Grand jury to probe Russian allegations
Mueller’s decision said to signal new stage
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller has convened a criminal grand jury to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and is focusing on Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting last year with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about the Democrats, according to a person familiar with the probe.
The impaneling of a grand jury in Washington indicates that the investigation into alleged links between President Donald Trump’s campaign aides and Russian intelligence is entering a new stage that is likely to include calling witnesses to testify under oath, the person said.
Investigators working for Mueller, who was appointed in May, have contacted and received records from several of the eight people who attended the meeting on June 9, 2016, at New York’s Trump Tower.
In addition to Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., the group included the president’s son-in-law and now senior adviser, Jared Kushner; his campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort; and a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.
In a rally Thursday night in Huntington, W.Va., Trump denounced what he called the “totally made-up Russia story.”
He reiterated his charge that Democrats are stoking the Russian allegations as “just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics.”
“What the prosecutors should be looking at are Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails,” he said, provoking whoops and chants of “Lock her up” that Trump encouraged by his long pause. He then continued by saying prosecutors should also examine her paid speeches and financial interests.
Both the House and Senate intelligence committees are investigating Russia’s interference in the election and whether there was any collusion.
Mueller “believes there is a need to impanel a grand jury so he can readily issue subpoenas, gather testimony and compel individuals to testify regarding what they know about Russian interference in the election, the Trump campaign, and likely a host of financial matters,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said late Thursday.
“These are gravely serious issues,” he added.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday that Mueller had convened a grand jury. It wasn’t immediately clear if it has taken over from a separate grand jury in northern Virginia that was known to be investigating contacts between Russia and Michael Flynn, who resigned as Trump’s national security adviser in February.
Reuters subsequently reported that the new grand jury recently issued subpoenas in connection with the Trump Tower meeting.
Convening a grand jury does not mean that Mueller is preparing criminal charges or is even close to doing so. It may indicate he believes it is the proper venue for an expanding investigation that is focusing on several members of Trump’s family, as well as current and former aides.
It may also indicate that he believes the Democraticleaning capital offered a more sympathetic jury pool if he ultimately opts to bring charges.
The president’s lawyer, Ty Cobb, said in a statement released by the White House that he was unaware of a new grand jury.
“Grand jury matters are typically secret,” Cobb said. “The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly.”
He added, “The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”
The statement said that former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired in May, said three times that the president is not under investigation “and we have no reason to believe that has changed.”
Trump has made clear his anger that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in February after it was revealed he had met several times with Russia’s ambassador last year.
Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, then took charge. But shortly after Trump fired Comey for what Trump later called “this Russia thing,” Rosenstein appointed Mueller to limit the ability of the White House to interfere with the probe.
Also Thursday, senators introduced two bipartisan bills aimed at protecting Mueller from being fired by Donald Trump, as both parties signaled resistance to any possible White House effort to derail the investigation.
One plan by Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del., would let any special counsel for the Department of Justice challenge his or her removal in court. A three-judge panel would review the dismissal within 14 days of the challenge.
The other legislation — proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. — would prevent the firing of any special counsel unless the dismissal was first reviewed by a panel of three federal judges.
Cornell University law professor Jens David Ohlin said convening of the grand jury indicates that the Mueller probe is growing more serious.
“This suggests the investigation will end with indictments,” Ohlin said.
“If there was any suggestion that Mueller was going to simply submit a report to Congress and allow the political process to digest his findings, that seems unlikely now,” he added. “This is a criminal investigation in the fullest sense of the term.”