AND THE INDICTMENT GOES TO...
MUELLER TO MAKE HIS BIG MOVE IN RUSSIA PROBE
AS WASHINGTON and the White House braced for an arrest in the Moscow meddling probe, a leading Democrat warned Sunday that President Trump does not have blanket authority to pardon associates who may be caught up in the election collusion scandal.
“I don’t think the President’s power is all that absolute, as people have been suggesting,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday in response to reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is close to bringing criminal charges against at least one political player.
“The President cannot pardon people if it’s an effort to obstruct justice, if it’s an effort to prevent Bob Mueller and others from learning about the President’s own conduct,” Schiff told ABC’s “This Week.” “So, there are limitations.”
Schiff said Mueller has not informed his committee who has been charged in a sealed indictment that could be announced as soon as Monday, but he believes, based on press reports, the target is former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort or former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“We haven’t been informed of who it is, and I don’t think it would have been appropriate for Bob Mueller to tell us,” he said.
He grew cagier when asked whether Trump himself is under investigation as part of the special counsel’s Russia probe.
“I can’t answer that one way or the other,” he said. “I can’t comment on that at all.” Trump, meanwhile, railed against the investigation, tweeting that Mueller’s probe and any impending arrests are bids to halt Republican momentum on tax reform.
“All of this ‘Russia’ talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!” Trump tweeted Sunday morning.
He and the Republican-held Congress have been pushing a massive tax reform program that’s been met with criticism regarding how it might affect 401(k) retirement programs and whether it’s a gift
to the rich at the expense of everyone else.
Mueller’s team is looking at whether members of the Trump campaign worked in tandem with Russia last year to influence the outcome.
U.S. intelligence agencies have agreed Russia tried to affect the election.
Trump has called the allegations “phony” and a “witch hunt,” and on Sunday claimed a double standard when it came to alleged wrongdoings by Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated nearly a year ago but repeatedly mentions.
He brought up recent reports that the Clinton campaign helped fund a notorious dossier about Trump, as well as a uranium deal with Russia that he’s tried tying to Clinton, along with her 33,000 deleted emails on a private server. He has not noted that at least six of his aides have used private email accounts for government business.
“Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia ‘collusion,’ which doesn’t exist. The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R’s are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday that Trump has not been informed he is under investigation.
“I would say the important thing about today for the American people to know is the President is not under investigation,” Christie said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “No one has told him that he is. He’s been cooperating fully with the special counsel’s office.”
Christie, a Republican and former federal prosecutor, said whoever is targeted in the first charges already knows they are in jeopardy.
“Believe me, if you’re the person, you know,” he said on “This Week.”
“If you’ve been told you’re a target,” he said, “believe me, you’re not sleeping well anyway.”
CNN first reported Friday night that a federal grand jury has signed off on the first charges in the investigation, and an indictment could be unsealed as soon as Monday.
Christie said the leak of the information could itself be a crime, if someone on Mueller’s team disclosed it.
“There are very strict criminal laws about disclosing grand jury information,” Christie said. “Now, depending upon who disclosed this to CNN, it could be a crime.”