There are 4 supposedly known DOJ districts involved (if you believe the talking heads) with Mueller related work product to carry forward. The three we were aware of SDNY, DC, EDVA and a 4th new possibility Los Angeles. Have no idea what they are working on in Los Angeles or if it is even true.ggait wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:33 pm There's no reason why the report can't be released. Easy to scrub it of grand jury and intelligence items. Look at all the indictments and other filings Mueller has publicly released. Also no reason why Mueller and Barr can't be asked to explain why Mueller demurred on obstruction and Barr did not.
It is going to take some time to really know what Barr/Rosenstein/Mueller are up to here. First, they'll testify. Second, some version of the report will go to Congress and to the public. Third, possible additional shoes may (or may not) be dropped from various USAOs that Mueller handed things off to.
#3 is really the total wild card/black box in this. Looks like Mueller was aggressively handing things off throughout his whole tenure (like the Cohen case). So while Mueller has wound up his work, TBD what happens to his hand-off cases.
For example, what is the deal with all those sealed indictments sitting on the docket in USDC and EDVA? Barr says that there are no sealed indictments "obtained by Mueller." So does that mean those all are completely unrelated to this? Or could they be related but "obtained" and coming from USAOs on cases Mueller handed off? I have no clue.
I think the only thing we know for sure is that Trump isn't going to be impeached before the 2020 election. That's a perfectly good outcome for me.
The assumption all along has been that Mueller was passing off anything that was not directly related to the issue of Russian Conspiracy to one of the three district offices. But we don't know that for certain. It seems to be the pattern. I have seen no comment from Mueller or anyone else in the DOJ that was his algorithm, that this was the limit. What is to say he did not push forward something to do with conspiracy that he did not have time to finish?
The Stone case is as close as Mueller got to the issue. I have taken a closer look at the Roger Stone Indictment which is the closest any indictment has come to conspiracy (apart from the Russian indictments). Some would say Stone's case is a case of conspiracy, not Criminal Conspiracy, but conspiracy, collusion, collaboration, etc.. The case hits Stone with 5 counts of lying to the Senate, the House and the FBI, and a single count each of Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice. Some things in that indictment don't make sense standing alone or in conjunction with any previous indictment. Makes one wonder if there might not be follow on counts to that indictment. Remember this indictment was made under Matthew Whitaker at a time when it was clear Mueller had to wrap it up soon.
Something else strange with the Stone case. Mueller specifically asked the judge to slow roll it, that's why it was set for early November. There were apparently earlier dates available. Mueller claims the case will take 5 to 8 days for presentation and is a complex case. When you look at what he charges, the evidence he presents in the indictment, I don't see the complexity. He has written documents as evidence for everything he charges. Doesn't seem complex at all, when you look at the evidence presented. Seems very straight forward, but he gave the judge the "complex case" reason for requesting the slow roll. Why the slow roll?