Game Is Afoot: Mueller Grand Jury Impaneled

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“Take precautions,” as Sherlock Holmes would tell Dr. Watson when they needed pistols.

Marketwatch: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. That’s a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, the report said. Legal experts quoted by the newspaper say the move suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses.

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107 thoughts on “Game Is Afoot: Mueller Grand Jury Impaneled”

  5. tpm:

    Reuters reported Thursday that grand jury subpoenas were issued in connection with a meeting between Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eldest son, and a Russian lawyer. Trump Jr. attended the meeting after he was promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign. It was not clear whether those subpoenas were issued by the grand jury Mueller impaneled.

  8. Wapo Fact Checker gave (one of) the evil side of his “brain” – Stephen Miller – 4 Pinocchios today for his comments about immigrants, jobs, etc.  I suggested that an orange squirrel be added as what would be a 5th Pinocchio in honor of SFB’s unprecedented standard for lying.

  10. “Must Trump now testify under threat of perjury?”

    craig, are you referring to junior?  big daddy’s busy on his way to play golf and anyway his lawyers are busy filing and making motions (screaming, yelling, waving hands excitedly) on their way to nearest courthouse

  11. And now, Reuters is reporting that subpoenas are about to go out.  What are the odds that Junior, Kushner and Manafort take five?

    Pass the pop corn …

  16. Does look like Mueller is pedal to the metal. Don’t forget he has a yearlong FBI investigation under his belt and clearly the entire intelligence community is giving him everything he needs, including well-timed leaks such as today’s damaging transcripts of Mexican and Australian calls. Even Putin piling on, calling Trump “humiliated” and “impotent” for signing sanctions.

    Danger here is what does a cornered mad man with narcissistic personality disorder do next? That’s why I wrote a few days ago we’ve got to get nuke control out of his hands. Just as when Nixon was drunk every night in final days of Watergate and Kissinger ordered any launch commands must be cleared by him.

  17. I see West Virginia’s governor is switching from Democrat to Republican. West Virginia governor.  I guess he thinks this move puts him in line of succession for the Presidency now that the Grand Jury has been convened.

  18. craig, when I saw trump and a man (shulkin) in a white lab coat on tv this morning?   I thought, is today the day they finally take the ‘nut job’ away?  Instead it was the rollout of the VA telehealth (looks like Dr. Phil’s doc on demand).

  20. Either governor justice knows that there will soon be an open US senate seat he can appoint himself to, or he’s like the rat that jumped off a lifeboat and swam to the Titanic.

  22. pogo can probably tell us all about big jim justice.  Plus, he he has ties to coal, golf and russians, triple bonus for trump.

    From Bloomberg —

    In 2009, during a period when the coal market seemed relatively strong, Justice decided to cash in. He sold most of his holdings in metallurgical coal to a Russian company called Mechel for $568 million in cash and stock.  Almost immediately after his deal with Mechel, the bottom fell out of the met coal market. “It was upside down as it could possibly be,” Justice says, not bothering to disguise his dealmaker’s pleasure. But then Mechel began shutting mines and laying off miners. “Many of those people started their careers working for my dad,” Justice says.

    Distressed by the layoffs and sensing the chance for another financial killing, he offered to take the shuttered mines off the Russians’ hands. “I bought [them] back for next to nothing,” he says. To be exact, six years after selling, he paid $5 million, or 1 percent of the earlier price, for the same properties—an indication of just how much coal had weakened in the interim. 
     Justice said in February 2015: “West Virginia coal miners have done the heavy lifting in our country for generations and generations. We are now prepared to build toward the future and increase jobs in southern West Virginia.”
    Three months later, he declared his candidacy for governor, and on the eve of the Nov. 8 election, it was mines repurchased from the Russians that he announced he’d reopen.

  23. As long a we don’t pass the statutes of limitations on the various charges, everything will work out well.

  24. “The game is afoot” Billy Shakspeare.

    Mueller has at least one other Grand Jury working away.  This one is in D.C. which brings a focus to a resident in the WH.

    Just heard that the Congress has decided to stay in session, just like the Big O days, to prevent the prez from making a recess appointment.  The republicans do not trust their leader. Sad.

  25. Massive downpour of rain, huge lightning and thunder right now that was not predicted, here at Trail Mix headquarters less than 2 miles from White House. Omen?

  26. A hearty welcome to Messers Morris and Prats. Saddle up with us, vaqueros, and follow our herd of longhorn lurkers along this bumpy, sometimes treacherous, trail, and into a frighteningly exciting future. Yeeeeehaaa !

  27. trump attorneys can’t get an excuse to delay if the deadbeat is on a 17 day vacation.

    Maybe he is getting off whatever psychotropic drugs he’s been overdosing. Or, the stuff that makes him sniffle. So, a health excuse just might work to delay. 

