Politico has a story out this morning about a potential sealed subpoena from the grand jury that is waiting for Trump right after the election.
Right to the story:
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Since mid-August, he may have been locked in proceedings with Trump and his lawyers over a grand jury subpoena—in secret litigation that could tell us by December whether the president will testify before Mueller’s grand jury.
The evidence lies in obscure docket entries at the clerk’s office for the D.C. Circuit. Thanks to Politico’s Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn, we know that on August 16th (the day after Giuliani said he was almost finished with his memorandum, remember), a sealed grand jury case was initiated in the D.C. federal district court before Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell. We know that on September 19, Chief Judge Howell issued a ruling and 5 days later one of the parties appealed to the D.C. Circuit. And thanks to Politico’s reporting, we know that the special counsel’s office is involved (because the reporter overheard a conversation in the clerk’s office). We can further deduce that the special counsel prevailed in the district court below, and that the presumptive grand jury witness has frantically appealed that order and sought special treatment from the judges of the D.C. Circuit—often referred to as the “second-most important court in the land.”
Nothing about the docket sheets, however, discloses the identity of the witness. Politico asked many of the known attorneys for Mueller witnesses—including Jay Sekulow, another Trump lawyer—and every one denied knowledge of the identity of the witness. (What, of course, would we expect a lawyer to say when asked about a proceeding the court has ordered sealed?)
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At every level, this matter has commanded the immediate and close attention of the judges involved—suggesting that no ordinary witness and no ordinary issue is involved. But is it the president? The docket sheets give one final—but compelling—clue. When the witness lost the first time in the circuit court (before the quick round-trip to the district court), he unusually petitioned for rehearing en banc—meaning he thought his case was so important that it merited the very unusual action of convening all 10 of the D.C. Circuit judges to review the order. That is itself telling (this witness believes his case demands very special handling), but the order disposing of the petition is even more telling: President Trump’s sole appointee to that court, Gregory Katsas, recused himself.
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If Mueller were going to subpoena the president—and there’s every reason why a careful and thorough prosecutor would want the central figure on the record on critical questions regarding his knowledge and intent—this is just the way we would expect him to do so. Quietly, expeditiously, and refusing to waste the lull in public action demanded by the midterm elections. It all fits.
You really need to read the entire story. There’s a lot of speculation here, but it’s informed speculation from lawyers who’ve been through this.
My guess is that there is no way in hell that Trump submits to a subpoena. And now we have an illegitimate SCOTUS who will back him up on almost everything.
The s*^t is really going to hit the fan when this goes public. My guess is this is more about Mueller protecting himself than actually getting Trump to testify. If we take the house and or Senate the pressure on Trump not to fire Mueller while the court battle is happening over whether Trump will submit to the subpoena will be enormous!
I suspect that Adam Schiff (new chairman of the house intelligence committee) will do everything possible to help Mueller. I’ve been trying to think of some ways he might be able to help. One way would be to hire Mueller, if Trump fires him, as a council to the committee. Another would be to simply call Mueller in front of the of the committee in a public hearing (best reality show ever! And ratings through the roof), and have him tell the committee everything that’s in the report, when Trump and the GOP try to bury Mueller’s report.
The best way we can protect Mueller now is to win both the House and the Senate!
VOTE and GOTV!