"He was incredibly fast": Mueller approaching the Trump Final | American News

Donald Trump is responsible only for Robert Mueller's return to public life. The former FBI director, 74 years old now, was asked to leave his retirement after James Comey was sacked by Trump on May 9, 2017.

In March of this year, on Capitol Hill, Comey publicly revealed that in July 2016, the FBI had opened an investigation into Russia's interference in the US election and on a possible collusion in the Trump campaign. During the elections, Comey spoke openly about the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's e-mails. The Trump-Russia probe was kept secret.

Eight days after the dismissal of Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has appointed Mueller as special counsel. Eighteen months later, the investigation resulted in the indictment of 32 people and three Russian entities, ranging from hacking to obstruction of justice.

Former Trump campaign president Paul Manafort and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn both pleaded guilty to criminal charges and pledged to cooperate. Donald Trump Jr and his longtime assistant, Roger Stone, are in legal danger.

Trump Jr orchestrated the now infamous Trump Tower meeting with a group of Russians after being promised "dirty" to Hillary Clinton. Stone was examined to find out if he joined the Russian conspiracy.

Trump, who would himself have legal trouble if he knew of any conspiracy or restrained justice, always called the Mueller investigation a hoax and turned "NO COLLUSION!" Into a slogan.

"He was incredibly fast"

The survey, which cost more than $ 16.6 million in its first 11 months, can be divided into four separate parts that all led to indictments:

• Manafort and its trade relations with Russia after years of work to support the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

• Use by Russia of fake social media accounts to influence the election of 2016.

• Russian piracy of the Democratic Party and Clinton's help, John Podesta – and subsequent leakage of thousands of emails from WikiLeaks.

• The links of the Trump campaign with Russia – including the Trump Tower meeting and the engagement of Councilor George Papadopoulos with a professor who told him that the Russians had "dirt" on Clinton, including "thousands of emails ".

Anne Milgram, a law professor at New York University and former Attorney General and Attorney General of New Jersey, said Mueller and his 17 lawyers had "done a remarkable job."

"Months have passed – people think it's been a long time – it's not in criminal justice," she said. "He has been incredibly fast, has signed a lot of cooperation agreements, has been indicted, has done an extraordinary job in downplaying Russian election hacking."

Elizabeth de la Vega, a former District Attorney for Northern California, said: "Complex charges against almost three dozen people [and] organizations in less than two years is unheard of. Federal investigations can last three to four years before charges are laid. In addition, despite the almost daily false attacks of the president and his allies, the entire team just kept their heads down and do their job. "

An indictment against three Russian companies and thirteen Russians describes in detail companies whose budget exceeds $ 1.2 million per month and hundreds of employees who create false content intended to stir up information. American voters.

Another indictment accuses 12 members of the Russian army of hacking the Democrats and the Clinton campaign. The individuals would have created the DC Leaks site and created the character of Guccifer 2.0, supposed to be an isolated Romanian hacker who shared data with WikiLeaks.

"It's really an extraordinary and detailed proof of how the Russian government hacked into the US elections," said Milgram. "What remains to be done is that Americans will be charged in this regard, Roger Stone will be charged, Mueller will write a report on the president, what about Donald Trump Jr. ?

"High-level questions remain: how far has the campaign come to an end? Have they been involved in the coordinated publication of pirated emails from Podesta? What about the president's efforts to fire Comey in order to obstruct justice? "

The grand jury

Mueller's investigation, which took place in an office in southwestern Washington near the National Mall, is poorly known.

A grand jury was summoned to the Washington Federal Court on Pennsylvania Avenue, halfway between the White House and Capitol Hill. People appear voluntarily or under appearance and are interrogated without their lawyer. The jury can weigh the evidence and decide whether to lay charges.

Rob Goldstone, a British public relations officer of the Russian family Agalarov, arranged the Trump Tower meeting with a promise of Russian dirt over Clinton.

"If that's what you say, I like it," wrote Trump Jr. before bringing in his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner and Manafort. He had been promised "very high-level and sensitive information" as part of Russian support for Trump.

Goldstone voluntarily met Mueller's team. He told the Guardian that he had been taken in an unmarked car for six or seven hours of interviews in February of this year.

"It was a basic room," he says, "a long table. I sat down on one side and they sat on the other side with my lawyers sitting next to me. There was something very methodical and logical in the approach of the questions.

"There were about six people in total, a couple of FBI members and two people belonging, I guess, to Mueller's team. During the day, they asked me a series of questions about my email, the Trump Tower meeting and my relationship with my clients, the Agalarov.

"Many friends have asked me, have you met Robert Mueller? I said that even if he came to change the bulb or adjust the air conditioning, I would probably be horrified by the idea that he was there, knowing that I had never heard that he was at home. anybody. So I'm grateful that I did not see Bob Mueller. "

On March 9, Goldstone voluntarily appeared before the grand jury. He said that there were 22 or 23 people sitting on several levels.

"The same kind of thing," he says. "The difference is you do not have a lawyer, you're alone, so it's kind of terrifying. Terrifying, even if you know and believe that you have nothing to fear.

Unanswered questions

All eyes are on Manafort. Having to be sentenced on February 8 to accusations of bank and tax fraud, he cooperated.

Mueller's team called for a delay in the conviction of Rick Gates, former partner of Manafort and key witness against him. Earlier this month, they also asked for a delay before informing a judge of Manafort's cooperation. On Monday, they will submit a report.

Observers assume that an indictment is imminent against someone. If he does not cooperate fully, Manafort could be sentenced more severely.

Milgram said, "Now the question that you and I can not answer is to know what Paul Manafort is … cooperating against the president, cooperating against Donald Jr – and only Mueller knows it. currently".

Milgram suspected that Mueller knew that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was likely to be fired after the mid-term elections. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is already under pressure to keep his hands away from the investigation.

"I suspect that many cases have already been brought before the grand jury, some of which could have been voted and placed under seal," said Milgram. "I think Mueller will have done the most work possible and will have gone as far as possible before mid-session, knowing that the integrity of the investigation is threatening."

She thought the investigation might be about six months away, but if Trump refused a face-to-face meeting, Mueller could ask for a subpoena to appear before the grand jury. This could be fought up to the Supreme Court.

There is a precedent, US v Nixon, when the judges decided that the president had to hand over documents to a district court. Sixteen days later, Nixon resigned.

If Mueller decided not to fight, he could write a report stating that the president was obstructing justice. If he does not reach this conclusion, the House led by the Democrats could issue its own subpoenas.

"It's a chess match," said Milgram. "We will have to see how that goes next year."