A hearing before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson took place this week concerning one of Mueller’s criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s lawyers challenged Mueller and his team for even exceeding Rod Rosenstein’s authority and for violating Justice Department rules.
Justice Department rules say a special counsel must be told of the “specific factual matter” in his or her mandate.
Judge Jackson found that to be a “fair point” since the deputy attorney general can’t “see into the future”.
Manafort’s lawyers say Mueller went beyond the mandate and beyond Rosenstein’s authorization.
Mueller’s corrupt team said no one has the right to “enforce those regulations”.
Mueller’s team argued Thursday that criminal defendants and the public at large have no right to enforce those regulations. Manafort’s attorneys insist he can use violations of those rules to challenge the legitimacy of the indictment, but Jackson gave little indication Thursday that she agrees with them.
In other words, Mueller can do anything he wants to do.
Manafort’s lawyer insisted that if there were flaws in Mueller’s appointment, it undermines his legal authority to bring the cases he’s filed.
“I don’t know how they can violate these regulations and we can still be here and it doesn’t matter,” the defense attorney said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
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Rosenstein wrote a memo last August detailing the scope of Mueller’s authority. Mueller was specifically authorized by Rosenstein to investigate and prosecute crimes related to Manafort’s receipt of payments from the Ukrainian government.
The Mueller team claims that the scope is not an expansion, just a description of the scope of his authority.
While a decision has not been rendered, the judge didn’t seem convinced by Manafort’s lawyer’s argument.
Therefore, Mueller can violate Justice Department rules, exceed even Rosenstein’s authority, and the public at large can’t do a thing about it. That is what they said.
h/t Greg
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