The House Select Committee on ‘Corrupt Crimes’: Reply to Mueller, Justice and the Mueller-Inspector investigation into a Trump probe of Mar-a-Lago

A letter from the committee that accompanied the subpoena summarized what the panel presented in a series of hearings to demonstrate why it believes Trump “personally orchestrated and oversaw” the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“The need for this committee to hear from Donald Trump goes beyond our fact-finding. This is a question about accountability to the American people. He should be held accountable. Thompson said he was required to answer for his actions.

But the developments that could hurt Trump the most happened off stage. They show how complex of a legal thicket it is surrounding the ex- President, who has not been charged with a crime, and the distance left to run for effort to account for his departure from power and presidency that constantly tested the rule of law.

While Trump has frequently defied gathering investigative storms, and ever since launching his presidential campaign in 2015 has repeatedly confounded predictions of his imminent demise, there’s a sense that he’s sliding into an ever-deeper legal hole.

As the House select committee hearing went on, the Supreme Court sent word from across the road that it’s got no interest in getting sucked into Trump’s bid to derail a Justice Department probe into classified material he kept at Mar-a-Lago.

The court turned down his emergency request to intervene, which could have delayed the case, without explaining why. No dissents were noted, including from conservative justices Trump elevated to the bench and whom he often seems to believe owe him a debt of loyalty.

The Trump Organization and its Secretaries: On the Obstruction of the Investigative Committee and the Correspondence between the Deputy Attorney General and the Ex-President

For all the political drama that surrounds the revelation of a criminal conspiracy by the President, it is the battle over classified documents that appears to represent the most clear cut and immediate risk of criminal exposure.

The former President has a point in asking why the panel waited so long to call him. But his obstruction of the investigation and attempts to prevent former aides from testifying means he is on thin ice in criticizing its conduct. It’s common for investigators to build a case before approaching a target of a probe.

Multiple sources said the panel weighed criminal referrals for a number of Trump’s closest associates including former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark.

CNN’s Brown had reported late on Wednesday that a Trump employee had told the FBI about being directed by the ex-President to move boxes out of a basement storage room at his Florida club after Trump’s legal team received a subpoena for any classified documents. The FBI has a video of a staffer moving boxes.

To explain his finding of evidence of obstruction, the judge pointed to emails that showed that the Trump team was contemplating filing lawsuits not to obtain legitimate legal relief, but to meddle in congressional proceedings.

The details of what happened at Mar-a-Lago raised troubling questions but they were not necessarily a case of obstruction of justice according to David Schoen, Trump’s defense lawyer in his second impeachment.

If someone acting for the president knew they didn’t have the right to have these documents in their hands, they hid them or kept them, then they should be held accountable.

The Trump Organization was asked by the New York Attorney General to stop moving assets and perpetrate what she alleges is a decades-long fraud.

“There is every reason to believe that the Defendants will continue to engage in similar fraudulent conduct right up to trial unless checked by order of this Court,” James wrote in an application for a preliminary injunction linked to her $250 million suit against Trump, his three eldest children and his firm.

The DOJ is looking at a lot of the conduct that was highlighted in the select committee’s report, as Jack Smith is now leading the federal investigation into Trump.

Those aren’t even the only probes connected to Trump. There is also the matter of yet another investigation in Georgia over attempts by the former President and his allies to overturn the election in a crucial 2020 swing state.

The Truth About Trump and the First Presidential Subpoena: A Critique of Budowich’s Unusual Decree on January 6

As always, Trump came out fighting on Thursday, one of those days when the seriousness of a crisis he is facing can often be gauged by the vehemence of the rhetoric he uses to respond.

First Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich mocked the unanimous 9-0 vote in the select committee to subpoena the former President for documents and testimony.

Pres Trump won’t be intimidated by their un-American actions. Budowich wrote that candidates endorsed by the Trumps will sweep the Midterms.

Then the former President weighed in on his Truth Social network with another post that failed to answer the accusations against him, but that was clearly designed to stir a political reaction from his supporters.

I was not asked to testify months ago. They waited until the very last moment of their last meeting. Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST,’” Trump wrote.

This could turn into an academic. The issue could be dragged on for months since a new Republican House majority would likely wipe the January 6 committee away as its first act and a legal challenge of the subpoena by Trump could be the only way to stop it.

Despite operating as two separate teams, the lawyers who are focused on addressing the committee’s subpoena are consulting with attorneys representing Trump in the Justice Department’s criminal probe related to January 6, the source said, noting there are areas of potential overlap between the two separate legal matters.

But any effort to follow a similar path if Trump refuses to testify could take months and involve protracted legal battles. It’s unclear whether the Justice Department would consider this a good investment, especially given the advanced state of its own January 6 probe. There is a chance that the committee will get swept into history, since Republicans are favored to take over the majority in the House.

