Mueller Said Last Month Trump Not A Criminal Target 'At This Point': Washington Post

[edpc]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller told President Donald Trump's attorneys last month he was continuing to investigate the president but did not consider him a criminal target in the Russia probe "at this point," the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Mueller, in private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, described Trump as a subject of his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, said the Post, which cited three unnamed people familiar with the discussions.

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow and his former attorney John Dowd did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mueller-said-last-month-trump-not-criminal-target-001708457.html

[Frank Cannon]

We have Mueller and Rosencreep faking a memo to leak to the press to defend against Manafarts legit claim that his arrest is outside of Bobby's purview. Now we have Bobby claiming Trump is a target after he said he wasn't. It's a disgrace.

Fire Mueller and Rosencreep now.

[edpc]

Mueller stated he's a subject, not a target, currently.  The charges are well within the purview, since Manafort had previously worked on the election of a pro-Russian candidate in a Ukraine election.  Some of the evidence against him was obtained from other subjects and witnesses in the investigation, like his former partner.  Rosenstein gave him broad authority and has to authorize new avenues. 

"Yeah, I'm guilty of bank fraud and money laundering, but it happened before I was in the campaign."  That's a weak defense and pretty much a legal Hail Mary.  Current guidelines for special counsel appointments are against him.  Manafort probably doesn't have anything to trade away.  He's screwed himself by being crooked as well as a lousy advisor/campaign manager.  He'll have nothing to show for it, but a new jumpsuit.

[Frank Cannon]

Mueller stated he's a subject, not a target, currently.  The charges are well within the purview, since Manafort had previously worked on the election of a pro-Russian candidate in a Ukraine election. 

Nope. Know how we know that? Because Mueller and Rosencreep wrote up a memo AFTER Manafarts arrest to cover their asses saying that Bobby had the authority to go after these unrelated crimes. Prior to that his sole focus was collusion in the election with the Soviets.

This is a fraud and I will bet a dollar that Manafarts high priced attorneys will make a big effing deal about this to the point the case falls apart.

[edpc]

This is the memo in question, which is dated Aug 2, 2017 and the Manafort raid was on Aug 9th. 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4429623-Rosenstein-Aug-2-2017-Memo-on-Mueller-Authority.html

He was indicted later in October.  This all makes for a nice conspiracy theory that the memo was made up after the fact to fit the charges, except for one problem...

Manafort was already known to be crooked and his past conduct was known in the Justice Department due to a 2014 investigation.  It made perfect sense to revisit that issue when the current investigation began.

Feds had evidence to arrest Paul Manafort on fraud charge in 2014

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/feds-evidence-arrest-paul-manafort-fraud-charge-2014-article-1.3830806

[Frank Cannon]

This is the memo in question, which is dated Aug 2, 2017 and the Manafort raid was on Aug 9th. 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4429623-Rosenstein-Aug-2-2017-Memo-on-Mueller-Authority.html

He was indicted later in October.  This all makes for a nice conspiracy theory that the memo was made up after the fact to fit the charges, except for one problem...

Manafort was already known to be crooked and his past conduct was known in the Justice Department due to a 2014 investigation.  It made perfect sense to revisit that issue when the current investigation began.

Feds had evidence to arrest Paul Manafort on fraud charge in 2014

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/feds-evidence-arrest-paul-manafort-fraud-charge-2014-article-1.3830806

Thanks for offering your lie, but I will stick with the truth....

Rosenstein Memo confirming Mueller could investigate Manafort came a week after raid on Manafort’s home

https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/04/rosenstein-memo-confirming-mueller-could-investigate-manafort-came-a-week-after-raid-on-manaforts-home/

By the time of the August 2 memo, Mueller already was investigating Manafort’s business dealings and gathering evidence for an indictment (which would be unsealed less than three months later).

On July 26, 2017 — a week before the Rosensten memo — Mueller’s team raided Manafort’s home, as the Washington Post reported on August 9, 2017:

    FBI agents raided the home in Alexandria, Va., of President Trump’s former campaign chairman, arriving in the pre-dawn hours late last month and seizing documents and other materials related to the special counsel investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

    The raid, which occurred without warning on July 26, signaled an aggressive new approach by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team in dealing with a key figure in the Russia inquiry. Manafort has been under increasing pressure as the Mueller team looked into his personal finances and his professional career as a highly paid foreign political consultant.

    Using a search warrant, agents appeared the day Manafort was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and a day after he met voluntarily with Senate Intelligence Committee staff members.

    The search warrant requested documents related to tax, banking and other matters. People familiar with the search said agents departed the Manafort residence with a trove of material, including binders prepared ahead of Manafort’s congressional testimony.

The August 2, 2017 memo was classic boostrapping. It purported to confirm Mueller’s authority to go after Manafort’s business dealings, but Mueller already was doing that and had been doing it for weeks, culminating in the July 26 home raid.

[edpc]

Thanks for offering your lie, but I will stick with the truth....

Not a lie - a mistake.  I misread the WaPo Aug 9th byline date as the day of the raid, so I stand corrected on that.  Nevertheless, he would have gone through the DOJ to secure the warrant and use the FBI for the raid.  So, to say the authorization was made after the fact is a bit of a stretch.

[mystery-ak]

Carol D. Leonnig, Robert CostaWashington Post

Special Counsel Robert Mueller III informed President Donald Trump's attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges.

The special counsel also told Trump's lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president's actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.

more
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-mueller-trump-investigation-20180403-story.html

[mountaineer]

John Cardillo
‏Verified account @johncardillo
13h13 hours ago

Shorter #Mueller: “Trump did nothing wrong, but I’m going to falsely imply he might have to keep my job.”