  28. But Ali just happened to have actually been the Greatest.

    They could beat him up against the ropes all they wanted, but when the time came Ali would jump up and do the Ali Shuffle and duke it out…..

    They couldn’t touch him……

  34. When Cassius Clay claimed, I am the greatest, he was jeered.

    Captured trump recording w/Australia’s PM Turnbull : I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country.

    Let us jeer.

  35. When my dad was a kid he worked with Joe Louis (Barrow) and his older brother at an Alabama sawmill……my old man came to a place where once or or twice a year he went to the big cities for a convention……every time he went to Vegas he’d meet up with Joe and talk Alabama shit……

  37. Rancid and Spicieliar have friends still at the WH and as Craig pointed out the intelligence services have no use for PG

    The WH will still be unwillingly transparent

  38. yeah, the only convention i went on was Dallas, 64……I walked around Dealy Plaza, watched Jack Ruby’s mother scream at reporters from the courthouse steps, and then went to see the Cinerama movie, “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World….. I laughed like a madman.
    March, 1964

  39. mike pence roams the halls of the White House. He has an independent position. He gets to learn all sorts of stuff. He can’t be fired. Lots of people will talk to him, especially if he comes upon a WH aide who is upset. All he has to do is put his arm around the person, or take their hands and offer to pray together . . . . Pence can talk to the kids. Pence can learn it all, even if Kelly bars the Oval Office door.

    If the deadbeat falls, who profits ?

  41. So, is this circling back to Preet Baraha being fired; the Russian real estate case being quickly settled; Jared’s real estate dealings?

    Trump’s best chance at deflecting attention is NK.  Lord, help us all.

     

    “If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away…” Weezer

  42. Thank you Lord. I’ve survived another off-season. I know it’s just  preseason, the Hall of Fame game, and the Cardinals and the Cowboys, but my God football started again. Thank you Lord.

  43. Huntington, where SFB was speaking tonight is a bit of a shit hole between West Virginia and Kentucky.  It’s a lot of things, but what it is not is coal country. Huntington used to have Steel mills, it being on the Ohio River and such, but coal country? Nope. But the crowd there, not so sure how massive it was – let’s figure that out ( and who gives a shit anyway?) – will buy anything he sells. And Jim Justice (coal baron) switching from Democrat to Republican, I wasn’t even sure he ran as a Democrat.

  44. And Teeheeheeheehee. McConnell dismissed the Senate, sent everyone home and left the Senate in pro forma session so that Trump can’t make a recess appointment. He’s lost his own party now. Oh well, what’s a SFB to do?

  45. Ds & Rs writing bills to stop Trump from firing Mueller without just cause & the OK from a fed’ judge.    Trump, the uniter.

  46. The record is skipping. Can no one place the needle into a new groove ?

    Is that damned fool going to spend the rest of his life crowing about winning the ’16 election, w/o rushin help, and despite Clinton’s MASSIVE cheating, and the 10 M!LL!ON Mexicans she bused up from Monterey to vote in NH ? 

  47. Well…..he mightspendthe rest of his life in a facility kind of thing telling people he used to be president of the United States………

  49. The Federal Guardians of Your Pocketbook At Work

    The worthless ripoff Congress tried to repeal and replace 8 times, but couldn’t.

    Now the worthless reblusterican Congress ‘has to’ pass a tax bill for trump and actual
    B!LL!IONA!RE$, but can’t get its act together.

    The worthless ripper Congress also has to pass the spending limit raise, but can’t seem to do that either.

    The worthless reducelican Congress has to pass a budget, but can’t agree on any of it.

    However, the retardlican Congress did pass a bill honoring National Pickle Week.

    Now, that’ll be $52 M!LL!ON for their vital work, please.

  50. “Trump, the uniter”

    bid, you are right about that…. he did promise to bring them together .  hurray for the bi-partisan ship. may she ever sail and stay afloat.

  53. There are several little articles by several different reporters in several different papers, looking at the shift of power from the president back to the Congress.  This is an interesting view of what SFB is doing to our republic.  All of them point to what a weak and stupid person SFB is.  This is like the Peter Principle to the most extreme.  Will the Congress become equal to the president?  I tend to think not as they are hundreds and there is only one person in the WH.  One can easily be seen as powerful.

  54. bw, yep it looks like mcmasters has an ally in the CoS according to this from the hill:   Cohen-Watnick’s removal is the second significant personnel change at the White House since Retired Gen. John Kelly took over as chief of staff.

    thanks for that atlantic link.  a lot of very interesting info in it.  more and more looking like so many spooks and spooks of spooks, they’re tripping over each other.

