Latest in Mueller Investigation
Under the logic of the government’s motion to dismiss the charges against Michael Flynn, the FBI can’t investigate whether someone is a Russian agent unless it already has evidence that the person is a Russian agent.
In a filing on Thursday, May 7, 2020, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the criminal information against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn had pleaded guilty to one count of lying to federal investigators regarding his contact with the Russian ambassador prior to President Donald Trump's inauguration. The filing, signed by U.S.
Judges were skeptical of the Department of Justice’s sweeping arguments but searched for limiting principles on court cases brought by Congress.
On April 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, will hear oral arguments for Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn, the case concerning whether the House of Representatives can go to court to enforce subpoenas compelling testimony from Trump administration officials.
The House Judiciary Committee has filed its brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding the en banc rehearing of Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn, concerning the committee's effort to compel the testimony of former White House counsel Donald McGahn regarding events described in the Mueller report. In the brief, the committee argues that the D.C.
Judge Reggie Walton’s ruling demanding in camera review of the unredacted Mueller report underscores how much the Trump administration has squandered the executive branch’s goodwill with the judiciary.
The U.S. House of Representatives petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to grant en banc rehearing in their case seeking to compel the testimony of former White House counsel Donald McGahn. Last week, a three-judge panel held that federal judges do not have the authority to resolve disputes between the White House and Congress. The House petition argues that the ruling impermissibly overruled D.C.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, in a lawsuit brought by Buzzfeed News and the digital privacy watchdog EPIC, rebuked Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the House Judiciary Committee's lawsuit to compel the testimony of former White House Counsel Don McGahn. Writing on behalf of the court, Judge Thomas B. Griffith wrote, "The Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of McGahn, responds that Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving this kind of interbranch information dispute. We agree and dismiss this case." The opinion is available here and below.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson had a particularly difficult job on Thursday.