Challenge to Mueller's probe: former Trump aide refuses to obey subpoena

Although many Congressional Republicans have talked about ending the Mueller probe (a dicey prospect at this time for purely political reasons having nothing to do with an actual Trump crime), finally someone is refusing to obey a Mueller subpoena.

The Special Counsel's probe has spread pseudopods into areas of the legal landscape which it was never meant to go, as special counsels' investigations are won't to do. Consider them to be a legal virus spreading willy-nilly into the environment, infecting and affecting everything it touches until by some reason or other the virus succumbs. At present, the Mueller virus appears ravenous and intent upon gobbling up morsels (called in legal parlance "witnesses") as expeditiously and and as expensively as possible.

A brief recap of the rationale, or mission statement laid out by Rod Rosenstein, number 2 at DOJ, is to investigate whether Donald Trump or any of his campaign aides "colluded" with Russian agents to affect the 2016 presidential election. After one year and over $10 M spent, Mueller's gang has arrested No One for the original mission's goal. Yes, he got Manafort and Gates for violations of foreign agent laws in 2014 (and other bad deeds) but these predate the Trump campaign by at least 18 months, before any engagement with the Trump campaign. And there are the arrests of Flynn, Papadopolous and 13 Russians and two Russian companies. None of these have reference to Trump "collusion".

I am informed that "collusion" is not a crime. In order to keep this essay readable, no mention of Hillary and Companies multiple interactions with Russia will be made. Therefore, the Mueller probe is looking for a non crime. There are two aspects of the Mueller probe now: one is criminal (such as the Manafort indictment) and the other is counterterrorism (as recently evidenced by Russian meddling in U.S. politics (true, but unrelated to Trump in any way).

So why is this fiasco still churning, devouring people without abandon, in search of what? What exactly is Mueller doing? Is he a patriot, trying to save the Republic? Is he a crass, corrupted politician who never should have had any position as he now occupies?

The above pictured conglomerate consist of all yet known interviewees, with one exception: Sam Nunberg. Amazingly this Wikipedia was updated TODAY.

Sam Nunberg (born June 21, 1981) is a former political advisor to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and the Trump campaign. He has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. On March 5, 2018 Nunberg announced he would defy Mueller's subpoena.

Nunberg was hired by Jay Sekulow to work with the American Center for Law & Justice in an attempt to stop the construction of the Park51 mosque.[1]

While working for the Trump campaign, Nunberg, along with his friend Roger Stone, helped prepare the candidate for his first debate.[2]

Nunberg was fired by Trump twice, first after arranging a Buzzfeed interview and then (after being rehired during Trump's campaign) when his old Facebook posts with ethnic comments surfaced.[3]

Nunberg and Trump sued each other in 2016. Trump accused Nunberg of leaking information to the New York Post, while Nunberg alleged that Trump might have broken campaign finance laws. Trump and Nunberg settled their legal dispute later that year.[4]

Regarding the Robert Mueller investigation, when asked whether he believed that the special counsel may have something on Trump, Nunberg responded, "I think they may." He added: "I think that he may have done something during the election. But I don't know that for sure." [5] He also said "I have no knowledge or involvement in Russian Collusion or any other inappropriate act."[3]

Nunberg testified for 5.5 hours in front of several federal prosecutors earlier. He praised them for being "professional". Some brief time after his testimony to these prosecutors, he was subpoenaed by Mueller to testify in front of a grand jury with any and all emails Nunberg had with a list of who is who or who was who in Washington, D.C.: Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Hope Hicks, and others. Apparently Nunberg himself is not the subject of any criminal investigation. Yet he is now refusing to obey the subpoena, a la Pagliano before Congress, contending that it is a waste of his time. In fact, he apparently called multiple news outlets on one day (today) to publicly announce his refusal to testify.

I have listed below relevant articles and videos, in which Nunberg explains his rationale, if such a term may be conferred upon his decision for this refusal. In fact, he says his lawyer fired him for making this decision. Lots of other interesting tidbits were aired, some of which probably do deserve further investigation--but certainly not at the Special Counsel level.

CBS News

Former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg is refusing to comply with a subpoena order issued by special counsel Robert Mueller, as part of the grand jury's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Nunberg told the Washington Post on Monday that he was asked to appear before the grand jury on Friday but does not intend to appear or to provide documents.

"Let him arrest me," Nunberg told the Post. "Mr. Mueller should understand I am not going in on Friday."

Nunberg also claimed in an interview with MSNBC's Ari Melber that Mueller offered him immunity to testify against Trump adviser Roger Stone. Nunberg, who referred to Stone as his "mentor," said he thought that the special counsel's team is trying to build a perjury case against Stone.

MSNBC interview with Katie Tur, in which interesting tidbits are disclosed as Nunberg inserts his foot ever more deeply into his mouth. Worth listening to at 17 minutes' length.

[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtOuh3yuCm0]

CNN interview in which Jake Tapper actually does a good interview for a change (14 minutes).

Finally an analysis by H.A. Goodman in which H.A. makes his sarcasm laden comments accompanying the information. 36 minutes but if you love sarcasm as I do, you may find this worth auditing.

When you absorb as much of this as you wish, you will detect someone whose sense of reality is about par with a common Hilbot (which, in my thesaurus, is a very low descriptor of value). In essence, we have Don Quijote charging a windmill, but unlike the Don, Nunberg seems to have forgotten his lance.

