Joe.My.God. LGBT News
CNN reports:
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has informed President Donald Trump’s attorneys that they have concluded that they cannot indict a sitting president, according to the President’s lawyer.
“All they get to do is write a report,” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN. “They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us.”
That conclusion is likely based on longstanding Justice Department guidelines. It is not about any assessment of the evidence Mueller’s team has compiled.
A lack of an indictment would not necessarily mean the President is in the clear. Mueller could issue a report making referrals or recommendations to the House of Representatives.
Rudy Giuliani tells @FoxNews that Robert Mueller told @realDonaldTrump legal team two weeks ago that he will abide by DOJ guidelines that a President cannot be indicted. Giuliani said Mueller has no choice but to honor a 1999 Clinton-era memo
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 16, 2018
So, Rudy Giuliani told Fox News and CNN that Robert Mueller said his office will, per Fox News, “abide by DOJ guidelines” that assert a sitting president cannot be indicted. This is not surprising; it is mainly notable if Mueller told Giuliani so.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) May 16, 2018
THREAD. WHAT TO MAKE OF GIULIANI’S CLAIM THAT MUELLER SAID HE CAN’T INDICT TRUMP.
1. Don’t forget the context: it’s pretty incredible that we are having a conversation involving law enforcement officials about whether Trump can be indicted. That’s astounding. https://t.co/n9US7ch8cp— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
2. And don’t forget the source: Giuliani. He’s not exactly a stickler for details.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
3. Context may really matter here. Why did Mueller say this? Is it because Trump’s lawyers said they were thinking of taking 5th Am priv against self incrimination, and Mueller said there can be no “incrimination”?
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
4. If so, the DOJ policy against indictment of a sitting President may actually hurt Trump, and be an argument against his ability to stay silent. It might be a way to ferret out truth.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
5. The reporting is clearly incomplete. The Special Counsel regs, which I drafted, do NOT say DOJ policy must always be followed. They say that a Special Counsel can ask Acting AG (Rod Rosenstein) for permission to depart from DOJ policy and rules.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
6. If Mueller has the goods on Trump, as I’ve said before, I think he will ask Acting AG to indict. The regs put a thumb on the scale in favor of Mueller doing so. If Rosenstein says no, it triggers a report to Congress-both majority and minority parties.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
7. Otherwise, there is not necessarily such a report about these matters. The Special Counsel regulations dispensed with the “final report” requirement in the Independent Counsel Act. Reports are permissible, but not mandatory (but they are when Special Counsel overruled).
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018
8. So I do not see this story as good for President Trump, in any way. END
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 16, 2018