News came forth earlier this week that FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller was formally taking the next step in the Russia collusion investigation by impaneling a grand jury.
What this means is that FBI investigators believe there is enough evidence to warrant the issuance by a grand jury of subpoenas of documents and of witness testimony.
And with that news brought more leaks and speculation that Trump may move to fire Mueller, which some argue he has the power to do.
So in typical DC chess match fashion, Mueller met with a bipartisan group of Senators yesterday to collaborate on protections that might block the president from taking any preemptory and/or retaliatory action against the investigators or Mueller himself.
All of this means that the Russia collusion scandal isn’t going away any time soon.
And if Mueller begins to subpoena witnesses, expect to see full-font, top-of-the-fold headlines as the leftmedia revel in the glory of a possible Trump subpoena.
Here’s more from McClatchy…
Special Counsel Robert Mueller III received a bipartisan boost from Capitol Hill on Thursday, even as news broke that he’d moved to a more serious phase of his investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and whether Donald Trump’s campaign or associates colluded with Moscow to help him win the presidency.
In a clear warning to the president not to mess with Mueller, two bipartisan sets of senators Thursday proposed laws that would require judicial oversight of the firing of a special counsel.
Angered over the ongoing Russia probe, Trump has talked about firing Mueller. Meanwhile, the special counsel, who has been on the job less than three months, has recently impaneled a grand jury in Washington, the logical next step in the inquiry, which has been built on many months of investigating by the FBI.
Now Mueller will have the power to issue subpoenas for documents — the president’s long-withheld tax returns, for instance – and will be able compel prospective witnesses to testify.