Given the slim chance of Trump complying with a congressional subpoena then, many observers will see the dramatic vote to target the ex-President as yet another theatrical flourish in a set of slickly produced hearings that often resembled a television courtroom drama.

The investigation into what happened on January 6 is no longer just about what happened, according to Rep. Liz Cheney.

“With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former President, we chip away at the foundation of our Republic,” said the Wyoming lawmaker, who won’t be returning to Congress after losing her primary this summer to a Trump-backed challenger.

A new period of political turmoil has arisen because of the new challenges posed by Donald Trump and his movement.

At a time when the Biden administration is clashing with the courts and facts, Trump dropped his clearest hint to date of a new White House run.

Trump was getting a lot of press and attention on the political scene. One-term presidents usually don’t last long in history. It is testament to the hold he still has over most of the GOP, that he is still a key player nearly two years after losing reelection. And while there is growing talk about whether his thicket of legal and political controversies could convince some GOP primary voters it’s time to move on, Trump still seems to have plenty of juice.

The potential campaign for the Presidency of the ex- President, his claims of political persecution and open legal and political loops show that it could cause more upheaval than his four years in office.

And while fierce differences are emerging between Democrats and Republicans over policy on the economy, abortion, foreign policy and crime in the 2022 midterms – while concerns about democracy often rank lower for voters – there is every chance the coming political period revolves mostly around the ex-President’s past and future.

The Ex-President’s Legal Team, Subpoena Demands, and the Mueller’s Investigation of Tax Fraud and Grandy Larceny

The Trump lawyers tapped to deal with the committee’s subpoena demands have been coordinating with other members of the former president’s legal team while determining how to proceed, according to a source familiar with the matter.

One of the ex- President’s favorites in Arizona, GOP governor candidate Kari Lake, is raising doubts about the election system again. Lake told AZTV7 on Sunday that he was worried that it might not be fair.

One of the most powerful pro-Trump Republicans, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the party’s number three leader in the House, told the New York Post last week that impeachment of Biden was “on the table.” Nancy Mace did not want to see a fight over impeachment after Trump was impeached twice. She said she was against the process being “weaponized.” But when asked whether Biden had committed impeachable offenses, she said: “That is something that would have to be investigated.”

An already pro-Trump Republican presence in Washington is likely to expand after the midterms. If Trump’s supporters lose their races in just over two weeks, they will face questions about whether they can accept the results.

On another politically sensitive front, the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud and grandy larceny trial begins in Manhattan on Monday. The trial of the ex-president could affect his business empire and prompt fresh claims from him that he is being scapegoated for political reasons, which would add a new element to the election season. The New York Attorney General has accused the Trump Organization of running tax and insurance fraud schemes to enrich themselves for many years, in a separate $250 million civil suit.

Democrats have made their own attempts to return Trump to the political spotlight. Some campaigns have been trying to frighten suburban voters with warnings that pro-Trump candidates are a danger to democracy.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/24/politics/donald-trump-circus-analysis/index.html

The Commission on Complaints Against Video Deposition and Inflation: A Case Study Against a Criticized White House Bid

The party in power in Washington will be in grave danger if inflation and gasoline prices rise more quickly than expected before voters cast their votes.

The ex-President told supporters at a rally in Texas on Saturday regarding the possibility of a new White House bid, “I will probably have to do it again.”

“It may take multiple days, and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves,” Cheney told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The debate is not going to be his first encounter with Joe Biden and the circus. This is a huge set of issues.

The committee has used testimony and depositions while producing highly produced presentations. Only its most sympathetic witnesses have appeared in person. While this has helped create a powerful narrative that has painted a picture of shocking derelictions of duty by Trump on January 6, it has also deprived viewers of seeing witnesses under cross examination. This is making it difficult to assess whether or not the committee’s case will stand up to the more rigorous evidence standards in the court.

The former President is not likely to approve of the idea of video testimony over a long period of time because it would be harder for him to control how his testimony is used.

If there is evidence a crime was committed, Garland would face a dilemma over whether the national interest lay in implementing the law to its full extent or whether the consequences of prosecuting a former commander in chief in a fractious political atmosphere could tear the country apart.

A decision to charge an ex-president running for a non-consecutive second White House term would undoubtedly cause a firestorm. If there’s evidence of a crime, sparing him from accountability would send a bad signal to future presidents.

The Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and Other Extremists Subpoena Subcommittee of the Select Committee on the Report of the Commission on the Mueller Investigation

The committee also said it “received correspondence from the former President and his counsel in connection with the Select Committee’s subpoena” but did not provide additional information.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the vice chairwoman of the committee, previously said the committee was “in discussions” with Trump’s attorneys about testifying under oath in the probe. It is not clear if those talks will lead to him sitting for a deposition.