  56. Yes, I remember the first major step Mr Ford took in reestablishing meaningful government–his Whip Inflation Now campaign. He never recovered from that fiasco:

  57. cnn quotes new fbi director christopher wray:
    “We must never allow our work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the Constitution, and law, and the pursuit of justice,” Wray said in an email that was sent to the FBI workforce after he was sworn in. “These are our anchors. We must adhere to them no matter the test. And you can count on me to stand with you in ensuring that nothing distracts us from that commitment.”
    [….]
    Wray called his appointment as director “the honor of a lifetime” adding that he’s “excited, humbled, and grateful to have this chance to work side by side with you again.”
    He additionally acknowledged that the role would include facing “immense challenges.”
    “In the face of those challenges, it is critical that we remain committed to protecting the American people, upholding the Constitution and our laws, and demonstrating the virtues of the FBI motto: Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity,” he wrote.
    Wray ended the note promising to be a worthy FBI director.
    “I pledge to be a leader you all deserve and to do my best to lead us in a way that makes you and every American proud,” he wrote. “Together, we will continue to be the FBI our citizens rightly expect and revere.”

    wonder how long before twit twitter tears into him.   also, what he does with mccabe given the latest news from vox:
    McCabe has told colleagues that he too is a potential witness in the probe of whether Trump broke the law by trying to thwart the FBI’s Russia investigation and the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
    Two senior federal law enforcement officials have told me that the new revelations illustrate why they believe the potential case against Trump is stronger than outsiders have thought.
    “What you are going to have is the potential for a powerful obstruction case,” a senior law enforcement official said. “You are going to have the [former] FBI director testify, and then the acting director, the chief of staff to the FBI director, the FBI’s general counsel, and then others, one right after another. This has never been the word of Trump against what [James Comey] has had to say. This is more like the Federal Bureau of Investigation versus Donald Trump.”

  59. We now have a grand jury, which begs the question, how much room is there under a bus?

    Me thinks that it is about to get awfully crowded down there.?

  61. muddying the water maybe?

    politico:

    Hunt for Trump dossier author inflames Russia probe
    An overseas trip to contact a former British spy exposes friction among House, Senate investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller.

  62. Wow  wonder if he will pardon them sooner or later….

    it would be something if he left Don jr swinging in the wind.

    I bet if he did that Ivana would start telling all

  68. Just looking at Ms Franklin’s coat — it’s amazing the things they can do with polyester these days.

  69. Yeah….   you go Jefferson Noregards!  Thank god we have you to looking after truth, justice, and the American way!   Leakers = bad boys….    Russian ass lickers = not so much.

  70. “Yes, I remember the first major step Mr Ford took in reestablishing meaningful government–his Whip Inflation Now campaign.” – Mr Flatus

    Yes, NIM was like mao’s ‘great leap forward,’ but without all those unsightly cadavers clogging the rivers.

  73. WTI Oil is struggling at $49.29/bbl and silver fell out of bed, losing 50c/troyoz. Does this mean that speculators are reacting well to the Kelly Regime ?

    ND has blown past WY, AK, LA, CA, and OK to become the #2 oil pumping state. This addition (plus the addition of solar and wind power) have brought the price of oil down to 1/3 of the bush/cheney record of just over $147/bbl.

    Silver ? It beats me. But, historically, $16.22/troyoz is kind of lowish-range. In 50 years silver moved from under $2 to $50. In the last, say, 2 1/2 years it’s been as high as $35 and as low a bit under $14.

    If the marketeers didn’t think Kelly could do the job, I would think that the markets for oil and precious metals would push upward. But maybe NoDak oil trumps the installation of Kelly as CoS.

     

  77. We’d better switch from the bus to a train, Ms Jamie. A coal burner would be the most suitable.

  81. beware the plethora of fake news promoting the seth rich wikilaeaks story to debunk russian hacks messing  up election.  looks like noose is tightening and their war has ramped up against the intelligence (make that intelligent) community.    and what’s up with seymour hersh? oldtimers disease?  pod people taken over his body?

  82. Maybe . . . .  What if trump starts a corporation like Amtrack or USPS to build and maintain the Wall, and solicits US citizens to fund the wall ? Be immortalized with your name on this section of the Wall for only $1,000.00 ?

    Also,

    Propose marriage to your girlfriend on the Wall – Only $1,000.00. Remember dad’s passing with his name and dates on the Wall – Only $1000.00. Celebrate your dog with its name on the Wall – Only $1,000.00 Send an obscene message to Mexico (or your former boss) – Only $1000.00. Support your team with its name on the Wall – Only $1000.00. Insult a car company on the Wall – Only $1,000.00. Post racist messages on the Wall – Only $1,000.00. Challenge someone you hate on the Wall – Only $1,000.00. Hurry, hurry, hurry, while space lasts.

    Cash only, please.

