The stakes increase as Mueller signals his ability to use the threat of a grand Jury subpoena to leverage an interview from #TrumpRussia principals like Steve Bannon.
This indicates that the Mueller process is homing in on Agent Orange’s inner circle.
Mariotti (IL’s next AG) provides the long answer for why this contrasts with the goals of the Congressional subpoenas.
2/ Typically witnesses in an investigation like this one are interviewed informally, especially if they have their own attorney, as Bannon does. So this is a very unusual move. It could mean a couple of things.
3/ First, federal prosecutors often will send over a grand jury subpoena as a first step to then negotiate the informal interview. Ultimately the subpoena is the leverage they have to get a subject to comply with an interview.
4/ I doubt that's what happened here because Bannon is represented by a skilled attorney who also represents Priebus and McGahn, who were already interviewed by Mueller. That means Mueller's team is already in touch with his attorney and has a relationship with him.
5/ If they called Bannon's attorney, he'd no doubt agree to an interview, because the alternative is a grand jury subpoena. Why is testifying before the grand jury worse for someone being interviewed? Because their attorney can't be present in the room with them.
6/ No one is allowed in the grand jury room other than the witness, the prosecutors, the grand jurors, and the court reporter. Also, the fact that there is a court reporter makes it easier for the prosecutor to charge the witness with making a false statement.
7/ Typically, prosecutors also prefer the freewheeling informal interview, because they can ask a broader array of questions in a less tense setting, with a FBI agent present. Often defense lawyers can help their clients remember details by directing them to key documents.
8/ False statements in an informal interview can be prosecuted, as Papadopoulos and Flynn discovered. Typically the desire to prosecute false statements doesn't drive a decision to issue a grand jury subpoena.
9/ The most likely reason that Mueller prefers to have Bannon testify before the grand jury is because his attorney won't be present and it will be easier to catch Bannon off-guard and receive truthful answers. Testifying before a grand jury is intimidating.
10/ When I was a federal prosecutor, I didn't like when multiple witnesses in the same case had the same attorney, even though it was usually permissible. I was worried that the attorney would use their increased knowledge of the case to help the witnesses tailor their testimony.
11/ Mueller may be concerned that Bannon won't be as candid with his attorney present as he would be with no attorney in front of the grand jury. Grand jury questioning, with a court reporter, also lends itself to a harsher questioning style akin to cross-examination. /end
45* concocted a fake awards show stunt to divert interest in Congressional and Special Counsel activities related to Biglygate. It seems to have failed.
But the THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR (MDCMAY) had bigger problems. Explaining that “the interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated,” Trump soon announced he’d have to postpone the (presumably online) ceremony from Jan. 8 until Jan. 17.
(Update, Jan. 16, 5 p.m.: On Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Fake News Awards were now merely a “potential event.”)
A more leisurely run-up gave comedians, including Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Jimmy Kimmel, time to campaign for “fakies” by taking out newspaper ads and renting billboards in Times Square. The New York–based Committee to Protect Journalists, meanwhile, feted Trump for “Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom,” citing his coziness with oppressive regimes and hostility to government programs that promote free speech worldwide. Chef José Andrés also promised free lunches at any of his establishments to recipients of the journalistic honor.
and the absurd deserves the sublime...
According to an excerpt of the speech, Flake will criticize the President for calling the news media the "enemy of the people," calling it "an assault as unprecedented as it is unwarranted."
"Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own President uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies," reads the excerpt. "It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase 'enemy of the people,' that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of 'annihilating such individuals' who disagreed with the supreme leader."
Flake's prepared speech goes on to say the President's actions should be "a great source of shame" for the Senate and the members of the Republican Party.
"The free press is the despot's enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy," Flake's remarks say. "When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn't suit him 'fake news,' it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press."
Trademarking Fake News
The phrase continues to be a major discussion point for journalists and the media industry on a wider scale — Channel 4 recently carried out a week-long exploration of the issue with a series of one-off shows — and it’s even been referenced by politicians and other public figures as a defence against unfavourable news stories.
Amongst all this, it seems as though there’s a battle to see who can trademark the phrase first. CNN reported that three different US companies had all applied to trademark the phrase ‘fake news’ on January 12 — exactly one day after CNN was accused of being a fake news organisation by then-President-elect Trump during a press conference.
One of the parties involved is Film Roman, an animation company that’s best known for its long-term involvement on The Simpsons. It’s reportedly been working on a new satirical cartoon comedy called Fake News, and so it only makes sense that the company is pursuing the trademark to go alongside it.