Robert Mueller Cartoons

Gregg Jarrett: Mueller has shrewdly 'stacked the deck' against Trump

Cheating in a game of cards can involve “stacking the deck” –arranging the cards in a way that advantages yourself while ensuring your opponent loses.

It appears that this is the way special counsel Robert Mueller has approached his investigation.  Consider the evidence. 

Mueller chose, of all places, the venue of Washington, D.C., to convene a grand jury to examine evidence in the Russia-Trump investigation.  It would be difficult to find a group of people more hostile to Trump than in the nation’s capital.  The president garnered a scant four percent of the vote there, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 93 percent.  
There was already a grand jury convened in Virginia looking into the related Michael Flynn matter and Mueller could have easily presented his case there.  But no, that would run the risk of being potentially fair to the president since the jurors there are more apt to be politically bi-partisan.  So, from the outset, Mueller dealt himself a high ace on his way to a royal flush.
His next card, a king, is the grand jury process itself.  Over time, this 5^th Amendment principle has devolved into a one-sided farce, favoring only the prosecution.  Defense attorneys are not allowed inside what has become a secret “star chambe,r, permitting no adverse party to challenge the truth and credibility of witnesses through the test of cross-examination.  It gets worse.
There are no enforceable rules of evidence during grand jury proceedings, which means that otherwise inadmissible hearsay or double-hearsay is perfectly acceptable.  Unauthenticated documents are copacetic.  Prosecutors are free to present only incriminating evidence, to the exclusion of exculpatory evidence.  All too often grand jurors simply rubber-stamp a prosecutor’s instructions.  Thus, the old saying, “you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.”
With no meaningful limits on abusive tactics, the entire system is anathema to fairness.  A grand jury is to justice what military music is to music.  It bears no resemblance.  My apologies to John Philip Sousa, but you get the point.  This is precisely why grand juries, which were once in vogue everywhere, have now been banished in all nations except the United States and Liberia.
Mueller’s queen card is the Obama-appointed judge likely overseeing the D.C. grand jury.  Under local court rules, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is the one who presides over decisions on grand jury subpoenas, witness testimony, any executive privilege and possible 5^th Amendment assertions.  In the past, she worked closely with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and one of Mueller’s top staff lawyers, Andrew Weissman.
Indeed, Howell and Weissman co-authored a scholarly law article that explored obstruction of justice… which just happens to be part of what Mueller is reportedly investigating in the Russia-Trump case.  Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast uncovered this nugget.  A conflict of interest?  Surely.  But don’t expect a judicial recusal anytime soon, even though Judge Howell teaches ethics at American University’s law school.
Dealing himself a jack, Mueller has chosen to hire for his staff an unconscionable number of lawyers of the liberal persuasion.  Out of 14 lawyers retained thus far, eight have donated to Democrats while none appear to have contributed a nickel to Republicans. Several of Mueller’s lawyers gave generously to “Hillary for America,”, while another actually represented the Clinton Foundation.  The special counsel could have selected a more balanced team devoid of partisan ties, but he deliberately chose not to do so.
Finally, Mueller is holding a precious ten card in the very man who hired him, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General who authored the infamous memo advising President Trump to fire FBI Director James Comey.  In any obstruction case arising therefrom, Rosenstein would be a prosecutor, investigator and witness all rolled into one.  Despite his glaring conflict of interest, Rosenstein has made no move to step aside.  Which means he is unlikely to fire Mueller for his own similar conflict of interest.
As explained in previous columns, Mueller’s close relationship to the key witness, James Comey, creates a disqualifying conflict of interest specifically forbidden by the special counsel law itself (28 CFR 600.7 and 45.2), not to mention the Code of Professional Responsibility which governs the conduct of lawyers.  Their record as longtime friends, allies and partners is well-documented and indisputable.
It is inconceivable that Mueller could be completely impartial in judging the credibility of his friend versus the president who fired his friend in deciding whether to pursue a charge of obstruction.  Even scrupulously honest people can be influenced in ways they do not recognize themselves.  This is exactly why there are legal and ethical rules that demand recusal based on prior relationships.  Even the appearance of a conflict is sufficient for recusal.  But Mueller remains on the job.
And so, the deck has been shrewdly stacked against President Trump.  Robert Mueller has dealt from the bottom of the deck.  There is a lot at stake on the table.
The only good hand the president may have requires a trump card called innocence.  Does he have it?
There is no bluffing in this game.
Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News Anchor and former defense attorney.

China pledges neutrality - unless US strikes North Korea first

China’s government says it would remain neutral if North Korea attacks the United States, but warned it would defend its Asian neighbor if the U.S. strikes first and tries to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime, Chinese state media said Friday.

“If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime, and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so,” reported the Global Times, a daily Chinese newspaper controlled by the Communist Party.

