? Aside from there being a big let-down among many who had hoped that the Mueller Commission would go directly after the President .... the focus will now be on what will Robert Mueller write in his report. And here is an easy prediction. What happens to that report .... and what will the Department of Justice and Congress do with it .... becomes a political discussion that will (in the end) satisfy no one.

Update #2: The Mueller Counsel is having problems with the Russian troll farm case .... Lawyers spar at hearing on Russian troll farm case( Politico). Dumping Russian social media accounts as their discovery to defense attorneys .... while admitting that they do not know what is in it because it is in Russian and the accounts have not been translated .... is not how you make a case. As I said a few days ago .... this is all becoming embarrassing .... Another Conflict Of Interest For Special Counsel Robert Mueller? (May 14, 2018).

11 comments:

adamsdad said...

Giuliani admitted that Mueller's team never said this.

jac said...

This investigation is going nowhere. People will think,again, the media misguided them. Not good for Democrat's.

fred said...

1. Muller is not on record as saying this
2. if a sitting president can not be indicted, he can be charged when out of office and/impeached while in office
3. One year and you say it is over? how long to investigate Clinton, Nixon? much more time...not over by a long shot

Unknown said...

Donald isn't going to make it to the end of his term. The question is how soon and by what method will he be sent to Mar a Largo for the last time. Impeachment? Indictment? Or, will the GOP finally get a grip put country ahead of party and realize they're going to go down to a two term Dem and act?

Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse or nuts, the DJT dream team comes up up with something new, reaching for yet new heights of stupidity. Melania better get going or there will be nothing left to pay for her part in this sordid affair.

War News Updates Editor said...

There was evidence of crimes for Nixon and Clinton. I have said it more than once .... what crimes have Trump committed? If the Mueller Counsel had something on Trump, we would have known long ago.

Unknown said...

"War News Updates Editor said...
There was evidence of crimes for Nixon and Clinton. I have said it more than once .... what crimes have Trump committed? If the Mueller Counsel had something on Trump, we would have known long ago."

So far we have:
charges against 20+ individuals and companies
70+ criminal charges
5 guilty pleas and one in prison
trials set to begin in ~two months
dozens of interviews
some in front of a grand jury

We now have at least one election fraud admission which has been referred for possible prosecution
We've got the Don jr meeting at Trump Tower where he admits to meeting with Russians and evidence that they discussed the election. And BTW he never batted an eye (according to him) about being approached by Russians, or contacted the FBI or anything.
Money questions galore, possible bank fraud, tax fraud, etc. (Who counts revenue as income?)
ZTE which is a new issue. Qatar, 666th 5th ave and more I've forgotten about now. Oh yeah the FBI was looking into the Russian connection way before the election too. And on and on

If you mean you want Mueller to get on Fox and start talking about what he's doing, it's not going to happen. Real investigations don't happen like that. Unlike Donald's "team" Mueller doesn't get on camera every couple of days or tweet incessantly about what he's doing. They aren't leaking, unlike the Trump organization ( a term I use in the loosest possible way).

As I said he's going to be leaving the question is the method.

War News Updates Editor said...

Jason,
I am talking about Trump.
What indictable crimes has he committed?
If there was .... we have known a long time ago.
But instead what I am hearing right now is speculation that he will only be indicted when he is out of office?!?!?!?
But no mention on what. Tax fraud? Money laundering? I hear a lot of wishful thinking .... but I do not see the evidence.

Chase jones said...

lol been hearing that for a year.

Unknown said...

All those things go directly back to Trump. BTW the latest election fraud has his signature on the filing. Of course that was after he tried to squeak by on the first one by not signing it. And then he was told he had to.

Why would we know what you want to hear a long time ago? Mueller's team doesn't leak, they are pros. They aren't going to reveal what they have until they go to trial. If there's nothing wrong why does Donald freak out so much about it? He's going to be tied up in litigation forever, even after he's out. Don't listen to what Guliani has to say, he has no idea what he's talking about. The President can be indicted (leading to impeachment) while in office and can also be subpoenaed while in office.

War News Updates Editor said...

Jason,
I do not share your confidence that the Mueller team is professional.
When I learned last week that one of the Russian troll farms that they indicted does not even exist .... all that I could do was roll my eyes.
And that is my problem with this team/investigation. If I felt they were professional and non-partisan .... I would have no problem with what they are doing. But it is not working, and now more than half of the American public feel that this is a partisan investigation .... which means that whatever the Mueller Counsel produces will be seen as partisan.

The investigation on Watergate and President Nixon's roll in it had tangible evidence and leads within 6 months of the investigation. And the rest became history. This one .... after one year .... they are still looking for a crime.

Unknown said...

WNU,

You mean the Russian lawyer who said the company didn't exist because he said so? Didn't he go on to say that he'd represent them too or some such? And isn't he the guy who wants all the US intelligence on any election anywhere from 1945 on? Sorry, not too serious.

Anyway what tells me Mueller is doing his job is precisely your complaint. He's not out talking about what he knows or has uncovered, he's running a professional investigation. Trump and Co. are doing all the talking, they can't stop! Why is he in such an obsessive snit if there's nothing there? Just blow it off and talk about his wall and the "animal" immigrants, his terrific ratings and gigantic, biggest crowds the world has ever seen.

Nixon started off as a break-in and then a campaign slush fund which led right back to him. It's tiny compared to the big and continuing Trump mess.