  84. ctr for public integrity:
    Campaign Legal Center requests investigation of Steve Bannon

    Reform group says top Trump aide may have violated federal law
    A leading government ethics group on Friday requested that the White House, Department of Justice and Office of Government Ethics investigate presidential strategist Stephen K. Bannon for using a private public relations executive to conduct official White House business.

    [….]

    “Veteran Republican media strategist Alexandra Preate is providing professional services to the White House and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, yet is not employed by President Donald Trump’s administration or paid by the federal government,” wrote Lawrence Noble and Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.

    The letter, sent today and addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Office of Government Ethics Acting Director David Apol and newly hired White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, asks the officials to “exercise the appropriate authority to investigate, prosecute, or make recommendations regarding potential violations of federal laws and regulations.”

  85. …Trumpsters moaning Mueller on a “fishing expedition” — they’re actually worried he’ll find the fish. – Mr C, Esq

    They worry he’ll catch the great orange whale, Moody Don.

  86. craig & xr, you don’t  mean this ken starr… that pillar of integrity?
    cnn in june wrote:
    Ken Starr resigned as Baylor University’s chancellor on Wednesday, less than a week after being removed as its president in the wake of sex assault controversy involving the school’s football team.
    Baylor, a Christian university, removed Starr as its president last Thursday after unveiling the results of an independent investigation that showed a “fundamental failure” to respond adequately to student sex assault allegations, including some involving players for the Texas school’s rising football program.

  87. I see why he had to hire a pr guy with stories like this on horizon from wapo

    Stephen Bannon once guided a global firm that made millions helping gamers cheat

  88. ‘Drug-infested den’ and ‘true American patriots’: Donald Trump’s map of America

    When President Trump looks at America, he sees two very different worlds: He’s visited inner cites he declared to be “worse than almost any of the places in the Middle East,” he slammed New Hampshire as a “drug-infested den.” And he’s championed “beautiful” cities full of “massive crowds” and “true American patriots,” often in states that voted for him. Oh yeah, and he really hates regions where a personality or politician crossed him. Always, though, Trump uses some very vivid imagery to paint his black-and-white vision of America. Here it is.

  89. renee, not only jeff noregard secessions is after the media, so is the nra….  well, guess that’s really one in the same thing.

    excerpt from wapo analysis Why the NRA is going after the media : 

    The NRA is spending money to pitch the media in particular as a threat to gun owners.

    Data from the FBI gives us a hint of why.  Since January 2009, when Obama took office, 46 of the first seven months of the year have seen increases over the prior year’s gun sales, as roughly measured by the number of federal background checks performed. (This isn’t a precise metric, but it’s a decent estimate.) That means that, in 17 of those months, there were fewer background checks relative to that month the year before.

    Six of those 17 declines happened over the first seven months of 2017.

  90. Coal’s coming back. Well, maybe not so much.  It is what I’d refer to as flat.  And the idiots who lapped up SFB’s BS in WV the other night should know that the spot price of coal is about $52 for WV coal and $11 for Wyoming coal.  If it comes back I wonder WHERE it will come back.  Economics suggests WY.  Dipshit speaking to true believers.

  92. Pogo – one of the selling points of Western coal is it is “hard coal” not the Eastern “soft coal”.  Cheaper and “better”.  Eastern coal miners should sell blocks of it as souvenirs to stupid people for ten dollars and realize a good profit.

  95. Poobah, drumpf “shifted to fighting Mueller, not firing him.”  A piece of unsolicited advice to the “president” – pick your fights better. 

  96. “Western” sub-bituminous coal is softer and less pure that “eastern” bituminous coal, while anthracite coal is the hardest, rarest and most pure naturally-occurring coal, and the largest domestic source of anthracite is found in the mountains of central and northern Pennsylvania.  

    Different types of coal have different uses.  The history of coal is fascinating!  Learn more about it, here:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal

  97. Thanks for the Bannon, article, patd.  I didn’t realize Bannon is a former Goldman Sachs employee until I read it.  Is working for Goldman Sachs a pre-requisite for U.S. federal executive employment?  Sure seems like it.

  99. Thanks for your commodities post, xrep.  How about you and Flatus start a Trailmix hedge-fund?  I’ll put a check in the mail on Monday, and promise to use my profits for good (not a contradiction in terms, I swear), mostly.

  100. The game was at hand*. Now, it’s afoot. Look back on the last 10 days. From scaramucci’s dirty mouth to Kelly nailing him, to Mueller seating a grand jury, all the tongue wagging has raised eyebrows, caused head scratching and hair tearing. Keep your eyes pealed and ears to the ground for more trump news.

    *The title of this thread, as surely you remember

  105. I remember the Brothers Four. Soulful ballads strained through white guys with crew cuts.

    Ah, my lovely wasted youth….

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