Trump's restricted circle could escape Mueller's accusations – but still will not be safe

Even though special advocate Robert Mueller is finishing his job without laying new charges, President Donald Trump and his aides will not be clear.

In recent weeks, several prominent figures of Trump have insisted that they would survive Mueller's investigation. Trump himself argues that Justice Department officials told his attorneys that he was not the target of the special advocate's investigation. And his family members sent similar signs. Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, recently told ABC News that she had no concerns with the investigation. His brother, Donald Trump Jr., told Fox News Monday that he was not worried because "we know there is nothing there."

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But Mueller is far from the only threat to the president, his family and his collaborators.

Federal prosecutors in New York review Trump's campaign, inauguration and commercial activities in 2016. Congress has given DOJ dozens of hearing transcripts that may contain lies under oath. National and local prosecutors have reportedly prepared new charges that can not be erased by a presidential pardon. A list of sealed indictments is being held at the Washington, DC federal courthouse, suggesting that some members of Trump's circle have already been charged and do not know it.

"If anyone in Trump's world is breathing easily right now, I'd say he's very stupid," said Shanlon Wu, a defense attorney who previously represented the former campaign president. Trump's assistant, Rick Gates. "Even if Mueller's report were to appear and did not involve the president, all these other criminal investigations would continue. It will not be the miracle solution that will solve everything. I would be very worried if I were a lawyer or a potential target in this world right now. "

Trump's lawyers and several other senior officials told POLITICO that they did not know that Mueller's next steps would be as obscure as all those who were trying to decipher whether the special council was about to complete its investigation, like many others. media reported it last week.

They are also grappling with the fact that even though Attorney General William Barr is releasing a summary of Mueller's report, the document will likely be erased from the names and details of anyone who has not been formally charged – offering people living under a legal shadow no exculpatory evidence.

"This is the horrendous problem of investigations," said James Trusty, former senior DOJ official, who is close to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "They are not religiously compliant with the idea of ​​hitting the gong and announcing," Hey, you're done, we do not look at you anymore. "

In most investigations, federal prosecutors can leave suspects "hanging over the wind for years," Trusty added. "You literally look at the statutes of limitations and you say," Well, it's been four years, maybe I'm done. "

Several sources close to Trump's White House said the real threat was not Mueller's examination of the possible collusion between his associates and Russia during the 2016 campaign.

Instead, they fear that relatives of the president may be charged with misleading lawmakers – one of Mueller's recent major charges against Trump's longtime advisor, Roger Stone. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr told CBS earlier this month that his panel during its two-year investigation of Russia had "not hesitated" to send people back to the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of criminal prosecution. The House Intelligence Committee recently voted to send more than 50 of its transcripts to Mueller.

"These guys took the Congress thing too lightly. They did not understand [members and aides] Listen, take notes and save this shit, "said a senior Republican official in regular contact with the White House. "I think they all took it too nonchalantly and did not think it mattered – and the boy does it."

"If you lie in an affidavit to Congress or to someone else, you should worry. That's how people go to jail, "said Barry Bennett, former Trump Campaign Advisor 2016.

Mueller has publicly indicted 34 people and three companies, while obtaining guilty pleas from former Trump associates Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen.

Although Mueller can charge other people before closing his wicket, it is also possible that he has already filed new indictments such as time bombs in the federal justice system. Seventeen cases that have been filed so far this year remain under seal, as well as 57 others from last year.

All of these cases could be unrelated to Russia's investigation, but their filing in the same district in which Manafort, Gates, Flynn and Stone makes them worthy of interest, said Brett Kappel, a Democratic lawyer campaign finance specialist who followed the sealed cases. .

Despite all the rhetoric of the fire, Trump has focused on Mueller and his "witch hunt", meanwhile the president himself remains exposed to many risks.

In New York, federal prosecutors sought interviews with Trump Organization leaders and recently assigned donations and financial data to Trump's inauguration committee. They also called several witnesses close to the president, including Cohen, Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization's long-time financial director, and David Pecker, CEO of the parent company of National Enquirer.

"They are investigating with a lot of resources on every aspect of this man's life," said Jon Sale, former district attorney for the New York South District and close friend of Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. "All of us who have investigated everything you have done, you know, are in danger."

Congressional Democrats also seem to be just beginning. On Wednesday, the House's oversight committee should inform Cohen in public of everything from compliance with Trump's tax and tax laws to the business practices of his company. "What you will see is a man who wants to share the inner workings of the Trump crime family," Omarosa Manigault, a former Trump aide to the White House, who was deposed from the White House, told MSNBC on Saturday. "He knows everything about this family."

Democrats also want to see the insides of Mueller's work. Last Friday, the presidents of six key committees wrote to Barr asking for details about "foreign stocks and other people who may have been the subject of a criminal investigation or counter-intelligence." ". They also asked for documents indicating whether Trump "engaged in criminal or other activities. serious misconduct "but was not charged under the Department of Justice's policy that a sitting president can not be charged while he is in office.

Trump's associates hoping for a presidential pardon met with bad news last week when the New York Times announced that Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. was preparing to lay criminal charges against Manafort. The 69-year-old former Trump campaign chairman, who will visit next month, is expected to receive a life sentence from two federal judges on his conviction for financial fraud and a separate guilty plea. While Trump said last November that he did not have Excluded a pardon for Manafort, this act would only save Trump's former help from federal charges, not those of the state.

People close to Trump mock the idea that investigations threaten the president.

In a recent interview, Giuliani told POLITICO that the investigation of the SDNY "will have the same result as that of the investigation into the collusion led by Mueller".

"In fact, I'm even more sure of that, because we have even more documents, more archives, more things that show that the president has done nothing that can be blamed from a distance" , did he declare.

Trump Jr. said on Monday he does not worry about ongoing investigations, which he attributes to a partisan vendetta against his father's victory in the 2016 European elections.

"I'm not saying they will not try. Listen, their dream in life is political, their dream in life is to try to find something to get Trump, "he said in the morning TV show" Fox & Friends " . [it’s] this old Stalinist tactic: "Show me men. I will show you the crime. "We just have to find him and we can massage enough."

"So, there is no doubt that they will try. But again, I know how we operate as a company, I know how we operate as individuals, and that's why, despite all this for two years, we do not seem so worried that because we know there is nothing there, "he said. (Last November, POLITICO announced that Trump's eldest son had told friends that he expected to be charged.)

Trump's Department of Justice may not help the president and his allies if he respects Barr's pledge, said in his confirmation hearing, to avoid any form of public denunciation and shame people who would not be charged.

"If you are not going to charge someone, do not stand up and do not post any negative information about him." This is not how the Justice Department conducts its business, "Barr said last month at the confirmation hearing before the Senate.

Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign advisor 2016 who has been interviewed by both Mueller and congressional investigators, said anyone connected with the president should understand that Mueller's report may well be the end of the trial.

"I think everyone will be happy with the conclusion of the Mueller inquiry, but Democrats in the House and Senate are not going to give us a break any time soon," he said. "We are all attached and I would not advise anyone to unbuckle."