Important: Subpoena Isn't the Only Way to Get the Mueller Report

[hlthe2b]

Link to tweet

Subpoena Isn’t the Only Way to Get the Mueller Report

By law, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees should already have certain investigative materials relating to Russian election meddling.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/opinion/subpoena-mueller-report-intelligence-.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

The House Judiciary Committee may be sitting on its subpoena for the Mueller report, but under federal law, certain other committees need neither a subpoena nor a court order to get access to it and its underlying materials, including grand jury testimony and documents.

The House and Senate Intelligence Committees should already have certain investigative materials relating to Russian election meddling, in unredacted form, collected by the special counsel, Robert Mueller.

This legal structure was created by a provision in the Patriot Act combined with the notification provisions of the National Security Act. The intelligence committees have a lawful right, virtually unbounded, to foreign intelligence information in the possession of the intelligence agencies of the executive branch.

Federal law requires that the attorney general provide to the director of national intelligence any foreign intelligence information collected during a criminal investigation. Then the director must by law provide it to the intelligence committees of Congress — either by sending a notification or acting in response to a request from the committees. The director has an obligation to inform policymakers, including Congress, of intelligence assessments so that they can take steps to protect the American people.

More at the link above

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the greatest page

NOW!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Great news. Thanks.

[FM123]

3. "so that they can take steps to protect the American people"

Remember us, the American people?

Trumpy has nothing but Barr-like roadblocks in place everywhere, we need to outmaneuver and disable these disgusting repugs.

[OhNo-Really]

34. and Dan Coates is responsible for handing materials to the

Senate & House

snowballs chance in

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Coats

[rieger]

4. Why are we sitting on supeona power?

If not now, when?

[OnDoutside]

11. Probably because this is going to end up in court, and Dems have to be seen to be doing this by the

book, so they can claim precedent.

[zaj]

15. Yep...

Following a regular, fair and orderly process. No excuses available for the courts to object.

[Honeycombe8]

5. The Mueller Report pertains to matters other than foreign intelligence.

Everything related to obstruction of justice, all events it investigated involving only American communications, evidence about money transactions and evidence that caused Mueller to send to other jurisdictions for indictments.

The Report would still have to be heavily redacted. In fact, maybe only the parts that resulted in the indictments of the Russians would have to be provided. And that did not involve any Americans.

[hlthe2b]

6. Apparently not, if you believe this former Senate Legal Counsel AND preeminent Laurence Tribe

The matter of obstruction has relevance in possibly masking details of the foreign intelligence investigation.

[Honeycombe8]

7. You'll see. nt

[hlthe2b]

8. No, WE likely won't. If Schiff persues this avenue, goes to House Select Committee on Intelligence

and the details of what they received my well not be made public-- as might be expected with covert intelligence investigations and congressional oversight.

However, it likely could be shared in some form with House Judiciary, especially if they designate their investigations as "preliminary" to any impeachment investigations/hearings.

[Honeycombe8]

9. The article is making an argument. It has a viewpoint.

I pointed out the opposing viewpoint.

Nothing in law is 100% clear. There are always cases for and against.

The report in full, unredacted, will not be given to the Director. If the Director wants to pursue the 100% theory, it will have to go to court.

[hlthe2b]

10. No, you miss the point. The article points out provisions of the Patriot Act that have not even

been discussed prior to now as an avenue.

[malaise]

12. That would be so ironic

All avenues must be used to bring down these fascists

[zaj]

17. I believe honeycombe8 is correct

DOJ can say no to DNI request for the report. DNI would then need to pursue access in court.

Question is can Congress compel using this strategy? It do they only have standing in step 2, and only if DNI chooses to follow step 1?

[OhNo-Really]

35. but DNI Dan Coats is Trump appointed. A fly in the soup?

[Honeycombe8]

23. Grasping at straws.

Maybe this, maybe that. Even if not, we'll never know because "it's secret."

Sometimes things are what they seem.

[hlthe2b]

25. Well, I guess we should all give up. It is all hopeless (according to you). There is no law in this

country and all those constitutional experts, like Laurence Tribe need to just roll up their tent and defer to you.

Should we all just give up as well? Pass the Koolaid?

