DOJ Ties a Trump FISA Release to Obstruction realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/…
In court filings last week the DOJ deployed what could be the nuclear option in its latest effort to prevent Trump from declassifying info regarding FISA warrants used to spy on campaign aide Carter Page: It claims declassification would interfere with Mueller’s investigation.
This is the first time the DOJ has explicitly made this argument implying personal peril for the president, since interference could open Trump to charges of obstruction of justice. Until now, the department has argued that declassifying the documents threatened national security
That rationale has heightened suspicions among congressional investigators that the special counsel is being used to prevent the disclosure of possible FBI abuses and crimes committed during the Russia probe.
By the DOJ’s logic, according to one source, the fact that the investigation is ongoing protects it from scrutiny, including the president’s.
Neither the Department of Justice nor the Office of the Special Counsel would respond directly to this charge.
Neither the Department of Justice nor the Office of the Special Counsel would respond directly to this charge.
"The obstruction trap was built into the special counsel," a congressional investigator said, only on condition of anonymity. “If Trump fires Mueller, or Rosenstein, or declassifies documents [embarrassing to the FBI] it’s likely to bring an obstruction charge.”