This challenge is overdue but the challenger is simply not the correct duelist. Perhaps this ill-considered objection will inspire more to do so. Maybe Nunberg has access to loads of money with which to pose a court challenge to this whole Special Counsel travesty. If Nunberg doesn't posses the funding, because Sam is on the lower rung of our justice system, Mueller will happily throw him in jail until the probe has ended, with no more thought about such jailing than one swats a fly.

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snoopydawg's picture

I heard about this today and I have to agree with Sam. Mueller wants 10-20 people's emails going back years. Who keeps their emails for 2-3 years? I certainly couldn't find mine if asked. Mueller should ask the NSA for them. They could get a warrant for them easily enough. They are stored at the spy building in Blanding, Utah.

BTW, Trump did not ask Putin to hack into Hillary's emails and release them. His words were "if Russia finds Hillary's emails ..". This was after she had deleted over 30,000 of them after congress told her to turn them over. He has explained that numerous times.

Why hasn't Rohbacher's talk with Assange been discussed? He met with him in the Ecuador embassy and they discussed how Hillary's and the DNC computer files came to be in his possession? Assange told him that he didn't get the files from Russia and they hadn't been hacked, but were downloaded. IIRC, he met with Trump about this. He hasn't said anything publicly either, but he has to have spoken with his fellow colleagues who are investigating the "collusion."

What is Mueller doing? I'm thinking that he is going after Trump for his financial backers or something not related to Russia Gate. What he definitely could go after him for is breaking the emoluments clause. This would stick after news came out today that he has ordered presidential plaques to put on golf T-off blocks.

One more thing. Why can't Trump release the original FISA warrant that the FBI got to wiretap him? This would put to rest whether the Steele dossier was used to get it. This would end that part of the story.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Alligator Ed's picture

@snoopydawg

Why can't Trump release the original FISA warrant that the FBI got to wiretap him? This would put to rest whether the Steele dossier was used to get it. This would end that part of the story.

Trump is wisely letting Mueller and Dims shoot their shot. They dare not go after emoluments because all those Congress critters are bribe takers to the Nth degree. Besides, even if Drumpf is nailed for emoluments violations, of which he certainly is guilty, he would have to be impeached. That isn't more likely than an asteroid landing on Trump Tower.

It's already apparent to anybody paying attention, including Adam Shiftless, that nothing is going to come out of this probe regarding Trump. Two things then occur (profanity alert) that the Demonrats are lying shitbags will become widely spread public knowledge which all but the most ardent Hilbots are forced to concede AND then, as in chess (yes chess), after making the preparatory gambits, Trump will sweep the field clean of the now defanged foe. As I wrote before, The Trump-Sessions dust up is pure theater to lull the Dims into a false sense of security.

Trump's mock fight with Sessions.

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kharma's picture

@Alligator Ed is playing eleventy dimensional chess?

The Trump-Sessions dust up is pure theater to lull the Dims into a false sense of security.

It's hard for me to comprehend the Orange Judas even considering such a thing but maybe he is so brilliant that he pulls it off while simultaneously appearing to be a lunatic.

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There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams

gulfgal98's picture

@kharma abhor most of his policies, I would much rather keep the devil I know in office than have the real dominionist and war mongering snake in the grass (Mike Pence) elevated to the Presidency. This is truly a case of the lesser of two evils in which we the people do not have a vote.

Be careful of what you wish for.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

snoopydawg's picture

he is. And unless the republicans say he has done enough for them and they want him gone, we're stuck with him for the rest of his term.

Why the emoluments clause will not end Trump's presidency

As 2018 gets underway, many are continuing to look for ways to remove President Donald Trump from office. Recently, some Trump critics had staked their hopes on an arcane, little-known and virtually impossible-to-pronounce Constitutional provision known at the emoluments clause. But thanks in part to a recent federal court decision, we may never know what the clause means. While the court battles will continue, it now seems likely that the emoluments clause will not be the legal vehicle that ushers Trump out of the Oval Office.

From the link in the quote:

“As the only political branch with the power to consent to violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Congress is the appropriate body to determine whether, and to what extent, Defendant’s conduct unlawfully infringes on that power,” the judge wrote. “If Congress determines that an infringement has occurred, it is up to Congress to decide whether to challenge or acquiesce to Defendant’s conduct. As such, this case presents a non-justiciable political question.”

During the Clinton administration, Paula Jones wanted to sue him for sexually harassing her while he was Governor of Arkansas. Clinton argued that any action against him should be held off as long as he was in office. The Court disagreed, ruling that the President can indeed be sued for alleged actions that took place prior to taking office.

Justice John Paul Stevens in his 1997 opinion that while Presidents may be protected from liability regarding war crimes official actions in office so they can “perform their designated functions effectively without fear,” that protection does not extend to unofficial conduct. The protection against damages for official acts was determined by the Supreme Court in the 1982 Nixon v. Fitzgerald decision.

(Read links for more info)

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

The Aspie Corner's picture

Either way, rapacious capitalismand empire will STILL reign supreme.

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

gulfgal98's picture

@The Aspie Corner They all work for the same masters(of the universe).

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

CB's picture

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