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Impeachable Offenses?

~ Examining the Case for Removal of the 45th President of the United States

Impeachable Offenses?

Tag Archives: Collusion

Barr Releases Summary of Mueller’s Report

24 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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attorney general, Collusion, evidence, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 6(e), House of Representatives, impeach, Impeachment, indictment, insufficient, Obstruction of Justice, release, report, Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, russia, Special Counsel, Summary, William Barr

Attorney General William Barr has released a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. In it he announced that Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to establish the President Trump’s campaign conspired with Russian groups to manipulate the results of the 2016 election. Additionally, he writes that Mueller did not make a recommendation as to whether the President should be charged with obstruction of justice, but rather presented evidence on both sides of the issue and deferred to the Attorney General. Bar and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have decided not to pursue indictment of the President on that charge. Barr notes that he intends to release as much of the report as will not violate Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), governing the release of grand jury information. After the release of Mueller’s findings, the House of Representatives will have to decide whether they believe the evidence is sufficient for impeachment.

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Documents Flooding the House

19 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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campaign, Collusion, documents, donald trump, House Judiciary Committee, impeach, Impeachment, investigation, nader, nancy pelosi, not worth it, Obstruction of Justice, subpoena, trump organization

A large number of the 81 individuals subject to the House Judiciary Committee’s “friendly subpoenas,” requests for documents sent to President Trump’s organization, campaign team, transition team, inaugural committee, and his personal associates for documents having to do with the committee’s probe into the allegations of Trump’s obstruction of justice, have already complied and sent documents. These documents could be used to lay the foundation for impeachment proceedings in the House; however, recent remarks by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, seem to indicate that said impeachment proceedings my never occur.

download (6).jpgMark Wilson/Getty Images

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House Democrats Targeting Trump’s Finances

26 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Collusion, Deutsche Bank, donald trump, House Democrats, house financial services, house intelligence committee, House of Representatives, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, money laundering, president, real estate, russia, trump organization

Democrats of the House of Representatives, specifically the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees, are planning to use their subpoena power to uncover President Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank, a German bank which has funded Trump’s real estate ventures over the years. The dealings are viewed with scrutiny because the bank previously played a role in Russian money laundering. Investigation into this area could determine whether the Trump Organization was also engaged in money laundering, and, if confirmed, strengthen the case for Russian collusion.

download (5).jpgSusan Walsh/AP Photo

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Is Mueller Almost Finished?

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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28 CFR 600, attorney general, Bill Barr, Collusion, confidential, Congress, discretion, donald trump, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, investigation, Obstruction of Justice, president, privelege, report, Robert Mueller, russia, Special Counsel, subpoena, trump, William Barr

CNN Reported today that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may conclude his investigation as early as next week. Their information apparently came from sources familiar with Attorney General Bill Barr’s plan to announce the completion. But! Don’t get too excited. Though Mueller’s report may be finished soon, that doesn’t mean the public or Congress will get to see it.

The regulations which govern Special Counsels are contained in part 600 of title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 28 CFR 600.8 says that when Mueller gets done, he needs to send his final product off to the Attorney General, Bill Barr. 28 CFR 600.9 says that Barr only has to tell Congress 1) that Mueller is done; and 2) if he disagreed with any of Mueller’s suggested actions because they were “inappropriate and unwarranted,” and an explanation of that conclusion. So what we’ll find out is, for the most part, at Barr’s discretion. However, Barr told Congress during his confirmation hearing that he intends to release his own summary of the report, and will be as transparent as possible within the confines of the law (for a thorough analysis of Barr’s statements, click here). If Barr releases less than what Congress would like, their remedy is a subpoena.

william-barr-nomination-hearing.jpgKevin Lamarque/Reuters

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The House is Coming Down

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Adam Schiff, bill pascrell, business interests, Collusion, donald trump, fraud, High Crimes and Misdemeanors, House of Representatives, Impeachment, investigation, nancy pelosi, president, Representative, russia, saudi arabia, speaker, tax evasion, tax returns, trump

