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Marty Lederman @marty_lederman
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
1/ As I discussed here, Whitaker's views about the Special Counsel are (or were, anyway) very dubious. And he will now be Mueller's supervisor. There are two legal questions re: the appointment:
(i) Can Trump bypass 28 USC 508 with the VRA? (DOJ says yes)

justsecurity.org/54809/replace-…
2/ 2. Is an "acting" appointment of a principal officer for a long period constitutional (see my discussion in that post of the Clarence Thomas view and the old Eaton case)?
As I wrote, though, it's unlikely courts will resolve those questions for quite a while, if ever.
3. So assuming Whitaker will supervise Mueller for now, what can he do in terms of countermanding discrete Mueller decisions re: prosecution/investigation, and/or removing Mueller? I discuss those questions here:

justsecurity.org/61283/constitu…
4/ Suffice it to say that the oral argument in the DC Circuit tomorrow afternoon just got a lot more . . . interesting.

balkin.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-co…
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Did you know? That Rod Rosenstein automatically *was* the "acting AG" in the first 12-24 hours after Sessions' resignation (on 11/7) and that Trump therefore *displaced* him with Whitaker (on 11/8)?
@just_security @walterdellinger @AJosephOConnell
Judge Moss stressed the displacement point at a hearing last week (and prompted the DOJ lawyer to say that no POTUS had ever done so before 2007) and the "next day" nature of the displacement was confirmed by the Trump directive to Whitaker, which DOJ just disclosed yesterday.
Here's Trump's memo to "Chief of Staff" Whitaker from 11/08/18.

justsecurity.org/wp-content/upl…
Read 4 tweets
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1/ Wow, is this comprehensive--and, best I can tell on first read, completely dispositive on actual legislative intent (or at least the intent of all the legislators who considered how the VRA would work).

@AJosephOConnell @steve_vladeck @walterdellinger
2/ To be sure, the final language of the VRA surely could've been clearer on the question, and it left an opening for OLC's reading, but seems to me Migala has shown that the "508-controls" view is much more plausible, even before one applies the avoidance canon.
3/ He confirms--w/far greater detail than we did--much of what @walterdellinger and I wrote, including our account of the way Congress resolved the same tension in 1873 and our reasons for thinking the OLC view leads to surely unintended anomalies.

justsecurity.org/61483/initial-…
Read 4 tweets
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1/ I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. It's hardly news that Trump directed the hush money to Stormy Daniels. Duh. Indeed, although he obviously would've paid her off anyway even if he hadn't been running for POTUS, it's surely reasonable to surmise ...
@just_security
2/ ... that the payment was *higher* because of the election. I doubt Trump realized that was a campaign finance violation, but let's also assume arguendo that he knew or suspected it was illegal and didn't really care--that he was indifferent to what the law prohibited.
3/ No doubt, such indifference to law ain't a good thing in a President. And yes, it would mean Trump is, at least in theory, criminally culpable for soliciting or conspiring to violate the law. OK, but what would follow from that?
Read 13 tweets

Related threads

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How on the hell does #Mueller get so off focus!? What was the special counsel assigned to investigate? The piece of crud can't just keep looking for crimes. That's not why he was appointed. Want immigration fraud Muelly? Look into Ilhan Ohmar, she married her brother!
Just give the order @realDonaldTrump. This Special counsel is like the Lambchop song that doesn't end and a mockery to our Justice System you're trying to restore rule of law to! Muelly's just running interference and obstructionl!
Read 3 tweets
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I will now read for myself the #Mueller #CohenSentencingMemo and comment on it here in real-time like I previously did the one from the Feds.
Mueller says Cohen ADMITTED lying to Congress specifically to conceal the president's involvement in the Moscow business project, and give false impression matter was settled before the Iowa Caucuses.
The tone of Mueller's memo seems friendlier to the Feds, which was a 38-page verbal spanking (see my thoughts on that one posted here earlier).
Read 12 tweets
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‼️Be Smart‼️

“Cambridge Analytica ...had had the [stolen] Clinton emails more than a month before they were published by WikiLeaks.”

Savor the implications. 🤗

It is fitting that Trump has been forced into retreat by babies. Cruelty should never be mistaken for strength.
‼️Be Smart2‼️

The dystopian Trump Admin is weaponizing gov’t by eviscerating regs that protect the 98% (those w/o money & power), & they’re weaponizing bureaucracy, in order to use it against everyone they don’t like, whether it’s immigrants or poor people or DEMs.

#Mueller
‼️Be Smart3‼️

A new RU influence operation has surfaced that mirrors some of the activity of an internet firm that the FBI says was deeply involved in efforts to sway the 2016 U.S. elections, a cybersecurity firm says.

Don Jr. ‘Regrets taking’ 2016 Trump Tower meet w/ RUs
Read 63 tweets
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Yesterday, Senator @ChuckGrassley wrote a letter about the Special Counsel's scope & power to Deputy AG Rosenstein

Grassley's not a happy bunny

And he drops a MOAB. Robert Mueller may have the ability to sign off his own FISA warrant requests to the FISC 💥

(HT to @Nick_Falco)
Here is the letter: judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
I support the Special Counsel and that shouldn't stop Congress from carrying out its oversight duties
Read 14 tweets
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THREAD

MEMBERS OF TEAM #MUELLER
1.Zainab Ahmed
Ahmed is an expert in prosecuting terrorism and organized crime, Zainab Ahmad previously served as an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She joined #TeamMueller in the summer of 2017.
1a)Ahmad has worked on the case of Flynn: She was one of two prosecutors who signed Flynn’s charging documents and was also in court for Flynn’s guilty plea in December 2017.

#MuellerTime
#TeamMueller
Read 66 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Mueller #JohnSingerSargent #WeThePeople #Infowars #collusion #TariffMan #Europe #FREE #Deripaska #AdamSchiff #Trump #GTD #Armenia #Gerrymandering #scamalert #politicstoday #Friedman #FLAG #CEO2018 #Indictments #Cohen #putney #cjs #lawfirms #Socialist

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