This is a discussion on a new element in this attempt to gain congressional oversight, from an expert in the field as reported by the NYT and brought more attention by Laurence Tribe. I have every right to bring it to others' attention-your insults notwithstanding.

If you think everything is so hopeless, why are you even here?

[Honeycombe8]

26. Stop being insulting, please.

You think an article that says the Mueller Report has to be given to the Director, ipso facto, has thus laid down the law. So, it's settled!

I'm just telling you that NO...the law doesn't work that way. That's why we have courts...because there are two sides to every issue.

One side says he's entitled to it (for "X" reasons).
The other side says he's not (for "X" reasons).

The article talks about foreign intelligence. But there is more in the report than that. There is secret Grand Jury testimony. There is the issue of obstruction, which doesn't deal with foreign intelligence. There is also a DIFFERENT law that says what the AG "must" do with any special counsel report (it says he must do a summary to Congress...it does not say he "must" give the report to the Director if it deals with intelligence matters). There are no doubt other laws that might provide exceptions.

So it would take a court to determine whether the Director should or must get the report without redactions.

This is the way the law usually works. If it were as cut and dried as the article states, the report would have been sent to the Director by now, maybe even directly by Mueller.

As I said before, you'll see it's not that cut and dried. The Director might get the full unredacted report, but maybe not. The country has never had this situation before. We'll see what happens.

[hlthe2b]

27. It is YOU who is being insulting and I will not engage.

You can ignore my posting, but you do not get to decide if others get to see it. It is from a reliable source (NYT) and brought further attention by one of our most preeminent legal minds, Tribe.

Disagree as much as you like, but knock off the insults for my merely posting something that is not widely known re: the Patriot Act and how it may influence the legal fights to come.

[Honeycombe8]

28. You keep engaging me. I worked in the law for decades....

You just don't seem to understand the way the law works. The legalese, how that article was a viewpoint and not "the law," and how there are usually exceptions to every law, and so on.

If it were that simple, the Director would have demanded it under that law by now. But it's my understanding that the House is taking this to Court. Which is all I said.

Geez, Louise. A simple factual post set you off.

[hlthe2b]

29. My OP is a simple factual post.

and no, your "working in the law" does not impress me (whatever that means). Tribe, Neal Katyal and others in their league certainly do and I'll stick with their assessments, thank you.

[onit2day]

33. Impeachment is the answer.

[NewJeffCT]

14. They had a whole section on collusion in there

and the dealings with Russia and the Trump Tower meeting.

[Honeycombe8]

24. Of course. And....????

Poster was saying the entire report WILL in fact be produced, because legally, ipso facto, the Director is entitled to it.

I was saying not necessarily. In legal cases there are always two sides. In law, the language is always open to interpretation, and there are exceptions.

Even so, he was saying that legally the Director is entitled to it because of foreign intelligence. I'm stating that it has MORE than foreign intelligence in the report.

Matters dealing with Obstruction, for example. Matters dealing with grand jury testimony, which is secret. And so on and so forth.

Of course, we haven't seen Mueller's report to know all that is contained in it. We're all just guessing.

[gademocrat7]

13. Good to know.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

16. KR NT

[Farmer-Rick]

18. That's if the AG follows the law and if the director of national intell follows the law

Seems none of Trump's appointments follow the law even when directed to by the courts. And if this goes to the Supremes, the court packed with abusers, rapists, law breakers and Catholic appeasers will bow to Trump

Remember what Trump said about the law. "Fuck the law."

[erronis]

20. "The court packed with abusers, rapists, law breakers and Catholic appeasers"

And that's just their *known* pecadillos.

But we won't name any names like Thomas, Kavanaugh, Alito, Gorsuch. Too bad Scalia flew the koop - he was always at the top of the list of any evil ones.

[Farmer-Rick]

21. True that.

[spanone]

22. K&R...👍🏼👍🏼

[onecaliberal]

30. Maybe they've already looked at these documents and we are unaware.

I am certain Mr. Schiff has a strategy.

[triron]

31. Schiff knows there is abundant evidence of collusion. He has said so.

We have a traitor in the WH there by illegitimate means.
If Trump is not removed we have legitimized treason to obtain federal elective office.
What next?

[onecaliberal]

32. That's what I keep saying. If we dont impeach this asshole,impeachment doesn't exist for republicons