Reports: Mueller In Closed-Door Fight With Secret Witness
Special counsel Robert Mueller (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
By Cathy Burke | Sunday, 16 December 2018 09:19 AM
Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly involved in a closed-door fight with a witness who’s refused to testify before a grand jury investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
A confidential hearing on a secret battle first disclosed by Politico was held Friday at the federal courthouse in Washington, The New York Times reported. An entire floor of the courthouse was closed to the press to guard the identities of lawyers involved in the secret case.
But according to the Times, it appears the battle is over whether a witness can be forced to answer investigators’ questions — and it’s not President Donald Trump.
“We’re not involved in it — we’re not aware of the nature or scope of the litigation,” Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s lawyers, told the Times Saturday.
According to the Times, Mueller’s investigators and lawyers for Trump are still wrangling over whether Trump will sit down for a face-to-face interview; Trump’s already answered written questions.
And if those talks break down, Mueller could seek to subpoena the president, giving Trump’s lawyers the chance to go public to bolster the president’s claim the probe is a witch hunt.
The Times noted in one aspect of the probe, Mueller is examining whether one of Trump’s longtime associates, Roger Stone, was a conduit between WikiLeaks and the campaign. Mueller is already in a legal fight with a Stone associate who’s refusing to testify before a grand jury and hand over documents, the Times reported.
Poster Comment:
You bet its a witch hunt. Now if Roger Stone can hold off Mueller's probe all will be well.