#Mueller subpoenaes T-rump Organization

[malenipshadows]

   *** The carefully maintained secrecy around T-rump’s finances is under unprecedented assault a year into his presidency, with three different legal teams with different agendas trying to pry open the Trump Organization’s books.   (1.)  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who has subpoenaed T-rump Organization documents as part of his wide-ranging investigation into the 2016 campaign.   (2.) Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress seeking internal correspondence as part of her effort to be freed from a nondisclosure agreement centering on an alleged affair with T-rump.    (3.) District of Columbia and Maryland have sued T-rump, alleging he is improperly accepting emoluments from foreign or state governments through his businesses, including his hotels.  A federal judge ruled Wednesday (3-28-2018) the case can proceed, opening the way for plaintiffs to seek at least a portion of T-rump’s tax returns. ***

[feelingbluepolitics]

"Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee plan to deliver a report soon after Thanksgiving making the case for impeaching [t]rump, its chairman said on Monday, moving quickly to escalate what he called 'urgent' evidence of wrongdoing by [trump].

..."Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the Intelligence Committee chairman, wrote in a letter to colleagues that after two months of inquiry and despite consistent stonewalling by [t]rump, his panel had uncovered 'massive amounts of evidence' pointing to misconduct and 'corrupt intent' by [trump] related to Ukraine.

..."'[trump] has accepted or enlisted foreign nations to interfere in our upcoming elections, including the next one; this is an urgent matter that cannot wait if we are to protect the nation’s security and the integrity of our elections,' Mr. Schiff wrote.

..."[A] pair of court rulings on Monday held out the possibility that the House could eventually gain access to additional new evidence that could strengthen their case.

"In one long-anticipated decision, a federal judge ruled that Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, must testify before impeachment investigators about [t]rump’s efforts to obstruct the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III into Russia’s election interference and the [t]rump campaign.

"While Mr. McGahn is unlikely to appear anytime soon, the ruling was significant because it emphatically rejected the [t]rump administration’s assertion that top presidential advisers are absolutely immune from congressional subpoenas, calling the principle a 'fiction' that 'simply does not exist.' The White House has used the same justification to argue that officials like John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, cannot testify in the Ukraine investigation.

..."Hours earlier, a different federal judge in Washington ruled that the Defense Department must turn over to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization, communications it had with the White House Office of Management and Budget about the suspension of the military aid for Ukraine. Democrats are not party to the suit, but the release of the records in question could benefit their inquiry.

"The [t]rump administration is all but certain to appeal both rulings, a process that could tie up the testimony and records in courts for many months. Democrats have made clear that they are unwilling to wait for that process to play out.

..."In the public records case decided on Monday, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a 16-page opinion that the Defense Department documents must be handed over between Dec. 12 and Dec. 20, citing the urgency of the House’s impeachment inquiry. That timetable matches the one Democratic leaders are eyeing for considering impeachment articles against [t]rump in the Judiciary Committee and on the House floor, but an appeal could delay the release.

"'The requested documents are sought in order to inform the public on a matter of extreme national concern,' she wrote. 'Only an informed electorate can develop its opinions and persuasively petition its elected officials to act in ways which further the aims of those opinions.'

"Another public records request, though, is already informing the case. On Friday, American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group, began releasing documents it obtained from the State Department through another public information lawsuit."

[malenipshadows]

  *** The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that encompasses Mr. Trump’s business ventures.  ...     The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. T-rump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will continue for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena came as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his inquiry to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. T-rump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United States.    The T-rump Organization typically has complied with requests from congressional investigators for documents for their own inquiries into Russian election interference, and there was no indication the company planned to fight Mr. Mueller’s order.  ***

[feelingbluepolitics]

"The House Judiciary Committee released the names on Monday of aides to [t]rump and his campaign, members of his family, his business and others.

"Among those who received requests from the panel are [t]rump's sons, the FBI, the [t]rump Organization and Wikileaks.

"It comes as the panel's chairman said it was "clear" [t]rump broke the law.

..."Jerry Nadler, a Democrat who has served in Congress for more than a quarter century, isn't messing around. With his announcement of document requests to 81 individuals and entities - some members of the [t]rump family and inner-circle, others only tangentially related - the chair of the Judiciary Committee is taking a shotgun approach to his investigations of [trump].

"Mr Nadler outlined three areas of investigation - obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuse of power - but it's hard to imagine any presidential controversy or scandal that falls outside these broad parameters."

While the House has not "impeached" trump -- that is, has not brought formal charges against trump -- it should be understood that these House subpoenas and the hearings are part of impeachment investigations, with outcomes determining whether the formal charge of impeachment will be triggered. Impeachment charges may or may not also be triggered by Mueller's report as well.