Meanwhile, other Asia-Pacific countries have come out in support of the United States in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.
Japan’s defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, said this week that his nation’s military was ready to shoot down North Korean nuclear missiles, if necessary.
In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described his country and the U.S. as being “joined at the hip,” the South China Morning Post reported.
“If there is an attack on the U.S., the Anzus Treaty would be invoked,” and Australia would aid the U.S., Turnbull told Australia’s 3AW radio Friday morning. Turnbull was referring to a collective security agreement between the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The Chinese response to the heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea followed a number of hot-headed proclamations.
North Korea has threatened the U.S. with a nuclear attack on Guam, a U.S. territory south of Japan, after President Donald Trump said additional threats against the country or its allies would be met with “fire and fury.”
On Thursday, the president doubled-down on the remarks, saying his original comment possibly “wasn’t tough enough.”
In a separate appearance, Trump added: “Let’s see what [Kim Jong Un] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before – what will happen in North Korea.”
One North Korean government official, meanwhile, accused Trump of “going senile,” Fox News reported.

Trump thanks Putin for slashing U.S. diplomatic staff

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after a security briefing at his golf estate in Bedminster, New Jersey U.S. August 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering the United States to slash its diplomatic staff in Russia, remarks likely to rekindle criticism of Trump’s kid-gloves handling of Putin.
Breaking nearly two weeks of silence on Putin’s July 30 order cutting U.S. embassy and consulate staff by nearly two thirds, Trump said: “I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll.”
Trump said “there’s no real reason for them to go back” and “we’re going to save a lot of money,” in response to Putin’s Cold War-style move, differing from the reactions of other presidents in similar circumstances in the past.
It also clashes with a State Department official having called Moscow’s order “a regrettable and uncalled-for act.”
On Thursday, the State Department had no immediate reaction to the comments Trump made to reporters while on vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Congressional committees and a special counsel are investigating the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election campaign by hacking and other methods to help Trump, a Republican. They are also looking into possible collusion between the campaign and Russian officials. Moscow has repeatedly denied meddling in the election and Trump denies any campaign collusion.
Putin, reacting to new sanctions imposed by the U.S. Congress and reluctantly signed into law by Trump, ordered Washington to cut 755 of its 1,200 embassy and consulate staff by September. Many of those affected likely will be local Russian staffers.
It was also a tit-for-tat reaction to former President Barack Obama expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the United States last December over the intelligence agency reports.
During his campaign and since becoming president, Trump has consistently called for better ties with Russia, declined to criticize Putin and refused to unequivocally embrace the conclusions of the intelligence agencies.
Intended to be flippant or not, Trump’s remarks on Thursday were immediately denounced by current and former U.S. officials who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Nicholas Burns, the State Department’s third-ranking official under Republican President George W. Bush, called Trump’s comments “grotesque.”
“If he was joking, he should know better,” said Burns, now a professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “If he wasn’t, it’s unprecedented. A president has never defended the expulsion of our diplomats.”
The State Department has “horrified and rattled” by Trump’s remarks, said a veteran U.S. diplomat who has served in Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity.
And Heather Conley, formerly a top State Department official dealing with European affairs, said the expulsions of hundreds of people from an important U.S. embassy is extraordinary and “it is very difficult to see how the president could view these expulsions as a ‘positive’ development in any form.”
In additional remarks on Thursday, Trump said he was surprised by the FBI raid last month on the home of his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, adding that it sent a “strong signal.”
Trump said he has not given any thought to the possibility of firing special counsel Robert Mueller. In May, Trump dismissed James Comey, who was Director of the FBI when Trump went into office seven months ago.
As presidential candidate, Trump invited Russia to dig up thousands of “missing” emails from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state, vexing intelligence experts and prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging a foreign country to spy on Americans.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said on the campaign.
Clinton kept a private server from 2009 to 2013. She handed over thousands of emails in 2015 to investigators, but did not release about 30,000 she said were personal and not work-related.

College Student Sentenced To Prison for Voter Registration Fraud, 4 Others Arrested For Fake ID Scheme

James Madison University student Andrew Spieles leaves the federal courthouse in downtown Harrisonburg with his family and attorney, Gene Hart, after pleading guilty to voter fraud charges. (Photot/LocalMedia/RichmondTimesDipatch)

A college student pleads guilty in federal court for registering deceased Virginia voters for the Democratic party during the 2016 election.
21-year-old Andrew Spieles was sentenced to prison on Tuesday for submitting 18 fraudulent voter registration forms when he was working for the democratic campaign.
Spieles job was to register voters information in a computer system at a political organization.
According to the Department of Justice, the register’s office discovered falsified forms for people who were either deceased, or had incorrect birth dates and social security numbers in August of last year.
Spielies admitted to the crime and was sentenced to 100 days behind bars.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s accusations of widespread voter fraud appear to be gaining steam as authorities arrest six other people for allegedly running a fake ID scheme in Massachusetts.
Officials say four of the suspects are clerks at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and involved in a scheme to produce fake identification documents through their agency.
The U.S. attorney’s office believes the false identities may have been used to fraudulently register to vote.
This comes after media reports claimed more than five million non-citizens may have voted in the 2008 election, suggesting the issue could have been more widespread in 2016.