The Democrat controlled House is beginning to pursue investigation of President Trump independent of Robert Mueller. Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Chairman, plans to expand the scope of his inquiry to determine whether Trump’s business interests are influencing his foreign policy decision in nations other than Russia. Additionally, the Ways and Means Committee, for whom Rep. Bill Pascrell has been speaking, has announced its intention to collect and examine President Trump’s tax returns. Notably, other House Democrats, such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have urged patience on that front.

ap_19038604315746_wide-33f85eab3122accc557ea08aa6be66a38793af9d-s1600-c85.jpgJ. Scott Applewhite/AP

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Roger Stone Arrested and Indicted

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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arrested, Collusion, Conspiracy, cooperation, DNC, donald trump, Emails, hillary clinton, indicted, investigation, president, Putin, Randy Credico, Robert Mueller, roger stone, russia, russian hackers, Special Counsel, wikileak

Roger Stone was arrested and received a seven count indictment this morning which included charges of misleading lawmakers about his communications with Wikileaks, the organization that released the emails which scandalized Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and intimidating fellow witness Randy Credico, who was also in contact with Wikileaks. Credico ultimately pleaded the 5th at Stone’s urging.

The emails released by Wikileaks were stolen by Russian hackers, and Stone is a long time friend and supporter of President Trump. If Stone chooses to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, he could provide the evidence need to finally establish collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign. However, if Stone’s past comments are to be believed, he will not be cooperating. Much is yet to be seen.

stone.jpgAlex Wong/Getty Images

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Mueller Denies BuzzFeed Report

19 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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buzzfeed, Collusion, Congress, deny, dishonest, donald, Frank Bowman, impeachable, Impeachment, lie, lying, Michael Cohen, moscow, president, report, Robert Mueller, russia, Russian, slate, trump, Trump Tower

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has issued a rare statement denying the veracity of the BuzzFeed article published yesterday. The article in question stated that Mueller’s office had a cache of documents which established that President Trump encouraged his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie about the extent of the Moscow Trump Tower negotiations. If that were true, the legal consequences would have been severe; Professor Frank Bowman provided an analysis which was published on Slate.com.

However, though BuzzFeed has dug in its heels, the rarity of such public statements from Mueller’s office and its direct nature seem to indicate that there is no truth to the story. That is to say, Mueller’s office does not have hard evidence of such directions exchanged between Trump and Cohen. There is some concern that this revelation will give the President new ammunition against the media; however, it should not be forgotten that the truth finder of most significance in this case is Robert Mueller. It should be heartening that he is staying the course.

UT5EXCA3QYI6TCATZOO6Y5Q6OM.jpgRichard Drew/AP

 

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Manafort Lied about Dealings with Kilimnik

09 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Collusion, Conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud, conspire, donald trump, impeachable, Impeachment, konstantin kilimnik, lie, lying, madrid, paul manafort, polling data, president, Robert Mueller, russian collusion, russian intelligence, Special Counsel, ukraine, witness tampering

Special Counsel Robert Mueller believes that Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairmen, shared polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukranian translator and campaign adviser believed to have ties with Russian intelligence, and that he later lied about it. Apparently, Manafort’s lawyers have conceded that Manafort neglected certain details of his Ukrainian dealings, as they wrote in a court filing that “[i]t is not surprising at all that Mr. Manafort was unable to recall specific details prior to having his recollection refreshed.” The filing also notes that Manafort forgot  and later recalled that he had met with Kilimnik in Madrid in January or February of 2017, which was after Trump became President-elect, but also after Manafort’s tenure as campaign chairmen. Manafort and Kilimnik have previously been accused of witness tampering, for allegedly reaching out to members of the Hapsburg group, and asking them to lie about secret, pro-Ukrainian lobbying done at Manafort’s behest.

