Good morning from the D.C. District Court! I'm camped out in the media room and will be live tweeting the 11 a.m. hearing before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta regarding POTUS' effort to block a House subpoena for some of his financial records. @CourthouseNews Mehta had wanted to consolidate the proceedings and advance to trial on the merits. POTUS, however, objects to that. Per a minute order late yesterday, Mehta said the hearing will proceed and the court will take up those objections.

And we're underway. #Manafort Judge ABJ: there are no factual disputes to resolve but several legal issues to determine - whether to apply an adjustment for acceptance of responsibility and an enhancement for a leadership role in the offense.

Stone is in the courtroom with his attorneys and it sounds like members of the public and media have been ushered into the courtroom. Prosecutors, however, are not there yet (I'm in the media room watching a live video feed from the courtroom). UPDATE: Prosecutors have arrived! We should be underway shortly - the hearing is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. EST.

Thread: Calling himself a "model witness," former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates wants to be rid of GPS monitoring and his curfew, and has asked the court to expand the geographical area he can travel within. documentcloud.org/documents/5000… Gates said the stakes are high if he violates his cooperation agreement and urged the court to trust him because of that. He also says eliminating the GPS monitoring would facilitate healing in his household.

Update in Roger Stone aide Andrew Miller's contempt appeal which includes a challenge to the constitutionality of special counsel Mueller's authority. 9 constitutional law professors filed a friend of the court brief today in support of Mueller, arguing his appointment was sound. As background, Miller says the scope of Mueller's prosecutorial powers and an alleged lack of oversight require presidential appointment and Senate confirmation. Not so, say the professors. Mueller is an inferior officer and his appointment falls in line w/the appointments clause

New filing in Mueller's case against Russian firm Concord Management and Consulting. Late last month Concord sought info from the gov. to explore a possible claim of selective prosecution. Today the gov. said nope. @CourthouseNews Echoing POTUS, Concord suggested that prosecution of only Russians “is particularly nefarious" as it coincided w/massive political and public pressure on Mueller to confirm a Clinton narrative that the Kremlin ensured Trump's election. Background here: courthousenews.com/indicted-russi…

Manafort's plea deal requires him to "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly with the Government and other law enforcement authorities identified by the Government in any and all matters as to which the Government deems the cooperation relevant @CourthouseNews "The defendant agrees to be fully debriefed and to attend all meetings at which his presence is requested, concerning his participation in and knowledge of all criminal activities."

Despite reports that Manafort is in talks to reach a plea deal and avoid a 2nd trial, prosecutors pushed ahead with trial preparation Wednesday in a trial brief responding to Manafort's request to suppress trial exhibits @CourthouseNews documentcloud.org/documents/4872… Manafort's objections to more than 1,000 gov. exhibits were based on relevance, hearsay, authentication and whether some of the proposed stipulations were properly summarized. Most of the exhibits appear to be financial records, memos and emails re: his Ukrainian lobbying work.

Thread re: an update in Roger Stone aide Andrew Miller's appeal of his contempt order. His attorney filed an appeal brief early this morning making very similar arguments that Russian firm Concord Management & Consulting made when they tried to get Mueller's indictment tossed. Essentially, Miller and Concord are both challenging the constitutionality of Mueller's appointment. Miller also asked the D.C. Circuit to weigh in on whether a private attorney can serve as special counsel, and if so whether he must be appointed by the AG rather than the DAG.

Butina update: She will remain jailed ahead of trial because the judge thinks she poses a flight risk, and the judge also imposed a gag order. The parties will no longer be allowed to make statements about the evidence or merits of the case. The judge credited the gov. for walking back the claims about Butina's willingness to trade sex for a position with a political org. but said Butina's attorneys are right - the allegations received a lot of attention and damaged her reputation.

Biggest news from the Manafort pretrial conference is that Judge ABJ says she is not inclined to grant his motion to change venues. That is unless he proposes Hawaii (she was kidding). If they can't seat a jury she says she'll revisit the matter. For now she says defense attorneys failed to present a legal basis to transfer. The jury pool's supposed political leanings (DC voted more than 90% for Clinton) don't cut it at this point.

For those tracking Mueller's case against Concord Management & Consulting: Concord is trying to intervene in Andrew Miller's appeal to the D.C. Circuit challenging the constitutionality of Mueller's appointment and the legality of Rosenstein's appointment order. Miller, BTW, is a longtime aide to Trump confidant Roger Stone, and was held in contempt after refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena. Miller, too is challenging Mueller's authority vis-a-vis his grand jury subpoenas on the same basis that Concord challenged its indictment