The broad document request asked for all documents and communications relating to members of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, or other extremists from September 1, 2020, to the present. The document request is made in 19 different categories.

Thompson told reporters earlier this week that they would make referrals. As to how many, we’ve not decided that yet.” CNN previously reported that the committee is weighing Trump and a number of his closest allies for criminal referrals.

The committee has not officially decided whom to refer to the Justice Department for prosecution and for what offenses, sources said. Four individuals who have not previously been reported provide a glimpse into the deliberations of the panel.

The committee members have said that the move serves as a way of documenting their views for the record, since theJustice Department is already investigating the US Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, told reporters Friday he expected to reach a decision on criminal referrals at Sunday’s virtual meeting. The committee will announce its decision in December when it submits the rest of the report, according to Schiff.

Rep. Jamie Raskin: Defending the Gravest Offence in the United States and the Correspondence Between Joe Biden and Election Day 2020

We are not in the business of investigating people for criminal activities and so we just couldn’t overlook some of them when we looked at the evidence.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who leads the January 6 subcommittee tasked with presenting recommendations on criminal referrals to the full committee, said Thursday, “I think anyone who engages in criminal actions needs to be held accountable for them. We are going to say it out.

“The gravest offense in constitutional terms is the attempt to overthrow a presidential election and bypass the constitutional order,” Raskin told reporters. “Subsidiary to all of that are a whole host of statutory offenses, which support the gravity and magnitude of that violent assault on America.”

A bigger list of recommendations from the committee’s sub panel of lawyers can be found here. The other members include two Democrats and a Republican. The subpanel was created in October to address criminal referrals and other recommendations.

The committee subpoenaed him for documents and testimony in September of last year, and he handed over over more than 2,000 text messages between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration. The text messages, which were obtained by CNN, reveal how top Republican Party officials, right-wing figures and even Trump’s family members discussed with Meadows what Trump should say and do after the election and in the middle of the insurrection.

On the role of Jeff Clark in Trump’s 2020 campaign to win the 2020 election: a panel discussion of his efforts to overturn Pence’s campaign

There were previous referrals to DOJ for contempt of congress, which did not affect how the panel handles these criminal referrals.

“We obviously did contempt of Congress referrals earlier and there’s a whole statutory process for making that happen,” he said. We will explain our decisions in more detail, why we are making certain kinds of referrals.

In the summer, a panel presented new revelations about the role of Eastman in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Eastman was integral to the intense pressure campaign that Trump directed at then-Vice President Mike Pence to compel Pence to help carry out a plan to overturn the election results.

The committee went through how the former President was in full support of a legal theory that was roundly rejected by Trump’s attorneys, but was nonetheless embraced by the former President.

The former DOJ official was facing a criminal contempt of Congress referral at the time after he refused to answer the committee’s questions at a prior deposition. The referral was never sent to DOJ because on the day the committee voted on the contempt referral, Clark’s lawyer informed the committee that he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions on the grounds it may incriminate him.

Much of June was dedicated to the role Clark’s played in Trump’s plan to weaponize the Justice Department during his last months in office as part of a plot to overturn the 2020 election and stay in power.

The committee in particular zeroed in on the efforts of Rep. Scott Perry, the Pennsylvania Republican, who connected Clark to the White House in December 2020.

CNN has previously reported on the role that Perry played, and the committee in court filings released text messages Perry exchanged with Meadows about Clark.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who was an aide to the now former congressman, said in a deposition that he wanted Mr. Jeff Clark to take over the Department of Justice.

Giuliani, Trump’s onetime personal attorney and a lead architect of his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, met with the panel in May for more than nine hours.

The subcommittee gave its recommendations to the panel at a virtual meeting, but they are unclear if those recommendations were adopted. A source described the meeting as “successful” but did not elaborate.

The decision has made a big difference over the committee. The panel felt that Trump and his associates had committed a crime when they attempted to prevent the transfer of power, as they have laid out in their hearings. But they have long been split over what exactly to do about it.

The two of us agree on what our approach should be. I’m not ready or authorized at this point to tell you what that is,” Schiff, a California Democrat, said. There is proof of criminal activity here and we are all in agreement about it. We want the Justice Department to be aware of that.

He said that it is an important decision if we go forward with it. “And one that the Department ought to give due consideration to.”

Investigation of the 2020 House Select Committee on Ethics, Criminal Referrals, and Other Ideas: Report on the Committee’s Report on Correlated Procedures

It is possible that the House select panel will vote to issue criminal referrals and other recommendations at its final public meeting on Monday.

While the panel was already eyeing a day later next week to release its final report and hold a hearing simultaneously, it could now hold that presentation earlier than expected.

We can complete our work a little bit earlier than that because we looked at the schedule. So why not get it to the public as quick as we can?” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters on Tuesday from the Capitol steps.