If it is to be believed that Kilimnik does have ties to Russian intelligence, then this information establishes, at least, a Russian interest in President Trump’s candidacy. Of course, that is not new information. At most, it could go to establishing communication between Trump and Russia post-election. That being said, it is only circumstantial evidence. The fact that foreign powers are interested in Trump’s nomination and presidency, does not mean he cooperated with foreign powers, and the fact that Manafort cooperated with foreign powers, does not mean that Trump participated. Still, this another straw on the camel’s back.

gettyimages-975251610_wide-a5b8c154718a06791ada3f9447c359251dd114b5.jpgAFP/Getty Images

 

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Resurrecting Justice Curtis’ Argument

26 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Collusion, donald trump, Frank Bowman, harvard law school, high crimes without law, Impeachment, interpretation, joshua matz, justice benjamin curtis, lawrence tribe, Mueller, nikolas bowie, voter fraud

Nikolas Bowie, Assistant Professor at Harvard Law School, wrote in an article for the Harvard Law Review Forum, entitled “High Crimes Without Law,” a dissent to the popular view that impeachable offenses need not be violations of existing law. This argument was first made by Justice Benjamin Curtis, who left his post with the Supreme Court  in the wake of the Dred Scott decision, and subsequently agreed to represent President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment proceedings. Johnson was impeached, in part, for inflammatory speeches given in protest of Congress’ anti-slavery legislation.

Curtis argued that the “high crimes and misdemeanors” warranting impeachment are defined as high crimes committed against the United States, made illegal by laws of the  United States. He supported this argument with three points: “first, a textual argument that the phrase “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” refers to something analogous to treason and bribery; second, a structural argument that impeachment proceedings are criminal trials; and third, a structural argument that Congress could not use impeachment proceedings to subvert the constitutional prohibitions against ex post facto laws and bills of attainder.” Bowie explores these arguments in detail, and then proceeds to respond to modern counter arguments, such as those professed by Professors Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz. The primary difference between Curtis’ interpretation and that of Tribe and Matz’s more expansive definition is in the way they define impeachment, as either a criminal or civil process; Tribe and Matz argue that impeachment is a civil proceeding not requiring the constitutional protections of a criminal proceeding. Interested readers should follow the link above for a more detailed overview of Bowie and Curtis’ argument.

As a note, even if Curtis’ interpretation is correct, and impeachment only applies to crimes enshrined in law, that does not necessarily let President Trump off the hook. The voter fraud for which he has been very nearly implicated by Mueller’s investigation, may well be a criminal violation. Professor Bowman weighed this possibility in his latest post, though he would disagree with Bowie and argues that violations of existing law are not necessary for impeachment. Said post can be found here.

5bb929d6200000c70101ea90.jpegKean Collection/Getty Images

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Pulling out of Syria — Trump further Demonstrates his Incompetence

21 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by crosbysamuel in Uncategorized

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abuse of military power, Collusion, defense secretary, Foreign policy, Impeachment, iran, mattis, president, russia, syria, troops, trump, withdraw

President Trump announced yesterday that he planned to withdraw American troops from Syria, a decision that has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and which lead to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ resignation. Though Mattis’ decision to resign was based upon the whole of Trump’s foreign policy, the withdrawal from Syria is seen as the straw that broke the general’s back; Mattis repeatedly refused to publicly endorse the withdrawal after Trump’s requests. Trump’s decision is viewed as premature, because, though it is at its tail-end, the conflict with the Islamic State is on-going in Syria. It seems the only person in favor of the withdrawal is Russian President Vladimir Putin who said “Donald’s right, and I agree with him.” With the United States absent Russian and Iranian influence over Syria will increase.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how the abuse of military power could be considered an impeachable offense, based on precedent set by British impeachments (written about by Professor Bowman here, pt. VIII). The withdrawal from Syria could be considered another impeachable military blunder in two ways: 1) unfitness, based on the general lack of wisdom that the withdrawal represents; and 2) that the action may have been taken at the urging of a foreign power, specifically Russia. Though Trump has offered justifications for his action, such as not wanting to be the “policemen” of the Middle East, if it turns out that this action was taken for no other reason than to appease Putin, then it is may be an abuse of military power warranting impeachment.

21dc-mattis-promo-jumbo-v3.jpgPablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

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Frank O. Bowman, III


Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor of Law
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