Monday, August 7, 2017

Rosenstein interview - read between the lines...

Rod Rosenstein made a few major points about the Mueller investigation on Sunday during his interview with Chris Wallace.
  • Rosenstein suggested that assembling a grand jury is simply a tool that is used during investigations to gather information and subpoena witnesses to testify under oath. As most legal analysts suggest, while all indictments require a grand jury, many grand juries come and go without ever handing out an indictment. 
  • Rosenstein suggested that contrary to popular believe, that Mueller's investigation is limited to the scope of Russian interference, and that any investigation into things like Trump's finances (unrelated to Russia or the 2016 election) would require Mueller to come back to him to expand the scope. The implication was that no such request has been made and no such request has been granted. This would obviously hold true with Flynn's involvement with Turkey, as well as Manafort's old money laundering allegations. 
  • Rosenstein openly stated that many of the things that are supposedly "leaked" from the investigation are simply not true. This, obviously, runs 180 degrees with the fact that the media reports any and all leaks as bona-fide confirmed news. 
The interesting thing about the interview was that there was absolutely no push back from Rosenstein on the issue of a grand jury being convened. But there was push back as it pertained to the question of whether or not Mueller has moved the investigation "beyond' the scope of Russian interference. 

Rosenstein downplayed the very concept of a grand jury as if it was no real big deal. Even as he spoke of the grand jury as a hypothetical, it was clear that he was implying that the grand jury story was true. But he did not provide the same nonchalant responses to whether or not Mueller has gotten off track. His responses were non-denial denials, with a little bit of defensiveness in his tone.There was no wishy washy answers about how investigations are open ended, and how a special counsel would have broad authority. It was fairly clear that Rosenstein believes that the Mueller investigation is still 100% about Russia. 

What this tells me is one of three things. 
  • That whoever is doing the leaking has their facts wrong.
  • That the leaks are part of an intentional effort to put pressure on people.
  • That Mueller is going rogue, basically expanding the scope "without" going back to Mueller. 
If it's the first or the second, then I guess there is nothing there to see. If it's the latter, then I think we have bigger problems coming down the pipe. But one has to believe that Mueller does meet with Rosenstein on a regular basis, or at the very least corresponds to keep him in the loop. It would seem unfathomable that Rosenstein would not know the nature of what Mueller is investigating at this point. But it there is a communication issue, then the sorts of statements that Rosenstein made on a Sunday morning talk show, certainly could be seen as a shot across the bow.

6 comments:

Myballs said...

So here's Mueller stacking the deck by loading up his team with hillary and obama donors as well as ignoring the grand jury already in place in VA and creating another one in dc where Trump would have no chance for any sort of fair anything.

So much for objective pretense. This is an attempted coup yo undo the last election over false charges while ignoring real lawlessness by the last administration a d the clinton foundation.

This could cause an actual constitutional crisis and civil war.

opie said...

Anonymous Myballs said...
So here's Mueller stacking the deck by loading up his team with hillary and obama donor

You do realize that trump donated more to hillary than all those on muellers team....So much for cogent, unbiased byllsquirt aping kellyannes alternative facts

Myballs said...

As usual dopie misses my point. I was speaking to the false pretense of objectivity, not dollar totals.

We don't call you dopie for nothing

opie said...

I was speaking to the false pretense of objectivity, not dollar totals.


LOL...the point is directly on the top of your head....And you missed the irony of your irony that trump donated more than what you question. Plus your tenet that anyone who donates money cannot do their job without a bias. That is your unproven tenet, again showing that your absorption of fake news from trump is eating your brain,,,I'm sure that is the basis of your post since nothing else really exists and I doubt you came up with it yourself....LOL

wphamilton said...

You're reading quite a bit between the lines.

I wouldn't be surprised at any direction Mueller took, in his pursuit of any potential obstruction charges in his Russia investigation. Mueller has a known history of it. Rosenstein's implied disclaimers don't really stack up, and it sounds like he was trying to tamp down speculation more than anything else.

wphamilton said...

"actual constitutional crisis and civil war"

Constitutional crisis maybe, but do you really think anyone would contemplate fighting over how Trump is treated? Even going way out on a limb and imagining a trumped-up Trump charge, that isn't going to happen.