Other categories of referrals could include the Federal Election Commission, the House Ethics Committee, and bar associations.

Five House Republicans have been subpoenaed by the January 6 panel: GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

The committee’s investigation uncovered lawyers connected to the 2020 presidential election plan, including John Eastman, who was involved in trying to overturn the results. Thompson said he wasn’t ready to rule anyone out.

As part of the committee’s discussions, Thompson said he thought an officer of the court disrespecting the ethics of a proceeding should be reviewed. I think it’s very important for a lawyer to follow the highest ethical standards, even if they don’t respect them.

Thompson told NPR that the final report could be over 1,000 pages long. By year end, the committee also plans to share transcripts from the more than 1,000 witnesses it interviewed.

A source says the final committee report could include additional charges for Trump. The justification from the investigation will be used to recommend the charges.

The allegations of obstruction of an official proceeding against Trump and his attorney John Eastman are consistent with the accusations made by the select committee. The judge said it was possible for the House to get his emails about his 2020 election work for Trump because he was planning to defraud the US and engage in a Conspiracy to Obstruct Congress.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, criticized the committee in a statement as a “Kangaroo court” that held “show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the committee, told CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday that the panel has “been very careful in crafting these recommendations and tethering them to the facts that we’ve uncovered.”

“We spent a huge amount of time not just on what the code sections are and the bottom line recommendation, but the facts – and I think it’s really important when we discuss whatever it is we are going to do and we’ll have a vote on it, that people understand the facts behind the conclusions we reach,” the California Democrat said on “The Lead.”

The Committee on Ethics in the U.S. Capitol Proton March 2021 Investigated With the Defendend Christopher J. Schiff

The Justice Department did not bring the charge in the hundreds of US Capitol riot cases. Instead, they’ve used criminal statutes related to violence, obstruction of an official proceeding, and seditious conspiracy.

An aide for the committee said that an executive summary of the report would be released after the meeting. The final report will give an explanation of the findings from the panel’s investigation.

The meeting on Monday is the end of a nearly two-year investigation into what caused the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January of 2021.

There is a debate going on as to whether it is better for Congress to criminally refer members of congress to other parts of the federal government or if Congress should police its own. The House Ethics Committee can be referred to by congressional mechanisms.

“We will also be considering what’s the appropriate remedy for members of Congress who ignore a congressional subpoena, as well as the evidence that was so pertinent to our investigation and why we wanted to bring them in,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

The impact House referrals could have remains unclear because the Department of Justice special counsel investigation is already examining Trump in its extensive probe into January 6.

“Censure was something that we have considered. Ethics referrals is something we have considered,” Schiff said Sunday, noting that the committee will disclose its decision Monday.

What will the January 6 panel of the Judicial Select Committee tell us about the investigation of a riot perpetrated against the state of the Capitol?

“This is someone who, in multiple ways, tried to pressure state officials to find votes that didn’t exist. This is someone who tried to interfere with a joint session, even inciting a mob to attack the Capitol. If that’s not criminal, then I don’t know what is,” he added.

He thinks Trump violated several criminal statutes, including one for insurrection, but he didn’t say if the charges the committee would refer to the Justice Department were related to the former president.

I believe that the president has violated a number of criminal laws. He stated that you have to be prosecuted for breaking the law if you are to be treated like any other American.

And while we won’t know everything that’s to come from the January 6 committee this week until it unfolds, here’s what you need to know about what’s expected, what’s not, and where this could all lead.

The public meeting on Monday is likely to see the panel announce at least three criminal charges against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department.

But whether the department brings charges will depend on whether the facts and the evidence support a prosecution, Attorney General Merrick Garland – who will make the ultimate call on charging decisions – has said.

The judges used the term “insurrection” to describe the attack on Congress. In hundreds of US Capitol riot cases, the Justice Department did not bring the charge.

“That will be something we will be considering tomorrow,” Schiff added, noting that the panel has weighed whether it is better to criminally refer members of Congress to other parts of the federal government or if Congress should “police its own.”

But any move by the January 6 panel to approve a referral would be largely symbolic because a referral by no means obligates federal prosecutors to bring such a case.

Insurrection, obstruction and conspiracy to defraud the US government in the wake of the Judicial Committee report on a dossier of lobbying misconduct by the Trump team

With the federal investigation now being led by special counsel Jack Smith, it appears Justice Department investigators are already looking at much of the conduct that the select committee has highlighted.

According to a source familiar with the matter, there are insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

The lawmakers can rely on the opinion of a federal judge in California, who wrote earlier this year that there was evidence that the Trump team was scheming to defraud the US government. The opinion was handed down by US District Judge David O. Carter in a dispute over whether the House could access certain emails sent to and from former Trump attorney John Eastman.