A federal judge that Trump appointed last year has ruled that Special Counsel Mueller probe that is currently underway is legitimate – for the most part – and refuses to step in and end it:
POLITICO – A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump ruled Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe is constitutional and legitimate, rejecting an effort by a Russian company — accused of financing a massive political influence operation in the United States — to stamp out the ongoing investigation.
Judge Dabney Friedrich, who Trump appointed to the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C. last year, is the fourth judge to quash efforts to upend Mueller’s legitimacy and cancel his investigation. Judges overseeing the two trials of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — D.C. judge Amy Berman Jackson and Eastern District of Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis — rejected Manafort’s bid to invalidate Mueller.
Earlier this month, the D.C. circuit’s Chief Judge Beryl Howell issued a lengthy ruling rejecting similar legal arguments offered by Andrew Miller, a longtime associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone, who was attempting to beat back a subpoena to testify before Mueller’s grand jury. Miller’s lawyer, Paul Kamenar, told POLITICO on Monday morning that Miller still intends to appeal the decision. Last week, Miller was held in contempt of court for again ignoring the grand jury subpoena, a move Kamenar said was necessary in order to pursue his appeal.
If Trump was watching this and had his hopes up at all, they just got dashed. With this being the fourth judge to uphold Mueller’s probe, it doesn’t sound like a judge is going to end it.
Here’s more on why she made her decision…
Though Friedrich upheld Mueller’s probe, she did offer a significant nod to his critics: that no laws “explicitly authorize” Mueller’s appointment. Rather, she concluded that Watergate-era Supreme Court precedent — as well as Howell’s recent ruling — found that the Justice Department had the authority. They concluded this “without analyzing specifically how any individual provision combination of provisions accomplished this,” Friedrich wrote.
Concord’s lawyers had argued that Mueller’s appointment was flawed at multiple levels — and at its core was unconstitutional. Mueller was appointed last year by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. But Mueller’s power is so vast, Concord contended, that he should have been subject to presidential nomination and Senate confirmation, rather than treated as an “inferior” officer who may be appointed and supervised by the attorney general. Though Mueller, in theory, reports to Rosenstein, Concord contended that Justice Department regulations prevent Rosenstein from overturning many of Mueller’s decisions, giving him an authority that should only be permitted for individuals appointed by the president.
Friedrich agreed that the regulations governing Mueller’s probe are ambiguous enough to grant him some sweeping authority, but she found one fatal flaw in the argument: Justice Department leaders may rescind the special counsel regulations at any time. If Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Rosenstein decide to exert more control over Mueller, they can simply rewrite the rules, she noted.
“As a result, the special counsel is effectively removable at will,” Friedrich write.
So either Trump negotiates an end to Mueller’s probe or it ends when Mueller decides it ends. I think Giuliani said this morning that Mueller may decide this week on their interview demands.