Turley: Sessions’ Appointing Utah Federal Prosecutor Much Better for Trump than 2nd Special Counsel

[Right_in_Virginia]

Turley: Sessions’ Appointing Utah Federal Prosecutor Much Better for Trump than 2nd Special Counsel
Breitbart, Mar 31, 2018, Ken Klukowski

WASHINGTON, DC – Professor Jonathan Turley, a top national legal expert on government investigations, commented on Thursday about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to bring in U.S. Attorney John Huber. Turley called it “brilliant”to combine all the powers of the U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general with a prosecutor who can bring charges, seek indictments, and get results for President Trump far more quickly than a second special counsel.

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Sessions informed Congress in his letter that all the matters recommended for investigation by Goodlatte, Gowdy, and Grassley are “fully within the scope of [Huber’s] existing mandate.” He also informed the chairmen that Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is working with Huber, has a staff of 470 investigators, giving Huber access to enormous investigative firepower that far exceeds the staff of any special counsel.

That point is critical because as Sessions’ March 29 letter explains, the inspector general’s jurisdiction to conduct civil and criminal investigations includes “actions taken by former employees after they have left government service.” Then Huber can act on any of those matters.

As a U.S. attorney, Huber has full authority to empanel a grand jury and to file criminal charges. A grand jury can be empaneled anywhere, which means that it could be a group of citizens from deep-red Utah – in the heart of Trump country – instead of the D.C. Swamp that decides whether to hand down indictments for felony prosecution.


More: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/03/31/turley-sessions-using-utah-federal-prosecutor-much-better-trump-2nd-special-counsel/

[Right_in_Virginia]

The real reason behind Sessions’ special counsel decision
NY Post, Mar 31, 2018, Michael Goodwin

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Rather than simply saying yes or no to the request from GOP lawmakers for a new special counsel, he unfolds his response in a densely written, four-page letter. On page two, he gets to the first relevant fact: a reminder that he recently asked the inspector general of the Justice Department, the well-respected Michael Horowitz, to review whether any laws were broken or policies violated when officials made their request to spy on Page.

It takes Sessions another full page to come to his second reminder: that last November, he asked unnamed senior prosecutors to “evaluate certain issues” flagged by Congress in the Clinton and Trump probes.  These prosecutors, he says, have a wide berth to see which matters, if any, should be investigated again, and whether to recommend the appointment of a special counsel.

Only then, for the first time, does Sessions reveal that the head of that team is the US attorney in Utah, John Huber. He notes that Huber twice was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, once in 2015 and again in 2017, and has received numerous commendations.  In plain English, Huber was first appointed by Barack Obama, and then by Trump, meaning he is not a partisan warrior.

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It is also noteworthy that Sessions says Huber will work outside Washington, meaning he won’t be part of the swamp, but will partner with ­Inspector General Horowitz. That gives the probe a double-barreled, clean-hands approach and the widest possible range of power to subpoena both current and former officials, as well as prosecute them. Sessions also says he regularly receives updates on the probes, meaning he is taking personal ­responsibility for the outcome.

While many Republicans and Trump supporters are unhappy with the decision, they should hold their fire.


More:  https://nypost.com/2018/03/31/the-real-reason-behind-sessions-special-counsel-decision/